Sub 3 Muffin Man

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 10-04-2013 4:53pm

pgibbo wrote: »

A bit of a generalisation but true in the main part for anyone that rowed to a decent standard. They do tend to have a strong work ethic & very high threshold for pain. I've seen lads collapse in a heap off the ergo after ergo tests when figthing for places in a boat. The Redgrave documentary in the lead up to Athens gave some great insights in to the sadistic nature of rowing training.

I would be interested in viewing this if its online anywhere?

shotgunmcos · 10-04-2013 6:23pm

Lucca Fierce Self-importance wrote: »

I would be interested in viewing this if its online anywhere?

Search for "Gold Fever" episodes. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntzmb0Qc3FM about 24:30 in James Cracknell (if you don't know how hard this guy is, google him!!) finishes a 2k erg test...

I've mainly put erg back into my programme as I feel triathlon has made me soft

I'll be lynched for saying that but to be honest a 20 min Turbo test is nothing on a 5k winter erg or the pain of a 2k. I say that even with even with 2 hours of Ironman Marathon quad cramps in recent memory...

@RedB - No Mungret 10k 19th May

Solobally8 · 10-04-2013 6:38pm

shotgunmcos wrote: »

@RedB - No Mungret 10k 19th March

Oh oh you are a little late for that mcos

shotgunmcos · 10-04-2013 9:05pm

Solobally8 wrote: »

Oh oh you are a little late for that mcos

Ahem.. I meant 19th May!

BennyMul · 10-04-2013 9:34pm

I watched James Cracknell on discovery doing 3 challenges and really impressed with his ability to suffer, especially on a race across America where he was hit by a truck, worth watching if you have not seen it.

shotgunmcos · 14-04-2013 11:54pm

shotgunmcos · 16-04-2013 11:08pm

Hard session yesterday
9.5km row including 6*500m off 90 sec recovery. Reps in on
1:40.3
1:41.4
1:41.8
1:42.4
1:41.9
1:42.3
First 100 hard the settled at 29-30 spm. Pushed harder on these expecting to do just 6. The usual pain. Not sure if I had another rep in me at that pace.

5 mins rest. I needed it. Then 5km tempo on the indoor track in 19:52. It took focus.

Easy session today
SW wind is back, yay. Much milder for a spin on the bike. Just spun up the road to help the brother dismantle a wooden shed and spun back again. He did 9*500 at 1:43.8 on the erg. Savage splits for a guy who never rowed and basically crushes them out. 20.5 enjoyable km on the saddle.

RedB · 18-04-2013 5:00pm

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Then 5km tempo on the indoor track in 19:52. It took focus.

the INDOOR track :eek::eek: I'd say you were dizzy after that!

hf4z6sqo7vjngi · 18-04-2013 10:12pm

I watched those Gold Fever docs, enjoyed them. I did not take much of a liking to the Tim fella for some reason. Jesus i knew Cracknell could suffer but them almost dropping to the floor after erg testing was unreal. I actually ended up watching over the Cracknell series again. I am actually planning on doing something similar to what he attempted in the US (obviously without the crash) when i hit 40, mid life crisis and a bit of a challenge.
I suppose their ability to suffer and endure pain allows them to try out other activities when they retire such as triathlon etc. I see Cracknell has just recently placed and nabbed a spot at the AG Duathlon champs in GB.

Interested to hear what was a typical rowers week in terms of hours/distance.

pgibbo · 19-04-2013 3:00pm

Lucca Fierce Self-importance wrote: »

I watched those Gold Fever docs, enjoyed them. I did not take much of a liking to the Tim fella for some reason. Jesus i knew Cracknell could suffer but them almost dropping to the floor after erg testing was unreal. I actually ended up watching over the Cracknell series again. I am actually planning on doing something similar to what he attempted in the US (obviously without the crash) when i hit 40, mid life crisis and a bit of a challenge.
I suppose their ability to suffer and endure pain allows them to try out other activities when they retire such as triathlon etc. I see Cracknell has just recently placed and nabbed a spot at the AG Duathlon champs in GB.

Interested to hear what was a typical rowers week in terms of hours/distance.

Good shows for sure and they're at a whole different level.

At schoolboy level Fran we trained 7 days a week and twice a day during the holidays on 2 or 3 days.

I stopped after schoolboy level but I know people that have won senior pots and some of the training they did was animal. I'd be interested to hear what Mike and the UL folks did. Anyone that was borderline squad (national squad) level would be training damn hard.

As with triathlon there are many different levels in rowing. Some are recreational and some take it very seriously and target winning intermediate and senior pots. The big thing though which is a huge factor I think is that when you row, you're usually training with crew mates - hence you tend to push harder than when training solo. On the occasions you train solo on the C2 or in the gym you can then draw from those tougher sessions that were sufferfests when surrounded by crew mates.

shotgunmcos · 19-04-2013 7:51pm

I'll probably ring in my 40th year with some silly challenge too. Gibbo is right those guys are multi gold medal winning Olympic heavyweight rowers. Full time athletes. At club/national level we would do much the same as he mentioned. Train everyday and twice a day 3 days as week on hold. Most of it was rowing from this time of year on up to 10 hours on the water. Winter would have seen 1 run, 2-3 weights sessions, 1 circuits, 2 long endurance ergs and 1-2 hard ergs during the week and rowing long aerobic technical drill type sessions at the weekend.

Training non existent this week. Nothing the last 3 days. Work & wedding plans.

shotgunmcos · 21-04-2013 9:43pm

Dory Dory · 22-04-2013 11:38pm

^^ Maybe if you put in a sweets category you'd feel better.

Trig1 · 08-05-2013 5:39am

Hey Mike...
Any training going on, this thread has been very quiet lately! how are wedding plans going? when is the big day again?

Dory Dory · 09-05-2013 1:26pm

Hey Stud Muffin Man! How's tricks?

shotgunmcos · 10-05-2013 12:24am

Still here just nothing to log.
Sporadic sessions through 5 weeks of Achilles trouble and 7 weeks of viral asthmatic problems. Nearly 3 months off. Weight touching 84kg. Got a couple of runs in last week including pacing a mate to a sub 1:50 at the Great Limerick Run half. It was my longest run since Feb and just felt good to be running again. Despite feeling like a lump I enjoyed it and the beers afterwards.

Then I did my back in gardening. No running again

So, back to the pool this week. A session on my own felt like learning all over again. Times 20secs per 100 off February form and at higher RPE too. The next session was a return to the club morning group. I demoted myself from the fast lane after the warm up! There was enough of a gang in the next lane for me to hide and I got through the set, just.

I have a triathlon in 2 weeks that I cannot do for several reasons so I am simply going to train as I please until after the wedding (4 weeks). The immediate goals are to get the wet suit on next week, find the gra for swimming and slowly build the running volume up to begin marathon training for Dublin.

The dual sub3 goals are still this year's priority. The 10k swim event is a non runner so I'll just track a 10k swim at Worlds End to satisfy that late Aug/early Sept. The run sub3 is a single shot at the DCM. Other than that Gaelforce and some form of triathlon during the summer for short term goals. I'll do a couple of tune up races leading up to DCM to benchmark form. Last little fitness objective is to beat the Bro's best for 10*500 on the C2 rower.

Wedding pieces are clicking into place on schedule. Lots of DIY involved. I'm harvesting millions of brownie points for the bucket list goals

. It took a solid week to recover from the stag and I can't wait to swim in the med again.

shotgunmcos · 13-05-2013 10:09pm

A couple of swims
Pool: An hour of mucking about before work. Did lots of kicking which was hard. Otherwise just putting down a goal 3k. Some moments of 'feel' for the water but mainly muck. 3.3km

OW: A half hour of mucking about after work. Customary with the first dip in the open water in this country, brain freeze! Its a couple of weeks later than usual and I know it was not 11 degrees yet. Air temp was 10 and it felt almost the same as the water. It took almost 7 minutes of swimming with tight shoulders to feel my hands and feet. I thought I was swimming sort of OK through the chop on the river but 1:55 pace told the real story. Sub3 pace is 20sec per 100m faster and for 3 hours! It felt good to get the first dip done. It didn't feel good to squeeze the extra 7kg into the wetsuit though :rolleyes:

I have to pace a 10k this weekend... off a week of training... gulp.

Kurt Godel · 13-05-2013 10:15pm

Sure you'd hardly feel the cold with that layer of blubber;)

Good stuff that you're back at it Mike. I'm going to pick hints from your swim logs all summer. Whats the plan for building up to the sub3 10k? Its a great target you've set yourself, best of luck with it!

shotgunmcos · 13-05-2013 10:23pm

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Sure you'd hardly feel the cold with that layer of blubber;)

Good stuff that you're back at it Mike. I'm going to pick hints from your swim logs all summer. Whats the plan for building up to the sub3 10k? Its a great target you've set yourself, best of luck with it!

I didn't! It was just a case of blue hand, face and feet. Although I stayed in for 10 mins after the Tri group got out. Felt like punishment for sheer sloth.

Dunno, make up as I go along I suppose. Have a couple of benchmark sessions in mind that seemed like a realistic idea back in Jan :rolleyes: Have a few Mediterranean swims coming up in a few weeks, can't wait!

griffin100 · 13-05-2013 11:28pm

Kurt Godel wrote: »

Sure you'd hardly feel the cold with that layer of blubber;)

Good stuff that you're back at it Mike. I'm going to pick hints from your swim logs all summer. Whats the plan for building up to the sub3 10k? Its a great target you've set yourself, best of luck with it!

Interested posted some key target sessions on this log a while back for a 10km swim. Can't search for them as on phone but should be easy to find.

shotgunmcos · 14-05-2013 11:15pm

@Griffin - yeah 3 sets of 10*100 off descending cruising RTs progressing to a horrible set of 3*10*100...

Rowing Machine
The brother did a set of 15*250m reps with 30 secs rest last week. He said it was "really tough". He did them at 51-52 secs each. It didn't register that 'tough' in his eyes is pure sadism in another's so 'really tough' meant simply, pain. I arrogantly thought this set of short reps seemed doable on paper and I'd get through the goal 20. I set a pace boat at 1:40/500m and raced it for the first 6 reps, clocking low 49s. It was too much. I was already shattered. I made it to 20 reps but took 3 of the reps as full recovery en route. The rest ranged from low 49 to mid 50 secs. It does sound like a simple session. Just 50 seconds work, then 30 seconds super easy recovery. The thing is the work becomes real pain real soon and it courses through your body. The 30 second recovery feels like nothing after 10. You don't recover. I felt annihilated after this. My brother is a maniac. Still, I will face it again until I complete it.. :rolleyes:

Easy Run
After a few minutes of draping myself over a low wall wanting to die, oxygen started to return to my arms and legs. I headed outside the Arena into our lovely baltic summer rain to do a half hour easy run. 'Easy' felt like a complete chore. My body did not want to cooperate. It wanted food and to sit down.

shotgunmcos · 15-05-2013 10:23pm

Pacing practice run
Since I have a pace job at the weekend I figured my 2nd run in as many months should be something geared towards that. 11.18km including 6k at 3:58 pace. Sounds good ya? Nope. I wheezed and ground the tempo out. My heart was beating through my chest and my form was just short of shocking. Scrap that, worse than shocking. Another 4k? If I somehow manage it, I'll hardly instil any confidence in those around me when I start panting after 10 minutes :rolleyes:

Steady state swim
A better session. Just hopped in with no plan other than to dig some sort of quality from it. I focused on catch, high elbow and rolling the hips to breathe. That was it. It was a busy but polite lane. One fish with earphones and little orange paddles cruised passed me several times. I put some surges in to hang onto her for 50m. Otherwise it was a steady aerobic swim. 2,000m in 33:30. Nice return, undeserved for my absence in the pool. About my limit for now though. My form was dropping and feet cramping at the half hour. Although tired for a finish, I felt better after the swim than before

RedB · 04-06-2013 11:57pm

shotgunmcos wrote: »

I have a triathlon in 2 weeks that I cannot do for several reasons so I am simply going to train as I please until after the wedding (4 weeks).

Mike,

Not sure exactly when the big day is but best wishes! You've got the weather on your side anyway :-)

Oryx · 05-06-2013 6:08am

Same from me.

Many happy returns!

Oh.. hang on...

Have a great day, and a wonderful life together.

BTH · 08-06-2013 7:51am

Looks like you beat me to it by two weeks

Congratulations Mike, hope you had a wonderful day yesterday. Training starts back tomorrow

RacoonQueen · 09-06-2013 5:22pm

Congrats Mike, will you be allowed out to see us all at HOTW now you're tied down?

Bambaata · 09-06-2013 9:40pm

Congrats Mike!

Dory Dory · 10-06-2013 2:08am

I echo the above sentiments. Whoop whoop!!

pgibbo · 12-06-2013 2:05pm

Congrats Mike and all the best to you both for the future.

shotgunmcos · 23-06-2013 12:09pm

I'm back

I seriously thought about closing the log and starting a new one as this year has been a write off. However, swimming in the cool Med for the last 2 weeks has reminded me that its not all about the goal but the here and now of the journey to achieving them. 20km+ OW swimming in clear blue waters, through grottos and caves. Bliss. Not even a couple of jelly stings could deter me

I may not log as often but the plan is basically to maintain this log until both a sub3 marathon and sub3 10k swim are achieved. Attached is probably the closest I'll come to having a deep dish wheel

Part of the huge make 'n do for the wedding! Thankfully something I'll only have to do once. It was a fantastic day on a typically 22 degree blue sky sunny Irish day!! Cycling is a non priority this year other than to hop on the saddle once a week for a spin. Its all about the swimming and running, with some yoga and conditioning thrown in to fill gaps.

For a tanned, happy and fat Muffin Man, it starts again... I'll catch up with the other logs eventually. I'm off for a run

Sub 3 Muffin Man

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