LUNA-TICS TEAM ROOM: Year-round "Looney" fun.

[acrewer]

welcome Laurie - like the voodoo name!

I rowed for 54 minutes today while watching Oprah, I reoriented the erg so it faces the TV, much better. The longest I had ever done before was about 40 min. Shortly after 45 minutes, my hands began to sweat and by 50 minutes, I was getting blisters! I either need to solve this problem or stick with 30-40 minute rows.

I was watching the clock and noticed that Oprah takes a commercial break about every 5 minutes. No wonder it seems like constant commercials!

Gina

[tom pinckney]

Gina: good job rowing. Keep up the good work! We gotta do the best we can. If you go past that, we can hurt ourselves - thus limiting our exercising at all. Forty-five minutes is plenty of rowing for fitness. Anything past that really not necessary, but here we are pushing ourselves again for the JVC.

My goal this JVC is to surpass my totals from last year (so far I'm doing it). Last Friday I injured my left knee and leg in the gym (doing leg presses) and had to stop rowing until cleared by a doctor. Luckily, it's only slight muscle tears and I'm back rowing and had to play "catch up" (I did). I'm now at PT to repair my leg/knee (and right foot)/ The therapist told me that I would be better off cross-training (alternating with a stair climber, etc. ) every other day rather than rowing hard every day. However, I want to fullfill my JVC goals.

So.........
rather than try to put in all my meters at one sitting, I'm rowing a couple of times a day (retired - I have time for it). However, I"m starting to develop some pretty nice calouses on my hands! I"m also starting to see a slight weight drop (a great reason for my JVC participation) already!

I'm also starting to show signs of overtraining (tired, soreness) and may have to back off a bit to let my body heal. Just gotta keep with it the best I can. I believe I can keep this up thru the challenge. But after that - back off a bit and give my body a chance to heal by cross training.

I believe Oprah could stand a few minutes on an erg herself! I watch "Law and Order" episodes at home while I row! - Tom

[Kona2]

Tom - it appears that you are experiencing some of the same problems with the server that I had this morning.

I am going to ask Concept2 if it will help us if our team page is separated (i.e., make a break at page 100). The loading is very slow.

[Toothdoc]

welcome Laurie - like the voodoo name!

Shortly after 45 minutes, my hands began to sweat and by 50 minutes, I was getting blisters!

Gina

Gina,

I bought some pads with wrist straps that work great. Problem is I don't remember the name, I think Chris, Jan and Kristine also have them maybe they can help with the name. I do know I bought them on the internet for about $20. For immediate relief try bubble wrap. Or as some have suggested you can wrap your hands with horse leg wrap found at your local feed store (Farm Supply) That's the cheapest place. I never tried it.

I have been watching TV since I started it's a great distraction a VCR, DVD or DVR makes selection better also.

Hope this helps.

Dan C

[Kona2]

RE: Gloves for rowing

The gloves that Pat M of Timbuk2 recommended were New Grip rowing gloves. Several of us did indeed buy these - I'm about ready for a new pair. They are actually kind of a neoprene pad that velcros to a wrist strap. You don't undo the velcro of the wrist strap once you get a good fit - you just slide your hands out. These "gloves" have kept me from getting blisters, allow good airflow and seem to help keep your wrists in the correct position so that you don't get carpal tunnel rower or something like that!

Here's the link: they work for indoor or outdoor rowing -

http://www.newgrip.com/rowing.html

[Kona2]

We've had some forum upload issues this morning!

January Virtual Team Challenge Individual Standings

As a team, we're in 4th place as of this morning. I'll echo Tom's advice about over-training! We've got 31 days to put in as many meters as we can....but we'd like to keep everyone healthy!Take care of YOU!!

Name Total Event Meters

David A. Alden 48,476
Darryl Bathel 72,797
Kristine Bay 14,584
Alistair Black 23,872
Pat Byron 3,054 (Cross-training bicyclist!)
Kiba Chan 60,000
Andrea Cosmin 56,876
Ted Cowley-Gilbert 72,000
Daniel Cox 149,099
Karyn Gallagher 64,633
Rodrigo Garcia 0
barbara grandberg 16,111
David Grasfield 43,000
Nigel Greene 36,996
Kenneth Guenther 34,047
William Haag 180,801
Mitch Hambleton 50,000
Mary Harper 50,189
Robert Hess 40,000
Dawn Howe 10,000
David Hunter 96,116 AUSSIE
Peter Huurman 30,000
Steven Larky 60,000
Gina Levy 34,501
John Longmire 47,370
Jane Newall 0
Orion Newall-Vuillemot 0
Anais Newall-Vuillemot 0
Elias Newall-Vuillemot 0
Laurie Pachter 13,012
Angelo Papadopoulos 0 AUSSIE
Anthony Parendo 45,551
Tom Pinckney 100,000
Tim Porter 46,412
Debbie Rohlwing 0
Will Salach 107,756
Eva-Kristin Schuster 0
Sorin Spanoche 16,000
Jan Stevenson 42,000 Cross-training bicyclist!
Kristine Strasburger 0
Keith Strasburger 0
Tim Strasburger 0
Ben Strasburger 0
Chris Tudury 106,357
AJ Tudury 36,708
Debbie Vuillemot 0
Nicole Williams 2,915
Will Worthwine 22,000

Total Team Meters after 5 days = 1,833,233 m ! Incredible!!

[tom pinckney]

Jan (Kona2): yep - seems like it took forever to load this morning.

Great info. about the gloves. I don't need those, but am wondering.......do they offer something for my rear-end? (can you spell - bubble wrap?)

I mentioned overtraining in my earlier post. Although I'm in much better physcial condition than I was this time last year, I'm still starting to show signs of overtraining: although I feel "high" after pushing it, I'm noticing that I'm "dragging a wee bit" and that some of my body parts are telling me to back off a bit. I'm also noticing that my 500 splits are becoming harder to maintain.

Perhaps it's time for a Guiness or two?

Wondering about your board name: Kona2. Is this is a Hawaiian name and also why Kona2 rather than Kona? Tom

[tom pinckney]

Jan (Kona2): yep - seems like it took forever to load this morning.

Great info. about the gloves. I don't need those, but am wondering.......do they offer something for my rear-end? (can you spell - bubble wrap?) Perhaps I should wrap my body in tinfoil?

I mentioned overtraining in my earlier post. Although I'm in much better physcial condition than I was this time last year, I'm still starting to show signs of overtraining: although I feel "high" after pushing it, I'm noticing that I'm "dragging a wee bit" and that some of my body parts are telling me to back off a bit. I'm also noticing that my 500 splits are becoming harder to maintain.

Perhaps it's time for a Guiness or two?

Wondering about your board name: Kona2. Is this is a Hawaiian name and also why Kona2 rather than Kona? Tom

[Kona2]

I'm going to cut to the chase on this one - upload issues abound.

Season meters as of 251/365 = 45,155,268 m

Total meters on the day = 324,126 m

Oars in the water = 35 percent

MILESTONES...Bragging Rights...Celebrations:

2.2 MM William H
1.2 MM Mary
300K Laurie
300K Tom P
Half Marathon Man Dan # 84....before work....that's just not right!

FOUR Million Meter Watch:

Dan with only (42,583 m) to go! Red zone, man, red zone!

ONE Million Meter Watch:

Angelo with (10,702 m) to go!

Kenneth G with (81,075 m) to go!

And thanks to today's lunar crew for moving us closer to target moon!

Dan 42,217 m
William H 40,395 m
Karyn 27,012 m - whoa!
Ted 20,000 m
Tom P 20,000 m
Will S 17,031 m
Chris 15,050 m
Peter H 15,000 m
Darryl 14,409 m
Tim P 11,206 m (Looks like you've moved up the hill to Blackhawk!)
Andrea 10,760 m
Gina 10,574 m Way to row!
AJ 10,509 m
Jack 10,123 m
Mary 10,006 m
Steven 10,000 m
Kenneth G 10,000 m
Tony 8,888 m (this is quite a string of consecutive days of repeater numbers!)
Voodoogirl 6,000 m We needed someone to ward off any bad juju !
Barbara 5,031 m
Peter G 5,000 m
Nicki 2,915 m
Sorin 2,000 m

[just27]

Thought I should say g'day on behalf of any Aussies in the team (are there any others doing the JVC?).
Just past midday on the 6th here in Sydney, and out in the west we are heading for 41 degrees (C) this afternoon.
Dave

G'day to you, too, Dave H! Sounds like you live in the west? I grew up in Cottesloe ... too bad we didn't buy some real estate back then ...

Chris

[kgallagher]

I'm going to cut to the chase on this one - upload issues abound.

Karyn 27,012 m - whoa!

I don't want anyone to be falsely impressed. The total quoted above was a two day total. I've actually eased off a tiny bit myself due to lower back aches and a sore knee. Hmmm! It seems like many of us our feeling those darn aches and pains. I'm trying to convince myself it is better to row light than risk injuring myself. (The problem is I don't always listen to myself.)

Nice job Gina on getting the long piece in.

My opinion about gloves is in opposition to others. My coaches pounded it into my mindset that nothing comes between you and your oar. Mind you I have constant callouses and frequently get/rip blisters, but I'm tough, I can handle it. As for the erg. If I am not doing a test piece, I will keep a bandana nearby and periodically grab it and wipe my hands and/or handle if needed. (I only do this when I am not doing a piece for time or distance though.) I have found the more you do the longer pieces, the more your hands get used to it. Last year I was basically doing 30-45 min. on the erg. This year I've been trying to put in about an hour each day. My hands seem to have adjusted.

Congrats to everyone on their success so far this JVC. Let's all try and pay attention to our bodies and not risk any unneccessary injuries.

Karyn

[acrewer]

I have the 'sorenomore' pad from JL rowing (www.jlrowing.com). Caution - the store has some items just for women...they mean that.

I doubt the gloves would work because the blisters are on my fingers not the palm of my hand. Also like Karyn, my coaches forbid gloves of any sort! I need something to keep the sweat from building up on the handle. I'm thinking some sort of absorbant wrap or even the top part of a small sock.

Oprah yesterday was all about weight managment being a lifelong process, not something you can beat. I guess I'll be cranking out the meters forever.

Gina

[William H]

Oprah yesterday was all about weight managment being a lifelong process, not something you can beat. I guess I'll be cranking out the meters forever.

Gina

As a wise person once wrote:

It's not about the destination, it's about the journey.

.

[DuluthMoose]

Well I'm now 87 kilometers into the JVC and that puts me in Crooked Lake on my virtual re-run of my 08 Quetico trip. Nice that many of you took the time to drop in along the route. I guess I do row farther than I paddle in a normal day, so I am now a day ahead of schedule. I have reached the apex of the trip and now am heading back to the east toward Sarah Lake again. The evening on Crooked Lake is chilling and the warmth of the campfire feels great.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2454 ... t=outdoors
Crooked Lake is historically on the main route from Lake Superior to all points north and west. This was a major highway in the era when travel across North America was by waterways.
http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2318 ... t=outdoors
It is a border lake between the US and Canada and interesting enough, a condition of the treaty with Canada when the Minnesota to Washington border was negotiated, was that the waterways and portages were to remain accessible in perpetuity to people of both countries. When you leave this campsite tomorrow, about 8 kilometers down the Lake is the famous Table Rock campsite, where the French Voyagers would either rest or camp at and is often mentioned in travel journals of that era. Definitely worth a stop.

[Kiba]

Hey everybody,

That lake is really nice looking, looks like an amazing place to row.