Starting over . . . anyone else like me out there?
Posted: June 16th, 2009, 8:39 pm
I've been browsing the posts on the forum, there's not a lot of activity in the women's section, and this is made up of some pretty elite, advanced athletes. I'm in kind of a strange position. I may be the only one like me out there.
I rowed 2 yrs. in high school and 1 yr. in college (had some health problems and had to transfer to a school that did not have crew). While in college, I was pulling respectable times, though we did not do 2k or 6k tests. Women's crew was fairly new, and no one else there had experience so the winter was spent in the tank, on the weights, and familiarizing ourselves with the erg.
Anyway . . . so it's twenty years later, two children later, and many, many pounds later. I was diagnosed with diabetes three years ago. Lost a lot of weight, gained some back after my second child was born. I finally joined a gym here in the sticks (rural Louisiana) and was thrilled (well, not really) to see they have some Concept 2s. Needless to say, I'm the only one who's ever on them. I'm terrified they're going to sell them and I'll be out of luck. One of them has a bum flywheel and the chain keeps jumping off---well, I'm the only one who pulls hard enough to jump it, I guess. They won't get it fixed.
I am coming into these workouts out of shape, with fairly poor cardio conditioning. I have always been stronger than I have been able to endure, even in college. I have occasional exercise-induced asthma, and I never know when or how it will affect a workout. I am three weeks into my workout program. I have hit some personal goals--- a sub-2:10 split on my 1K, a 2:15 split on my 2k. That's an improvement from my first day on May 30, when I had to stop after 1k, and with 2:30 splits at that!
I'm getting the callouses on my palms (ah, the good old days!) and blisters on my tail. Never had those before! I was always an on-the-water rower, and where I live, that is just not an option. I don't know if I'll ever live somewhere where I can be on the water again. Today, finally, I convinced myself to watch my knees and stop letting my left arm go between them like I do for sweep rowing. It's kind of like finally saying goodbye to a pet. I miss it so much it hurts, I love the water so much. Erging is just not the same, but at least it's good for me!
I pulled a 6K today, not as fast as I could have (there was no strategy, I just wanted to try it, so that in itself was a milestone), in a dismal time, even for a 36 yo. woman, 5' 9" and 175.
Is there another lady out there in a similar position? I'm reading about all these super-fast times and wanting to throw up. My last power 10 at 5500m today came in at a whopping 1:49 at 28SPM. Ugh.
I would like to set some realistic goals.
Thanks!
Sarah
Monroe, Louisiana
I rowed 2 yrs. in high school and 1 yr. in college (had some health problems and had to transfer to a school that did not have crew). While in college, I was pulling respectable times, though we did not do 2k or 6k tests. Women's crew was fairly new, and no one else there had experience so the winter was spent in the tank, on the weights, and familiarizing ourselves with the erg.
Anyway . . . so it's twenty years later, two children later, and many, many pounds later. I was diagnosed with diabetes three years ago. Lost a lot of weight, gained some back after my second child was born. I finally joined a gym here in the sticks (rural Louisiana) and was thrilled (well, not really) to see they have some Concept 2s. Needless to say, I'm the only one who's ever on them. I'm terrified they're going to sell them and I'll be out of luck. One of them has a bum flywheel and the chain keeps jumping off---well, I'm the only one who pulls hard enough to jump it, I guess. They won't get it fixed.
I am coming into these workouts out of shape, with fairly poor cardio conditioning. I have always been stronger than I have been able to endure, even in college. I have occasional exercise-induced asthma, and I never know when or how it will affect a workout. I am three weeks into my workout program. I have hit some personal goals--- a sub-2:10 split on my 1K, a 2:15 split on my 2k. That's an improvement from my first day on May 30, when I had to stop after 1k, and with 2:30 splits at that!
I'm getting the callouses on my palms (ah, the good old days!) and blisters on my tail. Never had those before! I was always an on-the-water rower, and where I live, that is just not an option. I don't know if I'll ever live somewhere where I can be on the water again. Today, finally, I convinced myself to watch my knees and stop letting my left arm go between them like I do for sweep rowing. It's kind of like finally saying goodbye to a pet. I miss it so much it hurts, I love the water so much. Erging is just not the same, but at least it's good for me!
I pulled a 6K today, not as fast as I could have (there was no strategy, I just wanted to try it, so that in itself was a milestone), in a dismal time, even for a 36 yo. woman, 5' 9" and 175.
Is there another lady out there in a similar position? I'm reading about all these super-fast times and wanting to throw up. My last power 10 at 5500m today came in at a whopping 1:49 at 28SPM. Ugh.
I would like to set some realistic goals.
Thanks!
Sarah
Monroe, Louisiana
