I got back to Boston at about 3PM and I was on the water about 4:15.  The weather was warm (mid-70s), sunny and there was a breeze from the North at about 7-10mph.

Plan:

1. Drills (king of the mountain, top quarter, arms only, arms and body, legs only, legs and body)
2. Rojabo warmup
3. 5 starts
4. 3 x 250 (practice start, hard out to 10 strokes, fast settle to r30 and 2:00 for 20 strokes, then a 5 stroke sprint.
5. cool down

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_3669_|_18:42_|_2:32.9_|_391___|_20.9_|_09.4_|_153___|_drills and warmup
03689_|_0264_|_01:53_|_3:33.1_|_034___|_18.1_|_07.8_|_148___|_paddle
03953_|_0432_|_02:21_|_2:42.8_|_041___|_17.5_|_10.5_|_156___|_starts
04385_|_0215_|_01:30_|_3:28.4_|_026___|_17.4_|_08.3_|_152___|_paddle to start point
04600_|_0250_|_00:57_|_1:53.2_|_032___|_33.9_|_07.8_|_168___|_250m #1
04850_|_0660_|_03:59_|_3:01.1_|_072___|_18.1_|_09.2_|_148___|_paddle
05510_|_0256_|_00:58_|_1:52.5_|_031___|_32.3_|_08.3_|_164___|_250m #2
05766_|_0220_|_01:34_|_3:33.9_|_022___|_14.0_|_10.0_|_158___|_paddle
05986_|_0264_|_00:59_|_1:51.2_|_032___|_32.7_|_08.3_|_166___|_250m #3
06250_|_1555_|_08:54_|_2:51.8_|_170___|_19.1_|_09.1_|_146___|_cool down feet out

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
03669_|_18:42_|_2:32.9_|_391___|_20.9_|_09.4_|_153___|_warmup
00770_|_02:53_|_1:52.3_|_095___|_33.0_|_08.1_|_166___|_Main set
00432_|_02:21_|_2:42.8_|_041___|_17.5_|_10.5_|_156___|_Steady State
02914_|_17:49_|_3:03.5_|_324___|_18.2_|_09.0_|_148___|_rest meters
07785_|_41:45_|_2:40.9_|_851___|_20.4_|_09.1_|_152___|_Total

The drills went OK.  I seem to finally be getting better at arms only rowing.  It has taken for ever, but I am much more able to finish cleanly and get back to the catch without bobbling around.  Same thing with arms and body.  I tried to be very strict when I did legs only to keep my body position forward and not open my back at all.

The warm up was hard.  My HR was higher than normal.  I assume from dehydration after a 5 hour flight.  But, I felt pretty good rowing into the headwind.

The starts were OK.  I had one where I didn’t realize that one of my oars was not fully squared at the catch and almost flipped myself as I started the first stroke.  High pucker factor on that one.  And an important thing to add to my start check list!

Other than that, I was quite consistent in the starts.  Not fast out of the blocks, but reliably below 2:00 by the 4th or 5th stroke, and an ability to adjust to less than perfect strokes during the first couple without having a disaster.

Then in to the quick reps.  I just wanted a good start out toe 10 strokes, then settle to race pace for 20 strokes, then sprint for 5.  I had trouble getting the pace as slow as I wanted because of the tail wind and also because I knew deep inside it was only going to last 35 strokes.  But there was no real drama.

In the first rep, I lower my stroke rate but increased pressure so the pace stayed right around the 1:50 neighborhood.

In the second, I shifted as abrubtly as I could and really took some pressure off.  This is what I really need to do in the race if I am going to survive through the mid section of the race.  And I cranked back up at the end.

Last rep, same thing,  Hard shift down.  Pound out 20 strokes, then a quick sprint.  This one was somewhat effected by knowing that there were some kayaks behind me and knowing that I needed to make a turn.   But, all in all I did the things I wanted to do.

Then I took my feet out and paddled back to the dock working on finishes.

I had originally planned to go for a quick row today, a warmup and some starts, but this morning, my elbow was quite sore, so I decided that a total rest day plus ibuprofen would be better race prep than a quick row.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is now a 60% chance of rain during the period of the morning when I race.  The wind forecast is lower now, 5 mph SSE, which is a cross wind.