Wednesday 30 July 2008

Faster than an erging recent retiree...

We had another 2k erg test last night. In contrast to other recent efforts, I'd slept pretty well the previous night, and was feeling pretty confident that I could take a decent chunk off my time. I had a time in mind to beat and had set my sights high (or should that be low?) - knocking just under six seconds off an already reasonable time was a rather ambitious goal, but then I've never been one to make things easy for myself. Leastways, not in the gym.

I feel distinctly uneasy before test ergs. I'm not sure whether fear of the effort involved or fear of failing to beat whatever score I had in mind (whilst putting in the effort) is most responsible for this, but the hour or so before a test erg in not something I'd care to experience every day. Nor every month, come to think of it... Queasy has never been one of my favourite states of being.

We discussed goals beforehand. I mentioned I wanted 6 seconds off my time. This was dismissed for the foolish plan it was. (Excellent - this would be welcome grist for the mental mill when the last few minutes get tough.) My training buddy was aiming for the more realistic target of beating her last time. After a hearty warm up, we lined up on the ergs waiting for the call: Go!

Seven minutes, 29.1 seconds and more than a bit of hard work later, I'd knocked 6.4 seconds off my score, was feeling distinctly pleased with myself, and was rapidly gravitating towards the floor, which looked a less precarious place to recover than on the erg, which held the risk of falling off. I find that hard concrete floors never look more inviting than immediately following test ergs. I stayed there for a short while before trying to use my legs again to stagger outside and walk off the leaden feeling in my thighs.

Checking the erg world records, this means I have added to the collection of pensioners (and those of working age - I must be improving!) who I can beat on an erg the following groups:

  • Every woman over the age of 60;
  • Every lightweight woman over the age of 55.

I'm still struggling to keep up with 75 year old men, but knocking another seven seconds off my time will see that put right, and also put me within striking distance of my rather flippant assertion earlier in the season that I would be beating the club chairman on the ergs by Christmas. His 7:19 was looking a long way off a couple of weeks ago. Now... well, with just under five months to Christmas, I think my twin goals of getting under 7:20 and beating the chairman are looking less far-fetched than they did.

I'm pretty pleased.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

and there was me feeling smug 'cos I'd gone sub 10 mins having read a post of yours weeks back which made me feel all inspired : (

back to chatting my way from station to station, or even better, sitting in the sauna for an hour and then drinking coffee for another hour in the chillax area...

But Why? said...

Gael,
Sub 10 for the first time? Nice job!

Now, onwards and downwards...

...and stay away from the perilous bean. (Only kidding - first thing I did this morning to celebrate was have a huge mug of coffee. With cream. And brandy. And I've had just a few more throughout the day (though lacking the brandy and cream). I'm now regretting it slightly as I'm high as a kite on the caffeine and would dearly love someone to scrape me off the ceiling and put me back on the ground so I have chance of catching up on all the work I should have been doing when I was down the gym. Priorities...)

Rob Clack said...

I'm not following this in detail, but it sounds like you've bumped quite a lot of pensioners off in the past few months. I'm sure there was an 85 year old woman in there last time I looked. Ha ha! Go for it!

But Why? said...

Rob,
I have indeed been smiting down the erging pensioners, and am now in a position to be only narrowly being beaten by women twice my age. I'm also now no longer being beaten by 12 year old girls, which I am immensely relieved by. Teenagers are another matter entirely, and I can cope quite happily being beaten by them, but kids...? And pensioners...? No mtter how rock-hard these world-beating kids and pensioners are, or how much respect I have for them, I have no wish to be beaten over 2k by octagenarians or primary school children...!

Kahless said...

How often do you test erg?

But Why? said...

About once a month. The results reputedly get taken into consideration when selecting crews for regattas. (I suspect that actually this isn't the case and that the coach just likes to inflict the odd bit of suffering to keep us on our toes...)

Whammer said...

Nice work! I'm looking forward to my next erg down the gym. I haven't been for about a month but I've been putting in some long bike rides and doing fitness training at footy.

It'd be nice to get sub 7 minutes - my best time is from Uni days at 7:03.

But Why? said...

Wham,

7:03? But you're 6' 3" and Not A Waif. I reckon you can easily get down to 6:45 with a small bit of training and a large chunk of effort.

Let me know how you get on (not that I'm looking for my next target once I've got the chairman beaten...)

But Why? said...

Wham,
FYI - if you want to ensure you're beating every 55 year old lightweight man and 60 yo heavyweight, you need to pull 6:20.9 and 6:23.7 respectively - something to aim for once you've got under 7 minutes!

Fire Byrd said...

And to think that until I knew someone, or at least her mother, who's rowing in the Olympics I didn't know it was so excitng!
Now I get a sense of why you do it!
x
Changed my name from Bollingerbyrd BTW