The Sub-7 Experiment

Tag: Sub-7 Experiment

  • Trusting the Data on a ‘Meh’ Day

    I have just come out of the gym after my first proper session in a while. Last week was a family trip to London, which was brilliant, but it knocked me out of my routine.

    This morning was one of those days where I really did not fancy going at all. WHOOP had my recovery in the yellow. Sleep was fine, stress and strain yesterday were nothing dramatic, but I still felt flat. It would have been very easy to decide that today was not a gym day and leave it at that.

    Instead, I tried the new approach I have been talking about. I took my WHOOP numbers and dropped them into ChatGPT. In return, I got a clear session plan with target figures that matched how my body was supposed to feel on a “medium” day.

    The structure was simple. Five minutes of warm up at a set pace to get moving. Then three blocks of 2,000 metres on the rower, again at a set pace. Nothing heroic. Just long, steady, repeatable work.

    On paper it looked almost too easy, especially with that “you should probably train” yellow score. In reality it was exactly what I needed. Each 2,000 metres felt long and cruisy. Hard enough that I knew I was doing something, nowhere near the point of blowing up. By the end of the third block I felt like I had trained, but I did not feel broken.

    The bigger difference was in my head. I walked into the gym tired and not really in the mood. I walked out feeling lighter and quietly pleased with myself. The combination of WHOOP data and ChatGPT as coach gave me just enough structure to get over the hump of not wanting to start.

    It is early days for this experiment, but right now it has promise. If this is what a “didn’t want to go” day can look like, I am curious to see what happens on the days when I actually feel ready.

    This is The Sub-7 Experiment.

  • Back and Building

    And we’re back. Thirty minutes on the rower, steady pace, light resistance, just finding rhythm again. Nothing heroic, just movement with purpose.

    After that, some strength work: sled pushes at 80 kg, solid but controlled, then farmer’s and suitcase carries with 20 kg in each hand. Nothing fancy, just the foundations.

    It feels good to move with intent again. Each session adds a little more confidence, a little more strength. The engine’s coming back online.

    This is The Sub-7 Experiment — back and building.

  • Back in the Fast Lane. Almost

    Tuesday, and it’s been a good couple of days. Yesterday I saw the doctor and got the all-clear after both procedures, signed off, back to normal life, and very happy about it.

    So today I went to the gym, mostly to reconnect with the rowing machine and see where I’m at. Knocked out 7,000 metres in 31 minutes, lower intensity, low drag factor, but smooth and steady. The old me would’ve jumped straight back in and pushed too hard, too soon. This time, I’m not doing that.

    Coach ChatGPT’s advice is still in my head: take it easy, rebuild properly. I might’ve gone a little harder than planned, but it felt great. The legs worked, the form felt good, and more importantly, the head was clear.

    So, we’re climbing back into the fast lane, not quite there yet, but picking up speed. And that’s enough for today.

    This is The Sub-7 Experiment — recovery mode disengaged.

  • Moving Again

    Second time back in the gym since the surgery, and it felt good just to move. I sat on the rowing machine for 30 minutes, kept the resistance low, and rowed an easy 6,000 metres. No pressure, no chasing numbers, just movement.

    Normally I’d be pulling harder, aiming for pace and power, but not today. Today was about giving myself permission to ease back in. About listening to my body instead of trying to prove something.

    I did a 5k walk yesterday, so this was the next step, gentle, deliberate, and calm. I’ll see how the leg reacts later, but right now my head’s in a good place.

    It’s funny how something as simple as half an hour on the rower can feel like a small victory. But that’s what this part of the journey is, not big leaps, just steady steps.

    This is The Sub-7 Experiment. Currently in the slow lane.

  • Finding Patience in Recovery

    It’s been a while since I’ve written one of these. The last big thing was the 150km cycle — a brilliant day out. But not long after, I came down with a cold. Headachy, wiped out, all the usual. And just as that started to ease, I went straight into leg surgery two Mondays ago.

    Today was my first time back in the gym in weeks. Literally weeks. I’m nowhere near full power. I did some rowing (even though I’m not really supposed to) and a few light weights — nothing heavy, just enough to move, to feel like I’m doing something again.

    And I do feel weak. Underpowered. Off. But I know this isn’t a new baseline. This is a blip. A temporary stop on a longer road. I’m grateful more than anything — grateful that I’m on the mend, that I have a gym to go to, and that I can move at all.

    I’ve got another surgery in two weeks, so I know I’m not fully back yet. The sub-7 experiment is still very much alive, but realistically, it’s not going to happen this yar. And that’s okay.

    What I need to hold onto now is patience — something I’ve never been great at, especially with myself. But recovery takes time. Push too hard, too soon, and I’ll just end up further back. So this is where I am: moving, mending, grateful, and trying to let time do its job.

    This is The Sub-7 Experiment. Slow for now, but still moving.

  • Nearly Breaking Seven

    Last Sunday was the big cycling day, the 150km sportive, and what a day. It was tough, one of the hardest rides I’ve done, and yet one of the best.

    I’ve gone further before. A couple of years back I managed 205km in one day. But Sunday had its own sharp edge. The route was testing, the climbs were long, and the pace was relentless. What made the difference was the two friends I rode with. My cycling buddies. They’re both strong riders and very kind, and they led the way all day. The slipstream effect on a bike is huge, and they pulled me along when I needed it most.

    The number seven keeps showing up, in rowing goals, in timings, now in cycling. I didn’t plan it that way, but perhaps it’s a reminder that some patterns are worth paying attention to. We set out aiming for seven and a half hours moving time. That would have been decent. Instead, we crossed the line at seven hours and three minutes, nearly breaking the seven-hour barrier. On my own I’d have finished, but nowhere near that time. With them, I came close to something I didn’t think was possible. For that, I’m grateful.

    The route itself was stunning. Rolling countryside, long open stretches, climbs that tested every muscle. I often watch the Tour de France, the Giro, or La Vuelta and think how incredible it would be to ride roads like that. That day felt like a taste of that. And we had the weather too, the last weekend of September in Ireland and not a drop of rain. Sun from start to finish, fresh in the morning, warm by afternoon. You couldn’t ask for better.

    This was more than just a ride. It was a reminder of the privilege of moving through the world under your own power, alongside good people, with good scenery around you. A reminder that shared effort magnifies achievement.

    This is The Sub-7 Experiment — and last Sunday, it was on two wheels

  • Engine Ready, Mind Reset

    The countdown is on.  Less than two weeks until the big cycling event. I haven’t been posting much, but I’ve certainly been putting in the work.

    Friday was 14k on the rowing machine, with the intention of riding on Sunday. The weather shut that plan down, so instead I logged 21k on the rower — 35k total across the weekend. Monday was a rest day.

    Tuesday I finally got back out on the bike. Swapped my wheels over between bikes to see if it would help with road buzz, and it definitely does. They talk about marginal gains and with all the small upgrades I have made recently the bike have changed it into something that’s really nice to ride as well as being exciting and quite fast when needed.  I am happy with the setup now heading into the event.

    The ride itself yesterday was about 45 minutes in zone 2–3, steady and controlled without pushing too hard but on the way back I had a little dig and it felt great.

    Today (Wednesday) was another 10k on the rower. The engine’s there, the strength is there. I’m not going to win the event — but that was never the point. The point is to ride it, enjoy it, and share the day with friends.

    The gym serves as a bit of a mental reset this morning too, I walked into the gym cranky and walked out lighter, calmer, and ready to face the day. That’s a win too.

    This is The Sub-7 Experiment.

  • A Letter to My Future Self

    Wednesday Strength Session

    Wednesday and it’s a strength session in the gym today — the first one for a good while.

    And it felt… flat. Underpowered. Enlightening?

    The rowing warm-up was clunky at best, off form, and left my head all over the place. Then the weights — fine, but I was down a few kilos from before. That’s no surprise really, given how long it’s been since I last did strength work.

    On to the sleds: 100 kg pushes with arms straight and bent, followed by 80 kg sled rope pulls. All of that was fine, but I only did three sets instead of five, and I let myself walk away from the last two.

    They say mindset is everything, and the power of the mind immense — and today I let mine get in the way. I’m still wondering why.

    I always feel sad at the end of summer, knowing we’re heading into short, dark days with dropping temperatures. I don’t mind the cold; I just don’t like being cold. But it’s the lack of sunshine that gets me. Maybe I’m feeling it more right now because I’m trying a new Vitamin D supplement and it isn’t agreeing with me. Maybe it’s the crash from all the honey in my cycling food at the weekend. Or maybe it’s simply still recovery from the 121 km on the bike.

    Whatever it is, I need to remember to be kind to myself and just let it be what it is. They say what you resist persists, so go easy on yourself.

    I think I’ll put a note in my calendar for June next year — a letter to my future self, reminding me how I feel right now after taking a summer off from measuring things: calories, distance, effort, kilos lifted or carried. That letter will say something like:

    Loosen up, but don’t let go completely.
    Keep some rhythm in the gym.
    Enjoy your summer, but don’t drift so far that September feels like a restart.
    Future you will thank you

    Right now, the Sub-7 goal feels far away. Not as far as when I first set it last year, but certainly further than it felt in June. So this little reminder to my future self will be worth it.

    This is The Sub-7 Experiment.

  • Flustered, Focused, and Still Rowing

    Today was messy before it even began.

    I was looking forward to trying out my new headphones at the gym—but they wouldn’t connect properly. I got flustered. Frustrated. Caught up in the tech not working.

    And hovering over everything was a work situation: a conversation with my boss that I’ve been dreading. I’m pretty sure a mistake’s been made—not a massive one, but one of those frustrating, vague gaps where I should have documented something and didn’t. Now it’s fuzzy. And it’s on me.

    Old me would’ve taken all that as a reason to skip the gym.

    But today?

    I rowed anyway.

    500-meter intervals at a 1:50 pace.
    Low stroke rate—24 to 26.
    Tough, focused work.

    And even with everything swirling around in my head, I stayed in it.

    The gym didn’t fix the problem. It didn’t make the conversation disappear.

    But it grounded me. It gave me something solid to push against. And it cleared enough space for me to walk out thinking:

    “Okay. I’ve already done one hard thing today. I can handle the next one.”

    And that’s what this experiment has really become.

    Not just about pace.
    Not just about rowing.

    It’s about how I show up when things get messy.
    It’s about handling it, instead of hiding from it.
    It’s about pushing through the noise.

    Flustered. Focused. Still rowing.

    This is the Sub-7 Experiment.

  • From “Only Here” to “Already Here”

    I went for a ride on the bike yesterday—60km all in—and it felt great.
    What really struck me was the shift in mindset. I kept recognising where I was and thinking, “Oh, I’m here already” instead of “Oh, I’m only here.” Just a small difference in words and thoughts, but a massive one in terms of progress.

    I really gelled with the bike. Getting a proper bike fit and a new saddle was such a good call. Not just because I’m now physically connected to the bike, but because it actually saved me a load of cash.

    I’d been eyeing up new bikes—maybe a gravel bike, an “adventure” bike, or a racier road model. Something exciting.
    But the bike fit brought me back to the 11-year-old Giant I already own. And now? It feels like new. It’s as exciting to ride as I hoped it would be when I first bought it all those years ago.

    I probably could’ve gone further than 60km yesterday, but I surprised myself by deciding it was a good place to stop. I didn’t push past “great ride” into “slog”—and that feels like progress, too.

    I’ve got a 150km ride scheduled for September. In past long rides, I made rice cakes from a cycling nutrition book. To be honest, I couldn’t face them again. So before the ride, I asked ChatGPT for fuelling strategies and a few recipe ideas.

    I tried one of its banana oat bar suggestions, and aside from a few flavour tweaks and a more refined fuelling schedule, they worked really well.

    This is good.
    I’m pleased with how the bike is performing. I’m pleased with how I’m performing. And the rowing is complementing the cycling beautifully.

    It’s going to be a good summer—training to break the 7-minute rowing barrier and getting ready for that 150km.

    This is the Sub-7 Experiment.