thanks and yes, I hope so. tbh I think there's a fair amount of improvement to be had in the distance work that will help my 2k, so I'll be doing quite a few 5, 7.5 and 10k hard rows over the next few months if I can stay healthy

on the subject of which....had to quit my weights session today. Hopefully just because of too much coffee this morning rather than something else

prolly had the equivalent of 4-5 shots of espresso in a 2 hour period and then headed to the gym.

heart was racing and I felt a little weird during the DLs and then started to get some pins and needles in my thumb as I was benching. decided to pull the pin and come home.

idk, probably the caffeine, but was enough to freak me out. Had a 9 hour sober sleep last night too

1k row warm up
4x2 Power clean at 90kg
3x5 Deadlift at 120kg
2x7 Bench at 70kg warm up

easy steady state to start the week.

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
51:04.9 12,003m 2:07.6 168 878 18

Weds 45mins at 2.05.9
Thurs Weights - Bench, Press, Bent over Row
Fri 40 mins at 2.05.9

super tough week with work and home so just did enough to tick over. Hoping for some sleep and to attack something more challenging tomorrow

Oh look PR, nothing to see here. It's winter time in Australia and back to PR city. Color me shocked.

Meanwhile me and Floppy slogging out in heat with 9 minute miles. Sigh.

finally had a decent night's sleep last night and felt strong enough to go hard at something

4x2k 5r

very happy with this - it's a 'PR' on this session by 0.6/500 and I think it confirms the evidence of last week's 5k pr that I'm in decent shape at the moment and making improvements...particularly my conditioning for the longer distance which is my weakness and I think the key to me taking a decent chunk off my 2k.

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
28:46.6 8,000m 1:47.9 279 1258 28

7:11.3 2,000m 1:47.8 279 1260 28
7:12.2 2,000m 1:48.0 277 1254 28
7:12.2 2,000m 1:48.0 277 1254 29
7:10.8 2,000m 1:47.7 280 1264 29

it's really very true. I'd never really considered it before but it really does make such a difference. I did a good interval session today rowing at 2pm and my dial had 14C and 54% humidity which is about as good conditions as I have trained in.

if I can qualify fit for the world champs in Feb next year and I decide to row remotely rather than in person (the event is in a place called Mississauga which is about as far from Sydney as it's possible to go) then I'm gonna have to find an air con place to row (albeit it'll no doubt be the middle of the night here too)

Mississauga is just down the street from me (like 4 or 5 hours down). Had no idea the world champs were being held in Canada - looks like that is a first.

Congrats on the PR's and keep on!

thanks bro.

I had a quick look on the map yesterday - it looks to be in the suburbs of Toronto…would that be accurate?

Yep, that is accurate. Very close to Toronto.

Thumb. Have a good friend in TO so makes it more likely I’ll make the trip.

Weights this morning

5x2 power clean to 95kg (1 rep). Briefly considered seeing if 100 was there. Think it would have been but it would have been really messy

3x5 Deadlift 125kg

3x8 Bent over Row 80kg

3x5 Bench 80kg

The combination of it being 5th day in succession, a RPE 9.5 day yesterday and early morning meant I was whacked by the time I’d finished deadlifting. Had nothing left at all for the rows or presses and I abandoned my Push Press sets.

60 min steady state to sweat out some of the excesses of way too much alcohol over the long weekend here

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
1:00:00.0 14,060m 2:08.0 167 874 17

6x500 2r

this was the monthly challenge for my friend's social rowing challenge group. have never done 500s with a 2min rest so wasn't entirely sure on pace. decided to go out at 2k -1 and then negative split each interval. had a little extra in the tank for the final interval.

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
9:50.5 3,000m 1:38.4 367 1563 33

1:39.2 500m 1:39.2 359 1533 32
1:39.1 500m 1:39.1 360 1537 32
1:39.0 500m 1:38.9 361 1541 33
1:38.8 500m 1:38.8 363 1548 33
1:38.5 500m 1:38.5 366 1560 34
1:35.9 500m 1:35.9 397 1665 36

Bench 3x5 80
DB Flye/Press superset 3x7/6 24kg
Barbell row 3x7 80
Push Press 3x4-70
Pull Ups 10x4
Preacher/Hammer curl superset 3x7/6 40/14

Getting really bored of the weights, outside of the deadlift and power cleans on the weekends - not really working towards anything.

Have a shoulder issue which is making benching very difficult and then I’m really just ticking over with everything else

meh.

ridiculous, annoying HD on a 30min tt. The goal was 8k and the plan was to get to the final 5 mins at about 7950 pace and then turn the screws in the final 5 mins. And to be honest, I was bang on goal. I felt I had managed the usual negative self talk and while I was close to the edge, I was confident I had it in me. But then I totally lost my rhythm trying to unsuccessfully hit my iphone to jump through an unwanted spotify track and then my mind went and I was stopping. All happened in 15 seconds. I can't say for sure I'd have got 8k but I'd have managed at least a 100m pr so it's annoying. I should be able to grind through the final 5 mins of a time trial with no music and if I can't, I should tee up my music queue in advance.

still...a decent training piece I guess

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
25:16.3 6,668m 1:53.6 238 1119 23

6:00.0 1,598m 1:52.6 245 1142 24
6:00.0 1,600m 1:52.5 246 1146 24
6:00.0 1,586m 1:53.4 239 1123 23
6:00.0 1,594m 1:52.9 243 1136 24
1:16.3 291m 2:11.0 155 834 23

after my failed tt on Friday

I did a 45 min steady state on Sat and it was a real struggle

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
45:05.1 10,301m 2:11.3 155 832 17

Afterwards, I felt so stiff and sore all over that I took two full days off

felt very fresh tonight and did a medium paced 10k and resisted the temptation to go harder. tbh, I think I should be doing r20 for a 40min 10k.

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
40:00.6 10,000m 2:00.0 202 996 21

8:00.3 2,000m 2:00.0 202 995 21
7:59.9 4,000m 1:59.9 203 997 21
7:59.2 6,000m 1:59.8 204 1000 22
8:01.1 8,000m 2:00.2 201 992 22
8:00.1 10,000m 2:00.0 202 996 22

tried to mix things up a little at the gym

DB Bench 3x6-32kg DBs
Press 3x5-55kg
Close Grip Hammer high row 3x8-110kg
Barbell Curl 3x8 - 40kg
Tricep Push Down/Extension superset - 3x9/9 34/25

I've been struggling with a shoulder impingement type thing for the past two months and it's not getting any better despite the mobility stuff I'm doing. It's really impacting my enthusiasm for the gym so I might actually have to go and see someone, which I basically hate doing.

the only thing I'm enjoying is deadlifting and cleaning but I didn't want to do that today as I'm planning a time trial in 48 hours

yesterday - weird moment in a steady state where my wife surprised me and made me jump, my HR jumped about 20bpm and the row was generally terrible


Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
43:02.7 10,003m 2:09.0 163 859 17

new 30 min PR and finally broke 8k!

this actually started as a 30r22, because I wasn't feeling it this morning after yesterday's debacle.

The first 10 mins at r22 felt pretty strong and I decided to up the rate and see what I had in the tank. I took my foot off the gas a little for 10 mins after half way to ensure I could finish the 30 and then started accelerating with 5 mins left and had to average 1.45 for the final 90 seconds to get under the target. I'm sure there's still a little more with a more consistent pace and some more mental strength, but I'm really happy to have broken this barrier. I've cut down on the sprint intervals and been doing more longer rows the last 6 weeks and it appears to have paid dividends. I'd like to have another crack at a 5k before the end of the month if I can squeeze one in, albeit I'm travelling with work next week so it may be tough.

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
30:00.0 8,008m 1:52.3 247 1148 24

6:00.0 1,592m 1:53.0 242 1133 22
12:00.0 1,608m 1:51.9 250 1158 23
18:00.0 1,583m 1:53.7 238 1119 25
24:00.0 1,586m 1:53.4 239 1123 26
30:00.0 1,639m 1:49.8 264 1209 28

Nice! 8k is cool

thanks man, feels good. It's still a relative weakness, compared to the shorter rows....96th percentile vs 98th for 5k (and I'm hoping 100th for 2k when I do a tt next month) but...I'm losing my fear of going hard over the longer distances (all the HDs actually help in that regard)

weights this morning

4x2 power clean to 92.5kg
4x5 deadlift 120kg
3x8 bent over row 80kg
3x5 push press 65kg
4x12 seated hammer bench press 60kg

my right shoulder isn't getting better and I get a shooting pain like a burning rope through it whenever I bench. I've actually been doing some rehab/mobility stuff too. 99% of the time aches and pains go away but this one isn't which is annoying

Dude, stick with what your body doesn't mind so much. Rowing suits you and is arguably useful. Boats are a thing you might find yourself on. Benching is useful in one situation (a car rolls over and you are trapped underneath), and it seems that aiming for maximizing shoulder pain isn't a good use of your training efforts.

Also, I'm not dead yet. Not interested in my own thread at the moment, but am on my way down to 180 lbs again.

very easy steady state today was all I was good for. 6th day in a row and stiff & sore from yesterday's weights and beers and a load of dad jobs over the weekend

looking forward to good night's sleep and a rest tomorrow

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
50:00.4 11,456m 2:10.9 156 836 18

nice work mang, that would be a huge achievement I'm not sure I'll ever see 180 again. (I'm 200 right now and can imagine getting down to like 185 with some effort but not sure I'll ever care enough to drop the last 5lbs)

But for now I'm cool with being 200 because 1. being heavy helps me row faster and all the people I'm competing with at the top of the rankings are taller and heavier than me and 2. I'm 50 and have a stressful life and just can't be ****ed with the denial.

I get your point re benching and maybe that's something to consider...or at least a month or two away from it to see if it helps me recover. I feel the same pain when I'm Pressing, but it isn't as debilitating.

How tall are both of you? I feel tiny now at 160

6'0". With my frame, 180 lbs is still kind of fat.