As long as I’ve been running I’ve been told to be a good runner you have to do strength training, but I’ve always put it off. I’ve been looking for a rowing machine for a while, they are supposed to be a brilliant exercise for loads of muscle groups, and they are low impact on the body, so no injuries. We had a cheap one which we both used, but it had so little resistance that it was of no use to me. A little bit of research told me the best one for training was a Concept 2. Gym level equipment that real rowers use for training. They are robust, long lasting and hold their resale value. The latter being a double edged sword as it means they are dear to buy in the first place.
Today I finally took the plunge. There was one for sale in Manchester, second hand. I went and got it. It’s a beast! It splits in two for transportation but I still had to drive with the hatchback door open a bit and bungee-ed in place.
I got it home and set up.
It’s enormous! About 8′ long! I gave it a go for half an hour. I was slow starting off as I was watching a video on the correct form for rowing. Apparently that’s very important and something everyone gets wrong. It has screen that tells you information on your performance so I spent the last 6 minutes flat out trying to hit an arbitrary figure (5,500 metres, rowed). I managed it but I was sweating like a pig.
Now we wait. I’ll be able to judge what muscles it worked by my stiffness tomorrow and the day after. I already know my shoulders are going to pay for it. Wendy had a go and she said it hurt her stomach and fronts of her thighs.
Hopefully this will be my magic bullet. One extra thing I can incorporate into my training to strengthen my core, glutes, and upper body.
Huh, looks good.
I looked at my monthly running stats on Smashrun. The first few weeks were poor, I missed a bunch of day with plague weakness, but since that has shifted I’m doing pretty good. Unfortunately I’m suffering a lack of mojo. On my easy 18 mile long run I wanted to quit the whole time. The 8 mile everyday runs have been killing me. Not that they are hard, just I don’t want to do it. Today was a better run. It was 2 miles warm up then 80 seconds at sub 6.45 m/m pace, then 80 seconds jog, 14 times, then jog home. That was much better for me as I was concentrating on getting through each fast section, and I rise to that kind of challenge. Back to easy 8 tomorrow before work. I’m less than 12 weeks out from Blackpool marathon, I should be champing at the bit. Ah well, just showing up counts for a lot. It’s consistency of training that makes the biggest difference.
On my bike I’ve fitted the heated grips. I’ve got the hand guards, but I need to drill them out and order longer bolts. I’ve still not got round to fitting the lowering brackets to put the bike height back to standard. Perhaps when we get some decent weather.
Right.
Sleep. Yay!