Getting Comfortable with Being Uncomfortable, Again

There are some distances I’ve never particularly liked on the erg.

The 5k and 6k sit firmly in that category.

They’re too long to bluff your way through on power, but short enough that there’s nowhere to hide aerobically. You spend most of the piece knowing exactly how uncomfortable it is, with far too much time left to think about it.

Historically, they’ve never been my strongest events either. Compared with some of my better performances over 2k, 30 minutes, 60 minutes and the longer distances, my 5k and particularly my 6k have always felt a little underwhelming.

So naturally, I decided to do both.

5,000m

The plan beforehand was somewhere around 1:55–1:57 pace, without turning it into an all-out effort.

It came out at:

5,000m — 19:00.0

1:54.0/500m

236W

r28 average

HR 152 average

DF 135

The pacing was remarkably steady, basically sitting around 1:54 for the whole piece before squeezing the final section down to about 1:52.4.

The annoying bit?

The finish screen initially flashed 18:59.

For one glorious moment I thought I’d sneaked under 19 minutes.

Then it rounded up to 19:00.0.

Grr.

Rage Against the Machine provided the soundtrack, which probably explains why the original “controlled 5k” plan quietly disappeared somewhere around halfway.

6,000m

After a decent recovery, I got back on for the 6k.

This one really was supposed to be the controlled piece. Sit around 1:58–2:00, keep the rate sensible, and just get the distance done.

For most of it, that’s exactly what happened.

6,000m — 23:27.8

1:57.3/500m

217W

r26 average

DF 135

The first 5,250m stayed pretty close to 1:58 pace.

Then apparently Rage Against the Machine, Linkin Park and the Red Hot Chili Peppers collectively decided that sensible pacing was no longer required.

The final 750m came down to around 1:50.8 pace.

So much for the gentle finish.

Getting Comfortable Again

What I’m enjoying at the moment is getting reacquainted with that uncomfortable middle ground.

The really short stuff is obvious: go hard, hang on, stop.

The long rows are almost meditative once you settle into them.

But 5k and 6k are different.

They force you to sit with discomfort for long enough that you can’t just ignore it. You have to accept it, control it, and keep rowing anyway.

That’s something I used to be much better at.

And maybe that’s what this little run of different distances on the slides is really doing — not just rebuilding fitness, but rebuilding the ability to be uncomfortable without immediately wanting to back away from it.

Today was 11,000m of proper work across the two pieces.

5k — 19:00.0

6k — 23:27.8

Not spectacular by old standards.

But definitely a step in the right direction.

Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable, again.