Marathon Row - looking for some input

[adaird1]

First post and looking for some tips / insight ahead of a marathon row.

Just turned 55 in July, 190 pounds, been rowing since 1997- over 21.3 million metres rowed to date - aim is to row around world before I'm 65!!

Started out on 2k sprints mostly, PB 7.01.3, just could not break 7 minutes, but for the past 15+ years it's all distance, nothing less than 10k at a time now.

Just did a 25k yesterday, my longest single row to date, in 1.49.28.6 a little over 2.11 splits and felt pretty comfortable. Was thinking I'd aim for a sub 3.20 marathon maybe next Wednesday/Thursday. I usually row 15k at around 2.08, so a marathon at splits of 2.20 feels like it should be doable.

I was thinking I'd have some bananas / almond milk / water on hand to keep me going but open to suggestions.

Doug
UK expat living in Boston, Mass. since 2001.

[lindsayh]

First post and looking for some tips / insight ahead of a marathon row.
Just turned 55 in July, 190 pounds, been rowing since 1997- over 21.3 million metres rowed to date - aim is to row around world before I'm 65!!
Started out on 2k sprints mostly, PB 7.01.3, just could not break 7 minutes, but for the past 15+ years it's all distance, nothing less than 10k at a time now.
Just did a 25k yesterday, my longest single row to date, in 1.49.28.6 a little over 2.11 splits and felt pretty comfortable. Was thinking I'd aim for a sub 3.20 marathon maybe next Wednesday/Thursday. I usually row 15k at around 2.08, so a marathon at splits of 2.20 feels like it should be doable.
I was thinking I'd have some bananas / almond milk / water on hand to keep me going but open to suggestions. Doug UK expat living in Boston, Mass. since 2001.

There is a lot of good stuff in the marathon guide that Eddie Fletcher wrote for C2 in the UK Doug
https://indoorsportservices.co.uk/train ... n/download
there are also a lot of marathon threads here if you search a little
I reckon there is a big difference between 25k and 42 and suspect the last 10k is petty tough if you have never been there (I have resisted going over 30km)
The rate does sound doable - the tricks are in the food and drink and butt protection strategies. Learn to row one handed and practice eating a banana on the erg and have the drinks reachable as well - some have a camelback on a chair next to the erg. Maybe have a get up and stretch every 10kms although some have trouble getting back into rhythm. Make sure it is cool and ventilated and the seat padding is right.

[Edward4492]

I've done two marathons. PR'd at 3:04 back in May. It's a totally different animal for most people than a 15 or 20k. I've done plenty of HM's with no issues. The problem isn't fitness, looks like you have that. It's not fueling either; I ate a banana (two halfs, already peeled in plastic bags) and had 2-3 water bottles. Prior to my last one I had racked up six 100k weeks, mostly 10's, 15's and 20k's. The problem with the FM is your glutes, butt, etc. breaking down. I started to get severe cramping and muscles locking up near the end. The final 15k can be hell. My last one was easier due to the high mileage prep. I also used an ab mat and a seat cushion; about four inches of padding. I got some weird looks....nobody was laughing at the end when I finished 15 minutes faster.

My best advice is take a short break every 10k. Take it down to 30k to go then take your first break, then at 20k, and 10k to go. Make the breaks short, one minute. Get off the machine, a couple of quick squats, then get back to work. Don't quit! You'll hate yourself. No matter how bad it gets, stop stretch, get back to work. I had a real bad stretch between 15 and 10k to go, then it suddenly became easier and I started going faster down the last 5k. Suck it up and finish it off. When you're 35k in you've gone to far to pack it in.

Let us know how you make out. One last bit of advice, don't go out too slow. Start at a decent manageable pace and hold it for as long as you can with-out having to dig too deep.

You'll get this!

[Bob S.]

My best advice is take a short break every 10k. Take it down to 30k to go then take your first break, then at 20k, and 10k to go. Make the breaks short, one minute. Get off the machine, a couple of quick squats, then get back to work. Don't quit!

Isn't doing a FM as an interval session like this a whole nother story than completing in one sitting? I mean, "everyone" can do long intervals, but a lot fewer can handle 3-4 hours straight on the erg. Are there any "rules" here?

The rule is that it has to be continuous on the monitor. If you take a break, the monitor continues adding the additional time, but will stop after a short period (4 minutes on a PM3, I believe. PMs 4&5??). If it is connected to a computer, or if one of the buttons is pushed before it turns off, it will continue. The catch is that the break times are all included in the final total, which is not the case when it is programmed for normal intervals. Breaks are essential for the truly long pieces like 100km and 24 hours. Those have to include potty breaks and even quick naps. To make it short, marathon breaks are legit, but they cost you time.

Bob S.

[adaird1]

Thanks for the feedback. Definitely need to work out something for the seat - shame Concept 2 does not offer a better option - but if anyone else has ideas on how to make the 3+ hour row more comfortable on the butt let me know. I will post the result of my row, but looking forward to it - my wife just shakes her head!

[Edward4492]

Remi, not intervals, just a pacing strategy. The clock is running while taking a 60s break. Start at 42k, finish at zero. It would be like running a marathon and stopping at the aid stations every so often for a break. My actual "rowing" time was probably around 3:00. If you stop rowing for 10 seconds and took a drink then started rowing again; same thing. Hope that clears things up.

For the record I have no trouble doing an HM with nothing more than pulling one handed while grabbing some water. I'm sure there are people who can literally row straight through for 3 hours......but they're few and far between.

Remi, I think I saw you doing a brutal (and impressive!) crossfit work out involving some crazy number of heavy cleans (snatches?). Pretty sure by the end you were taking some "breaks" between lifts. More like pauses. Same thing. Clock starts, work out begins, work out ends, clock stops.

[Edward4492]

No worries! (and I wasn't being sarcastic.....you put up some VERY impressive numbers; and I really respect the heavy weights and the crossfit stuff, keep it cominig)

[adaird1]

Well I did it. 3 hours 8 minutes 39.4 secs at an average split of 2.14.1. Happy to say I've done it but not sure I'll be rushing to do another, it was very hard.

I set out a plan based on 5k splits @ 2:12 through 20k then @ 2:15 for the rest of the way as a guide and held to it through about 35k but the time started to creep up so I ran a little over. Stroke rate averaged 26 s/m over the course of the row.

Couple of observations at the end - left butt cheek and hamstring are very tight, abs too and index finger on left hand is blistered where the glove ends. Initial recovery feels good, but we'll see how I feel after a nights sleep.

As regards prep, I attached a bleecher seat pad ($6.99 from Dicks Sporting Goods) which stayed in place throughout with no movement, so God knows how it would have felt without it, and set up a drinks station - went with 4 of the BodyArmor sports drinks and didn't need any food. Also never came off the machine until I was done (felt if I did it would be hard to restart and didn't want to lose time). Ipod playlist was good as always but still found early on my stroke rate tended to move up with the tempo of the music. Found that I was awarding myself drinks as treats too the longer it went to help keep me going, and it worked for me.

It was definitely hard looking at 42,195m on the screen to start but I was focusing on 5k increments so that helped. Once I went over 25k I was into new territory and with 17k still to go it felt daunting, but soon it was 15k, 10k and then it just seemed familiar, plus it was a lot of firsts, first 30k, 35k etc.
Hurt some around 15k to go briefly and then again with 10k to go, but the worst was at the 4k remaining mark - if I was going to quit it would have been then - that was when I was physically hurting the most.
Had to move around a bit on the seat at the worst points to relieve the tightening on the left side, but managed through.

As I said it was a personal goal to complete a marathon row and now I've done it, so need to see how long the recover needs to be before I row my next 15k.
I'd also point out that I didn't do any specific program ahead of this, just my usual 40-45k a week, so felt I had the base to do the work, after I'd tried the 25k the week before. All I did was give myself 7 days of no rowing after that and decided to give it a go, and that's it done!!

Thanks again for the input ahead of time. Hopefully this might inspire someone else to give it a go.

Doug

[G-dub]

Congratulations. Great accomplishment and Great report! Very inspiring.

[Edward4492]

Very nice! Nice that you did it straight through; I suffered horrible cramps in the buttocks on my first one and took the short breaks to mitigate that problem. Now it's in the books!

[lindsayh]

very very impressive - well done indeed.

[Anth_F]

Total respect my friend, a Marathon is not something i would feel up to anytime soon, thats for sure.

Congratulations!!!!

[DavidA]

Well I did it. 3 hours 8 minutes 39.4 secs at an average split of 2.14.1. Happy to say I've done it but not sure I'll be rushing to do another, it was very hard.

I set out a plan based on 5k splits @ 2:12 through 20k then @ 2:15 for the rest of the way as a guide and held to it through about 35k but the time started to creep up so I ran a little over. Stroke rate averaged 26 s/m over the course of the row.

Couple of observations at the end - left butt cheek and hamstring are very tight, abs too and index finger on left hand is blistered where the glove ends. Initial recovery feels good, but we'll see how I feel after a nights sleep.

As regards prep, I attached a bleecher seat pad ($6.99 from Dicks Sporting Goods) which stayed in place throughout with no movement, so God knows how it would have felt without it, and set up a drinks station - went with 4 of the BodyArmor sports drinks and didn't need any food. Also never came off the machine until I was done (felt if I did it would be hard to restart and didn't want to lose time). Ipod playlist was good as always but still found early on my stroke rate tended to move up with the tempo of the music. Found that I was awarding myself drinks as treats too the longer it went to help keep me going, and it worked for me.

It was definitely hard looking at 42,195m on the screen to start but I was focusing on 5k increments so that helped. Once I went over 25k I was into new territory and with 17k still to go it felt daunting, but soon it was 15k, 10k and then it just seemed familiar, plus it was a lot of firsts, first 30k, 35k etc.
Hurt some around 15k to go briefly and then again with 10k to go, but the worst was at the 4k remaining mark - if I was going to quit it would have been then - that was when I was physically hurting the most.
Had to move around a bit on the seat at the worst points to relieve the tightening on the left side, but managed through.

As I said it was a personal goal to complete a marathon row and now I've done it, so need to see how long the recover needs to be before I row my next 15k.
I'd also point out that I didn't do any specific program ahead of this, just my usual 40-45k a week, so felt I had the base to do the work, after I'd tried the 25k the week before. All I did was give myself 7 days of no rowing after that and decided to give it a go, and that's it done!!

Thanks again for the input ahead of time. Hopefully this might inspire someone else to give it a go.

Doug

Awesome.
Great job!
It's always nice to reach a goal.

David