Personal Best! (But Not There Yet)
rowing, personal best, concept ii
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The funny thing is, I wasn't even planning on hitting the gym today; I was going to take it easy and give myself a rare break, since I've been feeling a little rundown lately. I rolled out of bed this morning and thought - what the heck, I'll do a quick workout and get this Friday over with and onto the weekend...
Friday is normally a day that I run, so I wanted to do something cardio in lieu of a lunchtime run. I walked into the gym around 6:30 am and the place was empty, not even the crickets were chirping. As I scanned the room, trying to decide where to begin, my eyes locked onto it. There it was, smug, in the center of the unmoving, silent cardio machines - the Concept II. It was almost as if it was daring me to come over, knowing that I would pass. On the contrary, I walked straight to it and started stretching out for the upcoming battle. It coldly sat there, doing it's best to intimidate me.
I sat down and strapped my feet in, adjusted the damper to max, then turned the electronic display on. I paused and my confidence wavered. Would I come in at 9 minutes again? I haven't been able to break that barrier despite all the tips from the college rowing studs that I know. Form was good, breathing was good, cardio was good, heck - 9 minutes is good! But not good enough. The guy who consistently wins the yearly rowing competition came in with a blazing 8:30 (defeating the guy that he had won with an amazing 8:31) in the previous competition. Since then, I've had my sights set on 8:30. Yeah, me - the average joe with no previous rowing experience. After trying it out a few times, I quickly got to the 9 minute range and thought - I can do this! So now here I was, wondering if I would hit the barrier and bounce backward, yet again.
On the first pull, I felt something was different today. The Concept II felt it as well - I could tell that it knew that today I was stronger than usual. My form was smooth, and my b... read entire entry
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on 3/28/2008
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10.2
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