Row, row, row your boat
So far, I have rowed from Tallinn to my office in Espoo. It was 83.66 km, as the crow flies and as the Google Earth line tells me, and I didn't even have to leave the comfort of my own home.
As part of my plan to fit in regular exercise, that does not put extra pressure on my ankles, and that also strengthens my (hyper-extending) elbows, inspired by truepenny I spent a huge portion of my savings on a rowing machine. And not just any rowing machine, but a WaterRower Oxbridge model in Cherrywood which, take it from me, is the BMW of rowing machines.
Also inspired by truepenny, and being a lover of spreadsheets, I am keeping track of how far I row and how long it takes me each session, and the cumulative time and distance, plus my average distance per day. truepenny is rowing to Mordor, which is just the coolest thing ever, I am keeping myself in the real world. Well, kind of in the real world - I see no reason not to row across land, seeing as I am imagining my progress. My trip from Tallinn to the office was my warmup. Now I am planning a much more ambitious trip. I'm going to row from my home in Helsinki to Kinsale, Co. Cork. I'm not actually from Kinsale, but Innishannon is just up the road from there and Kinsale is a much nicer place to aim for.
It's quite a way. Using the driving instructions from Google Earth, it is over 3000 km, and involves ten different countries, three ferries, the bridge from Sweden to Denmark (which I've always wanted to go across, so yay!), and the Channel Tunnel. I think that, factoring in illness, holidays, and usual laziness, I will aim for an average of 20 km a week, which means that if I maintain my interest and general well being, I should be rolling into Kinsale in about three years time. Three years! I must be insane.
I'm not going to blog every session, since the disadvantage to using real world journeys is that I will be spending almost two months just on the motorway to Turku, and all 75 km of the Netherlands is summed up as "Continue on A67", so it is a bit dull. But I'm dividing it into smaller goals which I will mention in passing. This entry is just so that you know what the hell I'm on about.
I'm off to a good start. I haven't been on the machine in over a week, thanks to a particularly unpleasant bout of the flu.
As part of my plan to fit in regular exercise, that does not put extra pressure on my ankles, and that also strengthens my (hyper-extending) elbows, inspired by truepenny I spent a huge portion of my savings on a rowing machine. And not just any rowing machine, but a WaterRower Oxbridge model in Cherrywood which, take it from me, is the BMW of rowing machines.
Also inspired by truepenny, and being a lover of spreadsheets, I am keeping track of how far I row and how long it takes me each session, and the cumulative time and distance, plus my average distance per day. truepenny is rowing to Mordor, which is just the coolest thing ever, I am keeping myself in the real world. Well, kind of in the real world - I see no reason not to row across land, seeing as I am imagining my progress. My trip from Tallinn to the office was my warmup. Now I am planning a much more ambitious trip. I'm going to row from my home in Helsinki to Kinsale, Co. Cork. I'm not actually from Kinsale, but Innishannon is just up the road from there and Kinsale is a much nicer place to aim for.
It's quite a way. Using the driving instructions from Google Earth, it is over 3000 km, and involves ten different countries, three ferries, the bridge from Sweden to Denmark (which I've always wanted to go across, so yay!), and the Channel Tunnel. I think that, factoring in illness, holidays, and usual laziness, I will aim for an average of 20 km a week, which means that if I maintain my interest and general well being, I should be rolling into Kinsale in about three years time. Three years! I must be insane.
I'm not going to blog every session, since the disadvantage to using real world journeys is that I will be spending almost two months just on the motorway to Turku, and all 75 km of the Netherlands is summed up as "Continue on A67", so it is a bit dull. But I'm dividing it into smaller goals which I will mention in passing. This entry is just so that you know what the hell I'm on about.
I'm off to a good start. I haven't been on the machine in over a week, thanks to a particularly unpleasant bout of the flu.