Paul Buchanan - The Temple of 'Q'

Well Fridays training got put on hold to try and shunt of the lurgy for once and for all, the HRV and HR(am) still showing signs of fatigue, Saturday I spent longer than I thought finishing the roof on the erg shed – or as it’s now known “ The Temple of -Q- ” as well as the electrics, but the main build is done now, a little bit of “pimping” out on the inside to do (paint the block walls and pop a “proper floor” in) but decided rather than erg after 9pm to put that off and train today (Sunday normally a rest day)

Jay Glynn was going to crack through 3million metres on a HM (on rowpro) so proposed that to Q and he was happy with that as long as it was closely monitored on the HR side, 141 cap (about 67% MHR) so managed to get the erg into “the temple of Q” and got a connection to rowpro on the laptop via the iphone (used it as a “personal hotspot”) and off we went, quite pleasant all in all and glad to be putting some metres in – thank god – normal service to resume next week I should think 

Paul Buchanan - 40@20 Heart Rate Capped

Tuesday Sept. 13th
Under orders from “Q” to do a 40 to 60min row with HR cap at 146 tonight - so I did

Had to stop on way home to sort a tyre out for me car so by the time I got home and walked the dogs and got set up it was gone 8pm - so decided on 2k warm up and a 40min at 20SPM then 2k cool down

Felt good and strong at the start with 18SPM for the first 10 min but then had to back off to stay within (well close to) the HR cap - I did go over by a couple of beats here and there but did try to rein it in, the result 10,366m @20 ave 1:55.8 ave HR 143.9

Happy enough with that Going to check out my powerbreath now which I got in the post today - add another edge to my sword

Paul Buchanan - If anyone has seen my mojo can you please send it back?

Monday Sept. 12th
OK - been a while - quick catch up - last Tuesday I was in a 6 by 2min till I die session - unfortunately I died during the first one - the lurgey I had been carrying caught up with me - so Wednesday I had a rest day in to work, came home, still felt ill - phoned in sick for Thursday and Friday didn't feel better till Sunday - so into work today and home for a 5k fletcher and then 9 by 1min - target 1:29.5 or 335m - started on the first min and 268m in (on target) had to stop with a shooting pain through right hip - stopped gave it a quick rub - set up the session again and started again - all going well, 336m, 336m, 335m, 334m, 336m, then 80m into the 6th I had to stop and go talk to god via the porcelain phone - still have the feeling like I just necked a bottle of whiskey - you know that aching swollen type feeling at the back of the throat/jaw area - well anyway I only have two months before the Irish so if anyone has seen my mojo - please send it back!!

BLOGGER: Paul Buchanan - The Indoor Rower

Hi, first an introduction - my name is Paul although I also go under a few aliases’ LOL – two of which I will share here “Butch91” is my sign on to the C2 UK forum and “Beowulf” is a kind of adopted motivation name which I will explain more of as I go along. I’m originally from the UK (Yorkshire) although my father’s family is from Belfast. I moved to Ireland (Cork) in 2005 and have lived and worked here since then, before I moved to Ireland I weighed in at about 120kg (19 stone) - played No.6 for my first team Rugby club every sat and trained in the Gym five days a week - weights and indoor rowing for CV – oh I am also getting a little long in the tooth having just turned 37.

When I came here (Cork) I stopped the rugby and took up an old hobby of American Football for 4 seasons but in 2009 I finished with this as well as the gym. Then the inevitable happened – I gained weight - got to about 137kg (21.5 stone) 18 months ago, and so in March of 2010 I started back in a gym and after reasonable amount of CV work I got down to 127kg (20 stone) but I needed more motivation – I was no longer playing rugby or American football and I needed a reason to go to the gym or I’d get bored and start skipping it.
This is when a flash of inspiration appeared “Gym Challenge” which I only found out on a Thursday night and did it on the Friday, 1km bike - 1km x-train - 1km run - 1km row, in that order, I came fourth overall but found my rowing smashed the rest of the guys so with the help of the internet I found the concept2.com website, on here I found my 1k to be a reasonable time for the distance (barring in mind I’d just completed the other tests as well) from that website I ended up on the concept2.co.uk website which had a forum of guys from around the world discussing indoor rowing ( as well as OTW and cycling and a host of other topics) my interest was further aroused by the “Rowing Ireland Indoor Championships 2010” the topic of which was my grand introduction – boasting of my 3:10.6 1k and 1:25.0 500m LOL – at this point I was introduced to a few of the “PaddyPower IRC” members (no affiliation to the bookmakers) whom over time helped me out immensely and a team I am now proudly a member of .
So after a little work and encouragement I found myself entering the 2010 RIIC and managed a PB with 6:20.1 coming third in the 30-39H group. After coming home I was hooked, looked up and found the English Indoor Rowing Championship was being held in January 2011 and entered, at thispoint I was lucky enough to find a mentor/coach whom is known as “Q” within the C2 UK forum – he put together a training plan and strategy for my race – at the English I came in second with 6:16.7 in the 2k (30-39H) and managed joint first in the 500m (30-39H) with 1:19.1 – I also was lucky enough to be in the mixed relay Gold winning team.


Since January “Q” has geared all of my training towards the Irish in November –there have been a few hiccups along the way – but we seem to be on track – I have to say “Q” is an outstanding coach and has guided me to some huge PB’s including a 17k 60min row.
So that’s me – I’m now weighing in at 117kg (18stone8) and train purely on the indoor rower 5 sessions a week with a mixture of speed work and endurance, I will be sharingmy run up to the Irish here and on the C2 UK forum – please feel free to comment – I got pretty thick skin!

Following the Competitors

As part of this blog, we will be profiling people from all sorts of backgrounds who will be taking part in the 2011 Rowing Ireland Indoor Championships. We hope that reading these blogs 1) make you feel like you have a new training partner (erg can get pretty lonely!) and 2) you may find encouragement from the experiences of someone else.

If you want to be a blogger, or have some info you would like to share with us (re: training, nutrition, etc) why not get in touch!