ERG Round 4

Oct 1, 2008 No Comments

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by Dan Ho

I have decided that I’m only going to do a 5k race once a week. I think my body can’t handle doing weights, 5k races weekly and swimming along with work which is pretty physically demanding sometimes.

To make things short, I think this last round was more of a mental breakdown. Fresh thoughts of the pain made it hard to push through. I was doing a 2:30 split time, which translates to a 25 min finish, and thinking I’d pick it up at the last 500m.

That last 500m came and .. well, it was already past 22 minutes and since my best 500m was only 1:56 and I was already pretty exhausted, I couldn’t catch up. I chalk this one up to bad pacing.

Also, was really thirsty and chugged about 500ml of Gatorade right before rowing. That was a pretty bad idea too.

Again after 3500m or so, my abs got so tight that I couldn’t breathe. My last description of it being cramped was incorrect. It was just so tight that I didn’t have room for my lungs to expand, especially when I push my legs against my chest.

Next Monday, I will be more mentally prepared. Today, instead of doing a 5000m race, I’ll do an easy 2000m, then try to do a second 2000m with a 2:12 split, moving me up to a projected 22:00 time for the 5000m.

Track my progress.

 

ERG Log

Sep 25, 2008 No Comments

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by Dan Ho

I will update my ERG times on this, as well as post periodical stories and more details on each attempt. Well, a lot can happen over 5000m. When I no longer have anything else to say but “it was a smooth 5000m” that means I achieved my goal of 20:00 on the 5000m!

9/29/2008 – 24:21 (recap)

9/25/2008 – 24:06

9/22/2008 – 23:39

9/15/2008 – 24:28

 

ERG Try 3

Sep 25, 2008 No Comments

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by Dan Ho

Today was not a good day for me on the ERG. To start it off, I was feeling really tired and had already put off going to the gym this morning.

By nightfall, I realized that I would be lazy if I did not do something at the gym. I decided to go for round three of the ERG 5000m challange. Even though I was planning to go only once a week and I was already there on Monday.

To tell you the truth, when I looked at that machine today, I thought of it as a torture chamber. I had to block out the thoughts of pain that occur through that last 1000m. What I looked forward to was to get “used to it” over time and thus the pain is no longer felt. Yet, it is a necessary pain … I take it for the team.

I started off the first 1000m on pace actually to crack 21 minutes. It was a breeze and I was enjoying myself. By 2500m however, I ended up with a stomach cramp. At 3000m, I was basically powerless as I could barely feel a resistance from each stroke. I looked at the meter and was on pace for a pathetic 26 min finish.

Despite the stomach cramp and numbness, I pushed through at 4400m and tried for a 600m finish. I got all of about 150m through to about 4550m when my body shut down again.

By the last 1000m actually, the stomach cramp was bad enough that I could not take a deep breath. In fact, I paused a few strokes just to stretch my stomach to get a bit of air in.

Still, I never say quit. Even though when my body was shutting down a few times through 5000m, and through a few of the paused strokes to stretch out my cramped abs, I had to use every ounce of will power to stay on the rower. I essentially tried to ward off all the pain and negative thoughts by focusing on technique and timing my strokes.

With 200m left, I again tried for a finish. I could normally do about 10 metres per stroke but today, it was more like … three. I counted off 30 strokes which took me down to about 50 metres then just shut off my mind, closed my eyes and put every ounce of energy towards that last 50m.

Time to finish: 24:06.

That’s about 28 seconds more than my last time, but still about 22 seconds better than my first time. Again, not bad for feeling weak even before sitting on that ERG.

My goal is still 20 minutes for the 5000m. It looks like it is not going to be as easy to attain as I thought, but at least the goal is there … if I don’t kill myself trying to reach it!

 

COGNITO ERGo SUM!

Sep 22, 2008 No Comments

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by Dan Ho

I think therefore I am. And it couldn’t be more true today as I was way too tired to head to the weights, but forced some kinda workout upon myself.

My endurance is lacking far behind my strength and power production when it comes to sports, but I have decided to use the ERG Rowing machine to rectify that weakness.

Last week, I did a paltry 24:28, my first time ever doing 5000m on the ERG machine. I had never done anything more than 1000m and really, about 1500m into it, I was ready to call it quits. I finished purely through mental endurance. Cognito ERGo sum. I thought my way to the finish and my body followed.

Today, I was actually at a comfortable pace through over 3000m. Unfortunately, while I was acutally on pace for a low 23 minute mark, I couldn’t sustain it through the last 500m. My finish wasn’t the best and ended up with a 23:39.

No worries, my second time ever on a 5000m and I beat my previous time by 49 seconds. Not bad considering I was too tired to head to the gym really so this can’t be counted anywhere close to being a “good day”.

I’ll continue to blog my 5000m erg experience here. The goal is to reach 20:00 by the next dragonboat season. Better if possible.