Holiday Challenge - How Do You Do It?

[[old] giniajim]

I still feel like I'm a newbie. I've been doing 4000-5000 meters a day, usually 2000m at a time. Today I did a 6000m row, my longest yet. My plan is to do 6000 a day (2000-3000m rows) until I take off work on the 10th, then go to 9000 (which will be a challenge in itself) until the 24th. That'll put me at 200,000; if I make it, I'll consider that a big accomplishment!!

[[old] drkcgoh]

Just made the HC 200k yesterday after 8 days of erging & training for 4 race walks. Have to taper down for a 12K race tomorrow, a 10K next week & a 7K the week after. Body fat's gone down to 14.2% from 16%. but weight's going slightly up to 148 lbs.<br>KC63

[[old] Sunflower]

Hello:<br>I'm new to the whole Erg thing and so is my hubby. We got our rower in October and have been using it sporadically until the Holiday Challenge came up. Now we're both going for it. He is doing a better job then me of regularly working out. <br><br>I've bought Advent calendars for each of us as an extra incentive and tracking tool. For each 8000 meters completed one gets a piece of chocolate. It's all in good fun. <br><br>I'm at 62 K now. Mr. Sunflower has done probably 8K over that.<br><br>

[[old] brianric]

Just hit the 200 K mark. I guess there not set up yet to order the t-shirt. Then again, I'm approaching the 3 million mark and I have not received my 2 million meter reward.

[[old] Tom_Pinckney]

I feel "small time" to some of you. Since I was on a 10 dqy cruise (I only gained one pound and have since lost it), it threw me behind a bit. However, I"m doing 8000 meters a day to catch up. <br><br>Interestingly enough, I find a big difference in how I feel (better) now that I'm rowing 8000 meters rather than the 5000 I was doing before. Actually getting high after I row. <br><br>FYI: I am taking it easy as a new rower. I am getting my 8000 as follows:<br><br>1500 meters warm up at 4:00 pace; 5000 meters at 3:00 pace; 1500 meters at 4:00 min. cooldown. I put in 10 very hard strokes every 1000 miles to get my strength up.<br><br>I am 59 years old and have several injuries I work around. By pacing myself, I feel that eventually I will get in great shape (and hopefully less pain from my injuries) from rowing. I have lost about 12 pounds since I started rowing in September.

[[old] Canoeist]

<!--QuoteBegin-Tom_Pinckney+Dec 6 2004, 01:49 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td class='genmed'><span class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></span> (Tom_Pinckney @ Dec 6 2004, 01:49 PM)</td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--> Interestingly enough, I find a big difference in how I feel (better) now that I'm rowing 8000 meters rather than the 5000 I was doing before. Actually getting high after I row. <br><br> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><br> Endorphins, very powerful and adictive chemicals produced by the body, enter the blood system after about 20 minutes of hard exercise.<br><br>Cheers,<br><br>Paul Flack

[[old] Tom_Pinckney]

Thanks - yep. I find myself feeling high (sometimes) even when I'm not working out.

[LindaM]

I find that endorphin release at a heartrate as low as 118, for me a pace of 2:35 for an hour. Addictive? You bet. No pain and lots of gain!

[[old] SimonB]

Is there anywhere on the C2 site to see the cumulative meters rowed by <b>all</b> participants during the holiday challange?<br><br>I can see honor boards and my own total, but don't see anywhere the total for all members.<br><br>Ta.<br><br>S.<br><br><br>

[[old] afolpe]

Anyone else ever feel like the Holiday Challenge lends itself to doing a certain number of "junk meters"? For example, I went out this morning and kayaked hard for 3 hours, about 15 miles with a 15mph+ wind flying around out there, surfing (fun!!)and then fighting back 7.5 miles into the stupid wind (not fun at all !!). Ordinarily, I would have called it a day exercise-wise, after that, but, I had to get in my meters on the C2 (I need to finish by the 17th, because I'm going away and won't have an erg for 4 or 5 days). So, I just finished doing one of the slowest 10K pieces I have done in a long time (41:10)- one of the first times in a long time I have been over 40:00. These seem like just meters for the sake of meters- does doing this sort of easy slow stuff do anything good for you at all?<br><br>Andrew

[[old] SimonB]

For those of us that 'dream' of pulling 41:10 <br><br>I would say that no meters are junk !!! They all count for something <br><br>In your case it looks like a warm-down session....<br><br><br><br>

[[old] Dr. Z]

No junk meters needed. I discussed the Holiday Challenge with several other rowers at the boatclub. The general concensus was that anyone following their usual training program would easily reach the 200K target. The only really slow meters I've done during the challenge have been 20 min pieces I've done with my 12 year old son who's doing the Kids' Challenge. If he wants some company to keep him going, no way these are junk meters!

[[old] afolpe]

Never mind- I was feeling crabby. I agree that it's not a huge challenge getting in 200km in that time period, although I think it does make you tend to do long pieces, rather than "short, sharp" pieces. It also forces you to row when you don't really want to, which I suppose is good for mental discipline and all those other Puritan values. So I forced my weary and bleary self through a fast 30min and a moderate 60 minutes, after getting in another hard kayak session yesterday morning. Now at 160km and closing... <br><br>Andrew (who is scheduled to do sprints with a younger resident this evening- argh.)

[[old] rickm]

I should be done within the next couple of days. Most I've done is 15K at one time but alot of pieces close to that. I have TV and DVD to watch movies. High Damping (8 or 9), low stroke rate(20-22). Want to get this done so I can working on speed for 2K which is my weakness. I do one tough workout a week with group but have long warmup and cooldown to get the Klicks in.

[[old] Canoeist]

I finished the HC on Sunday with a marathon. I was only pulling 1:51 pace, but I certainly don't consider those junk meters. (It was all I could pull, even though I can pull under 1:20 for short bursts.)<br><br>Paul Flack