I've begun to realise that my erging has reached the level at which it can no longer be described as a leisure activity, or a fitness regime, but only as an obsession. This is very evident when you consider the following:

Where normal people fit their gym sessions around their other activities, I'm now planning my erg sessions for six weeks in advance, and social activities which conflict with a session are being summarily binned.

I've relatively recently joined Facebook (www.facebook.com), an internet-based "social utility" (as it describes itself) that some of my friends use for keeping in touch with what each of us is doing. Needless to say, most of my status updates consist of my new PBs or are otherwise erging-related.

I find myself having to apologise all too often when in the company of people I know for continuously talking about erg sessions, recent PBs, goals etc.

At the moment, I still consider this to be a healthy obsession (in all senses, not just the obvious!), and I hope it will remain that way, but I know I'm going to have to keep a close eye on it, and be open to the possibility of facing criticism over the amount of time I'm spending on it.