body was really tired and sore this morning. Didn't have a great sleep and I think if I scroll back the past month I'll find that Thursday on this plan is always the worst, after 3 straight rows.

Also had to get into the gym early after training last night so I needed a triple shot coffee to get me started on the weights. Weights were fine, basically just doing an all upper body maintenance thing and can get a little more focused after next week when I'll up the weights to two days and integrate some lower body stuff

Kept things lighter for more reps given fatigue

3x10 DB Bench 26kg
3x8 seated DB shoulder press 22kg
3x10 seated hammer wide grip row 120kg
3x10 barbell curl 40kg
3x8/6 Tricep Push down/Extension ss 35/25

felt really heavy and flat again this morning....more likely because I trained very early am after a bad sleep than anything else. It's weird that I can lift in the morning very easily but I find the early morning cardio very challenging - just don't have any energy

either way, it was a very easy session anyway. Legs still feeling a little heavy but I've got 30 ish hours til a hard session tomorrow that I'm keen to do well in

3x10mins 1r. the third split is slower because i stopped for 20 seconds for a drink and a towel down


Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
30:00.0 7,220m 2:04.6 181 921 18

10:00.0 2,456m 2:02.1 192 960 18
10:00.0 2,469m 2:01.5 195 971 19
10:00.0 2,296m 2:10.6 157 839 19

Pretty good session. Probably could have gone a little faster in the early ones to keep the average speed quicker but it was nice to have something in reserve to go a lot harder in the final rep…maybe I’ll have that extra burst in the last 300 of the race?

Either way, happy with the session and the progress.

Also 5k warm up and 1k warm down

did a tune up session for my 1k and ended up a little disappointed

2min at 1k pace and rate
4 mins rest
1min at faster than 1k pace and rate

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
3:00.0 977m 1:32.1 448 1840 37

2:00.0 639m 1:33.8 423 1755 36

r: 4:00 19m

1:00.0 339m 1:28.4 505 2038 39

I was hoping to get to the end of the 2mins at 1.33.5 and feel relatively relaxed...maybe that's ambitious but 1.33.5/500 pace is my race plan for the first 2 mins with the hope that I can hold on for 3.07-3.07.5 or even speed up if I've got something left. (current best is 3.09.3, which is 1.34.6/500 pace)

But the screen had shown 1.36 for the past 150m and I think holding on for something below 3.08 would seem to be a challenge on today's outing.

I think the main issue was that I went out too hard and I was rating at 36 when I really feel a lot better rating at 34/35. I did 8/9 max strokes rather than my usual 5 and I then had problem settling/slowing onto my race speed. So I was averaging 1.28 still at 200m which is way too fast. I really need to get myself onto my race pace and rate soon after 100m and get into a slightly slower but more powerful stroke and then hope this will keep a little more energy for the 400-750m section of the event.

Other silver linings....I wasn't at the red line and my prep wasn't ideal - it's 39 C here (102 F for the muggles) and while I trained at the gym in air con, my body temp was probably higher than optimum given my home office is not aircon. I also had a bad night's sleep but w/e...I'm a little meh and this probably means I'll do another sharp session on Weds and then do the 1k on Fri, when if I'd gone really well today, I'd have done it on Weds. (you have weds to Sun to row, record and log your best time)

Sounds like a useful session in that you worked out some things not to do and didn't impart too much fatigue; I suspect by just rating a bit down down at the start and setting a definite plan for the first 5 strokes and first 40-60 seconds thereafter the actual race should go much better. What's the weather supposed to be like when you're planning to row? When/where are you going to do the race?

yes, that's exactly the plan and the hope.

I'll row it at the gym which is air con, albeit not brilliant. It's a little cooler today with a top of 35/98 and then Weds it's down to high 20s which is only a little hotter than normal for early Autumn. The heat wildcard will be sleep tonight. It was still in the mid 80s all the way through last night and it was tough to sleep. I got to sleep at about midnight but was then up from 4-6.30 before falling back asleep for 90 mins again.

Hopefully it'll be a little cooler tonight because otherwise I don't think I'll row if I get another **** sleep.

IDK. I'm being very Princessy and I know I'm in PR shape, but I'd much prefer to row without excuses because it's taken me a long while to get back into top shape and there's no guarantee I can get here again

new 1k PR 3.08.2, a 1.1 second PR

tried really hard to reign in the speed early on - only did 6 hard strokes and then worked hard to get onto 1.34/500 pace.

Still felt fatigued and panicky at 400 and as my pace slowed by 600 I actually didn't think I was even going to get a PR. Managed to increase the temp at 400 and then did something of an all out assault in the last 200 to the extent that I felt I might have got into the 3.07s

A tiny bit disappointed about it - I felt going in that the range was 3.07.3-3.08.3 and so this is at the lower end of it but....still a good PR and the time it beat came 9th in my age group in last year's World Indoor 1k event. I'm currently top in my age group in this year's event, but that won't last - we have between 8th and 12th to log our best times.

There's a small temptation to do it again as I do think I might be able to grab a few more tenths. Using this time as my banker, I'll probably try to keep the stroke rate at 35 throughout, get to the final 1/3 a few clicks quicker and then maybe start my acceleration a little earlier. I've got a busy few days though, so it may not be possible

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
3:08.2 1,000m 1:34.1 420 1745 34

0:36.6 200m 1:31.5 457 1872 36
0:38.0 200m 1:35.0 408 1704 33
0:38.3 200m 1:35.7 399 1672 34
0:38.1 200m 1:35.2 405 1693 35
0:37.2 200m 1:33.0 435 1797 37

Congrats on the PR!

Great work! Probably fewer jitters if you do it the second time around, so no real downside to resting a few days and giving it another go.

Good job on the pr!

Congrats, that is some finish after you felt panicky at 400!

thanks breaux

Plans to do it again have been tempered by some serious **** going on with my wife which has put my mind and body elsewhere. She's going into a 3 week, full time rehab facility from Sat am which is much needed but puts a ton of pressure on me.

I did something very light today for mental health reasons as much as anything else but it's also probably what I would have done to keep the body moving ahead of a time trial in the next 48 hours. If I get a good night's sleep tonight or Friday, maybe I'll be tempted

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
26:30.8 6,172m 2:08.8 164 862 17

Good luck on the home front and I hope the recovery goes well.

Ugh, good luck with the family stuff - sounds gnarly.

Rooting for the rehab to lead to some long-term positive changes for you and your family.

thanks guys. not much fun at all. Bad sleep last night and I'm feeling really weighed down by it all, so no chance to train today.

She goes in tomorrow morning and there's no contact at all for 3 weeks so I've got a load of 'handover' stuff from her to keep the house and kids going for 3 weeks. Then there's just the 3 weeks of sole parenting of 3 kids while running a business and managing a renovation to look forward to. Not particularly conducive to getting in a load of training.

on the plus side, I'll be able to have alcohol in the house for the next few weeks!

Sorry to hear all that, feel. If it is logistically possible, I would try and squeeze some sort of exercise in (even if it an easy 15 minute row). It helped keep me sane.

Easy 40mins today. Felt good to get into a rhythm and just row.

Another bad sleep last night but wife has gone now and am hopeful this will be a weight off my mind and I can get some sleep tonight.

Outside chance I’ll do a 1k again tomorrow but more chance I’ll drink tonight and just say ‘f it’.

My time is currently 5th in the world in my age group out of 400 ish entrants but I’m guessing it’ll slip down a fair amount. May stay in the top 10.

did a 5k warm up and then got 400m into a 1k but didn't have the mental strength - all the dramas of this week and the lack of sleep caught up with me. Lucky and happy I managed to do the first time on the day before everything really blew up

now 6th in my age group. 1 day to go

ended up finished 7th in my age group at the World Indoor Virtual 1k (out of 652 entries in the 50-59 age group). 2 places higher than last year.

very happy with that. drank too much last night (am gonna make the most of being allowed to have booze in the house while wifey is in rehab!) and so a day off training today. back on it tomorrow

Congrats on the placing!!

That's amazing! What was the winning time?

Congratulations!

Well…I’m deliberately showing people the results like this, cutting out the top 3 finishers because they were ****ing streets ahead and were all sub 3.

The winner broke the world record with a 2.49.1 and then the other two rowed 2.58

The winner is a multiple world record holder from the 45-49 who just moved up. He is 6ft 6 and 125kg. He also won the 2k at the world's last month with a 6.03! The other two in the top 3 are over 6ft 4 and 110-115kg as well.

Not too shabby!