TimbukTOO Team Room

[The Blacksmith]

Forgot to add, all this talk of blisters. Moleskin works well. No blisters on my hands (they're like leather from work), but got a nasty one on my heel that's finally healing up. Sore biceps for a couple days now too. I'm only 30 k behind David-think he'll take pity on me and let me catch him before he does another 50k day??? Hah-pipe dream

[CONLEJM]

I was going to say light leather gloves, like batting gloves, but not sure how they'd do with a lot of sweat.

Or you could wrap the handles with something soft?

The blisters must be from the handle slipping around in your hands? I have never had a problem with blisters from rowing, but I grip the handles firmly with no slipping.

[dr. espo]

I use gym gloves...the ones with the cut out fingers, works great!

Mike

[Izzzmeister]

A sweet 25 of 68 members (37%) logged a staggering 490,470 total meters Wednesday, moving us for now into 11th Place, and putting us near to a team average of 100K!

Posted Meters:
Jamie B - 8,234
Mark B - 124,355
Jim C - 15,021
Mark E - 34,092
Mike E - 13,788

Bob G - 10,000
Dave H - 16,157
Leif H - 7,013
Yisroel H - 26,097
Andy I - 10,011

Adam M - 13,000
Michele M - 10,000
Tyrone P - 20,050
Matthew P - 10,000
Heather R - 36,000

Cindy R - 6,802
Matthew R - 10,623
Don R - 28,362
Jeff S - 11,000
John S - 11,128

Tara V - 6,014
Lee W - 23,422
Tom W - 7,158
Raymond W - 6,198
Joseph W - 25,945

Challenge Goals - Day 18 of 31 (58.1%):
Mark E - 400,635 of 275,000 (145.7%)
Heather R - 395,000 of 400,000 (98.8%)
Lisa H - 145,281 of 150,000 (96.9%)
Glen B - 240,787 of 250,000 (96.3%)
Jim C - 287,120 of 300,000 (95.7%)
Yisroel H - 230,222 of 300,000 (76.7%)
Andy I - 115,635 of 160,000 (72.3%)
David W - 430,537 of 600,000 (71.8%)
Bob G - 101,741 of 150,000 (67.8%)
Leif H - 104,293 of 155,000 (67.3%)
Cindy R - 59,512 of 100,000 (59.5%)
Margaret W - 87,344 of 150,000 (58.2%)

Matthew P - 45,189 of 100,000 (45.2%)
Gary G - 75,059 of 275,000 (27.3%)
Mike E - 21,304 of 100,000 (21.3%)

Congratulations to Mark E (and not yet Heather R) for reaching 400K! The new members of the 100K+ club are Mark B, Bob G, Leif H & Jeff S! That’s 10 at 200K+, 25 at 100K+!

[Izzzmeister]

Okay, I caved - I ordered rowing gloves. Actually, 2 pair, one with XL wrist grips, one with L (my wrists are exactly 8" - on the cusp between the 2 sizes). I saw all the "blisters on my blisters on my callouses" posts, and just went for it. Maybe it'll work for my biking & free-weight lifting too...
Here are some of my excuses:
1) The old Model C handle never shredded my hands. This "upgrade" to the Model D may give me an ergonomic handle, but it shreds and fillets my skin.
2) My hands are not getting calloused - since the skin keeps peeling, they never quite get calloused.
3) The bottom joints of my middle fingers are hard, blistered AND swollen.
4) I just stopped a Full Marathon attempt at the 2-hour mark because I could feel the blisters expanding to the point of getting in the way.
5) Someone mentioned using chalk, and I wasn't sure if it was to absorb the moisture on my hands, or for the outline of my body on the floor.
6) My hands go numb when I bike more than 20 miles, even with my gel biking gloves. I avoid too heavy weights in the weight room because they rip my blisters. These may help.
And, last but not least:
7) Last week, my wife looked at my hands in alarm and said, "You were planning on touching me with THOSE?!"

And the real reason: I'm becoming wimpy in my old age. Next, I might even consider a seat pad.

[Izzzmeister]

A sad goodbye to Bill Lawrence! You added a lot to the team during your week with us, rowing regularly & checking out our team thread. Row strong, wherever you go - and we‘d gladly welcome you back!
19 of 55 members (35%) logged 282,160 total meters Wednesday - that‘s almost 15K per rower!

Milestones achieved: Matthew R eclipsed 1.6M, Adam M reached 1.4M & Matthew P passed 75K! The team thread moved past 400 pages!
Approaching milestones: David just short of 4.4M (-2,078m), Yisroel slouching towards 2.1M (-33,726m), Jamie again narrows the gap to the Big 1M (-14,464m), Tyrone one row from 900K (-9,988m), Mark S pulling for 350K (-24,321m), Daiva is nearing 200K (-14,600m), Tom approaches 75K (-6,059m) while Pam pursues 35K (-7,509m)!

Posted Meters:
Heather R - 36,000 Three day total: 100K!!!
Mark E - 34,092 Over 207K for the past 7 days!
Yisroel H - 26,097 5K plus a HM!
Joseph W - 25,945 Putting himself out there, day after day!
Tyrone P - 20,050 I await your vacation…

Jim C - 15,021 Moved from #29 to #25 in one week!
Mike E - 13,788 Go, Espo, go!
Adam M - 13,000 Strong!
John S - 11,128 Good distance…
Jeff S - 11,000 Another nice row after a couple days break!

Matthew R - 10,623 Nice milestone!
Andy I - 10,011 Another 3 meters pushed out…
Bob G - 10,000 Back from cross-training day!
Matthew P - 10,000 Great first TimbukTOO row!
Jamie B - 8,234 Upping the meters each row…

Tom W - 7,158 Fourth row this week! Great!
Leif H - 7,013 Solid!
Cindy R - 6,802 Pushing out a few more meters each time!
Raymond W - 6,198 Nice row after 2-week hiatus!

[The Blacksmith]

Hey, I thought Hummingbirds only went 32 k per day heading south! Curses, must be the Hummingbird has found a telephone booth(remember those??) and changed into her alter ego,That loveable Red Baron, and is heading my way .

[goyo]

Okay, I caved - I ordered rowing gloves.

Which gloves did you order?

[The Blacksmith]

Oooh, I love the Elmo gloves-where's the link to the website??? Need a pair to protect my sensitive little fingers

[BoB/335]

Oooh, I love the Elmo gloves-where's the link to the website??? Need a pair to protect my sensitive little fingers

Or maybe these

http://store.sesamestreet.org/Product.a ... pc=6ECM087

[CONLEJM]

I know some folks watch television while they row, but when I am doing a "time trial" I need to concentrate and so I listen to music. There's a podcast called IndieSoupRunner that I listen to which has a good driving beat that seems to work well for my particular rowing cadence. I'm wondering if anyone else uses music as part of their training? Any good recommendation for podcasts and the like? (On easy days I just listen to whatever music I am into on that day.)

[MPatton]

I was actually thinking of starting to listen to some audio books while rowing since I do so at the gym. And I am not rowing as hard as I can. I am just going for distance and length of time for the most part, so super high energy music isn't needed. I will get to competitive speeds later

Unfortunately this morning my son woke up -way- early and wanted to hang out before I went to work. Which was an awesome start to the day, but sadly no rowing for me today. I will just have to try and make up for it tomorrow.

I think I am going to order some gloves next week. Izzy, if you read the NewGrip website, you didn't need to order two pairs. They say that if you end up needing a different size they will send you the correct one and a prepaid envelope to send the other part back in.

[damselfly]

Big day yesterday, all, with over 305 miles rowed!! We left off Wednesday at 6,617,309 meters, or 4,109 miles. Nice work, all!!!



We flew through Sin City, bolted down some choice eats at one of the cheap casino buffets, lost a few nickles in the slots, and blazed back out of town. East of the city we did a quick tour of the Hoover Dam, but resisted the temptation to head off down the Colorado!



Then we flew down to Kingman, picked up the I40 east, and spent the night in Williams, AZ, just a few miles west of Flagstaff. At this pace, we may be in Albuquerque tonight!

[damselfly]

Okay, I caved - I ordered rowing gloves.

Which gloves did you order?

Fabulous!! I love the armor. That oughta stop blisters. Not only that, the upper back and arm workout from holding the damn things up would be great!

[theOtherOne]

I always have my ipod strapped to my arm with some good music loaded...usually set to shuffle so that I have the element of surprise in my row. I generally have the TV on with cc running as well since I like some visual with my audio, and staring at grey cinder blocks just won't do.
What is funny though, is that my times are 20-30 seconds better @ 11k when my wife is next to me on the treadmill and commandeers the remote. I end up rowing with my eyes closed for 1/4 to 1/3 of the row and focus more on the pain, er...row, rather than Willie Geist.
~j

ps: I tend to lurk rather than comment, but I also want to thank the leadership of the boat on their motivation and dedication to keeping us upright and in line; not just for this challenge, but for their consistent year long efforts. I enjoy the daily map update and the refreshed in boat/ on board smack talk. Thanks!