37, female, former athlete (tournament fighter) who got pretty fat over the course of seven years of grad school (it's two doctorates, it takes awhile. And no, I'm not done with my dissertation yet, Mom.
) Between being sedentary, drinking too much wine and beer at night, and eating wrong food... Some people had anti-depressants: I had crab rangoon. Bad. I've lost 40 pounds in the last two years and am 15 pounds away from being at my pre-grad school weight. All this is to say that I'm overweight without having to actually tell the interwebs my weight. Still, I packed it on over a fairly solid muscle base. I'm fat like a retired football player is fat. Smexay, amirite? I am, as a trainer might diplomatically term it, deconditioned. I'm not in shape. At all. I found erging one day when I was at the gym and all the other cardio machines were taken. I loved it. I watched a lot of technique videos when I got home. I spent a week developing technique as carefully as I could. I asked someone at a local rowing club to watch me, she says I look fine (and didn't need to lean back quite so much). I followed the Concept2 beginner workout plan but it was not enough, I also had to keep doing my elliptical to get in cardio. Then I found the Pete Plan. And now I suspect that what Pete has planned is my imminent demise.
I rowed 5000m on Day 1 of Week 1, per the Pete Plan. I had to take lots of breaks. I did not record the time. Then I rowed the 6x 500m splits with 2 minutes of rest in between. My splits started long (2:46) and shortened up (last one was 2:33) as I started feeling like I had plenty left to make the last couple of splits, and had maybe been pacing too slow in the first three. I know those splits sound infinity long. Bear in mind that this is my first week of erging in my entire life, OK? And before this I was hamstering around on ellipticals. And before that I was either sitting on my butt at a desk or passed out on said desk while still clutching a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a 24 ounce espresso in the other.
I rowed another 5000m, again per the plan, and it went OK. I took one two minute halfway break. I rowed it in 35 minutes. I thought this was fine. I had no idea what someone at my level should be rowing, so I just focused on form and rowed until I was done with the task.
WEEK TWO. OK, so today I rowed 5500. It took 38 minutes, and I was a wreck at the end. I tried very hard not to take breaks but had to stop and catch my breath a couple of times. I was not displeased because at least I got in another 500 above last week and my splits were basically 15 seconds more than my sprint splits, which I think is about right? So I was like YEAH. And then I got home and read this re: the prescribed 20 minute workout this week (fourth workout of the second week): "It's very likely now that 20 minutes is less than it took you to row the 5500m this week, so aim to row this at the same pace [etc. etc.]" and I was just absolutely *flattened*. I mean, less than 20 minutes for me to row 5500? What the what? SERIOUSLY?! I'm 18 minutes over my "probable" time? I was supposed to be able to do that in my second week of erging?
Next week I am supposed to row 6000. And 6500 the week after that. I am wondering about this whole Pete Plan thing now - is this a beginner plan for people who are already in shape - like an 8 and up on a 10 scale of fitness- and are learning a new sport, or is this a beginner plan intended for people like me who aren't higher than a 5 on the fitness scale, at best?
On the Pete Plan I will row approximately 20,000m this week in four workouts. I can see from the boards that this is on the low end, that people regularly do 30,000m a week as a minimum and up to 100,000m a week. I'm baffled. Do other new people start out from sedentary to 30,000m a week without a hitch?
I am seeing some dramatic improvement in body composition and toning in my two weeks on the erg (the thigh jiggle is all but gone, which is awesome) but I can't imagine being able to row 10,000 meters without any breaks. I literally can't imagine it. I still haven't even got through a 5000 without having to take a breather midway through.
Can someone help me reason this out? I'm not trying to be lazy or lowball my conditioning - I'm trying to erg my way back to fitness from a pretty deconditioned state. Should I stick with the Pete Plan? Repeat weeks until I can get through their respective endurance rows without a break?
I have no coach or trainer, I'm on my own. I couldn't even *find* a trainer in town who understood what I was talking about, none of them even knew the word erg, some thought I was having them on until I finally gave up and started just talking about "the rowing machine."
Sorry this has gone on for so long!
