Hi everyone,
I'm Chris. New member, but I've had my rower since right before Covid. I also had two kids since Covid started, and along with the pandemic they really derailed my fitness and my rowing. In Canada we have a 5 week parental leave that dads can choose to take. I elected to take that with my second son, but took it right before he turned one (August 2023). I made a deliberate choice to use that parental leave as a catalyst to start getting back into shape. Both for my own health, but also to be a good role model for my two boys.
At the time, I was happy to finish a 5 km row without taking a break, and anything under 22 minutes was a plus. However, as I maintained consistency, I was blown away at my progress in terms of both my endurance and my pace. I set goals for the season (ending in May) to row a total of 200,000 m, row a 5 km under 20 minutes, and get an average pace of 2:00 for 500 m. I crushed the pace goals by October and had to add new targets. Today I rowed a 5k in 19:14, which puts me in the top 70th percentile for my age/weight group. I could not be more proud of myself and the progress I have made since August.
At work I am an engineer, and love to analyze and plot data. I made a script that downloads my erg data and plots it so that I can visualize my progress. I have attached it so you guys can see.
I know the title of this thread is bragging about a PB. I don't like bragging, but I am extremely proud of the progress I have made, and wanted to share it with a group of people that can (hopefully) appreciate what an accomplishment this is.