220 minus your age is for pansies

I went down to the boathouse to erg today, and found that the erg room/gym had been turned into a slumber-party dorm. There was nobody there, but settled in amongst the ergs were about 10 or 12 or 16 air mattresses and sleeping bags. So I abandoned the erg idea, because the last thing I need to add to my reputation as the somewhat creepy foreigner who shows up and ergs at odd times but never rows, is that I was discovered one bright Saturday lunchtime erging by myself in the middle of a dozen abandoned teenagers' mattresses.

Instead I went for a 36-minute run. The good news: my HR was above 170 after the first minute, above 180 for the second half, and above 190 for the last 10 minutes. Peaked at 197. That might not be much of a thing for you kids, but for an old man like me it's a big deal. The bad news: I wasn't really running all that fast, nor were there serious hills. Also, the idea of "maximum heart rate" might be a bit misleading; there's no way this was anywhere near the 5x4 minutes effort-wise. I think that's just how fast my heart beats when I go out for a run and don't jog it. Conclusion: I'm unfit for running. Anyway, good luck with your preparations - I'm feeling particularly stranded at the moment, because there's sure no summer training admonition for Selwyn college rowing. Or at least none that I'm aware of.
- The Turncoat