Rowing

In the work gym they had a rowing challenge over 500m, 1000m, 2000m, 5k and 10k. 

I was interested in the challenges in the gym but only the longer ones. I did the 5k in 19.29 then the following day I did the 10k in 40:48. It hurt like hell and I think I tweeted at the time that I wouldn't be doing that again.

A day's a long time.

Saturday night I was bored and started browsing on the Concept2 website where I stumbled upon the marathon training programme http://concept2.co.uk/assets/docs/training/training_marathon_training_guide.pdf

The seed was planted and I started thinking.......

Anyway, I decided to try it and see how it went, no pressure. Opting for the 4 session a week plan I noted what was required and had a go.

Week 1
Session 1: 2x30mins with 3 mins recovery. Alternating between 7.5mins at 10k pace And 7.5mins at marathon pace.
Session 2: 4x15mins with 4 mins recovery. 6mins @ 10k pace/9min @ MP.
Session 3: 3x20mins with 2 min recovery. 1-MP, 2-HMP, 3-10k pace
Session 4: 4x15mins with 4 mins recovery. 6mins @ 5k pace/9min @ MP.

More rowing than i have done possibly in my life combined.

It actually wasn't that bad, the mixture of pacing worked and i actually felt pretty good after each session. I'm not going to say it was easy as it really wasn't. This morning's 4x15mins was really difficult and all day my legs felt empty. Even now they don't feel particularly energised but then i guess that's a good feeling as i've worked them hard.

I'm pretty chuffed with my numbers for the week although don't really have a concept of whether they are good or just ok. If anyone knows please leave me some comments.

I totalled 56,442metres for the week in 4hrs of rowing.56km! i'm pretty chuffed with that! I've not looked at next weeks programme yet but suspect its further and longer.

So will i do a marathon row? 

I still don't really know, i'd like to do something like that. I still cannot run and cycling to work and back is better than nothing but doesn't really cut it in terms of any endurance or real solid fitness benefit. Rowing is definitely ticking those boxes, in terms of making me dig in and grunt it out and use some stamina. I'm going to take it week-by-week until i'm convinced i can do it.

If anyone knows about rowing and has any comments on my numbers please leave me a comment.

Are dogs psychic?

On Sunday I went out, taking the car, for a couple of hours. Both times when I came home Frankie, our year old Fox Terrier/Mini-schnauzer cross, jumped up to the window in my front room getting agitated less than a minute before I pulled on to the drive. You could say this is coincidence except that the front room is not a room we use much during the day and also Frankie ran from the back of the house to get to the window, so much do that Sue thought there was something wrong with her.

So are dogs psychic or was that just two coincidences?

Rate your Run, Kyrenia in Northern Cyprus

I actually wrote this blog back in August when i got back from holiday in Cyprus. I didn't publish it as it has taken me this long to get the photo's off the camera that i used!

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I recently went on holiday to Karsiyacka in, Turkish, Northern Cyprus. Like most runners I know I pretty much always take my running shoes and kit on holiday with me. Read any running magazine and the letters page will contain a submission from someone running on holiday that discovered something stunning that they would have ordinarily missed. this is very true, on foot you will see things that you would otherwise miss. Roads that may lead nowhere may lead somewhere interesting or even exceptional, when you are alone on foot you can make this exploration.

 

My runs in Cyprus were, in one word, hot! The temperatures through the day were high 30's and in the second week topped out around 42C. Personally I love this, the heat doesn't really bother me. Sure I sweat but in terms of feeling uncomfortable or struggling to function it doesn't bother me. Running in this heat takes some acclimatisation and I would generally run later in the afternoon when temperatures had dropped to 32-34C.

 

My first couple of runs weren't great. As we were pretty rural I did out and back routes as wasn't sure of my bearings. I started by running up the hill to the local mosque that was visible from our villa (and that we could hear the call to prayer from) and then back. Then I did a run along the main road and back. Mileage sure but pretty unsatisfactory from an enjoyment perspective. That then started me thinking about the rate your run stuff on MarathonTalk. I had downloaded a number of their podcasts for entertainment whilst away, one of their items is to rate your run. Basically give a score for your run. At this point I was barely at a 7. Whilst I was enjoying the running and the weather there was something missing.

 

It was then that I changed direction and instead of running up the hill I ran towards the coast. What a difference.

From a 7/10 to suddenly 10/10! Within half a mile of the villa was the coast and a coastal path. There was a mix of trail and road, roads with housing, farms and a military base. Once I had done this run once that was it I ran it for the remainder of the holiday. There was actually enough trail that one day I ran it in my vibram FiveFingers. Then towards the end of my holiday I took a camera, my daughters little Samsung, to capture the route so that I could blog about it and keep it.