Discussion: just my opinion, if you are...

just my opinion, if you are sore and tired take a day off, like Charlie said, base or no. even base seasons have rest days.

Charlie has put up times that are very impressive. And he only rows a few days a week...but does a lot of other stuff: hiking around his property, biking on nearby rural roads, working with a trainer, competing in mega-distance O events. None of that stuff is available to me.

So I row. Which at my pace, I don't think is too stressful, even if done day-after-day, or even if done with sore muscles, or even if my heart's not in it.

But I enjoy having a training 'partner,' and I benefit and am motivated by Charlie's advice. This morning for instance, I started to try to reduce my turnover, but row faster, by focusing more effort into each stroke. Charlie briefly mentioned this training technique a few days ago. Much more difficult to do than you'd think.

But in the bigger picure, I'm sure you've noticed the rapid attrition in the number of competitors in older age groups...where do those guys go? Despite being 74 and the oldest in my 70-74 age group this season, I'm ranked as the #7 runner in all of NE Illinois! And this is with a top 10k race time of 1:47!! What happened to the dozens...hundreds...of guys that used to beat me? Why they're taking a long "rest."

Sorry. I don't want to 'rest.' I'll soon have eternity to 'rest.' :-)

ha ha ha! Well, you vary your efforts from day to day, maybe thats the same as a rest. the reason you were ranked 7th is because you did more work than the other guys, thats a convincing endorsement for your approach.

Cut yourself some slack! You do a lot of stuff, and even though you don't log it, all tha schlepping around a golf bag is some significant exercise. Fine to do what you are doing with the rowing. I was just saying that you might go faster if you took the occasioanal day off. I'm sure you are getting a lot of benefit from you consistent approach.

Well as I discovered when I began basement rowing in October, all that schlepping up and down country roads and across golf courses, didn't do very much to build or retain fitness. I just turned into a schlepp. So now, If my heart rate's not elevated by the exercise, I don't log it.

I'm sure I could stop rowing for several days in order to make a go at PRs. But last season, all my PRs were set in February, after nearly 400 000m of rowing. I'm ahead of that pace for this season so far, as long as I don't get sick or head for the sun for several weeks. But I scarcely have 200 000m this season. So I'm trying to build that base, with more and more speed work mixed in. And after an unbroken string of over 50 rowing mornings, I jump out of bed at 5am, looking forward to another session!

Woo Hoo!