Well its been 9 months

 Long enough to have a baby, alas I wasn't that productive, so back to it amidst Covid-19 and working from home, lets see how far we can get - today was a start - and yuck

AM Weights - PM 30r20 70% HRR + 500m Controlled

in the gym this morning and went through the Tuesday weights routine with an increase in the weights for the main piece - so

5 min warm up on bike and some stretches

Squat - Barx5, 50kgx4, 65kgx3, 70kgx2, 80kgx1

           85kgx5x3

Overhead Press - Barx5, 15kgx4, 20kgx3, 25kgx2, 30kgx1

           35kgx5x3

Deadlift  - Barx5, 65kgx4, 70kgx3, 80kgx2, 90kgx1

           100kgx1

(all the above are using the olympic bar so total weight is weight plus 20 - eg deadlift is actually 120kg or 264lb)

Lat Pulldown 3x6x100kg

Lunchtime and I got in for a 30r20 70% HRR which I enjoyed - although it was quite funny as my mind drifted now and then to the possibility of racing which saw the HR spike by about 5 beats lol

Followed up by a 500m r32 target was 1:26.0 - got the power down early and tried to keep good length while controlling the rate

AM Weights - PM 30r20 70% HRR + 500m Controlled

in the gym for 6:30am this morning and went through the same weights routine as last Tuesday with an increase in the weights for the main piece - so

5 min warm up on bike and some stretches

Squat - Barx5, 35kgx4, 40kgx3, 45kgx2, 50kgx1
           75kgx5x3

Overhead Press - Barx5, 10kgx4, 15kgx3, 20kgx2, 25kgx1
           35kgx5x3

Deadlift  - Barx5, 40kgx4, 50kgx3, 60kgx2, 70kgx1
           90kgx5

Lat Pulldown 3x8x93kg

Lunchtime and I got in for a 30r20 70% HRR which was rather pleasing as it was only 57m off my 30r20 at 80% from the 19th September :o) look like the training is going well then. That was followed up by a 500m r32 target was 1:26.0 - started a bit too slow so needed a controlled pump towards the end :o)

30r20 70% HRR Energie Gym - Bat Logic

Well into the new gym this morning and kept faith with the 30r20 70% HRR while I get up and rowing again - as I brought in my BatLogic footplate and shoes I was able to use the erg with the snapped foot strap (I also gave them a old strap I had so they can get it fixed) hooked up the Polar HR reader but unfortunately didn't pick up on the Garmin HR strap - still had the Fenix and so was ablt to keep a close eye on the HR. Felt quite warm so will have to take my temp gauge in and see what the temp is like in there.

Don't chase the sunset - prepare for the sunrise 30r20 70% HRR

So after two to three weeks of struggling with a combination of flu/chest infection and coming off a back of mixed/messing training after the Irish indoors (due to lack of motivation) which in itself came of the back of months of struggling after the back operation – which came after months of pain – today – the 5^th April marks a time when I am going to stop chasing the sunset (i.e. the heights of what I had in terms of where I was personally in my “erg fitness”) and look to build for a new day – a new sunrise. I have quite a lot of “stuff” to deal with outside of the training – looking after the Mrs as best I can, new baby due August, a three and a half year old whom I wouldn’t deny a second of my time to, my four dogs, the house and chores, full time work (with a possibility of moving location and so losing the gym) but none of that is too bad and I’m sure I’ll work my way round it … somehow. Of course I still have to deal with the training aspect itself – I’ve gained weight 115.5kg at the weekend (probably the kick I needed) and I have a continuous ache/pain in my back and legs – well actually my left leg has been pretty numb to the tough since before the operation – but get odd pains and tingles which I suppose I am hyper aware of. Still – I want my sunrise and so I will do what I know works during the dark hours of distance training to nail it – starting with the base build – 30r20 70% HRR crap in terms of distance – fantastic in terms of training and getting me started. Also ergdata has a new release (this is beta test on android but believe it’s live on iphone) and once the piece is loaded to the C2 logbook you click on the magnifying glass next to the piece and you get stroke rate, splits, HR ert (see pictures) - and it now records every stroke which you can download!!

Onwards and upwards!!!

Ergdata upload displayed on PC

Ergdata info displayed on Sony Z3 smart phone

30r20 70% HRR

simple row this morning - what isn't so simple is getting enough time to get it done with all that married life and dog owner entails lol still have a touch of sickness in me evident by the drain on pace as I maintained the HR

30r20 70% HRR - 2by1k 5r

Not a good day - interrupted three times on the 30r20 70% HRR before work and a brain draining working morning left me without the edge to complete the 4 1k's - so of course the thoughts of binning turning up to the Irish are running riot at the moment.

30r20 70% HRR - pfft

Well confidence should be building with less than two weeks to what's going to be my one and only race - but naa - it's diminishing at a rapid rate - 30r20 70% HRR still can't shift the gunk on my lungs

Still keep plugging away I guess

legs feel like lead - lungs full of "tar" - 30r20 70% HRR

Must be a race coming up - legs felt useless this morning - which I wouldn't mind if I trained hard yesterday but all I did was a bit of house cleaning! Haven't trained since Friday - combine that with lungs coughing up crap and its a pretty miserable affair this training malarkey. Still completed the piece so that's good :o)