A morning of Ergs, Exercises and Epic Effort
On a somewhat windy Saturday morning, 10 fine ACR athletes turned up at the Boat House for the initial Erg-a-thon. Mr and Mrs (Thornton) were appointed Team captains and in an age old tradition took it in turn to select their Team members from the assembled throng….with nobody ever wanting to be selected last. Rogers Team – Emily, Rhoda, Karen (when she wasn’t texting) and Ade. Alison had Dave (he was seen to smile (editors note:..yes he was!!), Lara, Simon and Jen.
The format was 3 races of 5, 3 and 1K on an erg (indoor rowing machine) with each member having to complete roughly the same distance (1k each for the 5K, 600m for the 3K ect, ect). However, the demented organiser was very concerned about these fine athletes getting cold if they were not on the erg….so when not “erging” the rest of the Team had to complete as many of an exercise as possible…and no, despite many horrible rumours,,, burpees did not make an appearance…until the next time?
After a good warm up and rudimentary explanation and practice of the technique of erging (which is subtly different to sliding seat rowing and markedly different from our normal endeavours) the first race was initiated with jumping Jacks / or bridging as the exercise. A thousand Metres doesn’t take that long to cover and soon the change over of athletes led to a bit of bumping, adjusting foot straps and plenty of encouragement. Detailed notes were not kept due to the exercises, however, when Simon started his 1k, his pace would have seen him qualify for the GB 8……unfortunately he quickly realised why the term “Fly and die” is often used….after 300m he gurned like a gargoyle and after 800m he was heard to question several life decisions that had led to him being on the erg! Another notable performance (amongst many) was Emily’s ability to out perform the Duracell Bunny doing Exercises. Both Teams gave a very creditable performance and Jen had a 200m head start on Ade for the final 1k…unfortunately for Jen despite going “all in” Ade just pipped her on the line.
There was a definite buzz of enjoyment and competitive spirit going into the 2nd Race, with change over strategies suddenly becoming top priority to discuss! The exercises were sit-ups (and of note, someone took Karen’s phone off of her…so she alone did 300 – an absolutely outstanding effort!). On the erg Lara and Rhoda definitely looked a little “flushed” whilst Alison and Emily (worryingly) smiled a lot!! Simon controlled his enthusiasm…a bit… and Dave seemed to be absent from the exercise area but was greatly encouraging his Team, as was Roger…not much competitive spirit there!! Jen had to finish against Ade again, which wasn’t the fairest of trade off’s but she did brilliantly and was only just pipped on the line.
The final 1k (200m each) race was accompanied with press-ups, but the short distance coupled with very powerful displays on the erg meant not many press-ups were achieved. There was lots of positive encouragement, which when coupled with a lot of grunting absolutely perplexed a large group of ramblers that stuck their heads around the door to witness the commotion. No, despite offering, they refused to join in.
So the all-important-question…….who won?
At the expense of sounding a little twee, Team (and competitive) Spirit, enjoyment (honest!!) and working out with mates won be a country mile. Smiles were in abundance, tinged with a little cramp in some places!
Each and everyone that participated put in a great effort and should be justifiably proud of those aching limbs in the morning….got to dash…someone has just texted me…………
Mention for Dispatches:
Jen – Organising Demon – she made it happen.
Lara and Roger – providers of the ergs – thank you -without them it would have just been circuits!!