As a fund-raising challenge and a Lent discipline, I'm rowing around Staten Island...without leaving the house that is. I'll track the mileage on my rowing machine and post the progress here.
I found the on-line diary of a kayaker who paddled around Staten Island, and he said the distance is 36 miles, so that's what I'm going with. I've converted to meters because that's what my machine records in. If you'd like to sponsor me, sign up at church or send me an email through the contact page of this site.
Total distance: 57600m
Rowed so far: 57870m
Still to go 0m
A diary of progress...
Friday March 21 7000m
It is finished. I managed to get in a morning row before work, which should surprise everybody. What shouldn't surprise anyone is that I was so scattered I couldn't find my stuff and had to make many trips up and down the stairs. Can I count that as part of the workout? I didn't make it into the office until just after 10:00, so I don't know if it counts as a stunning achievement. I'd still like to be one of those disciplined people who gets up at an ungodly hour, exercises and is still chipper. To quote some classic Meatloaf (which I happened to be listening to as workout music today), two out of three ain't bad.
Wednesday March 19 7000m
It's weird to look at the 'to go' number and realize that it's less than today's workout. One more session, scheduled for Friday, and the challenge will be over.
Some of you have asked if I'll keep rowing. Yup. I built up enough momentum to keep at it for fitness and stress relief. Eileen and I talked the other day about how I could fit in 3 workouts a week around the baby's schedule, and it looks doable...so the challenge worked from that perspective. I'm still $35 short of $1000 in pledges, so I'm hoping someone will notice and pledge the remainder for tat nice round number.
Monday March 17 7500m
Ok, it's the big final push. I absolutely need to get in 3 sessions this week to finish. Tonight after Holy Week readings (7:00pm at the church for the next 2 nights...have to get the pastor's "come to church" plug in) I hit my erg for 5000m followed by 5 (yes I counted right this time) 500m intervals. What I can't figure out is how to slow down at the beginning. It seems like I'm hardly pushing, although the machine says I'm going at a good clip. This isn't a problem until I get to the last half of the piece...2500m in and I'm wondering where all my energy went.
I have mastered the post-workout hydration portion of exercise. As evidence I offer tonight's solution. It's a blend of water, grains, and minerals specially prepared in Ireland for the ideal balance of motivation and refreshment. If you note the date of this workout it's no surprise that this special concoction comes in a little brown bottle and is best transfered to a pint glass for maximum effect.
Wednesday March 12 6000m
Ok, my next step is to learn to count. I needed to finish off with 3500m in 500m intervals. A quick bit of math says that's 7 intervals. My computer chirped out "Interval 5"...and I charged off saying to myself, "ok, this is it, last interval...you can push hard 'cause you're done done done!" As I started my cool-down my computer of course informed me that it was interval 6. by the time I realized I was halfway through my cool-down and couldn't gear up to add the extra 1000m.
I also learned a valuable lesson in pre-workout eating...a Cajun chicken burger and fries at Chillis for lunch isn't the best food if you're going to be exercising.
Sunday March 9 7000m
Ok, that hurt. Note to self: when doing a long piece, say 5000m and a short piece, say 2000m for the sake of using today as an example...do the long piece first then the short piece. My 5000m time was slightly better than the firstt time I pulled that distance back on 2/27. I had to push it up to 7000m, because up until now I've only been able to squeeze in 2 workouts a week around the baby's schedule, and the numbers clearly indicate that if I can only get in 4 sessions over the final 2 weeks it'll have to be 7000 per.
A couple of people have pointed out a piece in the paper that says the distance is 52 miles, not 36. I'm not in a position to add that many miles now, but if anyone can send me a link to that article I'd love to read it. I searched long and hard before I finally found the 36 mile account. Interestingly enough, I did a google search for Staten Island distance circumnavigate, and the 13th entry was this page.
Wednesday March 5 5000m
More intervals today, including trying to row at the stroke-per-minute rate I used to train at (28 strokes per minute). I managed part of an interval at that pace, but clearly I have some work to do. I'm still trying to figure out when to get a third workout in, and think I might have to sacrifice with an early morning row. Pray hard for me, as this will be the single hardest challenge I've had to face so far in this endeavour.
Saturday March 1 4000m
Ok I just realized that it's halfway through Lent and I'm not halfway through the total distance of the challenge. 3 weeks to go, and it seems like 4000 or 5000m is my workout capacity. Some quick math says I'll need to do 8 workouts in 3 weeks, so I'll have to find...or make...the time for 3 workouts in at least 2 of the weeks. I wish I was a morning person.
Today I did 8 intervals of 500m. Intervals are supposed to let you push harder than you would if you did the whole distance in one stretch. I guess it worked because there's no way I would have been able to sustain my pace past each of the short pieces. Having the incentive of the pledges has really helped me push to get the workouts in. I know I would have made an excuse today if not for those of you who have signed up. Now if I could just stop thinking that a Pop Tart is a good response to the stress created by a crying baby.
Wednesday February 27 5000m
This is the longest single stretch I've pulled in a long long time, a whopping 5000m. For those of you in the rowing know, my goal was to keep my split under 2:15, which should tell you the shape I'm in. I did just fine, learning which parts of my body are the most out of shape...the old "knee bone's connected to the thigh bone" song comes to mind. "Everything that hurts is connected to the rowing machine..."
If I can get in 3 workouts a week I'll make the circumnavigation no problem. If I can only get in 2 rows a week I'll have to push it a bit. I'm really close to $1000 in total pledges, and I'd really like to push past that mark, so sign up at church or drop me an email.
Friday February 22 3000m.
I was at a clergy conference in Chicago this week, so away from the challenge. The challenge is still forcing myself up the stairs to the erg room. I have found that on the days I row I don't "need" dessert, which is a definite bonus to this endeavour. Eileen added to the challenge today by filling the house with the aroma of fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies (Vitamin CCC)...fortunately the actual cookies came along with the smell.
Wednesday February 13 3863m
It was another crunch to fit in a row today, but Eileen was very accomodating with dinner. Let's just say that working out with the smell of a roasting chicken wafting up to the attic was tough...made me want to run to the kitchen and chow down. I did find my rowing shorts, which makes things much more comfortable. It also decreases the chance of me posting a picture...does anyone really want to see a picture of me in spandex?
A few people have asked me if I'm going to go over the 36 miles...probably. If I can keep the disciplen of getting to the workout that is, which is the whole point. We'll stick with 36 miles as the distance for pledges though. Both causes will gladly accept additional donations. I haven't decided if I should post the total pledged amount or not. Would that effect your willingness or unwillingness to pledge?
Monday February 11, 2570m
So far the biggest challenge is finding the time. Today I had Declan duty while Eileen was at work, so I had to wait for her to come home for a hand-off of the little fella. I scrambled to find all my gear, but couldn't find my rowing shorts. I ended up rowing in sweatpants, but fortunately the attic room where my machine is was arctic cold. It reminded me of rowing in Edmonton in late October...without having to wade past the floating ice into the river that is.
The talking ergometer. For the uninitiated, the high-end indoor rower made by Concept 2 is called an ergometer, or erg. It can also be used as a verb...I erged today, are you going to erg today? etc. Thanks to new software from Concept 2, I was able to get feedback from my erg as I rowed. Before I would have to analyze the results after the workout. Now with Erg Chatter chirping at me I know instantly when I'm slacking off, or rather I know that the machine knows...I knew all along but thought I could slip it past the little computer brain of my erg.