Erg marathon "rules"?

[Keld]

Agree - dehydration reduces the power significantly.
Used to ride the bike many years ago, and suffered severely from dehydration in warm weather.
After several experimnets I came up with my own mix of energy-drink, mixed from powder. I found that the salt did wonders, i.e. preventing from loosing too much sweat.
I believe that is is maybe even more important to "keep the water within you" as to fill up.

[damselfly]

What are thoughts about using intervals for a half marathon, instead of just taking breaks in a normal row and using buttons to keep the monitor alive? Nothing is mentioned about it in the "rules", and it seems in keeping with the spirit of the endeavor... Has anyone done this?

[ckaiserca]

You can't do it that way! The marathon row must be done all in one shot, and you must count all of your "break" time in your accumulated time.

[damselfly]

Thanks! I knew there must be a reason it wasn't ever mentioned. I was mostly interested in making certain the PM didn't time out, but I didn't think about the the interval time not being accounted for.

[Citroen]

You can't do it that way! The marathon row must be done all in one shot, and you must count all of your "break" time in your accumulated time.

You can do it as zero rest intervals. Or you can do it by simply stopping rowing, leaving the clock running and pressing [change display], [change units] or the grey buttons to keep the monitor from shutting down.

As long as you start at 42195m (or 21097m for a half) and row it down to zero it's a valid, ranking entry.

If you do it as intervals with rest times longer than 0:00 you'll accumulate "resting metres" and do more than 42195 (which means you can't rank it).

For my first full marathon I planned the breaks at every 10,500m, it took thirty seconds to put the handle down, drink enough water and get rowing again adding two minutes to the final time. The important thing is to have scheduled breaks and not stop in between. If you just stop when it takes your fancy you'll find the next break arrives earlier and takes longer as the fatigue sets in. In the worst case you'll fail to finish.

[Uyam Zenra]

Hi there,

I'm also thinking about doing the FM for the upcoming challenge. I have done 2 HM so far. The first was quite spontanous and I don't remember how much I drank, I guess I just stopped shortly once or twice to drink.

The second time a prepared a bit more. Got more water with me and a couple of power bars and took them while rowing single handed.

I figured for the split not to come up to much to give some powerful strokes before going into one-handed mode. I think I prefer to do more shorter breaks just taking a few sips but getting back the second hand quicker, to keep the split low.

Haven't figured out yet how I'll do it for the FM, but I certainly will take some input from these forums. I guess I might do it like the HM with maybe one or two short full breaks to quickly get up, strectch, drink and stuff some food in.

However, I guess there not much to prevent the sore butt...

[iain]

Uyam, good luck with the FM. It is a much tougher mental challenge than the HM, seeing >HM remaining after 20k or rowing is demoralising!

Butt pain comes in 2 forms. Most people get serious glute pain. This can be temporarily relieved by shifting on the seat (extra towel, twisting slightly to use the other leg more etc.), but is likely to be significant. The abbrasions can be avoided. There are many discussions on this, but a seat pad and folded fluffy towel works for me. Others prefer bubble wrap.

Re stopping, the time penalty is quite high. Also these need planning or you willfind them getting closer together. Make sure you eat a lot before you start, I do not recommend running out of glycogen!

- Iain

[Bob S.]

Re stopping, the time penalty is quite high. Also these need planning or you willfind them getting closer together. Make sure you eat a lot before you start, I do not recommend running out of glycogen!

- Iain

But make that at least three hours before you start. For myself, it means the night before.

Bob S.

[Steelhead]

Just curious: I've only been erging since November of 2008, and have had fun with the monthly challenges. I couln't help but notice that one of the challenges coming up is that of the half marathon or full marathon. As I looked at times, I noticed that people my age/wt are finishing a full marathon in around 3 hrs.
So here's the deal - I have a hard time sitting on that seat for more than an hour. Plus taking on fluids in the middle of a row is a real pain. What are the rules? Do you just set your PM4 for 42195m and row away? Stopping to stretch when you have to? Drinking when you have to? Or do you have to gut it out (hemorrhoids and all) on that hard plastic seat for three hours? Don't get me wrong - I'm up for the challenge as much as the next person - but are there any rules? Tricks? Hints? Heck - even sitting in an eight on the water for two hours isn't "comfortable". I'm a lightweight, so I know it's not just too much pressure on the seat. Plus - I can ride my bicycle for 4 hours (different weight distribution, I know) with no real discomfort. But still - any ideas? Thanks.

I've done several FM. For your first one, don't even worry about the time it takes. The goal is to do a FM not break any records -- of course, you will establish your first record with your first FM.

I recommend that you buy two rowing pads from Concept2 and then use the adhesive to attach the two together; place on seat. This way you have a nice cushion that is portable for home use, gym, travel, etc. This should take care of the seat soreness.

I make my own sports drink which is pretty simple. I have two versions. First version: 1 cup pomegranate juice and 3 cups of water. Second version: 1 cup pomegranate juice, 1 Hi-Ball sports drink (no sweeteners but has taurine, B vitamins and caffeine, guarana, etc. -- 10 oz.), and then 14 oz water. The pomegranate juice gives you the simple carbs, and lots of potassium, copper, magnesium, phosphorus, Iron, selenium, sodium, and zinc; B-vitamins, vit E, Vit K, Vit C, Vit A. Also, the pomegranate juice has nitric oxide which opens your arteries. So you can have a caffeinated version or non-caffeinated version. Fix two bottles for use during your FM.

Set the damper at 2 or 3 with a low drag factor so you don't run out of glycogen too soon and crash and burn.

As you erg, when you are thirsty stop and take a drink, stand up and stretch, and start rowing again. You won't break any records and you may have to take a break every 5K or whatever, but you will finish.

Lastly, if rowing at home, put a TV in front of your erg and watch a favorite movie or two, or use your iPod with the music you want to listen to. A little distraction helps you forget about the pain.

Then you will have a bench line. After that, you can do more FM and keep beating the time of your last one -- which makes it fun.

Okay, just my thoughts.

[j1huegel]

I switched to a low-carb high-fat "ketogenic" diet several months ago. Once the body switches to burning ketones as the preferential energy source, you no longer bonk during prolonged low-demand aerobic exercise such as rowing marathons or hm.

As an example, I woke up a few weeks ago, and ran 20 miles on just water. No pre-run food, no food during the run. Afterward, I had no muscle soreness or fatigue.

I have talked to ultra runners who do the same thing. Break the glycogen dependence and you can go "almost forever" on stored body fat and water, without needing to refuel.

I did a 90min row last month and had no issues. I think I'll try a HM soon and see where it goes.

[Carl Watts]

Dehydration stops you before anything else.

You need to line up 4 or 5 bottles of fluid at least and take regular sips. Remember the pace for most people is pretty slow and so is the rating so drinking was not a problem. No such things as taking a break, it's non-stop all the way if you want a half decent time, for most people just to finish is the whole challenge. Had massive leg cramps in both legs as soon as I stopped at the finish so probably still did not take in enough fluids.

The FM is very very hard but obviously it's better if it's done online with 16 other rowers with the likes of RowPro and you have someone else going at your pace, it keeps you focused and more determined to finish.