Speedy
12 MILLION +
Think your a machine sent back from the future to torment the rest of us
Way to go

Chippy

Thanks mate. Goal is 14M by end of April.

New nickname for Speedy:

Rowbot.

A goal of 14 Million for a year is simply staggering. I'll bet I've never done 14 million of anything in my life, except maybe inhaling or letting my heart beat.

I did a very small 2K PB last night--7:59.0 instead of 7:59.8-- just what my 5K pace is, which is truly absurd. One of these days I'm going to have to scare myself into actually doing a real 2K. Just can't seem to come up with anything that will motivate me to commit to it and get the job done.

Well done on the 2K PB (any improvement is just that so don't worry about the size of it; as I keep saying to my wife!).

And, yes, compared to your 5K PB, you really should be addressing the 2K PB but just watch your nback. Personal health is more important than a PB!

stands with hands on hips .... first well done Carla a PB is a PB...........But .... I am sure you can go 20 secs faster given the rest of your stats .... folks we gonna have to sort Ms Carla out to do a proper 2k TT .....

Congrats on the 2k pb Carla.

I gotta go with Carole....we gotta get you sorted out on this. I don't see any reason why you wouldn't be able to pull a sub 7:50. Just do it woman!!!!


Dwayne

But watch your back girl!!

I'm going to do some 500s before I do a "real" 2K, since I haven't done any sprint pace stuff longer than 250m. If I can do 4K at 500m on, 500m off, I'll do a 2K.

sometime....


Tried this week's challenge last night and failed miserably.

we are leaving for VT tonight, and I'll be using a club erg, so I'll get to see what that is like. I've never used a C2 anywhere but home.

Carla
All pbs count no matter how small I think the same as Speedy sub 7.50 is on the cards with the right race plan

Trained with Dykie tonight in my garage(the house of pain) we rowed 20000 most of it at a fast pace including the Speedy special Dykie has not done any fast training until last week and he had no trouble with it. I predicte he is going to
be one of the stars of the team next season.

I insulted Chris so much yesterday he got mad and finally got back on his rower,
ill keep working on him.

Chippy

I had challenge #6 until the last 4 minutes. Just couldn't hold on.

May try it again tomorrow.

Dwayne

Leaving for VT now, I'm trying x country ski for the first time tomorrow and if I'm still walking that night I'll do another try at the week's challenge. Dwayne, you are the only one with a point for trying it yet, my aborted attempt was so far off the mark I can't count it.

Don't know if I'll be able to catch you guys on the forum at all, I'm not sure if I'll have a computer, but I'm definitely going for the 4 x 10K challenge and maybe I'll dare a 2K for real.

Have a great training week everyone! Welcome back, Chris!

Well done to all of you who have been doing personal bests

Well done speedy on reaching 12000000 meters

Well done Dykie on all of the meters you have put in.

Good luck to you all in London.

Well done Wales on beating Scotland today.

When the juice of the valleys starts flowing, and we all saw the game in the bar.

P to the o r k, y.

Well done to everyone. Everybody seems to be doing really well. Good luck to the Taffs in London do us proud. I am also in London for the Wimbledon Open Squash Tornament the same weekend.

I got back from Manchester last night from the British inter counties Finals. We ended up with the bronze medal not bad 3rd in Britain.

Chippy I have told you many times b4 Choc's are bad for you. You will get fater.

Take care its a dangerous world out there!!! G.H.

Dykie what a legend show us what you are made of.

Rickster

Ok folks, some challenges for some of you before the season ends

Mike Z - Take the #2 spot from Jasmine.
Byron, Graham, Miles - 1 million before the end of April.
Rickster - 500k before the end of April.
Mike Z Jr. - 250k before the end of April.

Any one else want to ring in? Be my guest.

Speedy

Niall - 1.8Million before end of April (hope to overtake Debra by the end of the season!)
Martin - Overtake Carla for 13th place in the Team
Carla - Keep Martin at bay
Bore Da - Overtake Chippy! (C'mon, he's s-o-o-o much older than you!)
Chippy - Show Chris, experience will always win over youth
Prufrock - 1.5 Million before end of April (N.B. this will make sure you're still below me )
Daren - Make it to 1,758,615m before end of April
Speedy - 15 Million before end of April

Niall,
Good luck with that okay!
I'll be rowing about 50k a week. Depending on how much you're planning on rowing you will probably pass me quickly. I'd love to row more but at this stage of life with all these kids of mine, that's the best I can manage.
I would like to go over 1.8 million for the season and I think that's manageable.

We're on March break now so all kidlets are home driving me bonkers. Did you know it's possible to be interupted 18 times during a 30 minute row?

Happy rowing everyone,
Deb

Debra,

If it makes you feel better, I'm not going to be doing much more than 50K a week either so it might make for an interesting (friendly) battle. Eighteen interruptions in 30 minutes, sounds like my television viewing! Try trussing up the kids, it works for me

Keep up the great rowing everyone!

Hi Guys,

Can I join your gang. I used to row quite a lot, but then things changed.

I dont want to make excuses BUT scientists have discovered a second polar region - Funnily enough its between my house and my garage door. They have estimated that temperatures drop as low as -200°C in the months of Jan/Feb. Thank Crunchie is March again and the pass has reopened. Speak Soon.

Chris xx

Oh Yeah,

GAME ON!

Bore da has returned!!! On your knees to the mighty Chris!!!

Welcome back mate.

Speedy

Niall,
I try all sorts of ways to motivate the kids to leave mommy alone while she rows - most of them are legal! Usually popcorn and a movie works but lately they have not wanted to do that. I'm looking forward to the nice weather again so I can row outside while they play in the yard (garden).
I'm thinking about attempting a HM about the middle of April. I haven't done one in 2 years. I suspect it will be quite slow, but at least I would do it. Have you done any HM's this season?

Debra

I've only done two HMs this season; one tester to see if I could do the distance and one PB attempt which went very well. As I do all my rowing in a gym, the only interruptions to break my concentration are when a bare midriff walks infront of me
Good luck with the HM, let us know how it goes.

N

Niall,
I guess I should try a 60min row first to see if I could even do that! I have been doing longer interval training but not a straight 60 min yet. Maybe I'll have a go at that this weekend just to see if I can do the distance without stopping. If I start off really slow and then negative split it, I should be able to manage it.

It sounds like your cold is finally all gone. I peeked at your blog and noticed you are watching your HR closely. Smart training! No point in burning yourself out and have to take more time off!

Debra

I like Niall's Challenges mucho better Carla.

Righto Niall, I'm onto it

You surely must be tempted for 2 Mill ?? So close now, why not give it a shot

Warnie - see your namesake is coming over to join you in the UK soon ?

Martin

Yeh 2 Million is very tempting and it kinda disappointed me to say 1.8 Million as my target but my training schedule simply doesn't support that volume of metres (coach dictates quality rather than quantity!).

Debra, good luck with the 60mins. Sounds like you've got a good plan so just need to make sure you stick to it.

Here, here!!

Quality will pay off in the end anyway unless all the quantity is closely monitored and HR is kept in the proper training zone.

Niall,
Do you row everyday? I usually have to take 2 (or 3) days off each week otherwise I'm just too tired and have poor workouts and/or get injured. But maybe that's because I'm getting older (ha, ha...)

There's a bit of a close competition going on among the Taffs:
Debra 1,586,000
Godfried 1,539,201
Niall 1,535,836
Chris 1,521,117

Good motivator! hmmm - I still have to take a day or two off no matter how competitive I am! I guess I just have to hope everyone else will too!

Debra

Hi Debra,

I tend to row 6 days of the week (have Saturday's off) if work permits. I try and schedule my day so I go to the gym before work and then either lunchtime or after work. I've built up a good level of fitness since last September's Million Metre Challenge and am able to train twice a day during the weekdays. These aren't 100% efforts though as all my training is capped by HR. I also try and vary things by swimming and (static) cycling aswell (I rarely do weights though - once a month if any at all). I'm seriously thinking of joing a boxercise class from next week so that could make things interesting!

We're all a bit on the competitive side so I'm looking forward to the closing stages of this season, it's gonna be fun!

Back after 5 weeks! Managed to do 2,260.
Will need a lot of training to get back in shape!

I look forward to the battle royale with keen anticipation Taffs. Initially my money was on Niall but as he has wimped out on the 2 Mill Chal I'm now swayed to Deb (quietly clocking up the K's). Thou Chris seems to have found the 'Defrost' button on his erg so .... ?? And Godfried is back in town and threatening to 'change shape' (to an erg?).

Debra - I 'train' (if thats the right word for someone who isn't actually training for anything !) 3 times a week. One day on, one day off plus Sunday. Seems to work out ok for me and helps me look forward to each session a bit more than when I tried 5-6 times a week a while back.

Martin

So, just to make this clear, who is your money on Martin? From my understanding, you've expressed a preference for each of us in the challenge

Well, I can assure you that despite Debra's obvious advantage of being ahead at the start, I'm not going to be an also-ran. I'm very conscious that even though Chris is (just) last right now, and Godfried's going to be a slow starter, it's going to be a cracking race. And let's not forget that when I did the Million Metre Challenge, the original target was completion in 5 months and I ended up finishing it in 4 months (would have been 3 months if it hadn't been for injury and tapering down for competitions).

LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLE!!!

Attaboy Niall,

Bookies have it :-

Odds on Niall drastically shortened to 2 : 1
Debra still at 3 : 1
Bore Da(rk Horse) at a wary 5 : 1
And a weakened-by-illness Godfried a bit of an outsider at 10 : 1

Where's the hard earned cash going ? Need a bit more time to check the form guide - lets see what the next week reveals !

Go Taffs

A Mug Punter

hmmm....interesting.

Well guys, this is all fantastic but 'we', and I definately include myself in this, have to be smart about this and keep healthy. No injuries or burnout allowed!!

I look forward to this challenge - it is a manageable one!

Happy rowing all!
Debra

Obviously my "fighting talk" influenced he odds. It's going to be interesting 'cause:

- you can't forget stealthy Debra, she'll quietly put on the metres without us noticing (definitely one to keep an eye on)
- Bore Da is always up for a challenge and hates to be beaten. He'll row right up to midnight on April 30th if he has to!
- Godfried will start slow but consistently put in a lot of metres once he's at full strength

Like Debra says though, let's not kill ourselves. It's all good fun but not worth it if it affects our health .

Did just over 9K this morning and hope to do another 10K this afternoon

I got my million meters today according to my logcard. The meters at the C2 logbook are just a few short of that, but next time I erg I'll get the one million posted at the C2 logbook.

This is completely off topic, but I notice a connection among my Taffian granddaughters and Carla: they row and play the violin:

http://www.math.msu.edu/~drachman/julianna_dec_2004_graduation.jpg

http://www.math.msu.edu/~drachman/karina_recital_may_2004.jpg

I think Carla makes a nice role model for these youngsters.

Byron

It's getting extremely close in the middle order! I told you that Chris/Bore Da would be an aggressive little tike when it came to competitive spirit. Just glad I managed to squeeze a few extra hundred metres this afternoon to keep ahead of Chris and Godfried. I suspect Chris will be looking to overtake me tomorrow or by the end of the weekend at the latest.

All good metres for the team though so it's all healthy!

Many congratulations to Byron on his first million, great effort!

I had a fantastic afternoon session today and confirmed I'm back to full fitness after my recent man-flu!! Check out my Blog (click the link in my signature below) for more details on the session.

Niall wrote:

Chris rowed 20k today.

Okay guys, not that I'm getting worried (okay maybe a little bit) but I just can't do those kind of metres in a day at this stage! Today was the first time that I rowed 8k UNINTERUPTED! I guess the kids really liked their movie today!
I'm sure going to try my best to stay among the pack of you though. Maybe I can sneak in a few late night rows! Woo hoo! Now how's that for some exciting social life?!
This will make all of you happy: I'M TAKING TOMORROW OFF!!

Congratulations Byron on that million! Keep at it!

Happy rowing all!
Debra

We all need rest days Debra so I'll be recharging my batteries every Saturday. I guess Chris probably thinks rest days are for the weak!

Chris
When the Great Greek warrior Oddyseuss returned to the gang after years of exile he proved himself by stringing a bow no other man could string and shooting a arrow through a set of metal rings thus proving himself. I do not have a bow
or strongbow in my garage but a rowing machine.So get yourself round my place tomorrow to redeam yourself after your 2 months of. (Pain awaits)
Glad to see you back matey.

Chippy

Great posts Debra and Niall - form guide is already filling out nicely. Good to see the usual jockeying/nervousness at the start

Bookies Board reacted with alacrity upon reading the 'lets stay healthy' comments :

Chris ...... 2 : 1 Back on the horse in hot pursuit of Chippy
Niall ........ 3 : 1 Unlike Chris, may shy away from GBH
Debra ..... 5 : 1 Could be psyched out already by the opposition ??
Godfried .. 10:1 No extra info on condition - could still pull up lame

"The Lad from Ladbrokes"

Aussie Taff posts:


When I used to compete on the water in my single I would purposely false start to psych out the competition. It takes a lot to psych moi out!! I'm not backing down, in fact I sat my four little ones down this afternoon and gave them a good talking to! Two of them are still pre-schoolers so I'm not sure if they understood what I was talking about! I did buy them the movie 'The Incredibles' today. That should help them get through a few long rows!

Let's stay healthy, with lots of rowing!!

Hey Martin, my Aussie friends are here now. I think they're coming to visit us this weekend. They went down to Washington DC for the week. Why? I'm not sure, I guess they wanted to see that big white house there.

Hi Debra - thats the spirit !

As I gently eased my way past Carla today I noticed you have opened a nice gap over the other 3 The odds have therefore shortened to 2:1 on our lass from the Frozen North showing the others the way home

Hope you have a great weekend with your Oz friends. Depending which part of Australia they hail from they will no doubt be feeling some contrast in temperatures - any snow still where you are ?

Cheers,

Martin

Sorry Mate, The Irish are 'Hoarding' around here tonight in preparation for the big off tomorrow. Then its down to the big smoke in the hope of witnessing my first ever 'Grand Slam'. Coz I was only 6 when Wales last did it!

Was 75,000 in five days not enough to prove myself - oh well must do better next time. Thanks for the support during the 'off'

Glad to be back,
Chris.

Well done to Debra for being the first of the Oarsome Foursome ( ) to break the 1.6M mark. See, I told you we'd have to look out for her!

Welcome back Chris, 75K so far this week is a great start! Take a rest tomorrow and enjoy the rugby! Unfortunately ('cause it makes me feel old) I do remember the Grand Slam of 1978 (and 1976!!); think I've even got the Grand Slam ties still hanging around somewhere

Chris wrote:


Woah, boy! Look out Taffians! Chris is back with a vengence!! The dark horse ridith!

Aussie Taff Wrote:


They're from Melbourne. I 'talked' to you about them a few months ago. They arrived on January 1st to Ottawa - a very cold, snowy part of Ontario. They're here on a one-year teacher exchange. They have found the contrast in temperature quite alarming. When they left Melbourne it was 38C (as you would well know!) They arrived to -20C - just a wee bit colder and lots of snow.
They seem to be enjoying the newness of everything. Our cultures are quite similar but there are still enough differences to make for some challenges.

Off I go to enjoy my day off...

Debra

Aussie Taff wrote:

When Carla gets back from her ski trip I suspect she will be updating her metres, especially if she followed through with her own challenge of the 4x10k!

[quote=Bore Da!,Mar 18 2005, 04:23 AM]
[quote=chippy,Mar 17 2005, 06:01 PM]Chris
When the Great Greek warrior Oddyseuss returned to the gang after years of exile he proved himself by stringing a bow no other man could string and shooting a arrow through a set of metal rings thus proving himself. I do not have a bow
or strongbow in my garage but a rowing machine.So get yourself round my place tomorrow to redeam yourself after your 2 months of. (Pain awaits)
Glad to see you back matey.

Chippy

[/quote]

Sorry Mate, The Irish are 'Hoarding' around here tonight in preparation for the big off tomorrow. Then its down to the big smoke in the hope of witnessing my first ever 'Grand Slam'. Coz I was only 6 when Wales last did it!

Was 75,000 in five days not enough to prove myself - oh well must do better next time. Thanks for the support during the 'off'

Glad to be back,
Chris.
[

Chris
75 k is good enough for me. YOU can now take your birth right back on the throne.

Byron
Congrats on the million.

Oarsome foursome
You have over looked the( STORM FROM THE EAST ) that is Dykie.

I f we win the GRAND SLAM tomorrow think the 2 million might go out the window
as the celibrations might go on for months.Cmon Wales

Chippy

Thought I had a sense of 'deja vu' when I asked Debra - apologies for my poor recall ! Everything I've seen on Canada portrays the country as having really spectacular scenery, bit like New Zealand only on a much larger scale I guess. Melbourne has had an unusually mild summer this year - none of the 40C plus days we usually experience and the paddocks around Wattle Glen (where I live)are still tinged with green.

Thanks for the Carla tip - there's no room for complacency when it comes to keeping up with her I know from past experience

Day off for me too ...

Martin

I know this is an indoor rowing forum but as a Welsh Indoor Rowing team, I don't think we can ignore the fantastic achievement of the Welsh Rugby team during thsi season's Six Nations Championship. It has been 27 years since we won the Grand Slam (i.e. winning all games) and the photos below capture today's events well.

Well done Wales

I'm back!

My rowing was not very good this week--the first day we were up there, I went cross country skiing for the first time ever and skied for 6 hours at a pretty good clip. It felt pretty good except for the way the boots were digging up my ankle bones but the next day I discovered that whatever the bunjy cords are that lift your legs up were pretty sore, and I ended up taking it pretty easy for a few days. I think I could really like cross country though. Definitely want to learn that skate-skiing technique, I think I could fly.

It was weird having to row in the health club this week in Vermont. Hats off to everyone that has to row out of the home as a general thing. What a pain in the arse! First of all, it was so bloody hot. I don't know who could seriously work out in there, it was about 75 degrees. I did try that wretched 4 x 10K and died on the 3rd one. The first two were fine, but I got about 3K into the third one and just plain ran out of gas. Couldn't get any lower than 2:11 and my target avg was 2:07. By then those bunjy cords were really screaming so I wimped out and quit. The guy who ran the place was really nice and had lowered the temp to 68 for me, but it sure felt a lot hotter than that to me.

I got a set of slides at the C2 factory while I was in VT, to see if it was going to help my back at all. I wonder though, if I train with them will it then be really awful to have to do my ranking pieces without them? Time will tell. So far I'm pretty inept on the slides but I think it doesn't tork the lower back as hard.

You guys got all motivated after I left! I was so glad to come back and read all the great stuff that's brewing here. It's been too quiet for a while. Speedy, did you manage the 4 x 10K? If you did you can probably walk on water, too! This week's challenge is that d***d 20 spm 30 min piece again. I am determined to do it this time on the first go because I sure as heck do not want to do it 3 times again. Martin, I'm still just a tad ahead of you with my VT meters added in. Debra, you should be sainted for putting up with 18 interuptions in 30 minutes! First thing that popped into my mind was a row of little cages.... just kidding...


Glad everyone's back and well and raring to go!

Good to have you back Carla, just when Martin was feeling comfortable in front of you, you've put him in his place.

I did a 1609m test today just to see how my training's going and as a baseline for the Evesham Golden Mile in July. Pleased with how it went. Plan was to stick to 1:50 pace and then go for it in the last 250m. Started off at 30spm and this felt comfortable and the pace was around 1:48 (figured I'd stick to 30spm and if the pace slowed to 1:50 then I'd let it). Sprinted home at 32-33spm (fast for me!) but pace was only 1:45 as I had problems with the seat and had to reposition myself several times. Final time was 5:47.4. Happy with that as my HR averaged at 81% and I think the peak was something like 85% so room for improvement!

Did a 2K cooldown afterwards but would have done more if I'd realised that would have left me only 272m short of Bore Da! Hope to sort this out this afternoon (domestic commitments allowing!).