In December 2025, I will be rowing the Atlantic Ocean as a solo in the World’s Toughest Row.

I started training for the row in October 2022, getting back onto my indoor rower in what was a somewhat haphazard pattern that was aimed at getting my muscles, hands, bum and everything else used to rowing again.

It was around the same time that I also started training for a marathon in Zürich, a long time wish I had. This meant dividing my time between rowing an running, with running taking the lino’s share of my training time.

With the marathon done and dusted towards the end of April, my focus sharpened and rowing – mainly indoors – became my priority.

The period between October 2022 and December 2023 was designated as my ramp up phase, where I get back into shape. My litmus test for this was being able to do 45 minutes on the rowing machine without any big effort.

To do this, 45 minutes on the erg also became my minimum time. In comparison, when I did my 2021 row, 30 minutes was my minimum time.

I also wanted to do so in a decent time for a 53-year-old. In my books, that’s 2 mins 30 secs or less per 500 metres on a regular (rather than just once or twice). To put this in perspective, my earlier times were more like 2 mins 50 seconds per 500 metres.

This has been achieved with a month to spare, so now the ramp up time can successfully come to an end.

The next stages begin in January. Here the focus will be on technique, muscle building, and endurance.

Injuries
Inevitably, injuries are starting to creep back in. My right leg hamstring has been an issue for years, and still is. I feel pain, but can continue working out normally. It’s uncomfortable, but I can handle it.

I also have a left side lower back pain that seems to come and go. That is more concerning as it makes training quite hard.

The worst is my right shoulder. I hurt it in a biking accident seven years ago and it is now flaring up again. I believe it’s because of my increased weight training and more intense rowing. The pain is extending down the arm to the elbow and the other way to my neck.

In the end stages of the ramp up training period, I started training two times a day on certain days. This has also exacerbated the injury. The issue us that the intensity is now increasing.

I’ve taken a couple of days off training with the hope that everything calms down and I can kick off the next phase.