Late Lunch — 4 at 4

I’d aimed to row at one. Work had other ideas, so lunch was at four. It was 8.6°C in the Great Hall when I got onto the static Model E. I warmed up with a separate 2,000 m in 10:00.1, then set off on 4 × 2,000 m at 24 strokes a minute, with exactly three minutes of easy rowing between reps.

The first two felt good. They came in at 1:49.9 and 1:49.7 per 500 m. By the third I was having a quiet word with myself, which got me through in 1:49.4. On the fourth I went a bit dark, kept the rate at twenty-four and dug in for the home stretch. That one was 1:49.0.

The 8,000 m of work came to 29:12.7 at 1:49.5 per 500 m. I’d aimed for 29:18.4 at 1:49.9, so that left 5.7 seconds to spare. By then it was probably too late to call it lunch.

Racing My Younger Self

I found a row in the logbook from 4 November 2010: 7,916 metres in half an hour. In the comments I'd written “@20 spm in work gym”. The stroke-rate field is blank, so twenty is what I wrote at the time. The distance and time are there in the result.

On 9 November 2026 I rowed 7,919 metres in half an hour on the static Concept2, with 20 strokes a minute recorded. Sixteen years and three metres. At this rate I’ll need a fairly long run-up.

Of course, 7,916 was just one entry. By 16 February 2011 there was an 8,100 in the logbook. Then 8,240 on 9 March and 8,416 on 11 May. On 16 July 2013, there was 8,668. My younger self was kind enough to leave the targets in writing. He could have made the last one a bit more considerate.

The three metres make a good headline, but the run of results is the bit I keep coming back to. There’s a lot of rowing between 7,916 and 8,668. I’ve edged one line in the old logbook. There are a few more lines yet.

The Other Twenty Minutes | 60r20 · Slides

I rowed the full hour on slides at The Great Hall. It came to 14,914 m at 2:00.7/500 m and 20 strokes a minute.

The PM5 at the end of the hour. 14,914 m at r20.

The first recommendation was forty minutes, with Friday’s 4 × 2k coming up. I asked for the hour back. Wednesday had been a rest day, and there was no need to make it up. Thursday already had an hour in the plan, and I wanted to do the easy work I’d set aside for it.

I eased off through the middle to keep my heart rate in check. The slowest split was 2:01.8. I let the pace come back towards the end and the last seven and a half minutes came in at 1:59.7, still at r20. Garmin averaged 140 bpm and topped out at the 146 bpm ceiling.

Garmin recorded 140 bpm average, 146 bpm maximum and no sampled seconds above the ceiling.

Pace and power from the erg fields carried in the Garmin FIT recording.

All eight 7:30 splits at r20. The detail screen displays 2:00.6 for the overall pace. Time and distance give 2:00.7 rounded.

The Great Hall meter read approximately 10.1°C and 75% relative humidity.

There’s a time to arrive fresh, and I’ll make room for that when I’m racing or doing a time trial. Friday is training. If I keep taking twenty minutes off the easy rows to freshen up for the next hard one, I’ll have fewer of the hours I need to rebuild my aerobic base.

We move forwards by walking towards the horizon, not by waiting for sunset.

Building the History — The Road to Sub-6

I’ve been digging through my old rowing records. There are thousands of sessions, old Q-Power schedules, race results and a fair few blog posts to go through. The race times are the easy bit to find. Working out what I did in the weeks before them is where it gets interesting.

Take Bristol in 2014. I did a 6:04.6 2k, then a 2:54.9 1k and a 1:18.3 500m. I put all three in the blog at the time. The first line was still about being pipped by a tenth on the 2k. Three races in a day and there I was counting tenths.

The training logs give the results a bit more context. In one old 30r20 entry I’d said I was taking it easy that week. I did an easy half hour before work and then had a go at my age-group best at lunchtime. Putting the sessions back alongside the schedules should help me see where I followed the plan, where I wandered off it and what happened afterwards.

That’s what I want out of this. There are performances to rediscover, mistakes to revisit and bits of training that might still be useful now. As I work back towards a sub-six 2k, I’d like to know a bit more about what got me close in the first place.

I’m bringing the rowing data, coaching schedules, race results and old blogs together into one searchable record. I’ll share the interesting discoveries here as they turn up.

Don't Chase the Result. Earn the Reward. | 40r20 · HR Cap 146

40r20 | HR Cap 146 | Static

Ten thousand metres in forty minutes. A lovely round number, and exactly the sort of thing that can turn an easy row into something it was never meant to be.

Today at The Lee Lookout was 40 minutes at r20 on the static Concept2, with a 146 bpm ceiling. No pace target. No distance target. After yesterday's demanding 30r20, the job was controlled aerobic work.

The monitor was welcome to have other ideas.

The first five minutes came in at 1:59.4, then 1:59.0 and 1:58.3. As my heart rate climbed, I let the pace ease. By the final five minutes it was 2:02.2. No attempt to claw the split back. No heroic finish to rescue a round number.

It felt comfortable throughout. At 17.9°C and 66% humidity, I still finished very sweaty. Apparently controlled aerobic work doesn't come with a dry-shirt guarantee.

The final result was 10,014m in 40:00 — 1:59.8/500m, r20, 800 strokes. Garmin recorded an average heart rate of 135 and a maximum of 146. The distance had come without a hard finish.

That was the satisfying part. I hadn't turned the session into a test to get there.

On the Road to Sub-6, the aerobic work underneath the harder sessions matters. One row doesn't prove the base has suddenly grown, but respecting the purpose of these sessions gives that work a chance to accumulate. Chasing every number on the screen rather defeats the point.

The goal wasn't 10,000 metres. The goal was forty minutes of controlled aerobic work. The 10k was simply the reward for getting it right.

Don't chase the result. Earn the reward.

The Lookout Moves | 30r20 · Open HR

Back at The Lee Lookout: the work gym in Cork, overlooking the River Lee. The Great Hall is home. This is the work watch-post.

30:00 at r20: 7,919m, 1:53.6/500m, 600 strokes, DF131.

The previous proper 30r20, on 2 November, was 7,842m at 1:54.7. Seventy-seven metres more, from the same half-hour and the same stroke rate. Still going nowhere, but doing it a little better.

The first two splits were 1:54.0. Then 1:53.8, 1:53.7 and 1:53.1, before a small wobble through 1:53.6 and 1:53.9. The final 3:45 was the quickest: 1:52.6. Legs felt fine, breathing was good, and effort was around eight out of ten. Enough work to know about it.

The photographed displays showed 18.6–18.7°C and 62% humidity. Recorded alongside the result, rather than guessed afterwards.

In Q-Power terms, the 30r20 is a key benchmark for checking whether the aerobic base is widening. The steady metres build it; sustained work at twenty strokes a minute helps show whether that work is paying off. One better row is evidence of progress, not proof that the job is done.

The wider the base becomes, the higher the apex can eventually rise.

Forty Minutes, Forty-Nine Metres Short | 40r20 · HR Cap 146

Forty minutes on slides in The Great Hall — 9,951 m at r20, averaging 2:00.5/500m. Forty-nine metres short of the nice round number. The monitor has no appreciation for tidy endings.

The row felt fine throughout. Comfortable and controlled, with no unusual difficulty. Finishing that close to 10k was slightly frustrating, but I deliberately kept the effort where it was meant to be rather than chasing the distance.

The five-minute blocks were fairly even, between 1,240 and 1,249 m, all at r20. A little less distance towards the end, but the point was to keep this an easy row rather than turn the last few minutes into a test.

The previous 40-minute r20 slides row on 1 November finished at 9,998 m. So the round numbers are proving elusive on this particular session. Still, the takeaway was a comfortable forty minutes with the work kept under control.

The extra metres can wait. This one did the job it was meant to do.

40r20 | HR Cap 146 | Slides