100,000 metres row 4/4/12

I had a plan to start at 08:00am and I had everything ready to go;

• 3 bottles of water lined up next to the C2
• chunks of chocolate in a bowl
• CD's out of the cases for music
• Heels taped up to avoid blisters
• Chamois cream to avoid rashes on the posterior

Unfortunately when I sat down and tried to type in 100,000 metres I realised the counter only had a 50,000 metre limit. A quick phone call C2 headquarters in Nottingham soon helped me out. You have to enter 100,000 metres in the Variable Intervals section of the monitor menu - just for future reference.

I started at about 08:30 with a reasonable pace of 2:36 keeping it slow and steady. I kept this up for the first two hours and took a drink break at about 10:30. Back to it for another few hours, taking very quick toilet breaks / drink breaks when needed.

My back was feeling it and the heel on my left foot was beginning to blister despite my preparations but I had to keep going. I was having to listen to the same CD over and over because it wasted time trying to change it which was slightly annoying.

At 65k I had to take another toilet break and re-apply some chamois cream. When I sat back down on my machine the monitor shut down just as I was going to pull the handle. I was really gutted because it meant that I wouldn't be able to officially rank the 100k row on the C2 ranking site.

I had to dig deep and enter the remaining metres onto the monitor and row the final section knowing that even though I have completed 100k it would not be recognised as an 100k attempt. Extremely annoying!!

I finally finished the row in 9:34:26.2 which was about 30 - 40 minutes longer than I had expected. Despite my average pace being between 2:35 - 2:39 the many frequent stops I had for drinks and comfort breaks diluted my average pace down to around 2:48 / 2:49.

I am writing this two days after I have completed the 100k and my back and legs are still aching. I don't think I am going to attempt another 100k in a long time.