FM Row Strong For Boston

That did not go amazingly

Forgot to turn music in before I started so did that in the go - the big fan was on low and not pointing in the right place so ended up grabbing mobile and calling the mrs while still erging to come out and move it - 10k in the knee started playing up not real bad but enough to be conscious of it - temp up at 23C - humidity 70% - no view of time or predicted finish being a schedule row - 9k from the end the knee got worse to the point I knee if I twisted it even slightly it would lock - nearly choked on a jelly - music stopped 4k from end so had to reset that! FFS - anyways the time for FM was 2:34:34.9 ;-)

30@24 FM Pace

Firstly I have to mention I hate some of the dog owners in Ireland - the ones who leave there dogs out all the time - these tend to be the stupid little yappy dogs who have "small dog complex" - like the two who are out constantly it seems and run up and try to attack - well snap at the heals of my four (German Shepherd bitch, two of her pups (bitch and dog) who are crossed with English Spanials and a boxer/lab cross dog) the two bitches are muzzled for the protection of these stupid little dogs - unfortunately that doesn't mean they can't end up getting twisted round on their leads and last night this caused me to strain my knee as well as cause the German Shep to hurt her leg as once again we where "attacked" - if i didn't like dogs so much I would walk down that street without the muzzles on my two bitches (sounds kinda "homey") and that would be the end of my problems - well the end of the stupid dogs ...


Anyway with the Rowathon on Sunday (FM) and a strained knee I thought I'd best ease the pressure and therefore did the 30min at 24 SPM at FM pace - well a little quicker - just to see what would happen with the knee and the HR (23C in the room) all went well - won't erg tomorrow (wasn't planning on it) might get out on the bike if the weather is fine.

30r20 70% HRR on a still grated butt

Fitting in what I can with work and grazing meant returning to the 30r20 with HRR 70% (ish) - had to move into the gym today as the massage lady is in my usual room - did go slightly over at the end but nothing drastic - had a few folk walk in and start chit chatting around me so it got me slightly distracted - good workout though and 1:49.5 split again. Butt not doing too bad - although as there was someone in the loo when I sprayed on the "spray plaster" my expletives remained silent - I'm sure it hurt more because of that

 

**** 5K PB ****

And becoming religious – well in as much as I’ve started saying hail mary’s every time I spray that “spray plaster” on my butt – I do think it’s working though – not as much of a sting in the shower after today’s training – oh wait – you want to know about the erg? :lol:

Well – after two days of HRR 70% 30r20’s I needed to get some blood pumping – short on time as I am busy in work with my colleague of I opted for the 5k TT (with 5k warm up) – wearing the full Q-Power shorts and race top I headed into the torture room with a plan of hitting 1:39’s and a fast finish – so through the 5k race warm up feeling lethargic and noting that I’m shifting my weight on the drive to compensate for the grazed butt I wasn’t looking forward to the piece – but then as a guy in the C2 forum has said – “bad warm up – good TT” (it doesn’t always work but I think we both tell ourselves that lie to get on with it :lol: )

So 5k set and in we went – targeting 1:39’s on 28 errrr found myself hitting 1:37’s and 38’s @30 oh well stick with it and see what happens – breathing was the worse bit to be honest – and nerves for some reason – the first two minutes I just felt really nervous – weird – but got through that and managed to keep reasonable control – then about 3k from the end it started to bite – the old HD demons came a flocking – dropped pace to 1:40 for a few splits and then pulled myself back together – snot and phlem flew freely :lol: - managed to squeeze it on at the end and dip under the current number 1 ranked 5k piece on the C2 rankings – nice – 24 seconds of (what was a weak) PB

Like to finish hard – the call to Beowulf was a late rally today though

HR not too bad

30r20 HRR 70% (146) more butt grating

On the way home from work last night on a member of the C2’s forum I tried to get some Germolyne "New Skin" - they don't sell it in Ireland - so I got “spray plaster” instead

You'll be pleased to know they sting as much as "new skin" the Mrs took pleasure in administering two lots of it - I'm sure I only needed one - but she assured me two was needed  :shock:

So today i did consider not erg'ing as I packed my bag with my Godfrey Q-Power padded shorts - ye like I'm going to not erg for the want of a mere skin graft

The plan I decided was to stick with the 30r20 HRR 70% - knowing that the pain from these "injuries" tends to wear off after a few minutes - towel on seat off I set - 30 minutes late it still friggin stung on every back swing! Of course I then took the towel off for the cool down and not an ounce of pain – stupid feckin towel

Still Meters in the bank and tomorrow I will see how I get on without the towel with the Godfrey shorts – oh yes – I decided to administer the spray myself after my shower – the reaction was pretty comical as I launched the can across the changing rooms with an expletive every second – luckily no one was there to see my tears  :lol:

Spray the graze

Tonight I sprayed these on my grated butt - it stung - a lot - who said erg'ing was fun lol

30r20 HRR 70% (146) on a grated butt

After yesterdays little jaunt I'm back to shorter lunch time rows - today I could get a 30min piece in - I did have half an eye on a tough 30min (ie TT pace and see what happens) but after the warm up and about a minute in I knew the grated butt was too much of an issue (legs where tired but I think I could of worked them out) so then I quickly set up for a 30r20 with 70% HRR (146) and got on with it - tried to push the HR early on and then settle - but the butt kept at me and that was hard so the rate jumped about a little - managed to get it under control and finish on 600 strokes - quite a nice split for the cost - although once in the shower I was aware once again of the issues I thought I'd left "behind" me - got that stung! Pretty sure I have two raw patches now FFS  :roll:

3/4 marathon @FM pace (31646 @1:50.8)

Today we had made space in the schedule for a 3/4 marathon at F/M pace (1:50.9) target for next Sunday (30th June - RowStrongForBoston) simple enough - sit on the erg and go back and forth for two hours - camelbak set up - also a few jellies with a couple bits of chocolate - went very well - HR stayed down and only discomfort was the cheese grating of the butt 

HM @23 HRR 75% - Row Strong For Boston

As it's summer solstice today (C2 like people to row 21k - sadistic - I love em) it seemed to make sense to crank out a HM on target pace/stroke for the FM next Sunday (30th June in aid of Boston Childrens Hospital) also as the baby shifted her feeding slightly it meant I was in work 45 minutes early which I was able to combine with my lunch and afternoon break in order to fit it in - so no getting away from it :lol: towel and vasline sorted and after a 500m warm up (system test) I set off - no real issues other than a little thirsty - will have the camelbak set up next to me for the FM

Quite happy with the result

Strokes and Drive

Not a big "cost" to the system

HR Maxed at 154 so that bodes well

The Road is long

My journey to Sub6 2k on the indoor rower started some time ago - you can see some of the history here

http://www.q-power.co/Paul.html

I will detail the rest of my journey in this blog