So I went for five days without any rowing, due to lack of a rowing machine while traveling. And during those five days, all routines were disrupted. Too much sitting. Daily junk food, including 5 large bags of very salty potato chips. Coffee all day, instead of only in the mornings.
Perhaps as a result, my heart started acting weird and getting irregular again, in the last hours of the 5th day.
So today I did a half marathon, for the purpose of helping the heart to flush itself out and return to normal. That’s the working theory, at least. It seemed to work because heart rate was irregular before the HM started and was not regular enough for the heart strap to be able to display it. After rowing for less than 200 meters at a very easy pace, heart rate became regular enough to be measured and displayed, but was about 130, which was way too high for the effort. When its acting normally, it will start out 20 or 30 BPM slower at that effort – somewhere a little above 100. But as I kept rowing, it settled down and acted more and more normally. It’s feeling and acting normal now, after the half marathon.
The HM was done at an easy pace, with intervals starting about every 1,241 meters. The intervals were varied paces and lasted from about 30 seconds to around a minute each. Most of them were about 30 seconds.
The half marathon rowing session is posted to YouTube and is called “Indoor Rowing Recalibrating Heart With A Half Marathon”
Happy half marathon rowing to you.