Month: March 2015

Saturday: 30′ Threshold

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I did a 20′ lactate test to start.

190W –> 1.9 mmol/l (moving in the right direction).  HR was a bit higher than yesterday.

2015-03-21_17-22-23

–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_04900_|_20:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_190.7_|_18.9_|_133.2_|_ 63.2% _|_13.0_|_10.1
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01230_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.0_|_192.9_|_18.8_|_121.4_|_ 54.9% _|_13.1_|_10.3
02_|_01225_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.5_|_190.5_|_19.0_|_132.5_|_ 62.7% _|_12.9_|_10.0
03_|_01224_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.5_|_190.3_|_19.0_|_138.0_|_ 66.7% _|_12.9_|_10.0
04_|_01222_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.8_|_189.1_|_18.6_|_141.0_|_ 68.8% _|_13.1_|_10.2

Then into the real workout.  30′ Threshold session.  Objective was >8000m (1:52.5 avg pace).  I did 8128m early in January, but I don’t think I could do that now.

I pushed the pace a bit faster than 1:52 for the first 10 minutes, but I was feeling pretty stressed out and tried to up the rate and make my stroke lighter.  I’m having a lot of trouble doing that lately so it wasn’t entirely successful.  I slowed down to almost 1:54 from 20 minutes to 25 minutes and then pushed the last 5 minutes hard enough to get the projected finish back above 8000.  It was a hard row, just like it was supposed to be.

2015-03-21_17-24-47 2015-03-21_17-23-46

Output
Workout Summary – Mar 21, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_08016_|_30:00.0_|_01:52.3_|_247.3_|_25.1_|_169.7_|_ 89.1% _|_10.7_|_09.9
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01349_|_05:00.0_|_01:51.2_|_254.5_|_25.2_|_148.4_|_ 74.0% _|_10.7_|_10.1
02_|_01343_|_05:00.0_|_01:51.7_|_251.1_|_25.2_|_165.5_|_ 86.2% _|_10.7_|_10.0
03_|_01334_|_05:00.0_|_01:52.5_|_246.0_|_25.2_|_171.2_|_ 90.2% _|_10.6_|_09.8
04_|_01327_|_05:00.0_|_01:53.0_|_242.5_|_24.6_|_174.4_|_ 92.5% _|_10.8_|_09.9
05_|_01320_|_05:00.0_|_01:53.7_|_238.3_|_24.8_|_177.4_|_ 94.6% _|_10.6_|_09.6
06_|_01344_|_05:00.0_|_01:51.6_|_251.5_|_25.4_|_181.5_|_ 97.5% _|_10.6_|_09.9

Then I finished up with a 2K happy ending cool down.  Starting at 2:00 pace and slowing by 0:05 every 500m.

2015-03-21_17-26-21

Output
Workout Summary – Mar 21, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_02000_|_08:29.3_|_02:07.3_|_169.6_|_17.9_|_158.4_|_ 81.2% _|_13.2_|_09.5
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_00500_|_02:00.0_|_02:00.0_|_202.5_|_20.0_|_152.9_|_ 77.3% _|_12.5_|_10.1
02_|_00500_|_02:04.9_|_02:04.9_|_179.8_|_18.3_|_163.3_|_ 84.6% _|_13.2_|_09.8
03_|_00500_|_02:09.5_|_02:09.5_|_161.0_|_17.1_|_161.7_|_ 83.5% _|_13.5_|_09.4
04_|_00500_|_02:14.9_|_02:14.9_|_142.7_|_16.5_|_156.0_|_ 79.5% _|_13.5_|_08.7

I was hoping that it would have been less of a struggle to top 8000.  This was very close to the limit for me.  I wonder how much the 20 minutes of steady state before the workout takes out of me?  In the past for long hard rows, i would have done a very short warmup, maybe 1000m or so.  But I would have done it harder than the steady state I was doing for the lactate test.

The conclusion that I have come to is that it might impact the pace a bit, but the t raining effect is the same.  If I was racing or trying for a SB, I might shorten it up though.

Tomorrow:  5K lactate test and 5K easy for a non-rest rest day.

Friday: 1×20′ + 3×20/1’r

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My routine was all messed up on Friday.  I had to give one omy kids a ride to a conference he was attending at BC, and then I had a Doctor’s appt at 11.  In between, I snuck in a 20 minute lactate test.

190W –> 2.0 mmol/l (excellent, right in range)

2015-03-21_17-35-53

Output
Workout Summary – Mar 20, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_04898_|_20:00.0_|_02:02.5_|_190.4_|_19.1_|_132.2_|_ 62.6% _|_12.8_|_10.0
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01217_|_05:00.0_|_02:03.2_|_187.1_|_19.0_|_121.2_|_ 54.8% _|_12.8_|_09.8
02_|_01232_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.8_|_193.8_|_19.6_|_133.8_|_ 63.7% _|_12.6_|_09.9
03_|_01225_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.5_|_190.5_|_19.0_|_135.7_|_ 65.0% _|_12.9_|_10.0
04_|_01224_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.5_|_190.2_|_18.8_|_138.3_|_ 66.9% _|_13.0_|_10.1

Then later in the day, maybe 4 hours later, I found enough time to do 3 more 20s at 190.  All uneventful.

2015-03-21_17-35-27

Output
Workout Summary – Mar 20, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_15070_|_63:00.0_|_02:05.4_|_177.4_|_18.6_|_145.2_|_ 71.8% _|_12.8_|_09.5
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_04903_|_20:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_190.9_|_19.0_|_135.7_|_ 65.0% _|_12.9_|_10.0
02_|_00058_|_01:00.0_|_08:40.2_|_002.5_|_05.0_|_138.4_|_ 67.0% _|_11.5_|_00.5
03_|_04903_|_20:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_191.0_|_19.1_|_148.4_|_ 74.0% _|_12.8_|_10.0
04_|_00054_|_01:00.0_|_09:12.1_|_002.1_|_06.0_|_140.7_|_ 68.6% _|_09.1_|_00.3
05_|_05153_|_21:00.0_|_02:02.3_|_191.5_|_19.0_|_151.4_|_ 76.1% _|_12.9_|_10.1

5×1500/3’r

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Back to a classic.  On slides.

Warmup:  20′ at r20 and 190W.  Tested lactate: 1.7mmol/l (perfect)

Main set:  5×1500 / 3′ rest

Pace Target: 1:50

Felt like hard work, but in each rep except for the last, I was running ahead of target and allowed myself to bleed off a little pace in the last 500.  I managed to negative split each rep.  When I got to the last rep, I decided to see what I had left in the tank.  I rated up, and saw that I was OK holding about a 1:44 through the first 500.  So I decided to try to hang on at that pace.  HR was reasonably low for the last rep of one of these workouts, but I was really working hard to try to hold on through the last 500m.  Desperately counting strokes and trying to sit up straight.

Finished off with a 2K happy ending cool down, starting at 2:00 and dropping 0:05 slower each 500.

2015-03-19_12-17-47 2015-03-19_9-00-02

Tomorrow:  4×20′ at 190W

3x5K / 2’r

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I spent the day in meetings in Phoenix and then had dinner with the customer.  I wolfed down a delicious bone in rib-eye, drained a couple of glasses of Guiness (it was St. Patrick’s Day after all) and then bolted for the airport to catch the red eye.

My red eye arrived in Boston around 5:45AM and after waiting for a shuttle bus to my car for nearly half an hour, I just decided to go home instead of heading straight to work to grab a nap.

A couple more hours of sleep was definitely a good thing, but I was still not in the mood to face a more intense interval session.  So, I substituted a steady state session to keep working on aerobic base.  I rowed this at home on a static erg.

Today’s session was 3x5K with about 2 minute rests between pieces.  Target power was 188W.  I tested lactate after the first 5K and got 1.7mmol/l, right in the sweet spot.

The next two pieces, I pushed up the power to 190W and was gratified to see my HR stay quite low with minimal drift over the 60 minutes.  I ended the session feeling better than when I started.

2015-03-18_15-57-25

1st 5K – 188W – Lactate = 1.7 at end

Output
Workout Summary – Mar 18, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_05000_|_20:29.9_|_02:03.0_|_188.1_|_18.9_|_134.0_|_ 63.8% _|_12.9_|_10.0
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI
01_|_01250_|_05:05.5_|_02:02.2_|_191.8_|_19.2_|_125.2_|_ 57.6% _|_12.8_|_10.0
02_|_01250_|_05:07.3_|_02:02.9_|_188.5_|_18.7_|_135.9_|_ 65.2% _|_13.0_|_10.1
03_|_01250_|_05:07.9_|_02:03.1_|_187.4_|_18.7_|_137.3_|_ 66.2% _|_13.0_|_10.0
04_|_01250_|_05:09.3_|_02:03.7_|_184.8_|_18.8_|_137.7_|_ 66.4% _|_12.9_|_09.8

2015-03-18_15-58-30

2nd 5K – 190W avg

Output
Workout Summary – Mar 18, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_05000_|_20:24.8_|_02:02.5_|_190.5_|_19.2_|_137.4_|_ 66.2% _|_12.8_|_09.9
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01250_|_05:05.5_|_02:02.2_|_191.9_|_19.8_|_131.7_|_ 62.2% _|_12.4_|_09.7
02_|_01250_|_05:06.6_|_02:02.6_|_189.8_|_18.8_|_138.3_|_ 66.9% _|_13.0_|_10.1
03_|_01250_|_05:06.7_|_02:02.7_|_189.6_|_19.0_|_139.7_|_ 67.9% _|_12.9_|_10.0
04_|_01250_|_05:06.1_|_02:02.4_|_190.7_|_19.0_|_140.0_|_ 68.1% _|_12.9_|_10.0

2015-03-18_15-59-21

3rd 5K – 190W avg

Output

Workout Summary – Mar 18, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_05000_|_20:24.9_|_02:02.5_|_190.4_|_18.8_|_140.3_|_ 68.3% _|_13.1_|_10.2
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01250_|_05:05.6_|_02:02.2_|_191.7_|_19.0_|_136.3_|_ 65.5% _|_12.9_|_10.1
02_|_01250_|_05:05.8_|_02:02.3_|_191.2_|_18.6_|_141.6_|_ 69.2% _|_13.2_|_10.3
03_|_01250_|_05:07.0_|_02:02.8_|_189.0_|_18.8_|_142.8_|_ 70.1% _|_13.0_|_10.1
04_|_01250_|_05:06.5_|_02:02.6_|_189.9_|_18.6_|_140.6_|_ 68.5% _|_13.2_|_10.2

Tomorrow:  Another attempt at the 5×1500 that I blew off today.  1:50 pace target.

Fun in the desert. 4×20’/1’r at Scorpion Crossfit

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In Phoenix.  There was a great Crossfit box less than half a mile from my hotel.  They let me use an erg and didn’t even charge me a guest fee.  They were also very nice, just like every other crossfit that I’ve visited.

I just wanted to munch some meters today.  I intended to row at 186W, but the atmosphere got to me and I ended up pushing harder and running a higher heart rate than I should have.  My HR monitor started acting stupid after 40 minutes, but even before that I was pushing up into the low 150s.  After 60 minutes, I had to make a decision to either slow it way down or have a little fun.  I decided on fun in the form of a 20 minute L4 with these powers

r18 – 180

r20 – 200

r22 -220

And I rowed 22/20/18/22/20/18/22/20/18/22 (2′ each).  It was good sweaty exercise.

2015-03-17 07.03.41

While I was rowing I saw them working on the WOD which was 8 rounds of 30 seconds on the rower shooting for max calories, then 30 seconds of box jumps with 30 second rests for 8 rounds.  I didn’t see what they were pulling, but I did one 30 second rep just to try it out.  I managed 19 calories in 30 seconds, which is about a 1:25 split.

Tomorrow:  I’m due for an interval session.  I’m thinking 5×1500 at a sedate 1:50 to keep things ticking over.  I may back off since I will be fresh off the red eye.

Correlation between lactate and HR (hint: there isn’t much)

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Many training plans use HR to determine training zones.  Other training plans use direct measurement of blood lactate levels to determine training zones.  Inevitably, there are questions about how well correlated these two measures are.  In other words, can you heart rate as an accurate indicator of blood lactate level.

To a first order, there is a rough correlation.  A step test will show a increasing lactate level and increasing heart rate as the steps increase in intensity, as shown below above 195W.

2014-11-28_17-22-32

The question is, can HR be accurately used  to determine a good training power to ensure that blood lactate is below 2.0mmol/l.  Over the past month or so, I’ve taken lactate readings after 20 minutes of steady state.  In all cases, I was aiming for a lactate level of 1.6 to 2.0mmol/l.  As you can see, I often miss on the high side, because I have trouble containing my exuberance.  The data shows very little correlation between HR and lactate level in this narrow range.

2015-03-16_11-20-24

Heart rate data is not entirely useless.  If the average HR over the last 5 minutes of the piece is above 140BPM, then it is very likely that blood lactate is above 2.0.  The problem is that a low HR is not necessarily indicative of low lactates, so if you train to a HR limit in a session you might end up with higher than ideal lactates in some of your sessions.  No real harm done, but you might not get the ideal training effect.

A more serious issue is that HR changes constantly through a steady state session as dehydration and other factors induce CV drift.  So training to a HR limit will generally cause a slow down as the session progresses.  If one is using HR as an analog for lactate, then you would probably want to use a HR limit that increases as the session continues.  For me, 140 after 20′, 145 after 40′, 150 after 60′ and 155 after 80′.  At the end that would be right at the top end of my UT1 range.  Ideally, a session would run about 5 beats lower than that at each point.

Another 10K Threshold Workout

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Pressed for time today and in the mood for something a bit spicier than the normal steady state.  So, I thought doing another 10K at about a 200W pace and working on keeping the stroke rate up around 25 and using half decent form.

As it turned out, I felt more comfortable up at about 220W and I decided to just go with it.  Rowing up at 25 on slides felt nice and smooth and I was able to maintain pretty good posture.  My HR got pretty high at the end, but I didn’t feel like I was in trouble at any point.

2015-03-16_9-45-28 2015-03-16_9-39-42

A very satisfying row.  Based on the high heart rate at the end, it appears I am not yet as efficient on slides for longer rows.

Tomorrow:  Tonight I am heading out toe Phoenix.  I’ll see if I can find myself a nice crossfit box to row in tomorrow morning.  4×20 would be the plan.

Lactate Testing Equipment and Procedure

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I use a lactate plus meter, which you can get from lactate.com.

The meter costs about $250.  I bought a starter kit that included lancets, test strips, alcohol wipes and a DVD of lactate training information, this set me back about $370.  The test strips get expensive.  They cost $46 for a box of 25, or nearly $2 per strip.

I use lactate measurement to try to make sure that I am doing steady state training at an intensity that maximizes fat metabolism and develops increased aerobic capacity.  Through various posts over on Rowing Illustrated, it seems that the magic range for steady state training is from 1.6 to 2.0mmol/l.  Above this level, improvements in aerobic capacity and training power stall, but in this range, long term improvements can be achieved.

Lactate will vary over time during a steady state workout.  It will initially rise, and then fall as the metabolic processes that use lactate as an energy source kick in.  Then a period of stasis where lactate should be roughly correlated with training power.  Finally, when muscle fatigue begins to set in, lactate levels will rise.

For consistency, I always measure lactates after 20 minutes (or sometimes 5K).  Here is how that works.

Before starting I set up everything.  I get a lancet in the little lancet machine.  I take out 1 test strip, and an alcohol wipe.  I have one wet paper towel and one dry one.

When I finish the piece, here is what I do:

1.  I wipe both hands with the wet paper towel

2.  dry them with the dry paper towel

3.  swap my left ring finger tip with the alcohol wipe

4. Prick my finger

5.  Get a drop and wipe it with the dry paper towel

6. Put the test strip in the meter, which turns it on

7.  Make sure I have a nice beefy drop on my finger (do a little squeezing if I don’t)

8.  Touch it to the end of the test strip and wait 13 seconds

9.  read the meter

All of this takes just about 1 minute.  I usually take a drink and stretch a little bit and then start my next piece 2 minutes after finishing the first.

All of these steps are basically to try to avoid having sweat contaminate the reading, which causes false high readings.  I’ve gotten pretty consistent at this point.

Non-rest rest day. 2x5K sub UT2

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I usually try to take 1 rest day per week, but I also want to keep going with Mud Season madness.  So far I’ve missed 3 days, and you can need to get 25 days of rowing in March in to meet the challenge.

Nonetheless, I wanted to go very easy today, so I just did a 5K lactate test, and then a sub-UT2 5K cool down.

Lactate test was much more in line with what I expected today.  186W, 137HR and 1.7mmol/l lactate.  So, 186W is a fine training power for static erg.  I think it’s a good thing that my static and slide training power is converging.

2015-03-15_10-41-42

Output
Workout Summary – Mar 15, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_05000_|_20:33.0_|_02:03.3_|_186.7_|_19.1_|_128.6_|_ 60.0% _|_12.8_|_09.8
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01250_|_05:06.5_|_02:02.6_|_190.0_|_19.4_|_112.7_|_ 48.7% _|_12.6_|_09.8
02_|_01250_|_05:07.5_|_02:03.0_|_188.1_|_19.5_|_130.6_|_ 61.4% _|_12.5_|_09.6
03_|_01250_|_05:08.9_|_02:03.6_|_185.6_|_19.0_|_134.7_|_ 64.3% _|_12.8_|_09.7
04_|_01250_|_05:10.1_|_02:04.0_|_183.4_|_18.4_|_136.9_|_ 65.9% _|_13.2_|_10.0

To make the second piece a bit more entertaining, I started at a 2:03 pace and slowed down by 3 seconds for each 1000m split.  It was a good way to keep working on posture.

2015-03-15_10-40-38

Output
Workout Summary – Mar 15, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_05000_|_21:22.5_|_02:08.2_|_165.9_|_18.5_|_129.6_|_ 60.7% _|_12.7_|_09.0
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01000_|_04:04.8_|_02:02.4_|_190.9_|_20.1_|_126.7_|_ 58.6% _|_12.2_|_09.5
02_|_01000_|_04:10.7_|_02:05.4_|_177.6_|_19.6_|_133.9_|_ 63.8% _|_12.2_|_09.1
03_|_01000_|_04:16.1_|_02:08.1_|_166.7_|_18.7_|_132.2_|_ 62.5% _|_12.5_|_08.9
04_|_01000_|_04:23.3_|_02:11.7_|_153.4_|_16.9_|_129.7_|_ 60.8% _|_13.5_|_09.1
05_|_01000_|_04:27.6_|_02:13.8_|_146.2_|_17.3_|_125.4_|_ 57.7% _|_13.0_|_08.5

Tomorrow:  Scheduled for a 4×20′ steady state session.  I have to figure out when I can squeeze in a workout.  I’ve got all kinds of logistical challenges between car repairs and a flight off to Phoenix in the evening.  One way or another, I’ll get at least 10K in.