Holly's journey

[Holly62]

Well that's the first ten days done, up to eight and a half minutes screen showing 420 whatever that means lol, I know if I work harder it goes up, I'm trying to push hard, for me, up to 530 for the last fifteen seconds, and if it drops below 400 I'm being lazy, which will happen at about the three minute mark when I'm thinking.. Oh no I'm not even half way yet.

Feeling good, not breathless climbing the stairs..

Lost 4lb and I had a big daddy box meal, and a large quarter pounder with cheese meal somewhere in there, must work on the diet thing, oh well one thing at a time.

Holly

[Holly62]

Oooh just a quick question, my log book isn't syncing with my concept 2 account, I've tried logging out then in again, it's probably something simple, and it's going to be a head slap moment when soneone tells me how to do it,


Thank you
Holly

[Holly62]

It's OK found it...

Head slap

[dykebert]

Hey Holly, Great Job!!!
Based on the numbers, my guess is that you are looking at Calories per hour which you can change.

Not sure if you are asking about the display on the monitor or on your phone. Since you just got your erg, you probably have a PM5 monitor.
https://www.concept2.com/service/monito ... how-to-use
for your phone /ergData
https://www.concept2.com/service/software/ergdata/faqs

Sharky
Keep on rowing, just keep rowing

[Holly62]

Hi sharky, thank you for that, I've been looking at YouTube clips of the pm 5, and the calorie read out is probably what I'm looking at, wavy line underneath and the time rowed which is my nemesis top left, lol.

I thought I'd do one of the challenges this morning... Mud challenge...
Five thousand metres A DAY for twenty five days in March... Gulp

Maybe sometime in the future, I'll see how I feel at the end of February,.. Are you going to have a go sharky?

Holly

[Holly62]

Ten minutes and 9 seconds, 1300 and something meters.
Switched my display to pace boat today, which I think will be more useful, in my slow steady progress.
Who cares how many calories burned, its not important.

I take It the pace boat works off your last workout?

Feeling great today, much more invigorated and motivated.

Holly

[lindsayh]

Hi sharky, thank you for that, I've been looking at YouTube clips of the pm 5, and the calorie read out is probably what I'm looking at, wavy line underneath and the time rowed which is my nemesis top left, lol. Holly

Holly the Calorie setting is pretty much a waste of time - it is based on assumptions about the basal metabolism of a 75kg man so hard to get useful information. Much better to use pace/500m which is the one that is easiest to compare with others and that we all tend to use (although looking at watts per stroke is something that may be useful later on when you are looking at the power of your stroke)

[Holly62]

Thanks lindsay,
So pace 500 meters it is for tomorrow.

11 days ago I could barely walk up the stairs without being out of breath, now I'm talking about pace settings, unbelievable

It's amazing how your expectations of your own capabilities change over such a short period of time, I wish I'd have bought the concept 2 years ago, impact on mental health alone, outstanding.

Holly

[lindsayh]

Thanks lindsay,
So pace 500 meters it is for tomorrow. 11 days ago I could barely walk up the stairs without being out of breath, now I'm talking about pace settings, unbelievable It's amazing how your expectations of your own capabilities change over such a short period of time, I wish I'd have bought the concept 2 years ago, impact on mental health alone, outstanding. Holly

… yes it is genuinely an amazing piece of kit and the mental as well as physical benefits are very significant. The good news is that the improvements you are experiencing will go on for some time to come.

[Holly62]

I've changed my display, so it displays meters rowed which is going to be of much more use when I push myself in the 5000m a day mud challenge.

I have a full page calendar detailing work days including a 7 day holiday so 25 days is doable.

And now the not so good news. I'm up to 1730m in one session which I need to increase to 5000m by the end of the month, including a couple of rest days by the 28th of this month.
Even if I fail to complete the challenge, high probability, I will discover what I'm made of.

Realised today that I have an audience of the three family dogs who sit alongside the rower and follow my strokes, like they're watching the tennis..

[mjlawton]

Hi Holly,
Great progress so far! Mentally I find it a bit easier to get more meters in if I use intervals...for example 1000 meters with 2 min rest between intervals. I can do 4 intervals much easier than just rowing 4000 straight meters. Something you might want to try as you increase up to the 5000 mark. To set an interval you go to new workout, then single distance, then change the numbers to what you want using the arrows and + or - signs on the right side. Click the check mark when you have what you want.

Keep up the good work!

[Holly62]

Hi Janet,
Thank you for the tip, all gratefully received.
I need to explore the pm5 more, particularly the interval facility, 1000m with five minutes rest then repeat up to 5000m, maybe the way to go with my level of fitness.

Thank you Janet

[Holly62]

2000m rowed in 13 minutes, it was actually 2019m in 13 minutes 5 seconds, but near enough to establish a pitiful baseline

I'll look back on this in a year, and laugh myself sillier than I already am, but for now these are my capabilities.

Now resting for ten minutes to see how much further I can go.

Holly

[Holly62]

Well the answer was not much, in fact it was a non starter, however today I managed another 2000m, and I was thirty seconds quicker so alls well.

What with all this positive energy from rowing for the last couple of weeks I've been pretty much ignoring the elephant in the room, an object which I resemble.
16st 5lb at 5' 7", a bit of a chubber, and I'm not impressed.

Yesterday's food intake, and I name and shame myself consisted of a large bowl of the previous nights left over Chinese take away for brunch and a half pound chilli cheese burger and fries for dinner washed down with a litre and a half of fully leaded Pepsi... And chocolate.

Shame on me.
Diet commences.
The difference now, as opposed to previous diet only performances is the concept 2 has given me that positive mental attitude that I lacked.

It's 4008 miles from Cardiff Bay to St Lucia by the time I've rowed the distance I should be back in bikini territory.

It's going to be a journey

[Ombrax]

2000m rowed in 13 minutes, it was actually 2019m in 13 minutes 5 seconds, but near enough to establish a pitiful baseline

Holly, congratulations for all the hard work!

Two things that may be of interest:

1) You can select any one of a handful of workouts that are already programmed into the rower PM, and it just so happens that the first two are 2000m and 5000m. When you do that the PM will count down the distance for you as you row. In my case I find it helps motivate me as the remaining meters decrease, and it will stop at exactly 2000m, so your time doesn't include any extraneous stuff at the end (like those last 19m). If you're so inclined, you can also program a number of different types of workouts yourself. (See the manual for the details.)

2) I'm sure you already know this, but as a reminder, if your primary goal is to loose weight (keeping it under control is one of mine) then it's a lot easier to loose pounds by reducing your intake than it is to burn it off by exercising. However, one of the ways exercise is helpful (to me) is that I've realized how much hard work it takes to burn, say, 500 calories. So when I walk by the box doughnuts someone's brought in to the office it's much easier to say to myself "No, not today - I rowed too hard yesterday to be tempted by junk calories like that."

Good Luck