I’ve worn these shoes for every metre I’ve rowed on the Concept 2!
I’m not particularly athletic.
Actually, that’s a huge understatement. I’m not athletic at all.
The last time I was on a bicycle (twenty-five years ago), I ran into a tree. The only time I tried skiing, I hit a snowman. I can’t run because I have dicky knees from doing stupid things with weights when I was at university. And those same knees play up if I walk for more than 5km on the treadmill. I’ve fallen off exercise balls, ended up with stitches from a volleyball accident (I tripped and collided with the knee of a very large Fijian man) and been dragged along (on my face) behind a motor boat while trying to waterski. You could write a Monty Python sketch on my sporting history.
Ten years ago, I went on a mad “Get Fit for Forty” health kick. It involved eating a ridiculous amount of turkey breast and tuna, and I was soon crippling myself on the treadmill trying to maintain the cardiovascular component of my exercise program.
Pete insisted that we buy an indoor rower (I’m not a gym girl, and will only exercise at home). I thought we were going to buy a $300 hydraulic number. Half an hour after we walked into the exercise equipment store, our credit card was $1300 worse off, and we were the proud owners of a Concept 2 Indoor Rower.
It is, without doubt, the best investment we’ve ever made. I suspect it might have saved my life, actually. For the first time, I was able to exercise at an intense enough level to really get my heart rate up, without doing muscle or joint injury. For the last ten years, as my weight has yoyoed up and down (oh, how I hate perimenopause) and all other forms of exercise have fallen by the way, the rowing machine has been my constant.
Twenty weeks ago, I decided to try and crank up the half hour rows that I’d been doing three times a week. So I started working towards the goal of rowing a half marathon distance. That’s a long way – 21km, to be precise.
Thankfully I had some help – my old friend Kevin runs marathons, Dredgey used to coach rowing, and darling Ali’s husband Nick is a former AIS rower. They were all on my coaching team, offering advice and support over twitter and in person.
I started off all those months ago rowing 5km in 30 minutes at zero resistance. My plan was to do two short rows a week, and one long one each weekend, gradually building the longer distance to 21km and increasing the resistance on the shorter ones. Last Wednesday, I did a 5.4km row in 30 minutes at a resistance of nine.
There were some tricky moments – like when no-one thought to remind me that I was supposed to be drinking water when I went for long rows (though let’s face it, maybe I qualify for a Darwin award for not realising that myself). Kevin, who’s known me for 30 years, was terrified that I’d injure myself by trying to go too hard too soon. He was right, of course, and as you all saw, I went down in a ball of flame a couple of weeks ago.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, last Sunday I finally nailed the 21km distance.
It took me 2 hours, 13 minutes and 29 seconds. It’s by no means a great time, and I’m still pretty sore, but I’ve done it. I watched two long episodes of Top Gear back to back as I rowed, and had less than two minutes break during the whole time, to drink water and eat jelly beans.
As you might have read in my previous post, life is a bit stressful at the moment, so it was soul-nurturing to be able to end last week on a personal high note. The new goal is to try and do this distance twice a year. I’m going to have a few days off now…and then get back on the Concept2.
I’m incredibly grateful to have a physical activity which works so well for my body. I’d love to know…what do you do for exercise?
Fig Jam and Lime Cordial 