MaxDev's Erging (and other things) Blog
My training using the Concept 2 indoor rower, and other subjects of interest to me.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Being on Death Row
A week ago on Tuesday, I did my toughest challenge to date - the 100,000m row, known to the club as the Dodentocht (after the Dutch walking challenge) or Death Row. In saner rowing clubs, this event is normally only attempted by teams of rowers, and has always been considered a significant challenge for the individual. Concept2 has times for only a few dozen people per season attempting the 100km row.
With no background in endurance events of any description, I had very little idea what to expect. To my mind, it seemed little more of a challenge than the 4 back-to-back days of 50km rows I had done in late November, and while I rested for the couple of days beforehand, and made sure to eat substantial amounts of pasta and other carbs, and keep my fluid intake high, I didn't expect to suffer all that much. As I learned, my optimism was misplaced.
The target was to finish inside 8 hours, which seemed at the time challenging but achievable. I didn't plan to take substantial breaks - just long enough to take on board some fluid (I had over 5 litres of Lucozade Sport made up, as well as a few litres of water to hand) and occasional food (bananas and chocolate, which is all I ever eat while erging) although the breaks themselves would be quite frequent (every 10km), and to row consistently at around a 2:15 split.
The first 40km went largely according to plan. I settled into quite a nice steady rhythm at a 2:10 or 2:11 split, and extended the breaks a little to compensate, so things were staying pretty much on schedule. My average heart rate over the first four 10km segments showed a reassuring lack of strain: 128, 131, 135 and 138. Things started to go a little wrong in the final 10km before halfway - I developed a slight pain in my left calf, and my heart rate suddenly started climbing sharply, averaging 155. I had not previously measured my heart rate during an endurance row, but was familiar enough with the muscle pains from my earlier 50km rows, and I think these symptoms can be attributed to blood sugar depletion.
The halfway mark came up in just a minute under 4 hours. Here I took a substantial break, both to try and give my system a little while to recover, and to read the messages of support and encouragement on the forum and post a quick update on progress. When I restarted some minutes later, I already knew that 8 hours was not going to be within my grasp, but retained some hopes of finishing inside 8:15.
Having eased off to a less demanding 2:15 split almost immediately at the start of the second half, my heart rate settled back into the mid 140s, though eventually climbed back into the 150s, and even to 162 by the finish. At this stage however, the muscles are desperate not for oxygen so much as for fuel to burn.
Much of the final few hours is just a blur. The segments were not regular like the first half, due to the desire to record times for 1.5 marathons (63292m), 75km and double marathon (84390m), so these distances determined the endpoints of each segment. The splits gradually crept upwards, and I was forced not to extend the rests too much as I saw 8:15 and then even 8:20 slipping away.
Even the rests at this stage provide little comfort, and it is just as much agony when the time comes to get back on the erg after a break. Your quads and other muscles are still screaming in protest, and have to be gently coaxed back into working again. The pain becomes all-encompassing, and only the little counter ticking down those metres with what seems like ever-increasing slowness keeps you going.
Although my final time of 8:24:14 was way outside of what I had hoped, I feel a great sense of achievement to have got through the event at all, and have a new appreciation for what endurance athletes put themselves through. I felt like quitting from around the 60km mark to past 90km, but whether you attribute it to mental toughness, a stubborn streak or an inability to accept losing face, something drove me on to complete the challenge.
With no background in endurance events of any description, I had very little idea what to expect. To my mind, it seemed little more of a challenge than the 4 back-to-back days of 50km rows I had done in late November, and while I rested for the couple of days beforehand, and made sure to eat substantial amounts of pasta and other carbs, and keep my fluid intake high, I didn't expect to suffer all that much. As I learned, my optimism was misplaced.
The target was to finish inside 8 hours, which seemed at the time challenging but achievable. I didn't plan to take substantial breaks - just long enough to take on board some fluid (I had over 5 litres of Lucozade Sport made up, as well as a few litres of water to hand) and occasional food (bananas and chocolate, which is all I ever eat while erging) although the breaks themselves would be quite frequent (every 10km), and to row consistently at around a 2:15 split.
The first 40km went largely according to plan. I settled into quite a nice steady rhythm at a 2:10 or 2:11 split, and extended the breaks a little to compensate, so things were staying pretty much on schedule. My average heart rate over the first four 10km segments showed a reassuring lack of strain: 128, 131, 135 and 138. Things started to go a little wrong in the final 10km before halfway - I developed a slight pain in my left calf, and my heart rate suddenly started climbing sharply, averaging 155. I had not previously measured my heart rate during an endurance row, but was familiar enough with the muscle pains from my earlier 50km rows, and I think these symptoms can be attributed to blood sugar depletion.
The halfway mark came up in just a minute under 4 hours. Here I took a substantial break, both to try and give my system a little while to recover, and to read the messages of support and encouragement on the forum and post a quick update on progress. When I restarted some minutes later, I already knew that 8 hours was not going to be within my grasp, but retained some hopes of finishing inside 8:15.
Having eased off to a less demanding 2:15 split almost immediately at the start of the second half, my heart rate settled back into the mid 140s, though eventually climbed back into the 150s, and even to 162 by the finish. At this stage however, the muscles are desperate not for oxygen so much as for fuel to burn.
Much of the final few hours is just a blur. The segments were not regular like the first half, due to the desire to record times for 1.5 marathons (63292m), 75km and double marathon (84390m), so these distances determined the endpoints of each segment. The splits gradually crept upwards, and I was forced not to extend the rests too much as I saw 8:15 and then even 8:20 slipping away.
Even the rests at this stage provide little comfort, and it is just as much agony when the time comes to get back on the erg after a break. Your quads and other muscles are still screaming in protest, and have to be gently coaxed back into working again. The pain becomes all-encompassing, and only the little counter ticking down those metres with what seems like ever-increasing slowness keeps you going.
Although my final time of 8:24:14 was way outside of what I had hoped, I feel a great sense of achievement to have got through the event at all, and have a new appreciation for what endurance athletes put themselves through. I felt like quitting from around the 60km mark to past 90km, but whether you attribute it to mental toughness, a stubborn streak or an inability to accept losing face, something drove me on to complete the challenge.
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