I'm an Orangetheory fanatic (39/F). Doing those workouts at 6am for the past year served as a gateway for me to start intermittent fasting (16:8). I was already doing fasted cardio in the morning, so why not just wait a few extra hours to have lunch? So, that's what I've been doing for the past month.
Still, today we had a "benchmark" challenge where we row for 2000m and try to set a personal record. I was nervous anticipating this workout last night because while fasted cardio works great for intense treadmill blocks (I prefer to run on an empty stomach), I didn't think I could row hard for 2000 meters without fuel. So, I ate dinner early (6pm), fasted 15 hours until 9am, and then slammed a 15-gram protein bar before my 9:30 am workout.
This did the trick! I managed to stay at a 1:58-2:05 split and set a PR of 7:57.04 (my previous time was 8:15!). Setting a PR for this benchmark showed me that I haven't gotten weaker from a month of intermittent fasting. I'm getting my nutritional needs during my 8-hour feeding window and seeing gains all around. OTF + IF = FTW!
Answer
Great job! I love to use PR to push me on my cardio w/o. I do a 25min elliptical w/o at 80% resistance and focus on the calculated distance covered. The number means nothing to anyone but me. When I started I could do a little over 2mi, now my PR is 3.15mi and min is 3.05mi. I typically get a new PR every 2 weeks or so. It feels great to see that number continue to increase and know I am getting the best w/o I am capable of.