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!
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