Don't you hate it when that happens? But still, an amazing result. You finished a marathon in just a few minutes shy of 3 hours and then kept going for another 16K.

It is amazing how it makes such a difference doing it all at one go or breaking it up.
I was happy to actually do the first 10K without stopping; that is the first in-one-peice 10K I've managed this fall, which is depressing if I think about it too much! The remaining 12K were rather unpleasant and I feel logey and crabby today. Hope you are fine tomorrow.

Are you going to give it another shot before the end of the month? I will, next weekend, and hope to manage the full two hours. I will try to attack it with a more positive attitude next time!

The process of getting back in rowing shape after a summer of fun on the bike is not all it is cracked up to be...

Hey Bernie Pru,
I see you are on....how did your session go? Can you still walk?

Hi all


I haven't the strength to write this, but I will try.

There's something wrong with me as there was no way I was going to not do 5 hours. I did five hours and 1 minute(I've taken pictures on my mobile of everything and will download them when mind and body join together again).

My cussedness totalled 61322 metres. Very slow, but I don't care. I did get up to stretch my hamstrings, to answer nature's call and to talk to someone selling cheap gas - well cheaper than British Gas anyway.

I was going to write earlier but literally couldn't. Am proud of Speedy's achievement.

I'll do a two hour row next time - end of October. Five hours is too long.

I'm rambling.

Bye
Bernard Pru

That's still an awesome performance. May I suggest some experimenting with foods and drinks for long events? Some people swear by Gatorade, but for long events such as cycling for more than 100 miles, it doesn't work for me. I think it messes up the electrolytic balance more than it helps, but as I say some people swear by it. I would prefer some salty foods and pure fruit juice (not too acidic) mixed with water, and raisins soaked overnight in water instead of Gu. Some people say fruit juice can increase lactic acid build up, but it doesn't seem to for me.

Anyway, everybody is different, and maybe Gatorade and Gu is perfect for you, but you might want to do some experimenting anyway.

I'm sure you already did this, but did you weigh yourself before and after so you know the cramps weren't caused by dehydration?

I might try a long row on the C2 sometime this winter. In the meantime I'm nursing a sore back and have to cut back for a while. I thought a nice easy paddle might loosen the back but things got worse. A friend had to help me lift the shell out of the water and carry it to the boathouse. Yikes!

Strangely, riding my recumbent trike seems theraputic for the aching back so I'll be doing more triking and less rowing till the back is better.

Bernard, how did you ever do 5 hours? I did a little more than 3 hours last February and could hardly walk the next day due to deep bruising near the sitz bones. That was with the C2 seat, which I have replaced in the meantime.

Byron

Bernard,

You're a mad one that's for sure. 5 hours (and not forgetting that extra 1 minute!) shows what a gutsy, focused and bonkers person you are

You guys are really demonstrating great team spirit by really going for this month's challenge. My hat goes off to all of you.

When the going gets tough at Enfield today, I'm gonna dig deep and think of Carla, Wilko, Speedy and Bernard as inspiration!

I'll report back later on how it went. For the record (so there's no running away from it), predictions for my races today are:

2000m - 7:06
1000m - 3:29
500m - 1:38

These would all be new PBs. Just hope I have the strength at the end for the 500m (my weakest distance).

We're rooting for you Niall!! We're expecting a good report!



Wow, Profock, so far you are the cussedest Taff!


Hey, Byron, sorry to hear your a** is in a sling....I usually find my bike a good work out when I'm having that trouble. I would guess a recumbent even better. Take it easy. We'll save your seat in the boat!

Can someone tell me what we decided the handicap for this challenge was going to be, anyway?

Hi Byron

This is interesting. I simply set a goal of five hours. That's all.

Rowing speed and other things take care of themselves really. I wasn't aware I was in competition with anyone. Just having a leisurely long row.

The most important thing for me is to understand my own limits.

Speedy is an inspiration not a prototype.

I can't row like Dwayne, but I CAN row like me and I know how fast is fast enough for me to achieve what I set out to achieve. Why have goals if I'm not going to attempt to achieve them? I may as well not bother, stay in bed and read a book!

If the goal isn't reached, I simply learn and revise the goal or readjust the means by which I achieve that goal. That's all.

Sometimes failure is the best thing that can happen. Failure doesn't lead to success, but learning from it makes the whole journey towards it more fruitful.

Sometimes failure has nothing at all to do with anything you can control, so why worry about it? Failure just says something has to change. That's all.

Find out what it is and change it, if possible. That's all.

I believe the mind can tyrannise over the body. Unless my body tells me to stop(cramps, etc) then I won't stop until the job's done.

In the end I just rowed, that's all.

Remember Carole McNally recently rowed 100k(7:55) in one stretch at a far quicker pace than I achieved.

Taff is a team; a team of unique individuals. As long as we do our individual best we have succeeded and will continue to succeed beyond our wildest dreams as individuals and as a team.

No rowing today as my body has completely disowned me! I feel good in myself though.

That's all.
A stiff, tired and hungry Bernard Pru

Dwayne, Bernard.......awesome performances! The bar is already set very high for us mortals to have a shot at. Good news is that we also pulled Oarsome back this weekend with the extra meters....2 or 3 more w/e's like this and we'll be climbing back to our rightful slot near the top of the meters leaderboard.

One question: How do you amuse yourselves for that length of time? TV, radio?

I've managed to shed about 4kg in the last 3 weeks and am closing in on the magic 75kg again......

Mike

Congratulations on the weight loss. Mozart, James Taylor and Stevie Wonder, plus a couple of chess training DVDs.

There was nothing on telly I wanted to watch yesterday.

regs
Bernard

Think I've got the "row 'til you drop" challenge licked. As you can see below, I can row pretty much forever (currently on 11 hours and counting ):



Okay, seriously, this is me doing the 2000m at Enfield yesterday. Turned out to be a disastrous race. All going to plan up until 1400m gone then my wheels fell off my wagon. Pace dropped from 1:46/1:47 to 1:58 and I paddled home (no way I was stopping!!). Missed out on a 2K PB by 6.3 seconds!

1000m and 500m were completely different stories and I PBed at both these distances:

1000m - 3:30.7 (old PB 3:34.9)
500m - 1:38.1 (old PB 1:40.5)

I even got a medal for the 2000m race as I was the only one in my race category who turned up . Totally underserved but a nice momento none the less.

Full report in My Blog

Hi Niall



It sounds like you had a great day in Enfield. What with two personal bests and and a not so bad 2000m. You have plenty of time to get it right for BIRC so this is just a not so great row.

I haven't rowed so far today as I still don't feel fully recovered from my little tug on Saturday.

Row long

Bernard Pru

Congrats on the pb's and the medal. You say undeserving, but you won the darn thing, so it was deserving.

Do you know what happened with the 2k? It sounds like you went out within your race plan. What was it that was different than any of the other ones you've done at home??

As you know, like Dwayne I reckon you fully deserve that medal. Once again I'll make the point that you can only race against those that show on the day and it's not like you went into the race thinking "hey, I can get a medal whatever I do" and paddled a 7:30 just to finish. No, you put everything you had into it and finished even though you'd blown up. A gritty performance, deserving of a dragon.

If you need any more convincing, Julian Potts won the Hwt 30-39 with a time of 6:14.2. That would only have got him 9th place in last year's BIRC 35-39 (which was won in 6:00.6). Are you going to tell me he didn't deserve his medal because he wasn't racing against Tony Larkman, Nik Fleming, Julian Tomkinson et al? Of course not!

Enjoy your medal and display it with pride. Let's not hear any more of this "I don't deserve it" rubbish.

Cheers Speedy.

I'm waiting on the stroke data for the 2K race to see if that tells me anything.

Based on my 2x750m session last week, I rated 33spm in the race rather than my normal 30-32spm. So not sure whether that was too high for me for a 2K. It was certainly fine for the 2x750m.

I'm wondering whether the failure was due to poor hydration and nutrition. I ate very little during the morning and didn't drink much too. The hall was very warm and I was certainly more hydrated for the subsequent races.

Niall you deserved it .... I also was the only one racing in my 1k and 500metres ...what's that all about.... definatley a lack of ladies at this comp ......

Was brilliant to meet you but what happened to the other Taffs? was a poor show were they too scared of Oarsome and racking up the metres at home to try and overtake us on the metres board???!!! weg ..

Waves at everyone sorry not spoken for long but been a bit busy with one thing or the other ...... \o/ ..... gggg

My best excuse is that I spent all of Saturday at a friend's wedding, getting drunk late into the night and was in no fit state to travel anywhere first thing on Sunday morning. Obviously, travel on the Saturday was precluded by the wedding. Karen is at work at 5:30pm on Sunday, too, which makes any meet on a Sunday a bit of a pain. =/

The main thing that's stopping me from committing to BIRC is the cost of staying overnight, too. Blew all my money on the conservatory and garage conversion! /o\ I'll hopefully make that one though, and if not that then the Cardiff one possibly since it's my "home" event.

Increasing SR during a race is pretty common. You get the rush of the event and venue...and bingo bango. Even one spm can be enough to make your game plan go to sh**. I'm guessing that's why your legs felt the way they did.

The hydration factor didn't help either. The food issue I'm not so sure about. It would depend on how long it had been since you ate (i.e. if you hadn't eaten since the night before, then that would have been an issue. If you hadn't eaten in a few hours, then I can't see that as a factor).

What it lacks in quantity Carole, it more than makes up for in quality though

Had a bowl of cereal in the morning then a sandwich and banana during the 2.75hr drive to the event. Thinking about it, I didn't have any liquid at all prior to the 2K race That's shocking!!

Niall,

I've noticed that you haven't updated your pb's at the end of you signatue. What's up with that????

Okay, sorted now. So out of practice with new PBs that I forgot
Thanks for the prompt Dwayne!

Niall I had even less food than you ..oops but loads more water ... stayed at Kellys and had my porridge for breakfast at 0730hrs and then didnt eat anything til we called at a garage on the way home oops .... did go through three litres of water though ..... eventually got home at 2100hrs bliddy long day .... then had a chicken shamwaree kebab and cple of voddies and cola ..ooops ... when does this good behaviour start ...

Don't change Carole, prefer you girls BAD!!

Hi all,

Sorry been away for so long, and sorry for letting you down by no showing in Enfield (Thx Niall for flying the flag). No excuses other than 'Been Busy'. Entry is in for the BIRC and cannot cry off that one, and (say it loud) looking for PB at the Welsh in December.

Never got round to that 6k Mart and not in shape to do it now, but you know its coming at some point.

Cheers all,

Chris.

Holy Crap!!! Chris is back!! Long time no hear mate.

Yahoo! Glad your back in the boat!

Hey, so how many Nonathlon points do you gain on that? Excellent job on your 2 new PBs and especially after the painful 2K! That took a lot of guts to get out there and compete two more times. We're lucky to have you representing us!

Gutsy rowing Niall - Well done on 2 PB's and giving it your all in the 2K. Maybe the 3 hour car trip coupled with lack of 2Ks at racing speed in recent times contributed to the 600m-to-go feeling of being stuffoed. Also there still may be the remnants of that cold you were wrestling with last week plus, as you say, not drinking anything that morning. All in all a good foundation for bringing home the bacon at BIRC or even better, in front of a home town crowd at Cardiff.

I've got a couple of spare entry forms for AIRC on the 16th October if you feel the need to race again ASAP - I sure would love the company I tried for a 1K PB last Friday as part of the 'what to realistically expect at AIRC' build up - 3:19.4 - thought I had it until I checked last year's time - 3:19.3 Oh well. Also did a 500m - 1:36.1 PB - only 2 secs in front of you. Gives you something to chase

No rush with that outstanding 6K Chris, let me enjoy pole position for a bit longer . You probably will need to concentrate on the shorter stuff until year's end anyway, what with BIRC and Cardiff (the scene of your monster 6:44 PB last year ?) not too far off. Then you can see about that 6K early next year.

Top 5 hour row Bernie Pru, you are one focussed individual ! Should also give you a lot of confidence to do a FM once your racing season is over as the 42K will seem a doddle compared with 61K+.

Anyone still interested in Nonathon this year, other than Speedy and Godfried it seems a bit quiet on the Taff front over there ?

Cheers all,

Martin

Many thanks for the kind words guys, means a lot.

After much discussion with my coach, we've concluded that the 2K failure on Sunday was down to dehydration. Tough way to learn a lesson but certainly a lesson that wont be forgotten. So I'll have to make sure I get it right for Newark (mile and 500m competition) as this will be the last chance prior to BIRC.

I've updated Nonathlon now. Nothing to write home about at the moment. Current scores are:

500m - 880pts
1000m - 878pts
2000m - 870pts (surprised it was this high )
5000m - 869pts (haven't done a flat out 5K this season; this one was part of a 2x5K session)
30mins - 846pts (haven't done a flat out 30mins; this one was a HR-capped 20spm training session)

It's a start though.

Hey Niall, how's about you and I getting together to train? I suspect we are quite close in terms of performance and we could probably drive one another over the 7min line. What do ya think?

Hi Mike,

Great idea, I'm definitely up for that mate.

I see you're in Newport. I'm in St Mellons so we're close together.

What do you suggest?

I've got a free pass for my local David Lloyd's Leisure club and I'd be more than happy for you to use it for our training. If you want to email me to discuss options, times, dates etc. please don't hesitate:

niallswilliams@yahoo.co.uk

Look forward to hearing from you!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Whimp

Chippy

Niall
2 PB,s out of 3 .you got to be happy with that.
Trained a few times at D.Loyds with the Rickster as he,s the club no1 at squash.
He won the Gwent open on sunday night and im going to work on him to get more meters on the cp2 after my holiday next week to Lanzagroty.
Going to rally up the team for the BIRC and Cardiff.Spoke to Graham and Sue tonight and they will be up for Cardiff. ;Got to work on Wilko TO ENTER ONE OF THE RACES as i know he will luv it,well ten mins after the race when his head stops throbing.

Chippy

Good to hear from you Chippy!

Yeh, I was very pleased with the 2PBs especially given I don't like the short distances, Very much a case of fear of the unknon as I so rarely do 500m or 1000m. That's all changed now and I'll be entering the 500m event at Newark (as well as the 1609m event) to see if I can knock some more off that 500m PB!

I've probably seen the Rickster down David Lloyds as I pretty much my second home

Any Taffs interested in Newark (Nottingham) on the 29th October? (Non-UK residents are excused though ).

Who's all participated in the 'Row 'til you drop' challenge? Only a couple of days left to go.

Niall,
How did you work out the handicap?

Hi all


I recovered after my little jaunt on Saturday. I rowed a half marathon yesterday evening and my usual 12.k this morning. I dusted off my heart monitor and ensured my heart rate did not exceed 140bpm for both rows. Once the heart monitor is out then it's business.

I'll erg 10k tonight, do an hour tomorrow morning and 5x500 at 1:45 tomorrow evening. I feel ok for the couple of days rest from erging. It's time to lift the pace and shorten the distances. So here goes.

regs
Bernard Pru.

I'll do Cardiff (home turf and all that). Not sure about BIRC but if you are short I'll bring me (rowing) boots.

Mike

[
I'll do Cardiff (home turf and all that). Not sure about BIRC but if you are short I'll bring me (rowing) boots.

Mike


[/quote]

*******************

Mike
Nice one .Spoke to Eddy over the gym tonight and he cannot make the BIRC this year but will be up for Cardiff in the over 60 class.

Martin

We will have to think about the Aussie open next year. Have to fill your
fridge with lots of cold ones in preperation

Chippy

They're on ice aleady Chippy

I'm giving it another go on Friday. Goal will be 2 hours continuous and steady state. I also don't know what the handicap is supposed to be.

10K is finally starting to feel like a normal thing to do (slowly). I managed the last 2 without stops and feel encouraged by that. Goal of 200K by 10/15 coming along fine (just less than 105K to go with 17 days left).

Go Taffs!

THere's been a few queries about the handicap for this month's challenge.

We decided that the handicap would be the average daily meters for this season. So just before you do the challenge, go into your C2 Personal Log and click on the History link at the top. Make a note of the Average Meters/Day for this season as this is your handicap.

Hope that makes sense.

OK then. My daily average is a sickening 2, 876; so my 22K becomes 9,124.
I'm sure I can do better than that!

Carla

Just aswell I can do the maths Carla, your total so far is 19,124m (22,000-2876=19124).
Just as well I spotted this before Godfried, he'd have a fit!!

Good for you Carla. There is no way I am going to EVER do a five hour row again. But I will do a two hour non stop row on Saturday.

I rowed 12k this morning. Speed training this evening.

regs
Bernard Pru

That's what I get for trying to do subtraction at 2:00 am. Thanks for pointing that out. I remember being surprised it was so low. But then, that daily average is just plain silly. When I'm rowing, my daily average is more like 6K, and when I'm not, it's 0, pretty much. So I think this handicap is sort of silly.

I don't think I'd have the stomach to do another 5 hour row in the same calendar year, if I ever got up the guts to do the first one. I think you might win the Row Till you Drop Challenge. What were your meters after taking off your handicap?

Ok...are we going to do the total amount over your average, or the percentage over your average? 'Cause I could get my son to do about 1k meters, and he'd kick everyone's butt.

I haven't, and won't get an opportunity for more than an hour or two at the most, so little chance of a "til I drop". Well, OK, I could find more time, but I like my sleep.

Hi all


Finally back into the swing of things. I managed 13k today, which included a series of five fast paced 10 minute rows with 3 minutes in between. The times were around the 2:07/500 which suggests things are slowly coming together. The stroke rate was between 20 and 23 spm.

Tomorrow I will do one very slow two hour row and then on Sunday I will just do a fitness test ready for Monday.

It really has made a difference having a rowing machine at hand. I am just wasting absolutely no time at all.

regards
Bernard Pru

Congratulations Wilko I see you have mae the 2 million mark. Keep up the good effort.


I've been plugging away gently trying to fit in somw metres whenever possible but have been doing a lot of travelling so it has been tough. No chance of entering the row till you drop challenge.
I found a very old concept2 in a hotel in centre of ANtwerp thiss week, I managed to do a 4K but as soon as I tried doing anything under 1.50 it just started wandering around the gym so gave up and did some weights.


I plan to be at both BIRC and Cardiff. Still pushing for sub 6.30 but with work having got in the way of my training plans I am not too confident.


Regards
Phil