Rowing & Running Fitness

[Steve W]

Looks like a number of runners & former runners on the forums. Today was my first half-marathon since last month's marathon. Much like my erg times, I won't be winning many awards. Regardless, 1:53:54 was better than expected. Again, noticed the absence of lower back pain. I'm a believer that this is related to the erging, averaging 30-40k per week in addition to current running, lifting & pilates for flexibility/core work.
Plan is to maintain current running level for a couple of months but increase erging slightly each week. Hope is to row a marathon , maybe late July? We'll see. Feels good to run again and appreciate learning much from board members in support of the erging.

[Steve W]

Rotating running / rowing days, meaning one of those is the primary focus each day. Typically doing two-a-days, short in one / longer in the other. Distance w/o intensity results in a lot of junk training, whether rowing or running. After skierging 2k as part of the warm-up, focus today was a 4 mile time trial sandwiched between warm-up & cool-down miles. 4 mile time was 31:40, avg 7:55 per mile over slightly rolling terrain. My sub 6 miles are behind me but sub 8 felt good .

[Steve W]

2k row warmup. Focus was one hour run with significant hills on route. GPS showed 6.86 miles at one hour, finished running seven miles in about 1:01. Solid hill / strength training session. Frank Shorter used to refer to hill training as 'hidden speed' workouts. Like rowing, fast turnover without strength can result in poorer results, especially when things start going uphill.

Considering a trip out to Colorado during summer break, would be crawling up the Barr Trail to the top of Pike's Peak. Better to get a few hill sessions under my belt if that's going to happen. Looking forward to more rowing tomorrow...

[Steve W]

Rowed 1 hr yesterday & 2k skierg. Ran 7 today inside on the treadmill, 1:01:18. Quite hot & humid outside in St. Louis today & learned long ago that heat/humidity can take down the best of runners & athletes.

[Steve W]

Ran a warm & humid 5k race this morning. Did not know it was run through a protected wetlands area, which meant a dew point in the low 70's . Oh well, everyone had to contend with the same humidity / sun so....
After warming up & quickly learning I'd be sweating like a skinny pig, adjusted my time expectations. Finished in 25:30, 2nd in age group & 17th overall, which was surprising. The sun & humidity really did take it's toll and for just 5k, it was a sufferfest. Was a good reminder of much environmental factors (heat, humidity, hills, wind, etc) can impact performance. Nice that erging usually allows for control of those factors.
So far this this month, two races. First overall in the open water swim & today's second in age group run. At 61kg, I'll never be competitive rower but would like to notch an erg marathon. Fitness level seems on course and hope to do that in about three weeks.

[woodgeek]

My wife and I have run a few half marathons and really enjoy them. We have a pretty hectic life and it can be hard to squeeze in 20-30 miles a week running, although that is the goal. We live in Las Vegas and the summer heat makes running difficult. I've begun using her treadmill and don't really enjoy it -- but it beats not running. I was trying to run before bedtime but it was still 105 at 9:00PM--just nuts.

I'm 47 and got back into running about 5 years ago when we began training for a Spartan race. I've always wanted a rower and picked up a used Model B for a few hundred bucks on eBay last month. I've really been enjoying using it. I ordered a PM5 so I can begin tracking my erg workouts like I do my running. As a runner I use CycleMeter and Strava religiously. I've been manually tracking my rowing on Strava but it's sub-optimal at best.

When I'm running, my average run is 6 miles at 8:00-8:15/mile. My pace for a half-marathon ends being about 8:30. A sub 2hr time for a half marathon is great, especially at 61. Looking at the time you spend running and erging, you're obviously in good shape. I think erging is going to supplement my running nicely but it's too early to tell. With this summer heat, my pace is all over the map right now, depending on the time of day, whether I'm running in the morning, in the middle of the night or after five hours of sleep. lol

[hobbit]

Did my first vertical kilometer race today. Racing up a very steep hill - actually "only " 900m of climbing in a 3.5k race. A large bit in the middle had a slope of 44%. I managed 54mins, which is a climbing rate of 1000m/h - decent, but not great. The winner did 38min. Still, I got the M60-69 1st place prize, but the top woman in the same age group beat me by 6mins. Some lady! I really can't complain as I've only actually run once previously this year. My cardio has been rowing (50%), elliptics (40%) and cycling (10%). Plus four power hikes similar to the vertical kilometer.

[hobbit]

I'm finding the limits of cross training. After years of suffering from a mysterious shin injury (not shin splints or Achilles tendon or stress fracture) when running more than once a week, I decided to concentrate on erging with just a bit of running. My hope was that having great cardio, flexibility and core strength would be enough to get me good times running with only very little running. It isn't working as I hoped ("specificity is key", I hear Gammmmo saying). Did my test circuit today - a bit over a mile on wood chips and I was knackered after two laps at 4.5min/km. Horrible! I'm hoping to do 10k on the roads at that speed in a month. I'll try running more regularly, hoping not to get injured, because if I don't my road races are going to be far from my expectations.

[hobbit]

Did my first ever Parkrun (5k) today. "Unfortunately", I spent the evening before with friends and we drank way too much red wine. Did not feel like running fast at 9am the next morning . Anyway, it was a nice cool day and a lightning fast course, so I gave it my best shot and made it in 22:55, with the fastest age-adjusted time. So honour was saved. I hope that next time will go better, with more sensible preparation.

[RayOfSunshine]

Did my first ever Parkrun (5k) today. "Unfortunately", I spent the evening before with friends and we drank way too much red wine. Did not feel like running fast at 9am the next morning . Anyway, it was a nice cool day and a lightning fast course, so I gave it my best shot and made it in 22:55, with the fastest age-adjusted time. So honour was saved. I hope that next time will go better, with more sensible preparation.

Congrats Hobbit! I would be extremely happy with that time.

[johnlvs2run]

Did my first vertical kilometer race today. Racing up a very steep hill - actually "only " 900m of climbing in a 3.5k race. A large bit in the middle had a slope of 44%. I managed 54mins, which is a climbing rate of 1000m/h - decent, but not great. The winner did 38min. Still, I got the M60-69 1st place prize, but the top woman in the same age group beat me by 6mins. Some lady! I really can't complain as I've only actually run once previously this year. My cardio has been rowing (50%), elliptics (40%) and cycling (10%). Plus four power hikes similar to the vertical kilometer.

You must keep in great shape. Well done. I'm impressed.

[Allan Olesen]

Did my first vertical kilometer race today. Racing up a very steep hill - actually "only " 900m of climbing in a 3.5k race. A large bit in the middle had a slope of 44%. I managed 54mins, which is a climbing rate of 1000m/h - decent, but not great.

If my calculations are correct, you have on average delivered 147 watt, only for lifting your body weight. On top of that comes the power spent for running. Sounds quite impressive to me.

[hobbit]

Did a (sub) vertical kilometer race yesterday. A modest 680m of vertical climb under a ski lift. In 2.5k there was maybe 50m of flat. I came 47th out of 75 overall in 37:01 (winner did an amazing 22:30) and 5th M60-69. Meuh. That's 1100m/h climbing, which is actually what I expected and not bad, but is not good enough for me. Shows the limits of where you can get without enough specific training. So, I'm starting a track session a week, and hoping that my dodgy glass shin holds up.

[hobbit]

My local 10k race today. It's got national status, so 2,700 starters from all over. This was one of my main targets for the year. How far would 6 months of regular erging (30km per week) get me? A bit of a fight over the twisty 1st kilometer, but OK after that. Made it in equal splits, but drifting back placewise at the end. Finished in 48:40, 12th M60-69 out of 50 and a bit disappointed, but glad to finish without being stopped by my various weak links. Post-race, my left knee hurts a lot, a result of over-enthusiastic goblet squats a few weeks ago. So it's ice packs and ibuprofen and thinking about the next direction. Maybe rest a while and then start the Pete Plan sooner than I planned.

[Steve W]

My local 10k race today. It's got national status, so 2,700 starters from all over. This was one of my main targets for the year. How far would 6 months of regular erging (30km per week) get me? A bit of a fight over the twisty 1st kilometer, but OK after that. Made it in equal splits, but drifting back placewise at the end. Finished in 48:40, 12th M60-69 out of 50 and a bit disappointed, but glad to finish without being stopped by my various weak links. Post-race, my left knee hurts a lot, a result of over-enthusiastic goblet squats a few weeks ago. So it's ice packs and ibuprofen and thinking about the next direction. Maybe rest a while and then start the Pete Plan sooner than I planned.

Hobbit, at 48:40, you've run sub 8 minute miles for 10k. For 30 & 40 year olds, nothing unusual. In your 60's, that is much rarer air. Congrats on a strong effort that few are capable of. Running a strong 10k is an indicator of being able to do Botha comfortable and decent half marathon. You can spend more time inside on the erg during winter. Suggest you find a half marathon, extend your running season if you're feeling up to it. Sounds like you could really nail it!

Speaking of nailing it, how about that new marathon record yesterday. Wowzers, huge leap of 3 seconds off per mile in an actual race? Kipchogi is the world's best EVER, let's us know what is possible.