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August 4, 2003
One MILLION meters
1,000 kilometers. 621 miles. It's not that far, but it has taken me eight months to cover that distance on my Concept 2 Model C Rowing Ergometer. If that's your first time seeing those words and letters arranged just so, the C2 as it's universally known is the defacto standard in indoor rowing machines. It was developed by Dick and Peter Dreissigacker back in 1981 and has gone through three model iterations, hence the current Model C designation. If you want to know more, see this complete history.
If anyone who rows asks you, "What is your 2K?", the question is really, "How fast can you row 2000 meters on a Concept 2 rowing ergometer?" It is an extremely accurate gauge of your performance as a rowing athlete. The world's elite do a 2K in about 5'46" whereas I can do it in 7'22" and not be able to walk or catch my breath for several minutes afterward. Rowing is a tremendously demanding sport with aerobic requirements nearing those of cross country skiing. Top rowers consume 7.0 liters/minute of oxygen which is outrageous.
I received mine last Christmas as a present from my wife and then used it to compete in an office weight loss contest. After the contest ended and an unwanted 20 pounds had disappeared, I set my sights on my first 1,000,000 meters and the free t-shirt and certificate associated with that milestone.
My C2 is hooked to my PC which runs a neat training and racing program called eRow. Using eRow, I set up all of my workouts and can even enter online races with rowers around the world. It keeps track of my time, heartrate, pace, stroke rate, splits...it does it all. Working out is fun and those 30 minutes every morning at 6AM jump start my metabolism and my day with a boost of energy.
I use the Concept 2 website's personal logbook feature to record all of my workouts and enter my work ranking times for comparison against other rowers. To keep my cool during workouts, I use a little device called a CBreeze which re-directs all the air you move with the C2 back at your body. Every C2er should have a CBreeze.
Now it's on to my second million meters!!!
Posted by Mitch in Health & Medicine
Comments
Congrats, Mitch! That's a "fur piece" to row, my friend.
Posted by: Craig at August 4, 2003 11:24 AM
Congratulations! Looking forward to 2 million meters?
Posted by: Ken at August 4, 2003 12:07 PM
Thanks! I am looking forward to the 2nd million as (unbelievably) I am still have not tired of working out on the C2. Usually I despise stationary workout equipment shortly after I start using it, but this has been different.
Posted by: Mitch at August 4, 2003 12:49 PM
Man, I gotta get me one.
K
Posted by: macfixer at August 4, 2003 5:22 PM
You lost 20 lbs? From where? You're too skinny to be that fat! :)
Posted by: lux at August 5, 2003 2:26 PM
Way to go Mitch!
Posted by: Jeff at August 6, 2003 5:03 PM