I've just started the last and most intense phase of my rowing training. I have to row three days a week for the next eight weeks. And when I'm not rowing, I have to be leg conditioning with FES for an hour. I wonder how I'll feel by the end.
With fitness you get back what you put in. Because of the 160 mile round trip, I've only managed to row once, sometimes twice a week up to now. Consequently my fitness has stayed pretty much the same. Far better than had I not been rowing but nowhere near fit enough for me.
Now there's a step change. The last couple of sessions have been incremental exercise tests in the lab, with oxygen mask to measure VO2 max, ear sensor to calculate oxygen saturation and heart monitors all plugged in to a computer. After my eight weeks I'll be re-measured to see what impact the training has made.
The increased training has already made a difference. I've just come back from my fifth session and my power output has increased by some 10% (though the calories used haven't gone much above the 250 mark. Intense exercise has never seemed like the best way to lose weight). I've rowed 20km so far, another 80km to reach my target of a treble crossing of the Channel. You can boost my efforts by sponsoring me here!
