Unfortunately, despite nearing the final 600 miles, this whole rowing thing refuses to get any easier. A mile still seems to be as far as it ever was, every stroke requires the same amount of effort as the first one, the days continue to last 24 hours, and the nights still aren’t long enough. I received a message the other day that reminded me of part of my preparations - the VO2 max tests. After 8 weeks of rowing, I wonder how I’d do now?
Although I’m never sprinting along, when you’re rowing anything up to 12 hours a day, you’d hope that you would get fairly fit. At least, that was my excuse as I claimed “I want to peak half-way through”. Also, in theory, you should lose a good few stone in weight. I had great pleasure eating constantly in an attempt to put on a bit of extra weight before the start. But, in a boat that started out with, among other things, 300 chocolate bars, 90 bags of sweets and 50 packets of biscuits, I think there’s one part of me that’s been pushed harder than the rest put together: my belly!
When you see yourself every day, and there are no mirrors around, it’s hard to tell what you’re looking like. But, from my perspective, it really doesn’t look like I’ve lost much weight, and I may even have put on a bit! The fact that there are no sweets left and the chocolate hatch is looking a little bare, despite planning provisions for another 30 days, may have something to do with it! But am I fitter?
Calling the VO2-max test is a nice way of putting it. Its other name is the maximal effort test, which gives you an indication of what’s involved. In people with a bit of their brain missing (e.g. proper athletes!), it is not uncommon to end in collapse and vomiting. With me, it was more of a polite “I think that’s enough, thanks”, but it still wasn’t much fun. I’m not going to put myself forward for another one in a hurry, but I must admit to being a little curious as to what the results would be.
As for the rowing itself, it’s been hard work today. Despite the weather being theoretically more in my favour than yesterday, I couldn’t get the boat moving as quickly, and the heat seemed more intense. That’s all led to a slightly disappointing result in terms of distance, but I’m still closer to Antigua than I was this morning.
You may be able to spot an important fact in the photo: there are still Twixes left. It’s my intention to ration them so that I can have one as I row into English Harbour. Given the absence of sweets onboard, you can probably tell that my rationing skills aren’t that great. I think I’ll keep a Mars bar ready just in case.
