MaxDev's Erging (and other things) Blog
My training using the Concept 2 indoor rower, and other subjects of interest to me.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The loneliness of the long-distance rower
Now I've reached a reasonable level of fitness, my main aim is to increase my total metres each week and month, and to complete a lot more endurance challenges. Free Spirits consider anything from half marathon (HM) upwards as an endurance or extreme event.
Physically, I've recently begun to find the half marathon itself in some ways the hardest of all the endurance events, despite it being the shortest. The reasons for this are at least partly psychological. With the longer events, it's largely a case of getting into a sustainable rhythm and then simply sticking with it. The HM is short enough (at between 1 hr 20 mins and 1 hr 30 mins) that I feel able to actually race it, rather than just aiming to finish it.
The effect of this was shown yesterday, when I powered to a new HM PB of 1:22:54.9, taking nearly 4 minutes off my previous best (set in early December) of 1:26:48.5, and breaking the magic 2:00 split over the HM distance for the first time. However, this hurt more than any other piece I can remember doing, even day 3 of the Nijmegen 50km/day challenge.
With the longer events (or just longer training pieces) the main problem is boredom. This is an issue even in a gym where there are music videos and the odd piece of eye candy to distract the attention, but it's much more of a problem when you're erging in a cold damp garage at home, with noone else around.
I've now taken to watching TV or a video some of the time while erging in an effort to relieve the boredom, but this isn't always very motivational, and it can also be quite hard to hear over the noise of the flywheel! I still haven't decided what the best programmes to watch are... natural history shows have the advantage that the sound is relatively unimportant. At the moment, it's mainly repeats of Inspector Morse, which are also a good distraction.
At other times, it's also useful to just let the mind wander, trying to completely separate it from the physical discomfort being experienced by the body. At these times, being a chessplayer probably comes in quite handy, as I can replay my past games or opening variations in my mind. While this isn't of much value from a chess training perspective, it does give me a not unpleasant way of passing the time.
Physically, I've recently begun to find the half marathon itself in some ways the hardest of all the endurance events, despite it being the shortest. The reasons for this are at least partly psychological. With the longer events, it's largely a case of getting into a sustainable rhythm and then simply sticking with it. The HM is short enough (at between 1 hr 20 mins and 1 hr 30 mins) that I feel able to actually race it, rather than just aiming to finish it.
The effect of this was shown yesterday, when I powered to a new HM PB of 1:22:54.9, taking nearly 4 minutes off my previous best (set in early December) of 1:26:48.5, and breaking the magic 2:00 split over the HM distance for the first time. However, this hurt more than any other piece I can remember doing, even day 3 of the Nijmegen 50km/day challenge.
With the longer events (or just longer training pieces) the main problem is boredom. This is an issue even in a gym where there are music videos and the odd piece of eye candy to distract the attention, but it's much more of a problem when you're erging in a cold damp garage at home, with noone else around.
I've now taken to watching TV or a video some of the time while erging in an effort to relieve the boredom, but this isn't always very motivational, and it can also be quite hard to hear over the noise of the flywheel! I still haven't decided what the best programmes to watch are... natural history shows have the advantage that the sound is relatively unimportant. At the moment, it's mainly repeats of Inspector Morse, which are also a good distraction.
At other times, it's also useful to just let the mind wander, trying to completely separate it from the physical discomfort being experienced by the body. At these times, being a chessplayer probably comes in quite handy, as I can replay my past games or opening variations in my mind. While this isn't of much value from a chess training perspective, it does give me a not unpleasant way of passing the time.
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I used the stereo given to me for my 16th birthday as an amp for the TV and jack it up over the hiss of the ergo. Works well!
First off, love the Iron Maiden reference. I only listened to Iron Maiden tracks throughout my own personal July Challenge to row 1.5MM. I.M. rock and they worked very well for my long distances, especially because so many of their songs are well over 4 minutes long, unlike others. Killers, Somewhere in Time, Piece of Mind, Seventh, Number, Powerslave, Live after Death, IM, Fear of the Dark, No Prayer, etc. Have em all. Given the response of Thomas, I'd suggest that, plus Iron Maiden, and lots of it. I myself use an 80's type of "box stereo" that holds CDs, cassettes, or radio.
Good luck!
-Tom
Good luck!
-Tom
i found that a good CD can take me pretty far...Aerosmith,Yes, Doors, Switchfoot...AND "Van Hielsing"..the movie. A good Action movie. Turn the Volume Up! Music works much better than TV but sometimes seeing something different can make a difference. I can't do the gym long-distances...even a good DEAD show CD..they play for hours!
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