It felt like the first real, proper work towards the Sub-7 project for a long time. I did six 500 metre intervals, sitting pretty consistently around 1:52/500m. It felt like work – in a good way. Hard enough that I had to concentrate, not so hard that I was falling apart.
After that I dropped the intensity and spent 15 minutes just cruising around the virtual loop, spinning the legs and letting the heart rate come down.
Nothing dramatic to report. No breakthroughs. Just solid work.
We’re on the right route. I think we always have been – it’s just that some phases feel easier than others.
I’m afraid I didn’t listen to CoachGPT at all today.
I knew I wanted to row, and I knew I wanted it to be tough. When I asked ChatGPT for a plan earlier, it came back with something sensible enough, but my head wanted a long, hard row for the sake of headspace, not optimisation.
So that’s what I did.
It’s chucking down with rain outside. This is exactly why I wanted a rowing machine in the shed. With the way my head was this morning, there was no way I was going to get in the car, drive to the gym and do a session there. Walking across the garden to the shed felt possible. Driving across town did not.
On the Concept2 PM5 you can connect your phone over Bluetooth and use the Concept2 app ErgData. There’s a feature in there called Real Time – basically a virtual 1,000 metre lap that anyone can join in real time if they’re logged in.
I’ve used it on the last few longer rows, and I really like it. Today there were 36 people from around 20 countries on the same virtual loop. You don’t see their exact pace numbers, but you see if they’re coming past you or if you’re moving through them. There are also virtual pace boats going round, so if you want something to latch on to, you pick a boat and hang on. Alongside that you still get your own pace, stroke rate, distance and time. Plenty to chew on.
Today’s session was:
5 minute warm-up
30 minutes on the virtual loop at an average pace of 2:04/500m
250m all-out sprint
5 minute warm-down
I was moving, and it felt good.
It wasn’t by the book. It wasn’t what the coach recommended. But I finished feeling great, and I needed that sense of control today – the feeling that I had chosen the hard thing and seen it through.
This is The Sub-7 Experiment, and sometimes I’m the one steering.
I thought that having a rowing machine in the shed would mean I’d use it every day. That was the plan in my head: step out the back door, sit on the erg, job done.
What’s actually happened with this new training regime is almost the opposite.
Since I started feeding my WHOOP scores into Coach ChatGPT, there have been more recovery days than I expected. Yesterday was a perfect example. I woke up fully intending to do a decent session in the shed, or maybe even go to the gym. But my recovery score, according to Whoop, was 37%, and the advice from Coach ChatGPT was simple: take a recovery day.
It felt wrong.
In my head, I wanted to train. But this is the deal I’ve made with myself: if I’m going to use data and a coach, I have to actually listen. So I did. I gave myself the day off. My total strain for the day was only 4.4. Not much happened physically.
Then came this morning.
Recovery was 97%, the highest it’s been in a long time. Suddenly yesterday’s “non-session” made a lot more sense.
With that green light, today’s plan was a decent workout on the rower in the shed: three 8-minute intervals with 2 minutes rest between them, each one slightly faster than the last. Warm-up first, cooldown after. It felt like a well-judged session, enough to make me work, not enough to bury me.
I’ll admit, I’ve been wondering if I’ve made this whole thing too complicated. Copying WHOOP numbers into ChatGPT. Using the new app on the rower to program intervals, target pace, target stroke rate. It’s a few more moving parts than just “sit down and hammer it.”
But I think this is just what happens with any new process. At first it feels clunky and over-engineered. Then you learn it, repeat it, and it becomes habit. Muscle memory. Copy, paste, adjust, row.
Today was a good workout and a good lesson: sometimes the smart move is not to train, so that when you do train, you can actually go to work.
This is The Sub-7 Experiment, and I’m still figuring it out.
WHOOP scores this morning showed recovery way down, sleep way down, and if there was a dial for enthusiasm, that would have been way down too. Previously I would have talked myself out of any exercise on a morning like this.
But here’s the big change: I have a rower in the shed now. No excuses.
So I put my gear on, stuck on some banging tunes and went out to the shed for a ChatGPT-approved workout: ten minutes at a reasonable pace, then 3 × 5 minute sets at around 2:05/500m.
And it was great.
It got rid of the funk and set me up to finally finish a work task that had been hanging over me all weekend.
I have just finished my first 10,000 metres on the home rowing machine and I feel great. Absolutely brilliant.
There is something special about rowing on a brand new machine. This one feels smooth and buttery and just glorious compared to some of the tired commercial ergs I have used over the years.
For the record, I did not listen to Coach GPT at all today.
The sensible plan was a 30 minute fairly easy row. Instead, I set the monitor to 10,000 metres and got on with it. I kept things mostly steady but had a couple of big digs in there to get the blood properly flowing. It felt powerful and fun, not reckless.
This whole setup still feels like a huge privilege to have a Concept2 in the shed, ready whenever I am.
The best bit? When I am done, I do not have to drive home. I just step off the rower, open the door and walk across the garden.
How cool is that?
Another good session logged. This is The Sub-7 Experiment, and it continues.
Today was the first 30 minute row on my new Concept2 RowErg. In my shed.
I am so excited to have this, and I recognise the privileged position I am in to be able to own my own machine. It is something I have dreamed about for a long time.
No excuses not to row. No excuses not to move every day.
Gym for strength work. Shed for rowing technique and pacing.
I am delighted.
This is The Sub-7 Experiment, and we have just changed gear.
The Sub-7 Experiment 