The RR is getting seriously close now. Fitness is slowly coming back, and tonight I worked the rowing machine harder than I ever have before. The calorie counter is a bit flattering - 1400 calories burned in an hour - I don't think so. A 16km run in 90 minutes only burns 1200 calories, so I generally divide the rowing machine value by 2.
Yes, the knee joints still ache, but this is now more age than lack of fitness. I treat this all as a rehearsal for old age - after all, old age is contagious - we all get it sooner or later!
I now have to get a long exercise session pretty well every day. Weight is going up as I am putting the muscle back. Just watching "The Jump" - it has Eddie the Eagle as one of the coaches. I have stood at the top of those jumps - real scary, but I have never jumped. The RR passes a couple of hills - a small one in Kuusamo and a set of jumps in Taivalkoski.
In a couple of weeks when I am Lillehammer, I can have a go at some of these - skeleton, 4 man bob (professionally piloted). I am trying to get up the nerve to have ago - at 5G the forces are same as F1 drivers get on many corners.
There is plenty of inspiration for me. Andrew Musgrave, a young British cross country skier won the sprint at the Norwegian championships. And someone I do business with, recovering from serious illness - I hope he recovers to come and do the RR with me one day. It reminds me of one of the skiers in my first RR who had beaten cancer twice. And there is Arthur Gilbert from the running club - the world's oldest triathlete - who can put me to shame. If I can keep going as long as him, then expect me at the RR for at least another 30 years.
Actually my target is to make it to 10 RRs - for my master skier award (6 more years after this year) and I'll see how I go after that.
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