Jasmine shall henceforth be known as "Quiet Achiever" Taff. And Niall has a great avatar for her (if Carole Mac doesn't get in first).

Two golds and a silver at the Grand Prix today .... disappointed in the mile got 2nd by .2 sec but did pb by nearly 4 secs .. 6.02.9 average 152.9 30spm ............ pb at 500metres and 1st .. 1.43 and did lowest pull of 1.27 in a relay ....all in all a very satisfactory day ........................... won some lovely glasses which are just right for my vodka and orange ............... hiccup ...lol

Congrats, Carole!

Sounds like you deserve to fill them cups up a few times & celebrate!

Carla

Great rowing Carole, and to come second by 0.2 is at least memorable for all concerned if that's any consolation. And such a big PB as well - your 2K time must be in the firing line now ?

I'm just back from an 18K 'final long one' training run before the HM and pretty stuffed so no need to rush on to the rower for a while Carla. Hope the concert performance was right up there with your recent rowing exploits.

Cheers

Martin

18K sounds soooooo long...I won't be trying for my first HM of the season for another month or so.

BTW, I see that Carlton has done a bit of rowing lately--and I thought of a way of finding him--so I sent him an email telling him how much fun we have on this team! Hope he joins in soon.

Tomorrow I'm planning an hour row. I'll post the results.

Carla

PS Concert went great--it was a blast--tomorrow we start working on Dvorak and Shostakovitch for November 6

Dwayne your horse! You nearly beat my 500 in your first split! Think theres more to come from better pacing or is that the best way to do things for you? Congratulations again.

Yep Aussietaff hope the 2k PB going to go soon all this 14k plus a day is finally paying off (says she who has only been rowing a year ). Where in Aus are you ???? just booked for January Mr MAC and I going to Perth for a week .. Sydney for a week and Cairns for a few days .

Well done Dwayne for your world record ... the superman outfit really suits you pmsl .....

Carla you are brilliant .. a rower and a musician .. I am not even allowed to sing in the bath I am that tone deaf... mind you woke up this am with no voice MR MAC is going to be so pleased lol...

Going to do a gentle row today I am a bit sore after the activities yesterday... the relay was brilliant ... but it doesn't half get your thighs getting on and off ...

I'm no Olympian or great rower but I know I give myself challenges to meet and, personally speaking, there has to be a degree of selfishness and flexibility to make the commitment needed.

It goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, that you also have to have the full support and understanding of those around you too.

In my case that means rowing at 06:30 weekdays and working through my lunchtimes so I can fit in another rowing session at the end of my working day. That way I don't eat into my family life/time. On weekends it's a case of fitting in the sessions (single ones per day) around family commitments but sometimes you just have to say "I gotta go!".

I'm in no way trying to compare myself with the great achievements of Speedy or any other high-achieving sports person. All I know is that I challenge myself at an appropriate level to my own capabilities and then push myself to achieve them. Once achieved, it's time to raise the bar again.

That's my personal view anyway.

That's great! I didn't know any of you actually knew him.

If he would come on-line and join in our "huddle" he would row more, I'm sure!
Carla

Hi Carole,

Great choices for your Aussie holiday destinations, lots of contrast. Perth should be hottish (hottest in Feb/March) and dry, Cairns will definately be hot and wet (start of cyclone season to add a bit of spice to the weather !) and Sydney somewhere in between. Unfortunately I live in Melbpurne so unless you are passing through on the way from Perth to Sydney (bit out of the way though) we can't have an erg together (does Mr Mac indulge also ?). Plenty of public gyms in all those cities if you are experiencing withdrawal symptoms but be warned, erging in Cairns will be like erging in a sauna !

Martin

Speedy,

Many congratulations on breaking through the 5 Million Metre mark for the season. Absolutely AWESOME! Good luck for the next 5 Million!!

Hi



I've been following this thread for about two weeks now and have to admit I am very impressed by the camaraderie(?) and high level of motivation amongst you and I hope you don't mind me butting in and commenting on Niall's words on challenging yourself at your own level. This perception echoes my own feelings exactly.

Congratulations Dwayne on your world record.


Prufrock

Come on board and join the fun Prufrock ! I'm sure there must be some Welsh connection somewhere.

Martin

Prufrock,

I'm sure you're more than aware from the posting's you've read already that we're a friendly bunch that support and push each other's achievements. I for one would not have put in the amount of metres if it hadn't been for the initiatives and support of team colleagues.

So if you would like to be a member of a team that will give you motivation, support, laughs, consoling shoulder, friendship (we can't guarantee cards on your birthday though) and drive then look no further than TAFF ATTACK!

Criteria for membership includes (any one will do) but is not limited to:

- live in Wales
- has lived in Wales
- has been on holiday or visited Wales
- can find Wales on a World Map
- has a Welsh name (forename, middle name or surname)
- has read a book by a Welsh Author or author with a Welsh name (see above)

If you're still struggling to meet any of the criteria then we would probably have to get down to a written application. As long as you could prove you can spell "Wales" (no cheating by going on www.dictionary.com now!) then you're in!

Good luck with your decision! I hope it's an easy one!!

Hi



My only claim to Welshness is living with an ex-girlfriend in Dolgellau for a couple of years. Her father was a Welsh History teacher and the family lived in a house next door to Cader Idris. Hung out in Bala and Fairborne a couple of times. She teaches French, but in Pontypool.


Prufrock

Sounds to me like you're over qualified.

Anyone who can spell (or even pronounce) Dolgellau gets rushed into the ranks of Taff Attack with open arms (I wont hold the Pontypool connection against you )!

So that's the qualification side complete. It's just down to you to decide whether the team appeals to you.

Prufrock is definitely qualified. Come on aboard. No pressure.

Speedy

Hi



I suppose I have no choice but to join. Do I need to verify my rowing km? I use a leisure centre until I can buy my very own concept2. The leisure centre has just got in a couple of the latest model - very nice too - and I note it has a very good log system. Anyway, joining this group gives me an excuse to do the 20,000km a day I need to do before BIRC. I'm doing slow and long in the morning or lunchtime and slighly quicker and short in the evening. I missed a couple last week though. I started logging my sessions on this site but stopped because it was averaging my work from May 1 and not from when I joined the forum. I take it I still log my mileage like this.

Anyway, thanks for having me.

Prufrock

Welcome to Taff Attack Prufrock!

Like Speedy says, as long as you're just logging your metres through your Concept2 Personal Logbook then they'll be included in the team's collective total. You'll also need to edit your profile to add Taff Attack as your College/University Affiliation (it's near the bottom of your profile page).

Hey there Taffians. We have a new Taff in the ranks. Bernard Baptiste (aka Prufrock). With his added meters, we are now within 400k of Supercanoa. Let's take them out like we've done with the other clubs that have stood in our way!!

Speedy

Welcome Prufrock

It's good to see that we are still getting new members and our existing peeps are really encouraging each other.

I've started a PhD this week so I think my metres input might suffer for a short while. I've just been told that the recommended working week is 50 hours.

Hopefully I'll get into a new routine within a few weeks.


Well done to Dwayne for his WR time. Incidentally, how did you manage to have a USIRA official "handy"?



Jasmine

Hi all


Thanks for the welcome, but I do feel a little guilty.


What a pity I haven't logged the 50 or so thousand metres a week I've been doing since I last logged my stuff on the 19th August. Never mind, I'll do about 14000 tonight to try to make up for it.

Prufrock

Welcome Prufrock!

Supercanoa is a sitting duck now...

Hey gang, what do you think of this: Now we have 2 8's--16 rowers--a JV and a Varsity 8. Should we hold the team to 16 rowers and see how high we can get up the board without "cheating" as the valiant Daren C of the Justice Department says (tongue in cheek I am sure!)?

Dwayne--5 *&#@#! million meters! oy! I was afraid that your "unconventional training" merely consisted of hours of dedication, hard work, committment, blood, sweat and tears, but there's always that hope of some cool new gadget that wil make you a world champion in 3 easy minutes a day!

Jasmine--so cool to know one of our best rowers is also SMART so I can make sure my friends know that we rowers are not all brawns and no brain What is your area of specialty?

Niall--I am sorry to hear you have your butt in a sling, so to speak...take care of yourself, get a Swiss ball, and have fun with it. I need to do more real work on it myself, but I am also trying to learn to sit cross legged on mine. I have to cheat by holding onto the furniture to get on, and then I only last about .1 seconds, but records are meant to be beaten!

Martin--I see you have crept ahead of me...I'd better get back to work...last night's workout ended up being rather odd because my pizza dinner had different ideas about where it should be than I did once I started really working. So today I row before eating!

Let's go get Supercanoa, Taffs! Power 10!

Carla

You'll not get any pangs of guilt from us Daren as all the teams around us have around double the number of team members. I applaud your single-minded commitment in challenging the University Standings teams alone (reminds me of the knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail that wouldn't give up fighting despite losing limbs! ).

If you'd like some motivational help in achieving your goals, you'd be more than welcome to join our team. As you've probably seen from the postings on this thread, we're generally a friendly bunch and encourage each others rowing goals.

I'm sure you qualify (you can find Wales on a World Map can't you??!! ).

JV is "junior varsity". Maybe I should have said "novice" instead, though when I was rowing on water (a very short career it was, too) we had a novice boat, a JV boat, and a Varsity boat for both men and women.

Carla

Aye seat5, I say cheating only in jest, I assure you.

Niall, I can find Wales. Heck, I've even been there. More than once! First time was when I was 11 or so, with Gingerbread who used to do holidays for kids of single parent families IIRC. Second time was when I spent a week in Betws-y-Coed on a school field trip.

The Justice Department is actually my online gaming clan. I'm trying to persuade some of them to drop Quake and take up the erg, but no joy yet. I have set my sights on climbing into the top 100 of the season's distance rankings, one university at a time. I've only been at it for 6 weeks, but I daily average means I'm picking 'em off at a decent rate.

Next season I'll really go for it. If I can spend a whole season doing what I'm doing now, I should be good for 7 or 8 million metres. Big plans. Time will tell if I can deliver on them.

Pru,

Welcome to the team man, looking at your CV I agree with Niall, and cant believe you had doubts. One question based on the quote below:

Hi Jasmine!

I immediately had two pictures pop up in my mind at the phrase "colonial animals native to Wales": the barnacles on Moby Dick, and a bunch of coral with American Pilgrim hats on...

I suppose you could use your rowing prowess to get around and look at these animals. Wear a life jacket!

Carla

A crummiesh workout today

I planned to do a 60 minute row, holding 2:06. It was fine to start, but I did go out faster than I planned, and held 2:05.5 for 30 minutes (this would be a 30 min PB but I'm not exactly sure of the meters--I think I remeber 717something as 30 min flashed by--so I didn't post it). Not too long after the half hour I got so thirsty my tongue was getting stuck to the roof of my mouth and I finally stopped for a few seconds to get a drink. I drove the average back down again, but I ended up stopping two more times for water and each time ended up with a slower average even though I was still pulling most strokes at 2:05 or 2:06. It seemed pointless to work very hard after that so I pooped out.

Not a good trend--next time I am determined to stick to the pace I mean to at the beginning, so I can finish the way at the right pace, too. And make sure I've had plenty of water before I row.

It's hard not to be down on yourself when you quit on a workout--or worse, a few in a row , but that won't help, I'm sure. "THE BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES" comes to mind...

Carla

Nice Avatar Godfried, very much in keeping with the Taff Attack theme, nice one!

From the DUH department:

"Next time set the interval at 3 mins, then you can see what you have done. "
I'm not sure how to do that on PM2. Do you start by setting the total time for 60 min, and then what? Still not used to this "new fangled" thing. And did you actually mean set the interval at 30 min.

Also, how do you make those nice little quote boxes? haven't figured that out yet.

Carla

Morning all,

Great posts everyone, pity I'm so out of kilter timewise as I'm missing out on all the action live

Welcome aboard Prufrock (your quirky welsh-sounding logon id would have been enough to get you in if you didn't have the Dolgellau connection). Up until very recently I didn't have regular access to the internet and so just kept a written log of my rowing exploits ready for entering into my logbook at a later date. So if you have some way of recalling your unlogged metres ? Good luck with the target Kms, you should do well at BIRC with that amount of training. Any particular goals ?

Jasmine - are you doing your PhD at Aberystwyth Uni ? Plenty of marine life on that pebbly beach and seaweedy rocks ! Dad (Peter Wood) did his PhD in Geography at Aber after the war and from memory taught there in the late 40's - early 50's in the Geography Department. We lived in one of those old 3 storey solid rock houses - "Stoneleigh" - in Caradoc Road, wonder what it looks like now.

Sorry to hear the back injury will take longer to get over Niall than I first thought, was it caused by erging or an 'old' injury flaring up again ? Like to be able to say I'll go easy on you but ....TA NEEDS MY KMS !!

Speaking of which, I'm off to the gym shortly - got Ricky in my sights !

Martin

PS Glad to hear Chris has his priorities right Chippy, the race to 1 Million between the 3 of you (Godfried, Chippy and Chris) will be fascinating to watch as it unfolds.

Hi Carla,

After reading your post last weekend about raring to go on an hour row Monday I hobbled (after the 18K run) down to the gym yesterday to get some pokey Kms up so I wouldn't be too far behind. Only to find you had only done 5K ! My initial reaction was a cheeky post - "5K in 60 mins, was that a PW " type of thing but then I thought that maybe an old injury has resurfaced and so bit my tongue.

So it was with great relief that I saw this morning that it was simply a case of an ill-advised pairing of a pizza (with the lot ? anchovies ?) with a serious row ! I suspect the raging thirst experienced during your last row can also be attributed to the after effects of that pizza as they have that effect on me too. Better not let it happen again otherwise we may have to change your nickname from 'Supergirl' to 'Pizzagirl'

If its any consolaton, I usually experience a form 'slump' after the highs of a big week or so of PB's or great workouts. I put it down to the body and mind needing a period of time to 'recharge' and usually just plod along for a week or so until the enthusiasm rekindles (which it always does). It's mainly a mental thing and one aspect of nature's cyclical approach to life (happy/sad, euphoric/depressed - one doesn't usually exist without the other).

Cheers

Martin