I didn't see a topic for this, so I started one. If there is one already, you all have my sincere apologies.
I've made the switch to spending more time rowing my boat, and less time on the erg, but today I decided to turn my usual 4x20' steady state snooze fest into a relaxed Half Marathon. And then I posted my piece to the concept2 website and dutifully went to look for my name on the HM challenge list. Silly how happy I felt when I saw it there.
It was a sedate affair. I rowed with a HR cap at the top of my aerobic range. Then I gave myself a break and let the dogs out for the last thousand meters or so.
First erg session for a while. I think I might do a full marathon sometime in the next couple weeks.
Thanks Greg for starting the topic. I don't have a boat, but now that the weather is getting nicer, I feel an itch to get out to inline skate. Too bad that won't help with my rowing meters.
I'd capped off my first season at just over 1M meters, and had done an HM a couple months before. It seemed I should be able to pull through a FM, even though I hadn't done any specific training--just a lot of 13-15K rows. I was coming off a couple days of rest, so what the heck? Breakfast was tea, coffee, oatmeal w/ butter, nuts, and fruit. Temperature was 70, humidity about 50%. Loaded the C2 with a Pro Bar, some water, and some Shot Blocks (carbo/caffene/electrolytes chews), took a deep breath, and set off. First thing I noticed was that my HM pace was going to be too fast, and I watched the pace boat slip into the distance as I settled into 2:45/500m, which slowly mounted to final average of 2:56 including breaks. My HR started at 116 for the first split and I tried to keep it under 130 (last split HR avg was 129, resting is 60, max is 170). I had to laugh at the Concept2 website Marathon Training page that says, "...if you can maintain an average pace of 2:05..." when 2:05 is my PB for 500m.
The breaks started at about 13K, and became more frequent as time passed. By the end, I was taking a couple minutes off the erg every 5K. The PM5 shuts off at 2 minutes, so I set a repeat timer for 1:00 to remind me to push PM5 buttons while on break. By 20K I was out of my comfort zone, and into the long trudge. Finished one movie, listened to an audiobook, tried to get into the "zone" but that eluded me so back to Netflix. Any distraction was a big help. Felt lots of discomfort on my fingers despite switching between overhand and underhand grips. No real blisters, although I did start to get one on my R heel (Duck Tape is great for stopping a rub from turning into a blister). I pushed the water, drank more often than I felt thirsty, and ended up downing 2-3 quarts, half a pack of Shot Blocks, and most of the Pro Bar.
My hands suffered the most, followed by my back, arms and hamstrings. This wasn't fun by any means, and the last 15K depended on equal parts of determination and muscle endurance. From the feel of things, I was deeply depleted by the end, and took two days of rest before erging again... and while there was a little soreness, I felt surprisingly strong.
Lessons learned? Rowing a FM is really boring, much more so than bicycling a century. Line up four hours of entertainment before starting. Full finger gloves or some additional padding on the handle would be good (I used cycling gloves). Having someone row the FM with me would have been a lot more fun, so if you can, invite a partner. Finally, getting a C2 and joining Free Spirits has been terrific. Thank you for this group!
Congratulations on completing your first FM John. =D> =D> =D> I agree that boredom can be an issue and the fact that after an hour on the erg, you're not even close to half way is very daunting. It becomes a huge trial of mental endurance and, after a while, of trying to find a comfortable position on the seat.
It doesn't necessarily get any easier, but at least you now know that you CAN do it, so the mental challenge is not unite as great next time around.
John: well done sticking it out for your first full marathon. I've only done three of them, and the first was the worst!
I agree with Paul. Great write up!
Since my birthday falls during the Marathon Challenge, I took a vacation day from work and rowed a FM as a birthday gift to myself. I really should think of better things to do on my birthday.
My first 10k was at 2:25 and I slowly eased into a 2:20 pace for most of the rest of the row. I took 1-2 minute breaks every 45 minutes to stand up, stretch, take a drink of water, and eat an energy chew. Also, for sanity's sake, I added some variety with 250m spurts at 2:10 every 2000m, then went back to 2:20.
In the last 5k I remembered why I don't do more than one of these a year; my back was seriously protesting. I slowed to 2:30 and, with the breaks, ended up at 2:34 overall. Hardly a speed demon and in the 18th percentile for my age group in the C2 rankings, but this annual ritual is not about pace for me, it's about getting to the end.
Every year I tell myself that I won't bother, and every year I do it anyway.
mardix wrote: I took a vacation day from work and rowed a FM as a birthday gift to myself. Every year I tell myself that I won't bother, and every year I do it anyway.
Well done to you both. You top the list in terms of number of marathons and half marathons done during the challenge. Overall, there were 48 Free Spirits who completed the challenge, 9 of whom did both the HM and the FM, 3 of whom did the FM only and 36 who did the HM only.
The most number rowed was 10. He was obviously lazy, taking 5 days off like that.
Last edited by mardix on Sun May 17, 2015 8:21 pm, edited 3 times in total.
Paul Victory wrote: Overall, there were 48 Free Spirits who completed the challenge, 9 of whom did both the HM and the FM, 3 of whom did the FM only and 36 who did the HM only.