Post Row

This past Sunday was my big B-Day Row where I completed 45,000 meters of rowing to raise money for Girls With Sole.

What an interesting experience. 

Aimee arrived at Coca Crossfit around 7:15 to get me set up and started by 7:30.  The first spinning session started at 8 so we greeted people as they began showing up.

I completed my "warmup" row in 25 minutes.  This would be the slowest pace I wanted to go at..being a 2:30/500m.

In between 5k's I would walk around to stretch, drink and eat.  I needed to treat this like a half Ironman since I would be at it for approximately 4.5 hours.  I forgot to take a picture of my second 5k, but all of my splits are down below on the whiteboard.

I decided that I would do every third row on the row machine we affectionately call the Beast.  This machine is ooooolllllllllddddddd.  Definitely not as smooth as the newer machines.  But it did have a cushier seat that would help provide some comfort for my posterior.  At the end for of my third 5k my time was in the low 24's.

In the next picture you can see some of the bikes used to spin while I was rowing.  It was nice to have the distraction of Tom and the girls while I was rowing.  The music Aimee and Kelly selected also provided some good beats.  I found some good rhythm at times.

 Someone got a picture of me rowing and sporting the Snakebite Racing top. 

Two hours in and I started the 5th 5k with a new group of spin girls.  Some of them carried over from the first group and rode 3 hours to my 4.5 of rowing.  Those are some awesome friends to stick around for a double spin.

Pictured below you can see my neighbor Nina.  She grabbed her husbands bike and trainer to come out and support me.  She did awesome and enjoyed the 90 minute workout.

Row #6 was back on the Beast.   My first 5k under 24 minutes.  Definitely some good tunes to make me pick up the pace.

I forgot to take a picture of Row #7.  My time was slightly slower because my forearms were started to cramp.  I've had sore forearms from pull-ups and rope climbs before but nothing like this.  My arm would cramp and my index finger would curl towards my palm.  I had to massage both arms and straighten my finger out.  I also switched to a bicep curl row to change things up.


Below is row #8.  40k meters, 4 hours, 2 spin sessions. 

This is Liz Ferro, founder of Girls With Sole.  She felt bad leaving me but I told her it was okay because Coca was about to fill up with people competing in the Crossfit Games Open WOD.  So I would be seeing some more friends coming in.

This is the 9th and final 5k of rowing.  I finished on the Beast in 21:58.  The extra seconds were because I had to pull the handle to wake up the display again.

When I left Coca I had with me $300 from people giving me cash and checks during my time rowing.  Add to that some on-line donations of $175 and my B-Day check from Grandma & Grandpa, my rowing generated $525 for Girls With Sole.

That breaks down to about $11.67 per 1,000 meters rowed.  I can live with that.  I can also live with the temporary pain in my arms because I know the help Liz and GWS provides to girls in the Cleveland area is priceless and very beneficial.

Next up is the Girls With Sole Swim-a-Thon on Sunday.  Not quite sure how I will recover for the swim but I'll put forth my best effort again for GWS. 

So if you want to give in honor of my rowing or wait and see how many yards I can swim this Sunday my donate link is below.

Game On.

http://www.active.com/donate/keeptri-ing/eric_gibb

Row....Row....Row

Aimee gets a kick out of this commercial from Gieco.  When ever I say I'm going to row she does her little impersonation of the guinea pig.

Row

Row

Row

Well all of my row training will come to fruition this Sunday at Coca Crossfit where I will be going for 45,000 meters to raise money for Girls With Sole. 

You can read about how you can help raise some cash for GWS at this post.

If you want to join in on the fun this Sunday I will be starting at 7:30AM. 

You can find Coca Crossfit at:

34601 Mills Road
North Ridgeville, OH 44039 

I have already heard back from several people that they will donate $1 or .50 per 1000 meters.


That will definitely help me stay focused on the 45,000 meters.  I will be breaking up the row into 5k segments to give myself a chance to drink and eat during the time.


If you don't want to row, Kate will be having some workouts available to for $5.  If you have ever been interested about Crossfit stop on by and talk with Kate.....maybe try a workout.


Come Sunday morning it will be Game On.

Cure for the Common Cold

DON'T CATCH A COLD.

Sounds simple but in reality it's near impossible to avoid. 

And that is exactly what I battled this past week.  A common cold that filled up my sinuses and made it hard to breath and sleep. 

With my recent travels and the wild swings in the weather it was bound to happen.

Unfortunately I didn't move into the "sick room" at our house before Aimee caught the cold. 

So my recovery week was moved up one week. 

Next week I travel again for work. 

I'm also one week out from my 45,000 meter row (Sunday 2/26) and a B-Day Crossfit WOD (Monday 2/27) I created. 

And for some reason I decided to signup for the Crossfit's Open Games...to "see what I'm made of".

So there will be a little bit of juggling of the schedule to make everything fit, stay healthy and rest up. 

And I forgot to mention that my right hip flexor is sore.

Time to be smart and not HTFU too much this next week.  It's only February and there is a long season ahead. 

Game On.

It's Time To Spend Some Cash

I'm not spending the cash.  YOU ARE!!!

And not on yourself.  Instead you get to hear about me doing crazy shit and then you send money to Girls With Sole, my charity for 2012.

At the beginning of the year I said I would be asking for dollars.  Now that the Christmas bills are paid and you planned accordingly to get a refund from the IRS you can help me out.

Originally I was going to swim the Cleveland Tri Club's "Big Swim Challenge" where I would do 100 yards 100 times = 10,000 yards.  Well that didn't pan out because of work.

So instead I have two events coming up that offer some ways to make alternative contributions.

Event #1 = 45,000 meter row, 2/26/12

I turn 45 at the end of February.  
On February 26th I will row 45,000 meters.  
All at one time with minimal breaks for my sorry tush.  I estimate it will take me about 4.5 hours to complete.

Event #2 = 2nd Annual GWS Swim-A-Thon, 3/4/12

The swim-a-thon lasts 2 hours.  I want to see how many yards I can swim during that time.  Last year I did 10,000 yards but that takes almost 3 hours.  This time I am going to push myself a little harder to see how far I can go.

For each of these events I don't want any "standard" contribution.  I want you to have fun as well.

Think outside the box for you contribution.

Rowing:
One dollar for each 1,000 meters rowed = $45
$.50 for each 1,000 meters = $22.50
$.25 per 1,000 meters = $11.25
Make a donation for how long it takes me.

Swimming:
Now this is an unknown, except for the time.
How about 1, 2 or 3 dollars per 100 yards...or per 1000 yards.
The fun part is that we don't know what the amounts will be.  I will be pushing myself to get the most yardage possible to get the biggest contributions.

So who is with me on this one?  Last year we raised $1164.99.  How much can we add to this total?

I don't need you to visit my donation site just yet.  

You need to hear how well I do at each event.

Maybe my body will shut down and I can't reach 45,000 meters on the rower.

Maybe my arms will give out during the swim and my yardage will be lower than expected.

It's a gamble.  A gamble I'm willing to take.  Wouldn't you rather gamble on me instead of a sporting event?

Game On.

Community

I'm sure you have heard before, "No man is an island."  And quite frankly I don't know why someone would want to live that way. Isolated and not sharing their experiences with anyone? 

That's not for me. 

And that is where Community comes in.  Community comes in many flavors, styles, interests.  And with the ability to have a presence on the internet with portals like blogging, webcasts, forums, etc. the community is that much bigger.

Admittedly my "communities" are primarily sports related.  Running, cycling, triathlon, Crossfit.  Even trail running is a sub-set of the running community.

I have made a lot of acquaintances and friends this way, and they don't necessarily cross groups either.

And these communities often lead me to other interests as well.  I'm trying to branch off into photography and am enjoying learning about the breadth of this art form.

Community has played a big part of my week.  I was traveling to Dallas, TX for work and realized that I had contacts in the city.  Natalie is a teammate on Snakebite and Dan was originally from Coca Crossfit.

I joined Natalie and her friends at the movies.  We watched Bicycle Dreams on the big screen and I came away in awe of these people.  It was nice to spend time with a friend and not alone in a hotel room.

I also joined Dan for two workouts at Crossfit 214.  It was nice to go into the gym, see the workout, and know what to do.  Crossfit is definitely universal.  The coaches and people are supportive and allow me to drain my body during a workout.  I left some sweat on the floor during this mornings WOD.

I'm fortunate to be a part of these communities and have some great friends to share my experiences with.