Training Plan Update - The Place of Rowing in the Plan - Part 3

I am writing this as I am coming to the end of the year and still sort of on easy mode till mid-January.  As part of the entry for the Michigan Coast  to Coast 200 mile gravel race we got access to a Training Peaks train plan and will work around it - need to review and see where it needs to be adjusted but will give me a base.  As far as I can see from a quick glance it is a general training plan for everyone and at 66 and looking to be more  towards a Polarized Training Plan I may need to make some adjustments so as to get the right amount of rest between hard efforts.  With my goal of going easier when going easy and harder when hard the rest will be very important.

The other thing I need to review is with regards to my goal of following a Polarized training plan as in what I have read the 80% is not about percentage of all efforts but about the percentage of training sessions.  Thus on a hard day the whole session is counted not just the hard efforts within the session.  May not sound like much but does make a difference and I need to see where this plays in when I do say a long ride of 5-6 hours with maybe less than an hour hard - how this applies to the percentage - again more to study.

What I wanted to do in this part of this series is to go over the addition of rowing to my plans for the year.  Since I got my Concept 2 Row Erg around Nov 22nd of 2025 I have put in 202K (126 miles) at the writing of this post (Dec 28, 2025)  The rows have been from 30 minutes to 60 minutes with some hard efforts but mostly focusing on form as not only is form critical for speed but also so as to minimize the risk of injury.  When I started my back for sure was sore but between doing more rows and usually spending 5 minutes on my inversion table my back is much better and rarely sore.  Even is helping with my back on the bike - what I was hoping for.  Also, in the month of rowing I am seeing more muscle definition and hey I have Lats:).  I realize that rowing does not build muscle like lifting and other forms of training but that is fine with me as the goal is strength over definition.  The strength I am getting I feel will translate great for riding - especially on gravel - and will even help running.

When I first decided to get into rowing I also had plans of doing some races when 

December 2025 CTC

possible - the first will be a 1K in mid January and is online.  Also, will take part in some challenges on the Concept 2  site (Via RowErg App) and also the monthly CTC ( Cross Team Challenge ) I do with a club I joined.  I joined the The Diamonds (Over Sixties Erging Group) which while being based out of England has rowers, over 60, from all over and some really fast rowers at that.  It is a great group and while rowing does not have racing like on Zwift, at least yet, the camaraderie of the group is very much like I find with the BMTR team I am with on Zwift. Each month there is a new CTC that you can do as often as you want.  The goal is to get the most distance possible in the confines of the challenge and great to see all levels seeking to do their best.  These workouts along with being able to do the Concept 2 workout of the day (WOD) if I decide to give some good options for hard rowing efforts.

Part of putting in so many kilometers rowing is so that when I cut back on rowing kilometers and then do hard workouts I will have less chance for soreness or injury.  The rowing workouts allow me to do cross training that helps keep working on my upper body strength and still get in hard zone 5 workouts with less stress on my body - pounding wise.  Again, through the coming year I will be keeping up with rowing, just less kilometers, and also add in some running with the main focus being on riding with a number of gravel races planned for the year - including a couple really long ones.  I still need to figure out when I will do what but with the rowing CTC each month and then some other rowing workouts I hope to get in a hard ride each week - early on will be a Zwift race in ZRL - and then a hard Row and/or Ride.  

As I mentioned before my goal is a 14 day cycle to make sure I have 3 days between hard efforts - may have times when the situation leads to a 2 or 4 day easy Zone 2 period but the goal is 3 days.  The hard part in this is to make sure when I need to go easy I indeed do so as one of the downfall of my training is venturing into Zone 3 too often.  As I get older rest becomes even more important.

So that is where I am at and hope in the next week or two to better lay out a plan and will go over that more in Part 4.

For those of you who row or want to add in rowing here are some resources:

• Concept 2 Erg Row  - What I think is the best Rower out there
• ErgData - Free Software to work with Concept 2
• EXR - Zwift like software that works with rower, I use this for some rows  
• Asensei - Training software with instructor led rows - I use this for more technique based training and to work on pace   
• Rowtopia - this is a new app that is not out yet but may be interesting when it comes out  
• List of other apps, some of these are for the SkiErg or BikeErg

Here are link to the first 2 parts:

• Part 1
• Part 2

Races for 2026 - so far

• Head of the Hooch Virtual Regatta (1K) - January 10th
• The Appalachian Journey  (100 Miles) - April 4th
• Michigan Coast to Coast Gravel Grinder (204 Miles)- June 26th
• Dust Bowl 100  (100 Miles) - July 25th
• Gravel Worlds (150Miles) - August 

  Click on images for more information and if you want more info on OFM check out this post: 

• What is OFM (Optimized Fat Metabolism)

To order Vespa you can go here and use coupon code - tkonvalin15 -   for 15% off.

New Capital Bicycle Company Gravel Bike

I have been wanting to do a post on my new bike for a while so after a few rides on it and two races and getting some other things behind me I figured it was time.  For a number of years I have wanted to get a new bike and looked at stock ones and also custom so when I won 50% off a custom build from Capital Performance Cycles the direction I was going to go was decided.  As an aside I have been riding a 2018 Orbea Terra for a few years and done quite a few races on it and while it rode fine it just did not seem to fit me just right so had wanted a new one for a while.  By the way I have to say the Orbea is one of the nicer setups and the Colorway is pretty cool - by the way it is also for sale.  The gearing on the Orbea is a 2X SRAM Red with Enve G23 wheels and Chris King Headset, BB and Hubs in pink anodize which goes with the Orbea colors perfectly.  More on the Orbea at the end of this post and at link to FB Post on it.

Even though I won the bike discount a couple years ago at the Horsey Hundred I had to save up some money as had been putting some away over the years to either upgrade my Orbea or get a new bike but needed more before I could commit to a new bike as was not going to just transfer components but go for all new.  Also, I did not want to just rush into the geometry and component choices so about a year ago decided to get started looking at what I wanted for a build and had some talks with Peter at Capital.  While I worked on coming up with the funds I was looking at the geometries of a number of bikes, quite a few really, I liked and started a spreadsheet - yea I am one of those guys.  Amazing to see the variance in geometries but once I decided what I wanted it needed to at the least be able to get in a 50mm tyre and also be able to use a 50T chainring up front on the 1X if I wanted to - later would get a second set of road wheels - the reason to be able to use a 50T chainring.  I thought about going up to 2.2+ tyres but that led to a few things needing to change and so decided on 50mm - yea I know for some that is not what the cool kids have but will work fine for my needs.  I went back and forth on the plus a minuses of various geometries and also as I wanted a steel bike it did bring some limits but that was OK.

Over the last year Peter Mitchell and I  came up with the geometry for my build as well as settling on components.  I started with what I really wanted and then cut back elsewhere as still had to meet a budget  - extra set of wheels for road riding would be a later purchase.  My main want was the new SRAM XPLR Red 13 speed Cassette, Derailleur and Levers. - at the time of the purchase the Force version was not out yet.  From there went with a few savings as got the Zipp 303 XPLR S wheels as were less than SWs and also went with Force cranks and Wolf Tooth chainrings - went with a 42 and 46 with a chain for each as seemed the sizes I needed for what I ride most for now.  As far as bars I went with Richey Alloy bars at 40cm with minimal flare but with flat top bars and ready for internal cable routing.  For the stem got an ENVE stem for internal routing.  When it came to tyres I went with Rene Herse Oracle Ridge (48mm) Endurance+ ones.  Probably overkill with the Endurance+ but as I do not change tyres much they would cover every thing and also have the least chance of flats.  

The geometry with a drop top tube leaves a lot of seat post and coupled with a carbon post it gives the right amount of flex for comfort.  The bike feels very comfortable and nimble enough for me and leaves room to get more rise if later I need it by using a riser stem.  In riding the Dust Bowl 100 and Grave Worlds 78 Miler it was very comfortable and very pleased with it.
Here is a full rundown of the Bike:

• Weight with pedals - 22.6lbs (10.25Kg)
  
• Used my existing Assioma Gravel/MTB Pro MX-2 Power Pedals
• Mix of Steel Tubes
• Fork - Enve Gravel In-Route
• Crankset - SRAM Force Wide - 170mm
• Chainrings - Wolftooth - 42T  &  46T 
• Shifters - New SRAM RED eTap AXS XPLR 13sp
• Rear Dérailleur - New SRAM RED eTap AXS XPLR 13sp 
  
• Cassette - New SRAM RED XPLR 10-46 13sp
• Bottom Bracket - Wheels Manufacturing
• Chain - SRAM RED Flat Top - one for each Chainring
• Chain Guide - Wolf Tooth
• Stem - ENVE In-Route 100mm 
• Bars - Richey Comp Butano Drop 40’s 
• Seatpost - Salsa Guide Carbon
• Wheels - Zipp 303 XPL S
• Disc Rotors - Shimano XT 160mm
• Tyres - Rene Herse Oracle Ridge (48mm)
• Tyres - As they just came out am going to go with Poteau Mountain TC Semi Slick (48mm)
• Headset - ENVE In-Route
• Saddle - Ergon SR Allroad Core Pro
• Front Headhunt Mount - ENVE Integrated Mount
• Bottle Cages - Tacx Deva - These are the best I have used a so far have never lost a bottle

The is the set up I went with - again - in some places I might have wanted lighter but had to weigh cost and think it came out great.

Here is a video interview with Peter Mitchell from a few years ago.  I can't say enough good stuff about Peter and the whole custom build experience.  Really nice to get what you want and I have to say that while I like the colourway and set up of my Orbea - the colors and look of my new Capital bike is even better.

More Pictures of Bike

  

As far as my 2018 Orbea Terra (Carbon) which is a Large is for sale at $2500 OBO and here is are the specs as it is not spec’d out like any regular set ups from Orbea - if interested let me know.  I am in Columbia Ky area.:

Specs:

• 2018 Orbea Terra - Size L (Green/Blk/Pink Colorway) - Max 40mm tyre clearance
• 2018 SRAM Red Mechanical 2X
• 34/50 Front - 175mm Cranks
• 11/32 Rear (11-12-13-14-15-17-19-22-25-28-32T)
• Enve G23 Rims with Pink Chris King hubs
• Pink Chris King BB
• Pink Chris King Headset
• Thompson Setback Seatpost
• Redshift Suspension Stem - +/- 6 Deg X 120mm
• Salsa Cowbell Deluxe (AL) Black Bars
• Panaracer 38mm tyres Gravel King SK+
• Prologo Scratch M5 AGX Tirox Saddle

Again, let me know if interested in the Orbea - would make a good gravel and road bike.

Is It an Idol

I was recently told my Running, Riding and other physical activities were an idol.  This person did not accept my initial comment that they were not idols.  In truth I have no problem with someone asking - even in this instance telling - me what I may be doing is an idol.  The Bible tells us to "flee from idolatry" (1 For 10:14) and in 1 For 6:9-10 to not be "idolaters."  There are many more place that speak to the issue with Idols.  While in many cases the idol in view were figurines of some sort but in context of all of scripture the idea of idols goes to every area of life.  The point being that anything that comes between one and God is an idol - even if it is a "good" thing.  So again being told I have an idol - sure would have rather had it as a question - does not bother me, not accepting my answer of "No" did a little.  Let me add I have no animosity to the person who said this as am sure they meant good by it.

Initially I simply said they were wrong but on more thought I wanted to explain where I am on this as even if I can't change ones mind they then have to grapple with me giving an answer.  Let me start with a good thing like exercise can indeed become an idol when it gets into other areas of life and then distract from ones walk with God.  So I gave the following response that I actually ask my self the question often and pray to make sure my activities are not becoming an idol.  I then shared how in truth the amount of time I spend working out is quite small as a percentage of my week - since I tend to workout in a 6-12 hours/week that comes out to 5 - 7% of my week and if you take out sleep at 56hrs it is then 5 - 10% of my available time so a small amount.  On top of that out of that time I spend it listening to the Bible, sermons and podcasts for 4+ hours of so of the time I work out. As how we spend our time says a lot I think I am good there, at least I feel so.

Also, as far as finding time to workout I schedule around other things I have to do.  Sure there are 2-3 times a year I may have a conflict and miss church or another activity but it is rare.  In truth I work around this as most of my workouts are early or during lunch so in that I think it shows while I do find working out important  I find ways to fit it in and not how to fit other things around my working out. 

When it comes to racing I tend to race less but even then limit the times it would get in the way of attending church, which I see as important.  Again, I may miss a few times but it is rare.  I would also say if things got to be where racing would get in the way I could give it up.  I would still workout as while I do use it to get ready for races I do not workout simply to race.

Lastly, as I said before I ask myself the question often so it is not a subject I avoid.  I think the issue is that even when someone knows you they may not get why I do what I do.  Working out keeps me in the best shape to do whatever God may put before me by being healthy.  I really do not think even people close to those of us who see the importance - even from a spiritual perspective - get it.  While I find this hard I guess I have to expect it as not everyone gets everything and it also makes me keep in mind to check myself on a regular basis.

Is it difficult when questioned this way - sure - but I just need to answer as I can and continually check myself to make sure I am right with God - which to me is the most important thing.  So I leave this with you to ask yourself regularly - IS IT AN IDOL

CrossFit Journey Wrap-Up - #3

Hmm, would I say my CrossFit journey was a success or failure.  If the goal was to keep at this for more
than the trial 10 visits I guess it would be a failure.  However, the goal was to see how this would help my riding and running as they are my main endeavors - this year will be more riding focused - and in that case it was a success.  I was able to asses my use of my time - a limited resource - and make a decison that was best for me where I am now.

The best part was meeting great people all trying to better themselves for a host of reasons.  But, also learned more about needing to hold back on my competitiveness as did get a couple niggles - often happens with people with CrossFit as if like me people just do more than they are ready for.  I am sure there are CrossFit locations that are so gung-ho that they may entice people to over do it but not CrossFit Green River.  Sure there was the competitive side but it was competing against ones self and past efforts not the person next too you.

I did learn that you need to start slow as the moves are critical to not get hurt then add weight or more repetitions.  This led me to also see that my once a week class was not optimal as just don’t get the work needed in a one hour session.  When I say work I am not just saying the exercise or moves but the technique and technique is key.  Most of the lifting and movements need to be done correctly as while maybe you can muscle through you will inevitably either just get bad habits and not progress as you could or you will simply get hurt.

One big thing I got from this was to get to use a rower for the first time ever and find that I was not too bad at it - well for my age - but that also enjoyed it and that it would fit into my training.  So I ended up buying a Concept 2 RowErg.  I have been using it since I got about 3 weeks ago and I already have 102K on it.  Even it needs proper technique as did deal with some back issues but those are going away as I get better at the technique and build the muscles needed - ones I did not build running or riding.  Truth is this applies to CrossFit as a whole that while there are a plethora of movements and actions to do in a sense they all build on each other to make them build you up so it is all easier - well easier is a subjective term - and safer:)

All this said this coming Wednesday will be my last class.  Part of my decision to put this on hold - may come back to it one day when I retire - is that it is just hard for me to get to more than one class a week.  While living in the sticks is great one drawback is you do have to drive a bit to get anywhere.  Thus for me to do a one hour class takes bout 2:15 with travel.  Add onto this that I still work and that can make things rushed it was just not working.  I will really miss the people in the class I was taking - hopefully will see them around - well know I will see a few of them.  Maybe that - the people connection - is the best part of it all.

So would I advise others to do CrossFit - the answer is yes but try and make sure you can commit to at least 3 times a week.  Go into it knowing you may not be good at it and compared to others you may not lift as much or go as fast but you be you.  Also, make sure you give it a try first as it does matter where you go as like I said there are places that are all about the competition and if that is your thing then great.  But, if you are about getting in shape and relationships then find that place.  From my time at CrossFit Green River I would highly recommend them if you are in the Campbellsville KY area.

Now off to Ride, Row and Run - well no running for a bit as taking a few week break - but for sure rowing and riding.