What It’s Like to Row 150K in a Month
Before the “Iron Lung Challenge” was presented, I had determined for my own health to row a minimum of 20,000 meters per week from Thanksgiving until New Year’s Day. (Attempting to row 150K was not on my radar.) I was looking for a way to maintain my cardiovascular fitness as the weather got colder, the days got darker, and I would typically feel my motivation wane. I thought this was a reasonable addition to my usual CrossFit schedule: simply picking up an extra 20 mins of rowing a few times per week. Lo and behold, shortly after I began my endeavor, Decima Crossfit announced the challenge. The stakes: the athlete that gets the most meters on the rower during December will win $100. All meters must be at Decima, and the daily WODs don’t count towards the score. As a bonus, the first athlete to get a marathons worth of meters (that’s 42,195) will get $50. When I read the details, I wasn’t immediately in. I thought, “well, that complements my rowing goals … but I’ll probably just keep to myself.” The rowing AT Decima was a big drawback for me, since I enjoy rowing at The Facility separate from daily workouts. The first day I stayed after class to row was December 2. It felt good. The rowing is mindless, repetitive, and so soothing for an anxious brain. On the rower, I’m able to tap into a place of peace and zone out. For the most part, I keep my competitive drive in check. I am sensitive to overtraining and Crossfit has historically not been the best on my hormone balance. Therefore, I must not let my ego run wild or I get burnt out very quickly. I LOVE CrossFit and the community, so it’s a very humbling balance for me. However, I couldn’t hold it in with this challenge. I MISS being competitive. I MISS finding that inner drive to WIN. And THAT REALLY FELT GOOD. It only took a few days for me to realize I had this one. By day four, I had the month mapped out in my head – 20,000 per week, I’d be at the marathon mark somewhere in the third week – simple. During the first few days, I even had a few competitors to outwork. Thank you to Phil, Sharon, and Tim for the initial spring. I just rowed. And kept rowing. 42,195 came A LOT quicker than I planned. At some point, Megan offhandedly upped the stakes, “So, you’re going to row 100K this month?” —-Yes, Megan, I GUESS I AM. The competition changed from a competition amongst members (sorry, friends) to a competition within myself. I let the fire burn and upped the stakes week-to-week. I’m proud to have kept going, and I’m really looking forward to a break from that seat. Here are a few things that helped me row 150K meters in December 2020… Protecting my gut, adrenals, hormones Endurance training has been demonstrated to cause an increase in pro-inflammatory cytokines such as TNF-a, IL-1, and IL-6. This inflammatory response is thought to contribute to dysbiosis, modifications of the microbiome, gut mucousal changes and ultimately increased gastrointestinal permeability. This is what is commonly referred to as “leaky gut.” Leaky Gut, or Intestinal hypermeability, can lead to a number of downstream problems. It is a vicious internal cycle of the worse the leaky gut, the more susceptible you are to the causes of the leaky gut, and so on.. (See “Your leaky gut didn’t cause your leaky gut..”) However, exercise-induced hyper permeability (documented by LPS) can be decreased with a sensitive diet and the addition of probiotic species. I chose to combat the likelihood of leaky gut complications by following a strict diet and consuming strain-specific probiotics for gastrointestinal health. In this case, I adhered to a largely nose-to-tail carnivore diet. Yep, it may seem extreme for many. For optimal GI health, an elimination diet avoiding grains, corn, low-fat dairy, peanuts, and soy may be sufficient. However, I have found that I feel my best when avoiding ALL plant fibers. When I am eating a carnivore diet, I use animal sources to get all the nutrients I need. To do so, I include organ meats, bone broth, connective tissues, oily fish, and occasional full-fat or fermented dairy. [Note that I believe every diet needs to be very individualized. MY “carnivore” diet will look very different than someone else’s because I understand where my tolerance lies. See more about other foods I included below]. Because I am particularly sensitive to overtraining with history of hormone dysregulation; I had to put some measures in place to protect my adrenals. I chose to eliminate caffeine for the month of December. Endurance exercise is a particularly taxing (read: stressful) activity; so it was important to minimize other avenues of stress. While in the correct dosage and timing, coffee can be particularly anti-inflammatory, I found that the positives were not greater than the influence of caffeine (especially early morning) on my cortisol rhythm. Decaf December it was! Nutrition for 150K of Rowing In bouts of rowing 5000 to 10000 meters (on average) I likely burned somewhere between 300-500 calories. Unlike strength training, the calorie burn from cardiovascular exercise is largely isolated to the time spent on the machine. This doesn’t put me in a huge caloric deficit, but it was something I wanted to stay on top of to maintain my energy, strength, and stamina since I continued with normal CrossFit WODs as well. Weight loss was not a goal of mine during this month of rowing, so I adding in supplemental nutrition to account for the additional calories burned. Most days, this was in the form of a high-quality grass-fed protein shake immediately after exercise. My go-to shake was coconut milk (homemade, using The Almond Cow) + Equip Protein + Blueberries (depending on WOD). In addition to protein, I also consumed raw honey daily. I prefer this animal source of
