Anyway, we partnered up and I was working with Bethany, a girl I met through a long distance hiking program last year. She and I bonded over our love of Carolina Dogs at the first hiking meeting! The clinic started with questions to the group about WHY we use water rowers. Toni is a former teacher and it’s funny to me because I can tell every time she is using classroom language and it makes me smile. Like I said, I am an OTF nerd and I tried SO HARD to not be the girl that knows all the answers. But the teacher side of me was like “She doesn’t want us to just stare at her and stand silently. I gave the rest of the class a chance to answer and then finally spoke up about the WHY behind the equipment. Fortunately, a few others chimed in as well!. Later she asked the order of the movements and again I waited, then shouted out “LEGS, CORE, ARMS!” This went on for the duration of the class. I guess it proves that I listen!!
Toni: “How should you feel when you’re in the green zone?”
Me: (waiting for anyone else to answer…no one does) “Challenging but doable!!”
Girls in the corner: giggling at Ms. OTF
Me: (in my mind) Seriously, you guys! Say something!
During the clinic we broke down every little part of the movement and were able to see immediate feedback on the monitor. I also learned that my favorite Hoka shoes are too wide in the heel to really fit in the footplates. Next workout I decided I will try out a newer pair of Adidas Boost shoes that I have.

On the treadmill I worked at controlling my heart rate. I was trying to stay green in my BASE zone and orange in my PUSH pace. We only had a few ALL OUT efforts and they were not long enough for me to put my heartrate into the red zone. My workout had a total of 17 seconds in red. I am most proud of my last ALL OUT effort where I pushed the treadmill up to 9mph (6:40 mile pace) “You can do anything for 30 seconds” I could hear the coaches saying in my head. I felt like I was killing it! When I stepped off the treadmill at the end of the workout, my monitor read 2 miles. I’m telling you, without OTF, I would NOT push myself as hard in a workout. Could I do this in a gym somewhere else? Sure. Would I get the same quality effort? Absolutely not!
At the end of the workout my right arm still wasn’t looking right. I showed Toni how it wouldn’t straighten without serious effort on my part. She recommended heat and stretching for when I got home, which I did! In fact, even right now as I type this blog post I have my arm wrapped in a heating pad. My plan was to go to the studio tomorrow (Wednesday) but I’m going to be smart and take an extra rest day and then go Thursday and Saturday instead. It will still give me three workouts for the week and avoid compromising my overall muscle health. Rest days are just as important as workout days!
Overall Stats
483 calories burned
23 splat points
144 average heart rate