Longish post warning about rowing, where I time travel around the YouTube VideoChannel RowAlong, its past and present, meet a RowAlong stretchy-man, and have a squabble with my tech, and have to chose between RowAlong and the queen of seductive temptress-workouts!
Well, I finished the 30x30min rowing challenge as some of you might remember (available from youtube.com/playlist?list=P... ) and received a nice certificate! No medal, though! 🙁 So I was humming and I hawing what to tackle next in my rowing journey.
And then life intervened, as it does, and an extremely stressful 7 days at work got in the way of living, and I ended up managing to get on the rower only after that week, and similar goes for my daily yoga practice. Ohh nooo, am I finally falling off that wagon??
Not doing a daily workout is actually quite unusual for me. So by the time I got back into my workouts, I felt unfit, fat and out of breath!
So once back on my favourite rower, I tried the first workout of a “Improve your 2k time” plan.
Link to the YouTube List here youtube.com/playlist?list=P...
But it used 22 SPM (Strokes per minute)!!! 😱😱😱 My nemesis SPM!! I like 20, 24, 26 even 28 and have gone up to 34 (but uff 🥵), I love my 18 💗 and indulge in technique-honing 16. (Queen of slow, even when this runner is rowing! 🐌)
But I definitely dislike 22, which throws my rhythm off, my breathing is all over the place, and it just feels off. I’ve wondered before if rowers have a favourite SPM and I claim 18.
So I really didn’t like the start to that plan. It was also the first plan developed by the RowAlong channel, so it feels it’s not quite thought through. Dropped during first lockdown, he still has a beard then.
At the same time I was tempted to take my RowAlong time machine, get back from RowAlong’s past into his present, as the channel currently drops short lunchtime rows ( youtube.com/playlist?list=P... ), and ones that at the end of each video they include handy post-row stretches inlaid whilst Coach John chats a bit to the camera, e.g. I call the ‘new’ guy post-workout stretchy-man!
So I’m spoiled for choice! What to do? And if the choice was not complicated enough, there was the added issue of tech. Now I fear this takes some explaining.
Since starting to row, I’ve rowed a runner on Zwift because … well, I think it’s because I feel I’m still a runner at heart. As you know I only started rowing daily in December ‘21 due to my metatarsal foot injury and then fell in love with rowing thanks to the 30x30 series.
But back to Zwift.
So when row-running, I run Zwift in silence on an Ipad; then I run RowAlong on with sound on my Iphone (who doesn’t love the chatter AND a Scottish accent); and I run PainSled on a cheap Android I bought specifically for the purpose of connecting the rower’s PM5 to Zwift.
ErgZone erg.zone/
PainSled / Zwift connection zwiftinsider.com/rowing-on-...
But this all means that ErgZone has to run in the background on the Iphone, beneath the RowAlong Videos. So I never get to see ErgZone live in action, and as ErgZone is the equivalent of Runkeeper for runners, it’s such a shame, as it’s such a brilliant app! And the app does not just track, it allows other organisations to offer free training workouts, kind of like the Nike Running Coach audio runs, but without the audio. (Might not make so much sense, but the rowing world is distinctly different from the running world, I have discovered)
So one day I spent an hour trying all sorts of things, from split-screens to switching the video to run on the Android, to running Zwift on the Iphone, etc etc. No success.
So to see ErgZone live, I would have to either give my Zwift running avatar 😢 or RowAlong for that workout! 😳😭😤 What a conundrum!!!
But every conundrum has a silver lining! And the glorious silver lining were some workouts that have been temptingly lazing around in my ErgZone app, deliciously updating day after day and seducing me to choose one of its three daily options. The temptress!
Concept2, the maker of the best rowing machines, provides 3 different levels of daily workouts on ErgZone and this called to me. (They also publish these on their website at concept2.co.uk/indoor-rower... )
Having scrapped the idea (for now) of doing the 2k plan, I thought I’d do the following:
I’ll mix it up! (Doh! So simple! 🤦🏻♀️)
Between RowAlong’s lunchtime rows, and the Concept2 daily workouts, a few weeks of switching between the two should give me that regular fix of RowAlong with its high production value, excellent coaching and entertainment (not to forget that addition of stretchy-man); whilst also getting to know the daily Concept2 way of life, one which includes in my setup the additional delight of getting to experience watching ErgZone Stats live!
So conundrum solved.
Today: medium 3x8minute session!
Keep on keeping on everyone!
