The Concept II Rowing Machine

Usually, I wait for my birthday or April 1st to write some non-track true stories about me. Here is one regarding the Concept 2 Rowing Machine and the 2000m time trial race.

The summer of 1997 was quite magical. I ended up in Vancouver Canada on a 4 month project and I had just started my Masters comeback (I was only 34 at the time).

I was working for the RCMP but not as a police officer (or “regular member” as they called it). The World Police and Fire Games (WPFG) were held just after my birthday, which meant I could be entered in the M30-34 category. But the rules stated you had to be a regular member as a police officer or fireman.

There was also a special “relay” that passed through Vancouver en route to Calgary with 3 representing countries: Australia, Canada and Sweden (for the host cities in 1995, 97, and 99 respectively)

But we can’t have those stories on this Blog! Because we all know how much we can party!

One of the events I wanted to try was the 2000 meter Concept II Rowing machine. The top 3 medals were won in 6:20 (i.e. 1:35 pace per 500m) and I did a time trial at home in 6:42 (about 1:40/500m). Yes, fractions of a second separated 1st and 4th!

Anyone who has rowed on the Concept 2 Rowing machine will tell you after 45 seconds, your body is in pain and your lungs are screaming for oxygen.

Fast forward 20 years… today.

So just for fun, I decided to try 2000m row, just to see where I was at, in terms of fitness, specificity, and more importantly, Achilles health.

Would you believe I could not break 8:00? I could not sustain a pace of 2:00/500m for 4 “laps”. Sad! But I know after a few workouts, I’ll break 8:00, but it will take a lot of work to get down to 1:40 pace again. A lot.

I know, I am just a 54 year old (with zero cardio) trying to get my Achilles better, but there is a lesson to be learned here….

Time may change you, but you can’t change time.