That was the weekend that was…..

It’s Monday evening and I have just completed two days off. No exercise, and a little bit of naughty food. The reason for a break in the routine is from 7pm Friday until 7pm Saturday I was involved in a 24hr rowing marathon. Small teams (7 in ours) took it in turns to stretch muscles on a concept 2 rowing machine to gain as much distance as possible. For us, the total was 313, 208m, between the four participating teams it was 1, 273, 137m and for me personally, I racked up 41, 799m in 3 hrs and 20 mins, spread out over 8 stints.  

The interesting thing for me was how my body reacted, the first couple of rows I was fiddling with my technique, different to what I had used in training and could not settle into a rhythm. For these I was running at 197m per minute, then at 430 in the morning when I wasn’t thinking about what I was doing, it upped to 212mpm. The most satisfactory thing for me though was the way things finished up, two twenty minute runs, late afternoon on the Saturday produced 217 mpm and 215, then the last and final row of the endurance event was ten minutes at a rate of 237mpm. One of the ways I judge my fitness in training is recovery time and it is quite gratifying to have an increase in output at the end of the session and comfort afterwards. Not too many aches, no overt tiredness and an almost euphoric feeling of energy towards the end.

 However. With Sunday and Monday lazy days behind me, I am now on a fitness plan to prep me for the Marathon training to start on the 1^st January. Weight loss, road time and all round fitness, to prepare my body for the intensity to come.

 Part 2 starts tomorrow.

So what HAVE you been doing?

Nearly a week since my last blog, so what has happened in the interim? Work has happened…. A lot. So it has been mainly crosstraining to build fitness with a one hour row on Saturday. In terms of preparation for Friday evening though, I did an hour on the crosstrainer at luchtime today and then another hour this evening after getting in from work, just to give my body an introduction to split exercise. Still reckon it is in for a shock come Friday evening.

ROWVEMBER….. 24 hour rowing marathon for teams of 6 to split between them as they see fit. The plan at the moment for our team is to row 30 mins on, and 2.5 hours off, getting in sleep and food wherever possible. It’s going to be quite an experience….

The other news of the day is that my chosen charity for London 2013 have made contact. The post arrived with a welcome letter, possible training planner fundraising tips and my vest…..My bright ORANGE vest.

 A little different to the subtle blue one I wore last time around and I did take a couple of shots with me wearing it but it wouldn't be fair to inflict them on you at this stage. Maybe I'll use them in a few months time for a "before and After" pic….. It did make it slightly more real though and as soon as Rowvember is complete, time on my feet is what it will be about.

A Little Frisson.....

Tuesday was an hour on the crosstrainer, Wednesday was a recovery day and today I was up to an hour and fifteen minutes on the CT. My eating habits have changed, it's surprising how you can adjust when there is something specific to focus on. Breakfast is now toast with no butter or porridge, lunch a rather bland couple of wraps and cereal bar and then tea is something sensible but filling.
But on to the business of the day. There was something of a buzz today, I had an automatic e-mail through from justgiving to tell me that the first donation had been made and it was 1% of my total... not a lot you may think, but simply put all I needed to do was find 98 other people prepared to part with the same amount and I was at my target. I say 98, because almost by the time I had finished reading through the justgiving website, someone else had added the same. I guess you could say I am off the mark, in terms of fundraising, dieting and fitness. A long way to go on all counts, but I have 164 days left........

The countdown begins (167 togo)

First things first..... I am part of a six man/woman team rowing for 24 hours on Saturday week, so having had a couple of weeks of changing jobs and weekends away it's back on it with general fitness and focussed rowing.

Sensible eating was the first step, out with the bacon butties and in with the porridge, couple of marg free wraps for dinner and then spaghetti bolognese for tea. Add to that 10,000 metres on a concept 2 rowing machine in a little over 45 minutes and that was me set for a quick doze. The morning was spent setting up this blog and my justgiving page..... but more on that later!

It All Starts Here.....

Six months ago I entered the public ballot for the London Marathon 2013. Since running in 2010, I always had at the back of my mind that I wanted to do it once more before I was 40 and it felt like the time was right to have another go. No. I had it set in my mind that I would, no matter what. I wrote to SANDS, the charity I ran for in 2010, and asked if they could guarantee me a place should I be unsuccessful in the public, that way, “knowing” I would be running meant  I could start raising money for them right a way and maximise the opportunity. Unfortunately they have a strict process for the Golden Bond places so I would have to wait and see. Over the summer I raised money for SANDS editing VHS footage onto DVD and digital formats and some of the jobs I did were generically “For Charity”. Then in early October I got the rejection pack from Virgin. I immediately went to SANDS, detailed events and filled in their application form. Unsuccessfully. They had over 50 applicants for just 5 places. But like I said earlier, it was set, in my mind that I was going to do this and I went to my second choice charity, I-Can, a charity that helps children of all ages with learning difficulties to communicate. It was a very simple process and I had the response pretty much straightaway, but being wary of all things technological, I rang their fundraising manager in order to get it confirmed by a human.

All this, in a week where I go from Helicopter ground staff, to unemployed, to Fixed wing airline employee! It was a strange surreal sensation  and with the excitement fresh, I also felt a little dazed.

Now I just need to convert the determination I had to get into the marathon, into determination to finish it……..