2 years ago, I set a marathon British indoor rowing record of 2 hours 36 mins then had the urge to go further and set a new world record for 100k. I did over 600k in the weeks in between and got myself in great endurance shape. In February 2010 I got a large group of friends together to take on the challenge of rowing a relay 100k alongside me and I attempted the 100k. It felt easy for the first 50k but then it got stupidly hard. I had to stop many times, stand up and stretch, close my eyes for 10 minutes at a time and with 20k to go I was in so much pain that I just wanted to collapse and give up.

I finished but had nothing left to give at the end. Even the last 100m were difficult but it was a new world record of 6 hours 37 mins and 58 secs. Average of 1.59/500m. Having adventure raced in New Zealand, won numerous British and international fitness titles and completed 15 ironman's including a double ironman, this seemed to feel much harder than running a double marathon or riding through the night. Its only 6 hours, the same as a flight to Dubai or New York, but the relentless pace needed and the progressive fatigue certainly makes it one of the toughest challenges I had ever done. So why ever want to do it again. Good question.

It has now become an integral part of winter training, to row through the cold months starting with a December challenge to row the date in kilometres (so 25k on Christmas Day) and enjoy some crap TV. After December, I start to get faster and do a lot of online racing and the fitness rapidly improves. Come February, I am in great shape and having not swum, cycled or run much, the fitness carries over and it only takes a few weeks to get into triathlon race shape with a new improved engine inside. Last year, I was setting new PB's for every rowing distance and regretted never having a go at either the marathon or 100k records. This year, I heard that one of my sponsors - Extreme Endurance would be at the show and I talked myself into having a go at the 100k again to endorse the power of the product.

I row through the winter for many reasons. It's possible to row every day, it does not take much time unlike a 2 hour winter bike ride taking 3 hours or preparation, cleaning etc., there are no icy roads, no risk of injury and I have a great online community. It's also a lot better for weight control during the winter months than swimming or cycling. Rowing hurts. There is nothing else like it. The last mile of a cycling time trial is tough, but rowing fast and keeping to a pace is like nothing else. You get to beat up your central governor on a daily basis and if nothing else, a triathlon is a walk in the park compared to a 30 min online race.

At the start of February this year, I was in superb rowing shape. I had even started doing a few fast 2k time trials and got down to 6.32 at a weight of 67kg. I have a 74kg PB of 6.24. I was over 8600m in 30 mins and on the verge of attempting a sub 35 min 10k. A busy week of work and a holiday knocked the training back a little and despite there being a C2 machine in the hotel gym, it was hard work with a broken monitor and no aircon. Home for 2 weeks and managed to squeeze in 100k a week including a 25k, a 30k and a 40k row. Nothing longer than 40k this time could be fitted in and I was fearful that although I had speed, my endurance was a little off the pace.

The plan was to row the 100k on March 4th at the National Triathlon Show at Sandown Park. We set up the erg and laptop the night before but having listed the row on Rowpro, we could not get an internet connection. It was going to be a lonely one. No IPod, a few films on the laptop with no sound but at least I had a few people there to support. The erg was set up by the back doors, away from the crowd but near to a cold breeze. I had been using extreme endurance for the last 2 weeks and if the hype was to be believed, I would not get the same muscle soreness as last time which was at times unbearable. It's easy to create a nutritional plan, but having learned from previous events, you need a wide range of things to choose from. Sometimes jelly babies just don't appeal and there are only so many litres of citrus blast flavoured water you can drink. I had everything I needed so it was time to start.

At 9.45, I eventually got going. Without rowpro online, we had to set up 2 x 50k intervals with no rest. Not sure if this was going to be easier or harder mentally but the erg felt a lot harder today than it does at home. I set off at a steady 1.53 pace with an 18.57 first 5k, sub 38 for the first 10k and on a good rhythm. Regular drinks every 10 mins from the camelback and gels every 5k seemed to be working. In 2010, I went through 50k in 3.10, this time I wanted to be slower. I wanted to save something and try to row straight through the distance.

Through 20, 30 and 40k everything was good. Regular visits from the crowd and exhibitors were appreciated and the marathon distance was achieved in a little over 2.40. The last 8k was pretty easy to take it up to 50k in 3:12.17

I wanted to carry on and row through, but needed a toilet stop. I took it on 490850 to go once the next interval had started. The problem is that it made the average pace drop to 4.00/500m and I spent the next 10k trying to slowly bring it down. My plan was to do 50k at 1.55 then hold 1.58 for as long as possible. It seemed to be working. 1.58 was comfortable, but 1.57 was much harder. At 1.57 I could feel it burning, but not at 1.58. That's where it stayed. A few people came over to row with me and it seemed to make the time fly by.

At 60k, I got fidgety. My seat was rubbing and so were my shorts. Blisters on bum cheeks and around the waist were becoming annoying, but nothing like the pain on the right hand. I could feel blisters bulging on my palm and fingers but changing grip seemed to make the pain worse. I contemplated stopping to bust them and taping my hands up but it was still bearable. Some of them bust on their own whilst rowing and the pain subsided.

At 70k I was drinking, but stopped sweating. I did not feel dehydrated, but sicker from drinking too much. However, I was warming up and needed to be doused in water to keep cool. Every soaking was received well and the pace slightly increased each time. I was still on target to complete the 2nd 50k in 3 hours and 15 mins and was looking to get under 6 hours 30. At 80k, it really started to get boring. Although the end was in sight, the metres seemed to take longer to drop. Others rowing around me seemed to make less difference as I could not row at their pace. 15k to go and the final hour. Now sweating, could not face anymore food and now people coming over to tell me to dig in. It was not hard, I could not go any faster and I was digging in. No matter what people said, I was going as fast as the body would allow, and still at 1.58 pace.

At 90k, the numbers changed from 5 digits to 4 digits. I wanted this to be a boost....but it was a bomb. For some reason, it hit me like a brick wall and despite the same rate, the pace almost instantly dropped to 2.05-2.07/500m. There was nothing I could do about it. I tried upping the pace but to get below 2.00/500m felt maximal and I knew I could not hold it for more than 1 minute. The pace was slipping away rapidly and thoughts of sub 6.30 were diminishing in favour of just wanting to finish.

With 8k to go, I was getting frustrated more and more with the people trying to cheer me on. I was digging in, I knew how long there was to go and knew I would set a new record. I wanted them to go away. I tried to shut it out. 5k to go and the pace was getting harder. With the 6.30 barrier gone and no way I could row sub 18 mins to finish, I was losing motivation to try any harder. 1k to go and the 4 digits became 3.

This was it, last time I could hardly move at this stage, this time I had full movement, but no pace. The only answer was to sprint. The last 500m was in the 1.40s and managed to pull a few 1.38s in the final sprint to complete the distance in 6 hours, 33 mins and 10 seconds. Nearly 5 mins faster than last time but a whole lot easier.

The back was a little stiff and the hands sore, but other than that, the body was fine. No cramp, no stiffness, no soreness. It's not enough to put me off doing another one either.

I have to say a huge thanks to Phil Morris of MAD indoor Rowing team for his motivation and support through the whole 100k. Dave Townsend of M2 Events for putting the event on. Extreme Endurance for supporting my attempt and keeping me lactate free. Roscoe Nash, Richard Brooke, Huw Davies for rowing over 45k of the distance with me, Sam Granville of Concept 2 for supplying the machine, and Rachel Lloyd and Rich Blagrove for the support during the tough times.

Next up is the British Indoor Rowing Champs at Nottingham over a much shorter but no less difficult distance of 2000m.

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Hywel Davies

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