Hi everyone,
I'm back amoung the living again. I got back on the machine on the weekend and am quickly feeling 'normal' again (whatever normal may be!) When I got home from class tonight I did a pretty good 12km. I'm starting back slowly but have my eye on Chris. Tonight I'm within 33km of him! If he takes the rest of the week off I may catch up to him! What do you say Chris?!?
It's so awesome to see so many people getting new SB and PB's!! Way to go! I can hardly wait until I'm back in form to try for some SB's because I'm sure I'll get lots of support from all of you!
Great to hear you had a good weekend Carla! Way to go with the race!

Debra

Glad to see you on the forum, Debra, and to see your meters going UP! Chris had better watch out! I expect you'll have some Nonathlon points coming as soon as you really feel "normal", too. Hey, are you 40 yet? Hope not I'm not sure I want you in the same bracket!!!

I did a bunch of junk meters that added up to 6K today--everything felt funny from the crash but I figured rowing a bunch of junk was better than nothing. BTW the bike ride wasn't a race, it was just me against the odometer...

Carla

Attagirl Debra, show Chris no mercy ! Poor guy's really under the hammer - Chippy pulling away towards the 1 Mill mark and he needs a wide-angle screen to keep my pace boat in sight You're still a FM up on me though Chris (and I'll love every stroke !).

Gutsy ride after the accident Carla - inspired by Chippy's triathon exploits no doubt. Better stick to erging - its not so far to fall I did a 'soft' 2 x 5K today to ease back into it, still stiff and sore so, unlike Niall, no big ones this week.

Top row Niall, you really monstered that 40 min barrier. Must be a big confidence booster to hold sub 2:00's for so long, puts a 15K 60 miniter onto the radar screen ?! How's the Km count for the 1 MM Challenge, up to one third yet ?

Cheers to youse all,

Martin

Welcome back Debra! Good to see you putting in the metres. I'm sure it wont be long until you're posting PBs/SBs.

Watch your back Chris! Debra's got you in her sights!

Hi People



An absolute nightmare time at work, so couldn't put in the metres. Did 12000 metres this morning. 8x500m tonight.

Keep those metres coming in Debra! Nice to see you're recovering from your ailments and are ready to go get Chris! By the way if a good 12k is starting slowly, what do you do when you're up to speed.

Niall, you are a star! The rest has done you a power of good. Congrats on your sub 40 minute 10k mate. You're getting a little to close to me for comfort.

Does anyone know when Dwayne comes back from his honeymoon?


Bernard

Not sure when Dwayne is back, but a little bird told me that he arranged for a C2 to be put onto the ship!! (He is on a cruise)

How crazy is that?

Sir Pirate

Crazy? Why? Whenever anyone thinks of long, slow, steady, rhythmical strokes, getting faster and more powerful until thrashing wildly to an exhausted but satisfying finish, whilst on honeymoon, erging immediately comes to mind.

Doesn't it? I don't know what you mean Sir Pirate!

Prufrock,

Stop Press :-

Proposed debate deadline blows out - Aussie Taff holding out for a trunkful of used Euros, other party wants AT to pay them !! Also AT unhappy with format - 3 legged stool in corner with no Internet connection, suspicious of pointy hat with a D on it.

On a more positive note - possibility of debate overshadowing some other debate taking place in US now less likely after latest delay.

"Scoop" Taff signing off,

This is a C&P from the UK forum, so I apologise if you've already read it.

Yesterday:

Only 2 small sessions for me today so far. I did a 5k earlier, but this teatime's 2k test was good for me.

It wasn't a best time. In fact, it's 6 seconds outside my best, but it felt important psychologically. First, I was trying to row at a lower stroke rate. Normally, my 2k pieces are done around 34/36 SPM. This evening's piece was done at more like 30.

Secondly, I wasn't dead on the rower at the end. I wasn't puffing like a stream train. I didn't collapse in a heap on the living room carpet for 10 minutes. My foot didn't ache.

No, it was a steady-paced row, still challenging, but not only wasn't I dying and praying for the end, but I felt in control and I was able to really up the pace at the end. I got off the rower afterwards and after a few heavy, deep breaths I felt like I'd done almost any other row.

I'm not entirely sure what I take from this, other than I can row a 7:20 piece quite comfortably now, so I should hopefully be able to push that 7:13.5 down a bit when I'm in the mood to go all-out.

Split/SR comparisoon is below. As you can see, I was quite a lot behind my PB pace for most of the thing, but that kick in the last 300m really started to bring the avg pace down. If I can row more steady 1:50 splits, and start the kick for home a bit sooner, that may well be enough to get me under 1:48.4 and a new PB. I haven't done the maths though. =)

Hi ya Taffs. I'm back (not for long though, off to Thailand tomorrow).

What a wonderful honeymoon. If you've never been to the Carribean, I highly recommend it.

As you can see by the meters, there was a erg on the ship. What's one of the strangest things in the world? Erging on a moving ship. If you've ever done it, then you know what I mean.

Welcome aboard all you new Taffs. The recuiting has been good lately eh Chris?

Haven't been able to read through all of the posts since I've been out, but I did see a couple of things. 1. Rickster - Happy B-Day. 2. The interviews are great!! Funny stuff man!!!!

I've got to go for now. Lot's of stuff to do before I leave tomorrow. FYI - I'll have an erg at the hotel, so I'll be able to put in meters while I'm there (two weeks this time!!). I should also be able to check in periodically. So I won't be completely out of touch with the rest of you.

Erg on!!!!

Speedy

300,000m on honeymoon? You crazy SOB. Enjoy Thailand!

Great Job Daren!! No wonder you feel so pleased with yourself. It seems to me your first test run was very important as it gave you the knowledge and confidence to determine what rate you were probably capacble of achieving. Your live 2K just confirmed it.

Don't forget to update your signature as it still has the 7:13 time.

I'm planning on doing exactly what you've just done next Wednesday and do a test 2K. My target is 7:20 so I'll be looking at 1:50 splits.

I also must add how impressed I was to read you'd completed your million metres in 50 days, that's a fantastic rate, well done!

I should have been more specific. What I should have said was:

Speedy, you're a mad Taffian!

Hands off Sir Pirate, go pillage someone else's team!
Grrrrrrrr!!!!

Niall

You know what Pirates do don't you??..............YES!!................They steal things

Sir "stealy" Pirate

Hi Dwayne



Glad you had a great time in the Caribbean. Even gladder you're back. Daren that's an excellent time for the 2K, especially as it still doesn't seem as though you are going all out. For what it's worth I row the 2k at 31/32 spm. At that rate, you'll be very close to going under 7 minutes at BIRC!! Brilliant stuff.

Niall, I don't look cool dancing on dry land, so I would hate to think how uncool I looked dancing on a ship.

Go walk a plank Sir "Stealy" Pirate, Dwayne's staying with us!! Get it???


Bernard

Darren
Nice Row on the 2k,Faster time and a lower heart rate you got to be happy with that,but it does mean with Chris and myself screaming in your ear at the BIRC
you will have do better.

Speedy
True Taff spirit training on your honeymoon,Check your birth certificate you must be from the Valleys. Have a great part 2 holiday.Dont worry about the Pirate if he gets to close we will sink his boat.

Sue
Well done hitting 200,000 in such a short time,saying that if Graham was behind me i would be getting a move on.

Graham
Only a stone throw away from 200,000,Put the whiskey glass down and get back on the ergo.

Chippy

Sorry about the long post, but I enjoy all the reparte in this thread. I also thought that it would be interesting to see how the teams compare when looking at the mean number of meters per member rather than total meters. In this list that puts Taff Attack at 29th, and even the Ancient Mariners are 15th. So... more challenges for the team members.

Dwayne,

I see your online - hows it goin mate?

Speedy!
Welcome back!
I can't believe you ROWED on your honeymoon! What, do you have a GOAL or something???? Well, I guess Mrs. Speedy must be used to your vice already...

Daren: Great news about your 2Ks. It feels a LOT better to row with a more powerful stroke, doesn't it? You're a true contender!


Hey Sue you're toting up the meters pretty quick. Are you and Graham competing?

29th....come on...that's not good enough!!!! We Taffs are made of sterner stuff, right? Each of us needs to row a bit more than twice the amount we currently do to catch up to Royal College. OK, time to get off my duff...


Carla

We have a new team member!
Welcome to Taff Attack Michael Zarpoli!

Michael's in an interesting position just tucked behind Carla and Martin so we could have some added excitement with all three battling it out for that 12 place in the team standings (and I remember the time when it was 10th!).

Welcome to the Taff 'Fraternity' (is that the right word Carla ?) of Pain and Insanity Mike. Where people give their ergs pet names like "old Smokey" and erg hundreds of Kms on their honeymoon !

At last we've recruited someone who's Kms are less than mine (Bernie Snr doesn't count as he was a 'virgin' erger - i.e. no previous kms ). Hope you don't eat the same breakfast cereal as Daren.

Speaking of whom, TERRIFIC back to back 2K's Daren. Judging from your stats and description it sounds like you have struck the right balance for achieving the magic sub 7. I pretty much trod the same path as you in getting there, next step for me was a couple of 7:07's to provide a launching pad. Then I 'practised' going out at sub 1:45 pace for as long as I could (to get the body/mind used to it), not worrying too much when I 'died" (usually around the 800 - 1200 metre zone). One day I felt in the groove at the 1200 metre mark holding 1:45's so just kept going and - Bingo. Each of us obviously has our own preferred approach - this seemed to suit me. The key is the third 500, if you can hold 1:45's the last 500 will just happen - especially with the distance work you have done to date.

Chris - did you do a 3:03 marathon this season ? If so, let's have a side bet - first to break 3 hours I want to make my first FM a sub 3 hour one and need someone to push me along - feeling flat as a tack after the HM run !! Did a HM at the gym today in my 'comfort' zone (2:06) as a tester for the FM - still a long way to go !!

Fantastic erging Speedy. Does Mrs S erg also ? Can TA sign her up ?

Niall, have you done 100 Kms in a week ?! - awesome

Cheers all,

Martin

I see Bernard's done a sneaky 11K to push increase the gap ahead of me to 20,600. That means my 10K this afternoon will not be enough and he'll still have over 10K gap on me! Nice one Bernard, that'll keep me focused.

Quote: (Prufrock @ Oct 15 2004, 03:02 AM)

Are you Taffians going to take part in the Concept 2 8GP series of relay sprints?

http://www.concept2.co.uk/8gp/login.php

You will have a chance to battle lots of great teams.

The MAD Team have entered, are you taffs to scared too?

To make it more interesting, the team out of MAD Team and Taff attack that is further up the table at the end of the series..........Gets SPEEDY!!...Ha Ha

Sir Pirate

Hi Dwayne.
I noticed you on line. I thought that the cruise line had you rowing the ship, to save on fuel
How else to understand the many meters while on a honeymoon!

Congratulations on the marriage! May you two have a wonderful life together, and keep up the awesome erging.

Hello everyone I have been banging in a few meters this last week. Hopefully I can make the gap between myself and martin/Carla more respectable

Row Hard everyone RICKSTER

Hi Carla,yes i am,we train to-gether on weights,mountains etc.We erg at home,we live in a one bed flat,the bedroom is the gym,weights,benches,erg all in there.The mountain walking is hard on ankles etc,but it's so invigorating.We love reading all the banter and can't believe the the times, spm,splits,you guys achieve.It's a big learning curve for us,but being members of the best,most vibrant,enthusiastic team is amazing.A BIG warm hello to all our new Taffians.
Nos da [means good night in Welsh]

Only 10,500 metres in the Taffybank from me today, but the last 500 were done in a new PB time of 1:33.0 (from 1:34.0). I think I'd have gone faster if I hadn't been trying some "intervals" 5 minutes previous.

The time decrease was good, but I was as pleased, if not more so, with the comparison in my stroke output. My stroke rate was down 9%, and distance per stroke was up 11% compared with that previous 1:34.0 row 3 weeks or so ago.

Welcome to Taff Attack, Michael. =)

Thanks Dwayne, although I should note that I did 7500 this morning, and only 2500 this evening before the 500m PB attempt. The 2500 was in the form of 5 sets of 250m @ 2:06 pace followed by 250m @ 1:50->1:44 pace, with no rest between repetitions. My first attempt at any sort of varied pace session; up until now everything has been fixed rate (although I tend to speed up towards the end anyway).

The third contest in the Risca Regatta series was ran last night. It was entitled 'The Rapid Risca Regatta'.

A 4000 meter warm up was followed by a 500 meter sprint. In performing this sprint myself and chippy believe we have stumbled across (and consequently invented) a new rowing technique. Its called the wimp and groan!

The name comes from the sound made by a 500m sprinter as he verges on the last 50m. In all out attack Chippy obseved me doing (inventing) the wimp, as calls of ohhhwwwww! left my dying body. I didnt notice anything untoward about Chippy's row, but shortly afterward a few of my neighbours (who were having a quiet friday night drink) commented on the phenonomun. They reported a loud NNNAAAAAAGGGHHHHHHH!!!, and the wimp and groan was born.
We finished with a 5500m warm down for an even 10k.

Well done Chippy on your new PB of 1:30.6!

Excellent, Chippy. Nice 500m time. \o/

Since I passed the million metres last Friday, I haven't done any distance pieces - no 60 minutes or greater, and few 30 minutes even. So today I decided to do a half marathon.

After about 20 minutes I thought it was feeling tougher than expected, and I realised that I hadn't had any breakfast, nor any lunch. Oops. Anyway, I decided to keep going. I wasted about 10 seconds getting up at 50 minutes to get some seat padding 'cause I was feeling uncomfortable, but in the end I still snuck inside my old PB time (1:29:17) to set a new time of 1:27:33. About 2:04.5 compared to 2:07. This just sneaks me into the top half of the table for my age group on the C2 online rankings.

As before, my stroke output was noticeably different compared to my previous HM. This time, pace was up 6% and that was made up of a 7% decrease in stroke rate (29, down from 31) and 14% increase in distance per stroke. I'm not up to this 10m per stroke that I've seen mentioned though; I was doing about 8.5m/stroke for this piece I think, maybe 8.8.

Welcome MikeZ! You will not have trouble catching up with me pretty soon, I am finding that a recent bike crash seems to have caused more trouble than I thought. But I'll come back fighting!


Awesome new PB on your 500, Chippy! I hope the groan was followed by a cheer!

Daren I can't believe you got a PB on your HM after getting off and fiddling around with a seat pad! All you have to do to beat it next time is put the pad on to start with so you don't have to stop!

Carla