Post
by GlennUk » January 4th, 2022, 1:18 pm
Background
I started erging in 2009, exercising regularly up until end of April 2011. Whilst I used the erg after this, over the next 10 years I managed c.300k total.
When the pandemic started, I was commuting between bedroom and the study downstairs, my wife suggested (tactfully) I should do more before I became obese, diabetic and perhaps worse.
I dusted off the erg and in May 2020 began training and discovered the love of exercise that I had enjoyed prior to ‘falling off the wagon’ as it were.
I reached 60, on the 1st Jan 2021 and decided to set myself a challenge and settled on 115,972m.
Training
I followed he Eddie Fletcher Marathon and 100k plan supported by coaching sessions with Eddie via teams/whatsapp.
I found the training and Eddies approach really helpful. I had previously tried using RowPro but I am not sure they are a) suited to distances beyond a marathon (I'm not entirely sure they’re ideal for that either) and b) I found using RoPro with my laptop/PM4/5 was appalling.
Because I haven’t seriously tried any other long distance plans I cannot draw comparisons, save to say that of all the things that occurred on my long row, it was not my fitness that I ever felt was in doubt.
That is despite the fact that following the 100k plan the longest sessions were 3.,5 hours each, even if I were an elite athlete this would still be only c.50% of the anticipated duration of the final 100k, and clearly that I am not.
So I can recommend the Eddie Fletcher Marathon and 100k plan, it may not suit everyone but it did me.
Pre-session prep
I was keen to make sure I had sufficient fluids for the session, so I prepped 7 litres of my ‘energy drink’. AKA 7 litres of orange squash (with a teaspoon of sugar and 5g of salt for every litre). The same as I used throughout all of my training.
I had always struggled with a drinking to a specific plan in terms of volumes in the EF plan, and planned to drink every 30 minutes taking several large gulps from a drinking bottle. This was the same approach I used when id di my 60k and seemed to work for me.
It was warmer in the (unheated) gym that usual given the ambient conditions. I started erging at 05:40 ish and it was about 14C inside. Given the time I started I had hoped it would have been about 5-6 degrees lower than that throughout the session but at one stage the temp rose to 15.3C.
As it was warmer than hoped I drank every 15 minutes after the 1st couple of hours. I also ate 4 bananas during the session with approx. half eaten every couple of hours or so. I also snacked on cereal bars with each bar broken into several pieces. I actually drank 3022mls during the session.
At the end of the sessions I weighed exactly the same weight as I did when I started, so my strategy was obviously close to ideal for me I think.
Calculating what id drunk, eaten and subtracting the solid from my final weight it appears that over the 11 hours odd, I had a net loss of circa 350mls of fluid (for confirmation, I only lost fluid due to sweating, there was no other ‘mechanism’ for fluid/weight loss during the sessions).
I had gathered about me, spare clothes, sweatbands, plasters/scissors, music, glasses and this proved helpful as I needed plasters for a heel and a finger part way through the session.
Tip, if like me you wear lycra compression type clothing, be warned it can get rucked up and difficult to put on a sweaty body!
The Rowing
The plan was to row at between 80-85% of my HRmax and the pace would be what as a stroke rate in the region of 18-24 spm. The EF plan suggest 85% for a 100k so i needed to be conservative for the extra distance.
Whilst I was intent on rowing to HR I had hoped for pace of c.2:30.0/500m based on my training pace combined with advice form Eddie. Given I was planning to row 16% further than a 100k, his advice was to add about 4 seconds/500m to my 100k pace ended which up at about 2:26.0/500m in training.
However, right from the off it was obvious that I would not be able to maintain that pace in my proposed HR ranges and therefore my pace dropped to around 2:45/500m.
I had a similar issue when I rowed my 60k in may being much slower on the day than in training with my HR being much higher for the eventual pace than anticipated.
I am having issues downloading the csv file from my logbook which is pain, I have manged to download the TCX file but it does not contain the same details as the CSV. However from that I have worked out that my average HR for the whole period was 147bpm or just over 80% HRmax for me.
Also my average power 85 Watts for the rowing and stroke rate was 23spm.
However, about 6.5hrs in I developed a pain in the backside. Whilst initially it was manageable by shifting in my seat periodically, it never went away and eventually I ended up getting on and off the erg for a couple of minutes here and there to relieve the pain. Its hard to be precise about the impact this had on my time since to be frank, I wasn’t in a mood to take notes.
I had expected to be able to inspect in detail the data uplodaded from the ErgData app which hasn’t been the case yet. Looking at the graph on my logbook (which is open if anyone is interested), it does appear to me that I probably added about an hour onto my time getting on and off.
Converting watts into pace, using the calculator on concpet2 site, gives a pace of c.2:40.5/500m or a time of 10 hours 19 mins 48 seconds, clearly I cannot claim this was my pace, the end result is what it was but it does tie with my view that i added an hour on getting on and off.
I have been asked what i watched when rowing for over 11hrs, to which I reply the PM5!
I cannot erg at a consistent heart and stroke rate for any length of time without concentrating on what im doing. I needed to complete for a number of reason but not least my own personal pride and satisfaction so it was essential that i did not go too fast, going any slower did not bear thinking about!!.
Final thoughts
All in all my fitness never really troubled me, i always felt I could maintain the pace although I did have the odd psychological wobble. I set the monitor for a single variable interval of 115972m and in hindsight it might have been wiser to choose a number of intervals without a rest.
Watching the monitor creep down was particularly disheartening between 50k – 42Km, I cant really see an obvious reason why it should strike then but it was the ‘longest’ stretch by far in my mind.
The seating issue appears it may be posture related, when Eddie had looked at a video of me erging before the session, he had commented that I needed to sit up and I had raised the monitor up as high as it would go to encourage me to do so. Further investigations required on my part but it does seem plausible as despite the ‘damage’ I had caused, when I did get back on the erg sitting up did seem to make things better.
Some may recall I had a problem with a vitamin deficiency which set me back about 8 weeks. Whilst I repeated some weeks in an effort to get back up to the fitness I was before i had to take it easy, in truth I think I should have gone back further, perhaps even start the 100k plan again. I never re gained the pace I had and looking at the difference between my training pace for 100k and the actual sessions, I reckon I would have taken about 2 hours off my final time (PITA permitting).
Obviously, this is speculation but the point is in hindsight should I have re-started the plan. As it was what should have been a 14 week plan turned into 24 week plan. In the end i was where iw as and to be frank if I did not do my row when i did, it may never have had happened
For me, finishing was the only thing that mattered, up until I started training for this I had never rowed more than a HM and I was pleased to have finished.
Despite the issues, I will probably do further long distances and see what I can achieve, overall I have learnt a lot about what I am capable of as a 61 year old ‘novice’ and I intend to keep at it.
Maybe when the training starts again in a few months I may decide otherwise, right now I am not put off doing another 50 or 100k.
