New Personal Best! Brag About That New Pb!

[Dangerscouse]

First attempt at a HM today and it felt pretty good. I paced it according to advice I received on here and was pleased to discover that I was able to hang on and even had a bit left in the tank for the last 1000m. I was hoping for a 1:30:00, so very happy with 1:26:14.

My backside got a bit sore towards the end, but it wasn't a major issue. My biggest concern was that I drank so much water beforehand that I would have to stop for a bathroom trip, but once I settled in and started sweating this wasn't a problem.

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
1:26:14.1 21,097m 2:02.6 190 953 27 159
17:43.0 4,300m 2:03.6 185 937 25 148
17:36.6 8,600m 2:02.8 189 949 27 153
17:41.3 12,900m 2:03.4 186 940 28 155
17:32.6 17,200m 2:02.3 191 956 28 161
15:40.6 21,097m 2:00.6 199 985 28 178

I find pushing on these longer distances far more enjoyable than the shorter sprints, I think I'm better suited to it.

Great first HM Rob, and now you know what it's like you can go faster next time...and the time after that

[robhely]

Great first HM Rob, and now you know what it's like you can go faster next time...and the time after that

Thanks Stu, yes, a large part of this was fear of the unknown; not knowing what it would feel like to row for more than twice as long as I have before. It's a good feeling to know that if the heart rate isn't overly high and the pace feels sustainable then it will probably work out OK! Definitely keen to integrate more long rows into my training and try this one again in the future.

There's nothing like a longer row like this to get the technique really dialled, all those energy leaks become so obvious after an hour or so, which forces subtle changes towards a more efficient stroke. A big thing I discovered, after the recent discussion about "the dip", was that it actually didn't serve me well at r27, so I opted for a much straighter line on the return.

[KeithT]

First attempt at a HM today and it felt pretty good. I paced it according to advice I received on here and was pleased to discover that I was able to hang on and even had a bit left in the tank for the last 1000m. I was hoping for a 1:30:00, so very happy with 1:26:14.

My backside got a bit sore towards the end, but it wasn't a major issue. My biggest concern was that I drank so much water beforehand that I would have to stop for a bathroom trip, but once I settled in and started sweating this wasn't a problem.

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
1:26:14.1 21,097m 2:02.6 190 953 27 159
17:43.0 4,300m 2:03.6 185 937 25 148
17:36.6 8,600m 2:02.8 189 949 27 153
17:41.3 12,900m 2:03.4 186 940 28 155
17:32.6 17,200m 2:02.3 191 956 28 161
15:40.6 21,097m 2:00.6 199 985 28 178

I find pushing on these longer distances far more enjoyable than the shorter sprints, I think I'm better suited to it.

Well done, good steady pace with a stronger finish.

[DavidA]

First attempt at a HM today and it felt pretty good. I paced it according to advice I received on here and was pleased to discover that I was able to hang on and even had a bit left in the tank for the last 1000m. I was hoping for a 1:30:00, so very happy with 1:26:14.

My backside got a bit sore towards the end, but it wasn't a major issue. My biggest concern was that I drank so much water beforehand that I would have to stop for a bathroom trip, but once I settled in and started sweating this wasn't a problem.

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
1:26:14.1 21,097m 2:02.6 190 953 27 159
17:43.0 4,300m 2:03.6 185 937 25 148
17:36.6 8,600m 2:02.8 189 949 27 153
17:41.3 12,900m 2:03.4 186 940 28 155
17:32.6 17,200m 2:02.3 191 956 28 161
15:40.6 21,097m 2:00.6 199 985 28 178

I find pushing on these longer distances far more enjoyable than the shorter sprints, I think I'm better suited to it.

Congratulations!
Breaking 1:30 is significant, and you beat that by a lot, with a great time!

David

[penkethj]

First attempt at a HM today and it felt pretty good. I paced it according to advice I received on here and was pleased to discover that I was able to hang on and even had a bit left in the tank for the last 1000m. I was hoping for a 1:30:00, so very happy with 1:26:14.

My backside got a bit sore towards the end, but it wasn't a major issue. My biggest concern was that I drank so much water beforehand that I would have to stop for a bathroom trip, but once I settled in and started sweating this wasn't a problem.

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
1:26:14.1 21,097m 2:02.6 190 953 27 159
17:43.0 4,300m 2:03.6 185 937 25 148
17:36.6 8,600m 2:02.8 189 949 27 153
17:41.3 12,900m 2:03.4 186 940 28 155
17:32.6 17,200m 2:02.3 191 956 28 161
15:40.6 21,097m 2:00.6 199 985 28 178

I find pushing on these longer distances far more enjoyable than the shorter sprints, I think I'm better suited to it.

Great result that well done!! I saw your numbers and couldn’t believe how closely it mirrored the HM I did last week. Pacing was so so similar even down to the fastest last split. Overall time nearly bang on too.
Interesting how we did it at such different stroke rates though. This is mine for comparison;

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
1:26:06.1 21,097m 2:02.4 191 956 22 166
17:41.8 4,300m 2:03.4 186 940 23 156
17:41.1 8,600m 2:03.3 186 941 22 160
17:38.0 12,900m 2:03.0 188 946 23 166
17:29.5 17,200m 2:02.0 193 962 23 171
15:35.8 21,097m 2:00.0 202 995 24 178

[robhely]

Great result that well done!! I saw your numbers and couldn’t believe how closely it mirrored the HM I did last week. Pacing was so so similar even down to the fastest last split. Overall time nearly bang on too.
Interesting how we did it at such different stroke rates though. This is mine for comparison;

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
1:26:06.1 21,097m 2:02.4 191 956 22 166
17:41.8 4,300m 2:03.4 186 940 23 156
17:41.1 8,600m 2:03.3 186 941 22 160
17:38.0 12,900m 2:03.0 188 946 23 166
17:29.5 17,200m 2:02.0 193 962 23 171
15:35.8 21,097m 2:00.0 202 995 24 178

I must admit I was inspired by your pace seeing that we are also similar in some other distances.

I lowered my DF to 124, which felt good a faster stroke rate. I was worried that I might blow up aerobically, but that wasn't a problem. I'm only 71kg and not that tall, so I think I need to rate up a bit to hold the pace.

I suspect that both of us could go closer to 1:25 given how much we had left for the last split. I was pulling some 1:48s in the last 500m, I think I was just so excited about the fact that I'd made it!

[aussie nick]

First attempt at a HM today and it felt pretty good. I paced it according to advice I received on here and was pleased to discover that I was able to hang on and even had a bit left in the tank for the last 1000m. I was hoping for a 1:30:00, so very happy with 1:26:14.

My backside got a bit sore towards the end, but it wasn't a major issue. My biggest concern was that I drank so much water beforehand that I would have to stop for a bathroom trip, but once I settled in and started sweating this wasn't a problem.

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
1:26:14.1 21,097m 2:02.6 190 953 27 159
17:43.0 4,300m 2:03.6 185 937 25 148
17:36.6 8,600m 2:02.8 189 949 27 153
17:41.3 12,900m 2:03.4 186 940 28 155
17:32.6 17,200m 2:02.3 191 956 28 161
15:40.6 21,097m 2:00.6 199 985 28 178

I find pushing on these longer distances far more enjoyable than the shorter sprints, I think I'm better suited to it.

congratulations on the PR - excellent row. And we are the opposite in our preferences. I find pushing on anything beyond 1k to be terrifying!

[Dangerscouse]

I suspect that both of us could go closer to 1:25 given how much we had left for the last split. I was pulling some 1:48s in the last 500m, I think I was just so excited about the fact that I'd made it!

This is perfect. Identify someone who is close enough to your abilities to create some friendly rivalry to make progress. I'm sure that you both can go close to, or sub, 85 mins with some more practice and confidence in the earlier stages.

[Sakly]

This is perfect. Identify someone who is close enough to your abilities to create some friendly rivalry to make progress.

This is so true!
You know what I mean

[Dangerscouse]

This is so true!
You know what I mean

Hahaha, yes I do know!! Now, I just need to start getting closer to you again.

[Sakly]

This is so true!
You know what I mean

Hahaha, yes I do know!! Now, I just need to start getting closer to you again.

Haha
I think you are capable of doing that, if not even going past me, but I try to make it hard for you

[HornetMaX]

This is so true!
You know what I mean

Hahaha, yes I do know!! Now, I just need to start getting closer to you again.

Haha
I think you are capable of doing that, if not even going past me, but I try to make it hard for you

Bro(w)mance

[Sakly]

Hahaha, yes I do know!! Now, I just need to start getting closer to you again.

Haha
I think you are capable of doing that, if not even going past me, but I try to make it hard for you

Bro(w)mance

[Dangerscouse]

Bro(w)mance

Hahahahahaha

[robhely]

congratulations on the PR - excellent row. And we are the opposite in our preferences. I find pushing on anything beyond 1k to be terrifying!

Haha, I agree that the 2k is a beast, but give me a nice mellow 5k or 10k any day over the torture of a 500m! I can't even get my splits down to something respectable when doing 30 seconds hard out.