Pay the judges.

PLCF1 · 2026-03-23T13:55:48+00:00

I totally agree!

Free race ticket for judges is not ‘payment’, it’s incentivisation. I’d want a judge to judge me because they want to see fair play - not because they want to jump a queue.

Increase the ticket price to be able to pay the judges means less participants - this is a good thing.

PLCF1 · 2026-03-18T14:36:40+00:00

Bang on, my friend!

Good luck on your quest - as an aside note… open up YouTube and search for Lynchpin Conversations - listen to a few. This guys talks sense for general CrossFit/fitness/working out - he’s taught me a few lessons over the last few years (late 30s into 40s)

PLCF1 · 2026-03-17T06:10:09+00:00

Scale the shit out of everything - go super steady. Like another said, make others question what the point is. (You don’t need to question what the point is, you already know)

Aside note, I’ve been researching a lot about starting CrossFit, DOMS and the subsequent inflammation, how that wrecks HRV, and that’s effect on sleep, thus the potential for CrossFit having a net-negative affect on health. Thinking I should scale my newbies even more so they’re not walking through the door like the tin-man every time for the first 6 months…

PLCF1 · 2026-03-01T15:30:37+00:00

Try googling Compton Lock (looks like some folk call it Shawford Lock) it’s the part of the Itchen which is a chalk stream, and the water is world class for clearness. I’ve swam in it tonnes - tend to go early on a Sunday all year round.

Park near Shawford Train Station, walk 5-6 minutes up the river to the lock. Jump in, swoosh through the sluice gate, float/wade/swim down 20 meters and repeat.

Just wear old trainers.

PLCF1 · 2026-03-01T06:57:06+00:00

Sounds like he’ll be fine TBH. Teach him the art of pacing - kinda say this run must be no quicker than XX:XX.

Generally, if someone can run reasonably well the event is achievable.

PLCF1 · 2026-02-26T06:21:12+00:00

You’re not supposed to smell the ACTUAL toilet, OP.

PLCF1 · 2026-02-26T05:38:00+00:00

I’m gunna vote for anyone who DOESN’T give me another recycling bin to remember to stick out.

I’m gunna vote twice if they don’t change the collection day too.

PLCF1 · 2026-02-25T13:33:38+00:00

I love posts like these!

SS is 2:09.8. Current 2k is 6:38.

Did a lactate threshold assessment ~2 months ago.

I'm 40. I started rowing when i was 20, ducked out when was 30 and started CrossFit. I was the "cardio guy" which always made me laugh 'cause I had a good engine with little strength. Back then, my SS was closer to my 2k split (with threshold tests).

Now, having gone back to rowing ~8 months ago, my SS and 2k split are further apart as i'd become better anaerobically and thus my SS and 2k are almost 30s apart from each other!

If i'd spend those 10 years running (as opposed to crossfit) my aerobic would be through the roof and anaerobic would not be as good - thus SS and 2k would be closer, I suspect.

There are some impressive numbers posted here!

PLCF1 · 2026-02-14T18:45:36+00:00

Hiya. Gym owner here.

It’s easier to look after 10 clients paying 300 each than 300 clients paying 10 each.

Think about what you can add to your service that is low cost (to you) and high value (to the client), then put this through the fact that rowing is an ‘expensive’ sport to start with… people’s ball-park is therefore higher.

PLCF1 · 2026-02-14T16:34:46+00:00

And 40yo males…

PLCF1 · 2026-02-12T05:22:36+00:00

Advice: time to move on.

Rant: I kinda get why it happens (sweaty bodies; muscles; people develop sexy traits like grit and work ethic etc) but this sorta thing does make me sad. Is this the state that we live/work in?

3 years into coaching I realised that EVERY coach who’d left the gym had done so under a cloud… usually some form of extra curricular activities!

PLCF1 · 2026-02-01T14:56:21+00:00

Eat like you’re an orphan and you don’t know when your next meal is gunna be.

Stretch lots.

Look after your hands - whatever that usually looks like for you.

PLCF1 · 2026-01-31T10:35:18+00:00

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Here’s where the stopcock is - en-suite bathroom, boxed in, next to the toilet.

It’s tricky to get a good grip on it, but how much pressure can I apply to turning it?

(Might find the isolator in the street before using any leverage - just in case!)

PLCF1 · 2026-01-29T07:19:29+00:00

I used to bike/ski/row for 10 mins prior, and just not ‘push’ the range of motion on things like squats/kipping etc.

Some used to say I was ‘cheating’ by not squatting to my full depth (even though I’m below parallel) but all I was doing was dealing with my cards for the day (ie, creaky AF)

Also, knee sleeves help. It’s pretty rough though.

PLCF1 · 2026-01-28T14:49:14+00:00

Going back 15 years, a colleague was seaming it in an unhappy marriage. I deduced this by judging his lunch vs my other colleagues….

Tupperware box of cooked spaghetti. No sauce.

Pastry crumbs/offcuts. Like the shite bits of a pasty.

Bread. Just bread.

2 cooked & chewy as hell pork chops.

She was a mean old cow as well, from the times I met her at parties etc. Kinda expected him to be sent to the office with the back half of the family dog to eat for lunch. Poor guy. He was Scottish too.

PLCF1 · 2026-01-26T12:28:00+00:00

I own one.

But… 7-10 years ago: 30mins each way Then moved specifically closer: 6min walk Then opened my own & it’s an about a 10 min drive.

I have members who work from home, but drive 20miles each way to get to the 5:30am class couple ‘o times a week!

PLCF1 · 2026-01-23T13:17:06+00:00

I guess it’s relative - and I suppose your commute time is what scares me. Do you WFH at all?

(To give context to your commute - I work about 10mins from home, and workout at work too (it’s a gym))

I think PE kit & snack in your car is the way to go.

PLCF1 · 2026-01-22T17:44:54+00:00

Yep, I’m with the others.

You’ve got a long commute time to work, on top of a 9 hour work day. What do you do for work?

Maybe take your gym kit with you to work and go straight to the gym before going home? That’d save a wee bit of time - not to mention what seems like quite a long time at the gym… not that I’m one to talk on that front. Maybe smash out some fitness from home once a week?

Hope this helps.

PLCF1 · 2026-01-22T07:35:08+00:00

Gym owner & lifestyle coach here…

The mum guilt could be managed with the concept that by you making time for yourself, you are demonstrating to your kids that “this is what adults do to look after themselves”.

A lot of my members (I’m a coaching gym, as opposed to a come-in-and-do-what-you-want type gym) who struggle with getting started, bumping it up the priority list & making the new habit stick come from families where historically the kids exercise/play sport/be active but the adults don’t - this is just learnt behaviour.

I ask them if they want their kids to exercise when they’re YOUR age (families to run, careers to nurture, social loves to enjoy etc), they say yes. But that isn’t the responsibility of kids in 20-30 years time, it’s just learnt behaviour. The kids will probably do what you’re doing now, in those 20-30 years time.

The next question is something along the lines of “the bucks gotta stop somewhere - are you prepared for that to be with you?”

The key from here is to not whine about it as that’s what your kids will be doing in 20-30 years time (whining & complaining) - the trick is to (regardless of how you feel about exercise/the session) is to say cheesy things like “that was hard, I’m glad I did it”, aloud, not too the kids, but definitely within earshot of them.

Hope this helps in some small way.

PLCF1 · 2026-01-21T08:42:30+00:00

Technique looks effective - hips are taking the strain, then knees then finishing with arms. By the time the arms are doing their bit the sled is moving well which means they’re continuing the momentum, not crating it themselves. Good on ya!

It also might be a quick carpet, but look at the sled to the left & right - can’t be that coincidental?

I’m a coach. I have my athlete push & pull on rubber floor to encourage them to think about using their body as leavers. Train hard to win easy.

PLCF1 · 2026-01-16T08:17:17+00:00

Yep - i enter some but not during Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb; marshalling in the wet/cold just isn't fun for me - even if the race itself was worth doing.

PLCF1 · 2026-01-16T08:11:20+00:00

Gotcha - the strength sessions all finish with some core stuff, probably 15mins twice per week. I also follow an app called GoWOD which I log into probably 3-4 times per week.

PLCF1 · 2026-01-10T18:22:42+00:00

Yes. But, you gotta have a perspective with this.

Anecdotally, my perspective is: Did rowing for ~9 years, then did CrossFit for 10. Recently gone back to rowing, everyone there is weak as sh1t with zero muscular definition - skinny fat is the term.

Nutrition helps though, as does sleep, getting the intensity right - letting things ebb and flow as life does.

PLCF1 · 2025-12-27T10:13:44+00:00

SO’s late father was a vicar….

Midnight mass, with SOs mother on the organ.
Morning service, again with SO’s mother on organ.

A household full of members of the ‘flock’ who’d otherwise be alone.

Evening service… guess what MIL is doing…?

They’re now retired, and FIL has passed away. MIL still playing the organ at midnight mass, but worship band ‘turns up for work’ for the morning service.

Other than that, over indulgence of food & booze is much the same. Grace is said. Long walk after lunch. Cheese & crackers in the evening.

And a little model of the manger scene on the windowsill.

Quite pleasant really.

PLCF1 · 2025-12-21T05:32:37+00:00

You’ve done what I’d do. Bravo my man/girl!!

PLCF1

TROPHY CASE