Endurance erging - A place to discuss 42, 50, 100k upwards.

[btlifter]

Cheers, everybody.

Strategy for rest/pacing/nutrition was:
First 3 hours at sub 2:00, no breaks and just gradually drinking electrolytes and snacking throughout.

Thereafter, minimize breaks (I peed just once) while eating/drinking as much as I could without having to pee more or upsetting my stomach too much.

Nutrition/hydration and breaks were relatively succeasful, imo. Pacing was much too ambitious, tho. If I were to do it again, I'd aim to keep the first 4 hours to 2:04.x (5 splits slower than I went). I was in deep trouble by 4 hours, and just tried to survive the next 8.

[Dangerscouse]

I was in deep trouble by 4 hours, and just tried to survive the next 8.

Clinging on for eight minutes is hard enough nevermind eight hours!!!! You've got next level resilience to battle through eight hours of deep trouble, with your only hope being it doesn't get any worse. In all honesty, it doesn't ever get easier when you get passed four hours.

[contdrift86]

I had a go at an ultra-row, myself yesterday.

I managed 12 hours, and just a touch under 169km (avg. pace of 2:07.9).

Had hoped to maybe target the 24hr WR. But, knew 2 hours in the was out the window and just tried to hold on as long as possible.

Amazing effort to keep going for 10 more hours after that mental realisation at 2 hours.

[RWAGR]

Yesterday I completed the 100k.

TLDR: 7:43:28.2. Be happy to finish. Unless you are experienced at ultramarathon efforts, don't target a specific time (I'm not, I did, and it almost cost me).

Pre-event and Goals

I got a solid night's sleep, but woke early at 0400 (I usually wake up around 0430). This was fine as I did the row at the gym instead of home to maximize the sights and sounds and human interactions throughout the day (this was the right call, I doubt I have the mental strength to do it at home alone all day). So I drove to the gym with all my stuff and did the set up which took a good 45 mins. I had oiled the erg chains at the gym the day before (you're welcome gym).

My set up was as follows:

8 x 24 oz water bottles with a Tailwind powder in each (half caffeinated, half uncaffeinated). Goal was to drink one every hour to take on the right amount of fluid and also get the 200 calories.

2 x 24 oz water bottles with just electrolyte mix in case I needed that without the glucose

2 x 24 oz water bottles with just water- for when I just needed the taste of plain water!

1 x massive bag of Cadbury mini eggs. As a recovering Brit, I love Mini Eggs with proper Cadbury's chocolate, so I took advantage of my last business trip to London to buy a 1 kg bag at the airport.

2 x large chocolate bars of Cadbury milk chocolate (the mini-egg version of the bars, with crushed mini eggs in side- great!)

1 x large tub of roasted and salted mixed nuts (without peanuts, so cashews, walnuts, pecans, almonds etc.)

About 6 x bananas

2 x headphone sets (ear buds tend to last 4-5 hours out of their case so you need a second one)

Portable charger for phone

Vaseline- used before starting under arms, backs of knees, and ass crack. Didn't need to reapply (thankfully- that would be a really issue!)

Lip balm

Tylenol (This divides opinion and I am not a medical professional but I wasn't going to let soreness get in the way of completion- I had one tablet at the start, and one at 2 hours, 4hours, and 6 hours- it took the edge of any muscle pain and, personally, I'd do it again- note this is Acetaminophen NOT Ibuprofen - the latter is said to have some real risks if used during intense exercise- although I have taken some POST event to reduce swelling- see below). In any case, do you own research on this point.

Grip tape (didn't use)

Seat cushion (didn't use)

Spare change of clothes and shoes (didn't use)

HRM

Overall I felt pretty good pre-event and was ready to go. I'd rowed about ~30k the week before so tapering off, with a couple of modest sessions on the Peloton Bike/ Tread.

My goals. This was fairly simple going in (hahaha). I basically planned to row each 5k at 2.12 splits, then have 30 seconds to drink, eat, whatever. This would make an overall split of 2.15 for each 5k, and 7:30 for the whole piece. It worked well for my longest training row, which was 60k.

First 50k: Smooth Sailing

Went absolutely fine as you would expect when you're pretty highly trained for something. I stuck to my splits well and my HR was drifting up, but under control. I wasn't bored from the music. Hydration and nutrition were on point.

50k-60k: Family Visit and Warning Signs?

I still felt good-ish in this stretch. My splits started to fall off just a bit, but I figured this is because I was a little distracted when my wife and kids came to visit. I was messing up my rhythm to pose for photos with them, etc. In hindsight, and given that this 10k stretch hurt when I did the 60k training row, the family visit might have served to mask the first signs of trouble. All in all though, I was still on track as I'd built a little cushion in that first 50k so 5k splits in the 2.15s were acceptable.

60k-80k: Off A Cliff

Then the wheels came off, I fell off the cliff, I hit the wall, pick whatever metaphor for being totally fucked you like... Those 20k were the hardest I have ever spent on an erg. Cardio was fine as you can see from the HR. But the cramps and mind games just took this to a new level of horrible. My splits cratered. I had to stand up for the first time - and once I started doing that I stood up at pretty much every 5k rest. I also started taking interim rests every 2.5k for more hydration and/or nutrition. The mind games were very convincing "just stop bro, you've rowed 70, 75k that is a HUGE achievement, everyone will be proud" or "you're really damaging yourself now and you can't get this done". Horrific. TBH it's still so soon after the event I'm not entirely sure how I got through this stretch but of course I did and am glad for it.

This brings me to the biggest mental challenge of the day which was letting go of my 7:30 goal. As soon as the splits started falling off I knew that was toast and the projected finish crept up mercilessly. Like many of you I'm sure on many normal distance or time pieces when I start failing to hit a target it often leads to a mental spiral and a HD. Even though logically of course we get more benefit from sticking it out and being a split or a few seconds short of a target, our minds tell us it's not worth it. Resetting that mental attitude in the middle of a physical collapse was by far the hardest part of the day for me. Happily I managed to, as I knew I wouldn't be coming here again so I had to re-set 7:30 goal to a "just finish" goal (of course I had 8:00 in my head, and tbh I had to beat that by default as physically I couldn't have continued beyond 8 hours).

On the physical side, the worst issue was cramps. Maybe my electrolyte balance was off, but from around 65k to the end I had some form of cramp pretty much every stoke of the erg. Luckily different parts cramped in waves, thighs and forearms being the worst, so I could grind through it with plenty of stops. I had no ass pain - Vaseline at the start of the race took care of that. I was never in cardio trouble. I did have some soreness in the upper and lower back and hamstrings, but nothing devastating and the Tylenol helped (see caveat above!).

I tried to pee 4 or 5 time but never needed to go. The break of running to the loo was helpful, but I could never squeeze anything out. I didn't feel dehydrated but maybe the cramps tell a different story. Either way my bodily functions gradually returned to normal in the 4 hours post race.

On the food side, I got sick of chocolate. Bananas were probably the hero of my nutrition - easy to eat and convinced myself that the Potassium helped with the cramps. Having a bit of bananas with a handful of nuts was a nice mouthful with lots of calories and energy.

80k-90k: Light At The End of the Tunnel

This 10k stretch was a little better. I was still horribly slow, but I had won the mental battle of resetting expectations and I pretty much knew that at this point, absent a total physical collapse, I was going to finish. It was still horrible but as I'd won that mental battle, I had no issues with backing the pace right off for a few strokes when I felt I needed, taking extra drinks, etc.

I had no hands issues during the row but right at 89,900m I felt a huge blister (that I hadn't even noticed forming) erupt on my hand, spraying blister juice (yum) all over my hand. It actually made me laugh at the time as my hands hadn't really joined the party of giving me trouble to that point. They still didn't really after that one incident. They are a bit of a mess today- I'd say I have 3-4 new blisters. Overall though I'm happy I didn't use grip tape either for this event or for training- much better to build the callouses. Of course when I have a fresh/ open blister I use tape if I'm rowing or lifting so my lifting sessions for the next week will involve it!

90k-95k: Grinding

This was just grinding it out at this point. Finishing not in doubt.

95k-100k: Almost Fun?

Dare I say it, I almost enjoyed the final 5k. The wife and kids came back and randoms in the gym were cheering me on. Of course my body was toast but I didn't care at this point. I managed to pick up the pace and just enjoy what I'd achieved. Right at the end of the final stroke my finger cramped which was really, really horrible haha.

Post-Race

I couldn't stand up straight for a while. I smashed 2 double protein shakes immediately. Adrenaline meant I was fine for an hour or so to clean up and hop in the shower and drive home. I lost 2 lbs during the race this tells me my nutrition and hydration were pretty much on point (people say you should try and minimize weight loss during endurance events, although some is inevitable and if you don't lose any, you might be over-feeding/ drinking). If I did it again I'd want to focus on the right electrolyte balance as the cramps were the single biggest physical issue.

Once I got home I basically lay on the couch. As the adrenaline war off I felt totally exhausted. I smashed two Greek gyros and a large fries and just relaxed. I actually had quite a bad night's sleep. It's weird, I was exhausted but not sleepy- presumably the last of the adrenaline coursing through my system. Nevertheless, although I woke up a bunch and was thirsty throughout the night, I was in bed for 9 hours so got some rest.

This morning I have no trouble walking. A little residual soreness and my hands are now letting me know what they went through, but I'll have a totally normal day and will be back to lifting tomorrow. I'll probably do a gentle erg on Tuesday and report on how it was.

Any questions, don't hesitate to ask! I have a bunch of photos of most of the story above if anyone's interested I can email them if you PM me; can't figure out how to have the Forum site let me post them as it says they are all too large. Here are the full splits for posterity:

7:43:28.2 100,000m 2:19.0 130 748 22 138
22:07.9 5,000m 2:12.7 149 814 21 132
22:18.4 10,000m 2:13.8 146 802 21 129
22:19.4 15,000m 2:13.9 146 801 21 128
22:21.2 20,000m 2:14.1 145 799 22 130
22:21.1 25,000m 2:14.1 145 799 21 134
22:22.5 30,000m 2:14.2 145 797 22 131
22:23.6 35,000m 2:14.3 144 796 22 137
22:22.1 40,000m 2:14.2 145 798 22 138
22:21.1 45,000m 2:14.1 145 799 22 138
22:25.8 50,000m 2:14.5 144 794 22 143
22:31.3 55,000m 2:15.1 142 788 23 142
22:35.0 60,000m 2:15.5 141 784 23 142
23:30.6 65,000m 2:21.0 125 729 23 139
24:54.2 70,000m 2:29.4 105 661 22 138
25:01.1 75,000m 2:30.1 103 656 22 135
23:53.3 80,000m 2:23.3 119 709 23 137
25:24.2 85,000m 2:32.4 99 640 22 143
24:28.3 90,000m 2:26.8 111 680 23 143
24:28.8 95,000m 2:26.8 110 680 23 145
23:18.3 100,000m 2:19.8 128 740 24 161

[alex9026]

1 x massive bag of Cadbury mini eggs. As a recovering Brit, I love Mini Eggs with proper Cadbury's chocolate, so I took advantage of my last business trip to London to buy a 1 kg bag at the airport.

7:43:28.2 100,000m 2:19.0 130 748 22 138
22:07.9 5,000m 2:12.7 149 814 21 132
22:18.4 10,000m 2:13.8 146 802 21 129
22:19.4 15,000m 2:13.9 146 801 21 128
22:21.2 20,000m 2:14.1 145 799 22 130
22:21.1 25,000m 2:14.1 145 799 21 134
22:22.5 30,000m 2:14.2 145 797 22 131
22:23.6 35,000m 2:14.3 144 796 22 137
22:22.1 40,000m 2:14.2 145 798 22 138
22:21.1 45,000m 2:14.1 145 799 22 138
22:25.8 50,000m 2:14.5 144 794 22 143
22:31.3 55,000m 2:15.1 142 788 23 142
22:35.0 60,000m 2:15.5 141 784 23 142
23:30.6 65,000m 2:21.0 125 729 23 139
24:54.2 70,000m 2:29.4 105 661 22 138
25:01.1 75,000m 2:30.1 103 656 22 135
23:53.3 80,000m 2:23.3 119 709 23 137
25:24.2 85,000m 2:32.4 99 640 22 143
24:28.3 90,000m 2:26.8 111 680 23 143
24:28.8 95,000m 2:26.8 110 680 23 145
23:18.3 100,000m 2:19.8 128 740 24 161

This is an incredible feat. I enjoyed the write up, with the paragraph above re creme eggs being a particular favourite. Ha, 8 hours on a bike is hard, but at least there is a change of scenery, and easier to get up and stretch (whilst still moving!). I feel like preparing the body for endurance is the easy part, but the mental grind involved in this, I can't begin to imagine... Brilliant work.

[Sakly]

Yesterday I completed the 100k.

Great!
Congratulations you fought through and won the mental battle!
Like the complete story and based on this I'm pretty sure, I won't get into this soon (or never?)

[jcross485]

RWAGR - extremely inspiring effort! Not that you're already thinking of another, but I bet this was a huge deposit in both the physical and mental training accounts for the next big attempt you want to make, no matter what the distance/time.

[Dangerscouse]

Massive well done, Rob. This brings to life the feelings and sheer disgustingness of the 100k. Very happy for you to have achieved this despite it not being as fast as your target.

It's a strange feeling when you're into the 65k+ zone as it's not like anything you've probably experienced before. The acknowledgement that in some ways you're capable of completing it, but in other ways, it seems inconceivable and detrimental.

I do hope that one day I'll try and do it again, but it's just such a time consuming process and this post doesn't make me feel anymore inclined to embrace the suffering.

[Elizabeth]

Thanks Cam, and congratulations back at ya! Also, Rob, incredibly well fought!

Blimey - that is nuts fast for 100k with just two of them. What was their changeover strategy ?? Clearly not the 20 strokes each of the large team stuff.

For the most part, we did Andy 550m then me 450m. We had a couple of stints at 1100/900 to allow toilet breaks and replenishing snacks, but I found that these seemed to add fatigue a lot faster. Andy didn't have the same perception but was fine keeping it shorter.

[RWAGR]

Thanks all. I felt good enough to lift yesterday. Took a couple of Ibuprofen in the morning to ease any swelling but didn't need any more meds in the day and slept like a baby last night. Interestingly, yesterday morning I weighed in at ~192 lbs. My usual morning weight these days is ~185-190 lbs. On the morning of the 100k I was 186.7 and 184.9 after the event (albeit after obliterating two very heavy protein shakes and about 10 bottles of water without peeing!). I read somewhere that doing ultra events often causes a short term weight increase due to water retention as your muscles try to avoid damage. Interesting.

Going to try some SS this morning. Body feels fine but the hands will need some wrapping.

For the most part, we did Andy 550m then me 450m. We had a couple of stints at 1100/900 to allow toilet breaks and replenishing snacks, but I found that these seemed to add fatigue a lot faster. Andy didn't have the same perception but was fine keeping it shorter.

Still love this (although your "sub-7" 100k is the stuff of legend, mate!). I'm thinking of a tandem with a rowing buddy of mine. I had no idea about the right changeover strategy but if someone had asked I would have guessed much longer "shifts" than these. Very interesting. Since I don't have Instagram which I guess (?) is where you post (and not youtube), do you have any vids of the changeovers accessible to social media luddites? I can see the advantage in short shifts but only if the changeovers are really well coordinated.

[iain]

Rob, congratulations on winning the war and great write up. Part of me wants to try again as my 55-60k collapse was associated with stomach issues, but maybe much of what I went through was "normal".

Elizabeth, 2 amazing rows. Can't imagine changing so often. We did 15 min shifts and the first 2-3 min was very painful from before half way as sit bones dug into freshly hardened glutes. Did you find that your glutes stayed supple during the much shorter rests?

[winniewinser]

Yesterday I completed the 100k.

....
7:43:28.2 100,000m 2:19.0 130 748 22 138
22:07.9 5,000m 2:12.7 149 814 21 132
22:18.4 10,000m 2:13.8 146 802 21 129
22:19.4 15,000m 2:13.9 146 801 21 128
22:21.2 20,000m 2:14.1 145 799 22 130
22:21.1 25,000m 2:14.1 145 799 21 134
22:22.5 30,000m 2:14.2 145 797 22 131
22:23.6 35,000m 2:14.3 144 796 22 137
22:22.1 40,000m 2:14.2 145 798 22 138
22:21.1 45,000m 2:14.1 145 799 22 138
22:25.8 50,000m 2:14.5 144 794 22 143
22:31.3 55,000m 2:15.1 142 788 23 142
22:35.0 60,000m 2:15.5 141 784 23 142
23:30.6 65,000m 2:21.0 125 729 23 139
24:54.2 70,000m 2:29.4 105 661 22 138
25:01.1 75,000m 2:30.1 103 656 22 135
23:53.3 80,000m 2:23.3 119 709 23 137
25:24.2 85,000m 2:32.4 99 640 22 143
24:28.3 90,000m 2:26.8 111 680 23 143
24:28.8 95,000m 2:26.8 110 680 23 145
23:18.3 100,000m 2:19.8 128 740 24 161

Great write up.....and well done!

[DavidA]

Yesterday I completed the 100k.

TLDR: 7:43:28.2. Be happy to finish. Unless you are experienced at ultramarathon efforts, don't target a specific time (I'm not, I did, and it almost cost me).

Huge congratulations on completely such a huge row!!
Very good description of preparations/tribulations/etc.
Good to hear that the next wasn't bad, but what about the day after that?

David

[ahooton]

Hi all, I’ve been following this thread for a few months and I have to say, it’s quite inspirational to read. I’ve been far too shy to post anything until now!

I bought a concept 2 in December to work out in the garage rather than traipsing to the gym daily and saving myself the increasing costs.

Having only ever rowed 2k and 5k in the past I was keen to start doing distance pieces. And looking for tips I came upon this thread and the information has been invaluable. A few weeks ago I completed marathon in 2:56.56. I was over the moon with the effort and although it was a slog, it felt ok, and I’m thinking to train for the 100k.

In summary, just wanted to thank you all.

Also, huge congratulations to Elizabeth Gilmore and Cameron Buchan. I watched the WRICS in Prague. Truly impressive feats.

Anthony

6’4. M. 43. 98KG
2k 7.09
5k 18:52
HM1:23.43
FM 2:56.56

[iain]

I bought a concept 2 in December ... completed marathon in 2:56.56. I was over the moon with the effort and although it was a slog, it felt ok, and I’m thinking to train for the 100k.

Congratulations, a significantly sub 3hr marathon after 3 months is hugely impressive. You seem to have the "correct" screw loose if you want to do a 100k after reading the above!