Endurance erging - A place to discuss 42, 50, 100k upwards.

[MPx]

Getting deep into the first night now - hopefully still novel enough to keep some adrenalin flowing. Will keep checking here and Freespirits for progress when you get the chance. Let us know how the 2hr slots work out. All the best...

[ConorW]

WOW this is an amazing goal! how are you getting on? virtually sending you plenty of support & positivity as you row through many dark places! keep up you spirits & good luck

[Dangerscouse]

I had a look on FreeSpirits for an update, and I'm sorry to report that they had to HD, having somehow managed to crank out 394,177m in 32hrs and 20 mins.

It just all got too overwhelming, and I'm sure that Iain will eventually report in full but I am really glad to report that they've managed to set a new WR for a tandem LWT distance. A phenomenal achievement regardless of not achieving the main goal.

[Sakly]

I had a look on FreeSpirits for an update, and I'm sorry to report that they had to HD, having somehow managed to crank out 394,177m in 32hrs and 20 mins.

It just all got too overwhelming, and I'm sure that Iain will eventually report in full but I am really glad to report that they've managed to set a new WR for a tandem LWT distance. A phenomenal achievement regardless of not achieving the main goal.

Wow, that's a great result anyway! Looking forward to Iains report!

[piggydwarf]

An epic row by Ian and Iain, and a big congrats on the pending WR!

Does anyone have insight on how the solo longest continuous rows are executed, logistics-wise? 4+ days is wild...I'm assuming past a certain point ~9.5 mins of every single hour is spent napping (to satisfy the "minimum 50+ mins rowing" rule) and then a lot might include pulling at like a 5:00/500m pace just to tick the flywheel over? Even still...hard to imagine the discomfort! I wonder if there are any tips and tricks they've found that apply to much, much shorter ultra-erg attempts.

[iain]

Many thanks for the support, your posts were seen when grabbing some food, but didn't respond.

Ian was amazing, he could have gone on much longer. I however was not. Mistake 1, turned up with enough food to make a difference in Gaza Strip, but no seat pad . Tried to compensate (Ian had a different version without the gap for cocyx and the back really rubbed), but by 12 hrs in was sitting on rubber ring to avoid contact with painful area.

We did 20 min intervals for 7 hrs, then 1 hr each for lunch, 6 more hrs at 20 min then each did 2 2hr stints to allow other to sleep. Up to the end of that we were both rowing significantly faster than intended, especially on the 2hr sessions. 2hr breaks were strange, we kept waking and no memory of falling asleep - just passed out! I woke too early each time and should have taken over as little benefit of Ian doing his last 20 min with me watching! But the spreadsheet of timings was not challenged!

Then it started to fall apart for me. First 20min interval after my second 2hr session, my first stroke was 3:20 and took several strokes and R20 to get under 2:40 (on 2hr I had been rowing at 2:36 for most of it R17). It hurt below my knees to get anywhere close to front stops. Stupidly I dug in to try and hold the 2:30 target pace and allowed rating to increase to R18 as I thought all I needed was to break the rhythm I had established from the 2hrs. However, the pattern continued with intervals getting gradually slower as it took longer to get to 2:30. Despite the slow pace, I was finishing each interval panting, if I had been rational I would have slowed down... Eventually tried to hold a "sustainable" pace, but the pain seemed similar at 2:45 and 2:30 pace. My drive length had dropped by 9cm on most strokes with some as short as 1M. Kept going slightly slower each interval until suddenly got really nauseous. I had felt a little nauseous all morning, but didn't pay it attention as it pailed to the pain in my knees and rear. In retrospect I now think I was dehydrated from the 8 hrs with only 5 pulls of drink. I should have switched to water with electrolytes and this would probably have allowed me to restart the maltodextrin solution I was relying on for much of my calories. But as I well knew (but didn't think of), when dehydrated the guts get less able to absorb the sugar and remains bloated as the sugars keep water in the gut. I believe this lead to the nausea.

I did another 20 min having to concentrate on not heaving everytime I returned to the catch. Naturally my stroke degenerated further. Did nothing for the 20 min rest, hoping this would allow my system to recover. Next 20 min same experience just never got splits consistently below 2:35. Took suggestion to lie down (by this stage hadn't drunk anything for an hour). Passed out. Woken 15 min later for my session and had no motivation. Still felt as nauseous and could not see the point of carrying on as I knew I needed calories to continue and we were facing more than another 2 days of rowing! Ian agreed to continue to give me a chance to recover. He did an extra 40 min before calling it a day, but mentally having decided it wasn't happening I couldn't motivate myself to even pull a very slow interval to give Ian a chance to eat and drink.

Learnings:

1) 1,000,000M is a whole different beast to 24hr
2) Need to ensure that you are comfortable with everything for the real attempt and not accept compromise (seat pad)
3) practice rowing at the pace(s) you expect to do and make sure you have a familiar stroke to achieve this
4) Don't go faster than planned. Feeling is deceptive and it should feel ridiculously easy in first 1/3
5) Do some practice run that pushes you hard on your endurance limits before hand, slogging on towards a total that seems unattainable is tough and mentally having done that in the recent past is a must (not 13 years previously and then only for 50k or so!).
6) Have a clear plan for fuel / hydration that takes account of any sleep.
7) be flexible and focus on intermediate goals with the big one a nice to have.
8) be prepared for extreme discomfort and certain you want the goal despite this.

[p_b82]

Many thanks for the support, your posts were seen when grabbing some food, but didn't respond.

<snip>
Learnings:

1) 1,000,000M is a whole different beast to 24hr
2) Need to ensure that you are comfortable with everything for the real attempt and not accept compromise (seat pad)
3) practice rowing at the pace(s) you expect to do and make sure you have a familiar stroke to achieve this
4) Don't go faster than planned. Feeling is deceptive and it should feel ridiculously easy in first 1/3
5) Do some practice run that pushes you hard on your endurance limits before hand, slogging on towards a total that seems unattainable is tough and mentally having done that in the recent past is a must (not 13 years previously and then only for 50k or so!).
6) Have a clear plan for fuel / hydration that takes account of any sleep.
7) be flexible and focus on intermediate goals with the big one a nice to have.
8) be prepared for extreme discomfort and certain you want the goal despite this.

Sorry to read the above - I don't think it conveys half of the agony you went through - either mentally or physically.

Still one hell of an achievement, and from your learnings, looks like should you wish to have another go - you'll be in a much better position to avoid some of the things you hit this time.

[Dangerscouse]

Learnings:

1) 1,000,000M is a whole different beast to 24hr
2) Need to ensure that you are comfortable with everything for the real attempt and not accept compromise (seat pad)
3) practice rowing at the pace(s) you expect to do and make sure you have a familiar stroke to achieve this
4) Don't go faster than planned. Feeling is deceptive and it should feel ridiculously easy in first 1/3
5) Do some practice run that pushes you hard on your endurance limits before hand, slogging on towards a total that seems unattainable is tough and mentally having done that in the recent past is a must (not 13 years previously and then only for 50k or so!).
6) Have a clear plan for fuel / hydration that takes account of any sleep.
7) be flexible and focus on intermediate goals with the big one a nice to have.
8) be prepared for extreme discomfort and certain you want the goal despite this.

As Peter said, it's very notable how words pail into insignificance when compared to the actual experience, and this report does sound horrific.

Hydration, both too little and too much, has caused many people issues and it can be quite a tricky balance, but you've definitely got to keep drinking regularly to a defined plan.

As we both know, the thought and reality of extreme discomfort are wholly different things. I convince myself I'm prepared, but then the reality of it far too easily can knock you for six. Huge respect for trying it, and then carrying on when many many people would have HDed long before you did

[MPx]

Great write up Iain and a stunning effort by both you and Ian. So impressive to have started on such a daunting venture let alone get as far as you did. (Only a World Record after all!) I struggle with an HM so can't imagine the trauma involved. Chapeau sir!

On the other hand I see that the two leaders in the Valentines challenge have each covered nearly 1.7 million meters on their own in the 4 days that its been running - well over twice the distance of third which is still prodigious at 700k. I suggest that before another attempt you have a word with them to see how its done and I'm sure you'd knock out a mere million in no time - particularly split between the two of you!

[iain]

I see that the two leaders in the Valentines challenge have each covered nearly 1.7 million meters on their own in the 4 days that its been running - well over twice the distance of third which is still prodigious at 700k.

Only 1 person has recorded 1,000,000 in under 5 days and only by minutes. I see that only 1 of the 2 is still shown in the leaderboard and wonder whether they entered a job lot of metres accidentally in one lump (as the amount shown is most of the seasons metres).

There are many people who do prodigious distances daily. We may have set a world record, but there are dozens who could easily surpass our achievement if they put their minds to it, they just have fewer screws loose!