Monday: Breezy Steady State. Pushed too hard

June 8, 2015June 8, 20151 Comment

Weather: Cloudy, mid 50s, wind South 10-15mph. This is a tail wind going down river and a head wind going up river. It got progressively windier and more gusty as I went along.

Original plan was for 1000m intervals, but I felt like crap this morning. Upset stomach and tired. I decided to just row a steady state session. I also forgot my HR strap which meant that I was rowing without some of the feedback that I like to have. Probably a good thing, actually.

Things got off to a lousy start. I launched and started rowing away. I got about 500m fro the dock and I couldn’t remember locking my car. So, I turned around, paddled back, got out and locked it. I certainly noticed that the headwind coming back to the dock was significant. I had to work to get any pace on the boat at all.

After I got that settled, I just rowed. I was working on three things today. First was to get really good compression and reach at the catch. Second was to finish early enough so that my hands do not brush my torso. Third was to try to balance during the recovery and not touch water. This was a good thing to work on today because there was a bit of chop, even on my protected river and dragging the blades resulted in whacking the wavetops in a disturbing manner.

I felt more comfortable at 22 to 24 spm today and as I focused on my three things, I found I was rowing a bit harder than I normally would for a steady state session. With the tail wind, I was faster than 2:20 pace except in the turns. Even into the head wind, I was around a 2:27, which is my usual pace for flat conditions, albeit with a stroke rate of 20 not 22.

Having said that, I’m glad I swapped out the session. I enjoy the row and I think I did pretty well considering the wind.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_1880_|_10:41_|_2:50.5_|_203___|_19.0_|_09.3_|_000___|_warmup
01900_|_2660_|_12:13_|_2:17.8_|_266___|_21.8_|_10.0_|_000___|_tail wind
04560_|_0060_|_00:26_|_3:34.2_|_007___|_16.3_|_08.6_|_000___|_rest
04620_|_2940_|_14:12_|_2:24.9_|_322___|_22.7_|_09.1_|_000___|_head wind
07560_|_0060_|_00:27_|_3:46.7_|_005___|_11.0_|_12.0_|_000___|_rest
07620_|_2020_|_09:25_|_2:20.0_|_208___|_22.1_|_09.7_|_000___|_tail wind
09640_|_0140_|_00:50_|_2:58.6_|_016___|_19.2_|_08.8_|_000___|_Steering mistake at bridge
09780_|_0660_|_02:58_|_2:15.2_|_067___|_22.5_|_09.9_|_000___|_tail wind
10440_|_0040_|_00:16_|_3:17.5_|_004___|_15.2_|_10.0_|_000___|_rest
10480_|_3140_|_15:24_|_2:27.1_|_354___|_23.0_|_08.9_|_000___|_head wind 
13620_|_1000_|_05:15_|_2:37.7_|_120___|_22.8_|_08.3_|_000___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
01880_|_10:41_|_2:50.5_|_203___|_19.0_|_09.3_|_000___|_warmup
11420_|_54:13_|_2:22.4_|_1217___|_22.4_|_09.4_|_000___|_Main set
00300_|_01:59_|_3:17.8_|_032___|_16.2_|_09.4_|_000___|_rest meters
01000_|_05:15_|_2:37.7_|_120___|_22.8_|_08.3_|_000___|_cool down
14600_|_12:09_|_2:28.2_|_1572___|_21.8_|_09.3_|_000___|_Total

Tomorrow I’ll do those intervals for sure.

Saturday: 11K in a double and National Learn to Row Day

June 7, 20151 Comment

Saturday was National Learn to Row day here in the US. Many club host open house events, ours was no exception.

Before all the festivities got started at around 8AM, five of us met up for a row on Quinsigamond. I was in a double with Joe in the bow. Bob and Eric were in another double, and Deb was in a single.

It was overcast and a chance for rain, but it never materialized. There was a 5-10mph breeze from the North, which was a tailwind heading down lake and a headwind heading up lake. This breeze built slowly through the morning and was around 15 mph by the time we finished the Learn to Row Day activities at 11:30AM.

Joe had been sick all week and was nursing a sore shoulder from a minor injury last weekend, but he was game to row hard. I had gone into the session thinking I would just take it easy. But when we headed down lake we were side by side with the other double and I did NOT want to get dropped. So, I kept the rate around 24 or 25 and full pressure all the way down the lake. The boat felt quite heavy. We had opened up a couple of lengths on them by the end, but we looked a lot worse off. Joe had to fight off the urge to throw up. I guess he wasn’t all the way recovered.

When we turned around up lake, I dropped the rate down to 22 but still kept pulling hard. I didn’t want to completely lose contact with Bob and Eric. We hung on like that through nearly 4K of rowing into the wind, and I have to assume that Joe was feeling a bit better because he started calling for sets of 10 hard, with 10 at a paddle. Then for the last 3 sets, he was asking for 3/4 pressure during the off bits. You can see from my HR how hard I was working in that stretch. I was too busy rowing to look around, but I think we closed the gap a bit with the other boat during this bit.

We turned to head home and really just rowed pretty easy for most of the way. Finally, Joe said that we had 500m left, what did I want to do with it. I said I wanted to bring up the rate and row it hard. I brought the rate up to 28 and focused on trying to keep my strokes clean. The boat felt like it was moving reasonably well in this block. Then we headed back to the dock.

Looking at the HR data, I was a brutally hard workout. Looking at the pace, not so much.

|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM___|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00018|00088|00:26|02:27.7| 18.2  | 121  |11.2|Warming up
|00106|03291|14:43|02:14.2| 24.7  | 165  |09.0|hard 3K to south end of lake
|03397|00090|05:12|28:53.3| 17.1  | 118  |01.0|rest
|03487|04062|20:40|02:32.6| 22.7  | 164  |08.7|moderately hard 4K into headwind
|07549|01459|07:06|02:26.0| 26.1  | 177  |07.9|9x power 10s, 10 strokes rest
|09008|00075|02:46|18:26.7| 20.1  | 144  |01.4|turn around at north end of lake
|09083|01645|08:35|02:36.5| 22.6  | 151  |08.5|cooling down
|10728|00398|01:40|02:05.6| 28.4  | 176  |08.4|hard 400m
|11126|00013|02:46|46:24.6| 28.0  | 140  |00.2|back to dock

We got the boats put away, and I ran off to get coffee and treats for the event. By the time I got back, there were already about 20 people there. By the end of the day, we had hosted over 35 folks curious about rowing and gotten 29 of them out on the water. I also got to try sweep rowing for the first time. I stroked an 8 for two of the outings. We would put 2 experienced rowers in seats 7 and 8, and fill the rest of the boat with the “Learn To Row” (LTR) folks. We would then have everyone row by pairs, then try it by fours, then just have the stern pair set the boat with the all the newbies rowing. By the end of each outing, we were able to get all 8 of us rowing and give them a feel for what it is like.

We had 2 eights on the water and about 8 or 10 boatloads of folks out on water all together. It was the most successful LTR day that we can remember for our club and a lot of them indicated an interest in taking classes. Very exciting stuff.

I’m not sure I got much of a feel for sweep rowing under the circumstances, but I enjoyed it. The oar is huge, but with two hands on it, it feels like you can control the feathering and height off the water quite precisely. The body motion would also take some getting used to. Getting the arm farthest from the oarlock out between my knees at the catch, and leaning out over the oar was a new experience. I think I like it and I’d welcome the chance to get into a sweep boat in the future.

Today (Sunday): I am giving myself a day off. My elbow is still bugging me, so I am popping the Ibuprofen and wearing my brace. Tomorrow, I’m back on the Charles in my single. I think 1000m repeats are the order of the day, but probably with a rate cap.

Friday: 5×500 – Still not my usual self

June 5, 20151 Comment

Plan:

8×500
rate > 30
Pace <2:00

It did not work out that way.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_4480_|_22:40_|_2:31.8_|_469___|_20.7_|_09.6_|_144___|_warmup
04500_|_0500_|_01:57_|_1:57.0_|_062___|_31.8_|_08.1_|_166___|_Interval #1
05000_|_0500_|_03:21_|_3:21.0_|_058___|_17.3_|_08.6_|_132___|_rest
05500_|_0500_|_01:57_|_1:56.8_|_062___|_31.8_|_08.1_|_165___|_Interval #2
06000_|_0500_|_03:37_|_3:36.5_|_055___|_15.2_|_09.1_|_135___|_rest
06500_|_0500_|_01:57_|_1:57.2_|_061___|_31.2_|_08.2_|_165___|_Interval #3
07000_|_0500_|_04:10_|_4:09.6_|_059___|_14.2_|_08.5_|_132___|_rest
07500_|_0500_|_01:59_|_1:59.4_|_063___|_31.7_|_07.9_|_162___|_Interval #4
08000_|_0500_|_03:45_|_3:45.2_|_059___|_15.7_|_08.5_|_135___|_rest
08500_|_0500_|_01:58_|_1:58.2_|_062___|_31.5_|_08.1_|_165___|_Interval #5
09000_|_2640_|_14:54_|_2:49.2_|_298___|_20.0_|_08.9_|_144___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
04480_|_22:40_|_2:31.8_|_469___|_20.7_|_09.6_|_144___|_warmup
02500_|_09:49_|_1:57.7_|_310___|_31.6_|_08.1_|_165___|_Main set
02000_|_14:52_|_3:43.1_|_231___|_15.5_|_08.7_|_134___|_rest meters
02640_|_14:54_|_2:49.2_|_298___|_20.0_|_08.9_|_144___|_cool down
11620_|_02:15_|_2:40.7_|_1308___|_21.0_|_08.9_|_145___|_Total

Warmup: King of the mountain, Top quarter, arms only, arms and body, half slide, legs only (about 30 strokes of that). Then into the Rojabo style warmup 10 at 20, 10 off, 20 at 22, 20 off, 30 at 24, 30 off, 20 at 26, 20 off, 20 at 28, 30 off (to get under the bridge), 20 at 30, 20 off, 20 at max rate (34 ish).

Then I turned around, had a drink and tried to get myself psyched up. I did all the intervals with standing starts to get more start practice. I had in my mind that I would look at each interval as a 10 stroke start, 2 sets of 20 strokes at race pace, then 10 strokes of sprint at the end. The first attempted interval, I nailed the start and the first 10 strokes. Then I pushed into the first 20 stroke set. At the end of that set, the interval had started to bite, and I wimped out. I wasn’t in distress. It was more of a decision that I didn’t want enough to push hard. So, I coasted to a stop. I tried again, with the same result.

I paddled about 500m to get me past the Prospect street bridge, and decided on a new plan. I would do the start ad settle to my race pace faster, after only 5 strokes. Then I would focus on keeping my rate above 30 and trying to take nice clean strokes. I would do my very best to ignore the pace and let it happen. I would count up to 60 strokes and then look to see how much distance I had left. I would not try to sprint the end. The training objective was to focus on improving my technique while rowing above 30 SPM.

This seemed to work pretty well. I counted out the strokes of the interval and I seemed to be able to maintain a pace between 1:57 and 1:59 at r31 with reasonably good form. I did not feel rushed and my catches were pretty clean. The RIM analytics show some real issues to be worked out though.

I’m OK with the profile of the drive. At that rate, it seems most folks show some degree of the two bump phenomenon. But you can see the bump at the finish. I should try to clean that up. And you can see that I am accelerating the boat as I recover up the slide. That means that when I hit the end of the slide, I am checking the boat at the catch. More stuff to work on.

After that happy interval, I paddled around the s-turn and set up for #2. Basically the same deal. Here are two strokes, one at the beginning and one at the end of the interval. See how the first drive hump is more pronounced at the end? I assume that is fatigue hurting my technique.

Interval #3 was fine. Basically the same as #2. But I could feel the fatigue settling into my legs.

Interval #4 was a struggle. I eased up after the start and cruised through it not pushing quite as hard. This shows in the acceleration curves. More consistent from beginning and end of this one.

Interval #5 was awful. I wanted to keep the pace somewhat reasonable, but my legs were starting to feel really tired. I tightened up and started rowing pretty badly. I was feeling like I was going to blow up around the 40th stroke, and I looked at the speedcoach and saw that my HR was only around 172. I know that I can row for about 15 minutes with my HR that high, so I basically told myself to harden the F**K up and row twenty more strokes and row them clean. You can see it in the strokes. This plot has a stroke from the beginning, one when I was panicking (stroke rate 34, but going slower), and then one in the last 10, where I got myself back in line.

I was gassed at the end of interval #5, but I tried to get myself pumped up for #6. I made it about 20 strokes before I bailed. That was basically it for me. I was toast. I did 5 practice starts, and then rowed with feet out back to the dock.

I like the pace of the intervals. 1:57.7 is pretty fast for me, even if it was only 5. I don’t like my mental state. I have to get myself to a place where I slow down instead of quitting. It’s a hard thing to do when I need to work on technique at high rates.

Tomorrow: Quick, easy row on Quinsig and then hosting Learn to Row day at the club.

Thursday: Steady State and Starts

June 4, 2015June 4, 20153 Comments

Plan:

Warmup: King of the mountain, top quarter, 20 strokes or so of each: arms only, arms and body, half slide, full slide, legs only.
4 repeats of:
1. 5 good starts. Focus on balance and control. Try to get good blade placement before each drive
2. row the remaining 2500m at steady state pace and work on technique and balance. HR cap at 155.
Cool down: Square blades and high pressure / low rate.

It was beautiful this morning. Sunny, no wind, mid 50s. It was good to do a structured warmup. The legs only was a good thing to do.

Starts are getting a bit better. At least I have an idea of how hard I can push the initial stroke without compromising my balance. I also have a better idea of how fast I can push the stroke rate in the start. It looks like about 35 is as high as I can go without rowing in severely and screwing up the finishes. From here, it is just lots of practice to slowly improve the pressure on the first stroke and the tempo of the initial strokes. I’ll try to take some video this weekend to see if I’m doing anything horribly wrong.

The steady state was nice. I was pretty focused on trying to balance and row quietly. I really wanted to push too hard and blow the HR cap, but I need to save that feeling for tomorrow.

00020_|_0882_|_04:57_|_2:48.2_|_095___|_19.2_|_09.3_|_124___|_warmup
00902_|_0489_|_02:45_|_2:49.1_|_050___|_18.1_|_09.8_|_138___|_5 starts
01391_|_2331_|_11:03_|_2:22.3_|_223___|_20.2_|_10.5_|_155___|_steady state
03722_|_0448_|_02:31_|_2:48.9_|_047___|_18.6_|_09.5_|_143___|_5 starts
04170_|_2549_|_12:35_|_2:28.1_|_257___|_20.4_|_09.9_|_155___|_slow roll ups
06719_|_0513_|_02:49_|_2:45.0_|_053___|_18.8_|_09.7_|_144___|_5 starts
07232_|_2361_|_11:35_|_2:27.2_|_219___|_18.9_|_10.8_|_155___|_steady state
09460_|_0551_|_03:03_|_2:45.8_|_056___|_18.4_|_09.8_|_144___|_5 starts
10011_|_2612_|_12:53_|_2:27.9_|_266___|_20.7_|_09.8_|_153___|_steady state
12623_|_1162_|_06:38_|_2:51.3_|_127___|_19.1_|_09.1_|_138___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00882_|_04:57_|_2:48.2_|_095___|_19.2_|_09.3_|_124___|_warmup
09853_|_48:06_|_2:26.5_|_965___|_20.1_|_10.2_|_154___|_Main set
02001_|_11:09_|_2:47.1_|_206___|_18.5_|_09.7_|_142___|_20 Starts
01162_|_06:38_|_2:51.3_|_127___|_19.1_|_09.1_|_138___|_cool down
13898_|_10:49_|_2:32.9_|_1393___|_19.7_|_10.0_|_149___|_Total

I set up the speedcoach for stroke by stroke data. Here are the details of the starts. I think the best metric to judge the quality of the start is the pace in the third stroke. If the pace is below 2:00 on the third stroke, then it was relatively well executed. If it was slower, generally, I either wobbled on the first stroke, or had trouble getting clean catches on the 2nd or 3rd stroke.

So, in the first set, the fourth and the sixth are OK. In the second set, all of them were OK except for the second one. The third set was all OK. On the fourth set, I blew the first 2, but the last 3 were OK.

Tomorrow: 8×500 / 500m rest. Standing starts. r30 or higher for all reps.

Side note: My right elbow has been bothering me. I think it is bursitis or tennis elbow or something. Time to buy a wrap and start popping the Ibuprofen. If it doesn’t improve with these steps, I might need to lay off rowing for a few days.

Wednesday: 5×1000 – Low Motivation Day

June 3, 20152 Comments

Plan:

5×1000
500m paddle
rate 26,28,30,32,30
No pace target, but I wanted to be fast.

It wasn’t to be. I did my warmup and decided to do the first rep at 24, because I was feeling a bit sluggish. I made it through that rep OK, and then did the next rep at 26. That also went OK. But when I turned and started the 3rd rep, at r28, I only made it about 100m when I just decided that I was up for the pain that was coming and bailed out.

I’m having trouble getting into the right mindset for the sprint racing. My first race is in less than 3 weeks and I either need to get my shit together or decide to bail out on sprints for this season. I don’t really want to do that, but I’m not sure how to improve my attitude about them.

Anyway, I paddle away from my failure and after about 800m, I saw a guy in one of those surfski type kayaks paddling furiously ahead of me. That was enough to get me refocused in the moment, so I started to ramp up the ramp and pressure and did the rest of the way to the dam pretty hard. By coincidence, it was about 1000m, so there was rep number 3 done.

Then I turned around, caught my breath and decided to do another one at r24. That went fine and the pace got better and better as I went along. Then I was almost done, so I decided to try to do the r28 rep that I had bailed on before as a final rep. This was my best rep of the day, 2:04 pace and good rate throughout.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_3780_|_18:54_|_2:30.0_|_411___|_21.7_|_09.2_|_141___|_warmup
03800_|_1000_|_04:17_|_2:08.3_|_107___|_25.0_|_09.3_|_146___|_m
04800_|_0700_|_04:21_|_3:06.1_|_077___|_17.7_|_09.1_|_123___|_r
05500_|_1000_|_04:11_|_2:05.7_|_113___|_27.0_|_08.8_|_166___|_m
06500_|_1920_|_09:44_|_2:32.0_|_208___|_21.4_|_09.2_|_150___|_r
08420_|_1000_|_04:29_|_2:14.7_|_109___|_24.3_|_09.2_|_167___|_m
09420_|_0040_|_00:20_|_4:06.3_|_003___|_09.1_|_13.3_|_118___|_r
09460_|_1000_|_04:17_|_2:08.4_|_115___|_26.9_|_08.7_|_168___|_m
10460_|_0640_|_03:53_|_3:02.3_|_075___|_19.3_|_08.5_|_140___|_r
11100_|_1000_|_04:08_|_2:04.1_|_118___|_28.5_|_08.5_|_169___|_m
12100_|_1960_|_10:57_|_2:47.7_|_227___|_20.7_|_08.6_|_141___|_c

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
03780_|_18:54_|_2:30.0_|_411___|_21.7_|_09.2_|_141___|_warmup
05000_|_21:22_|_2:08.2_|_562___|_26.3_|_08.9_|_163___|_Main set
03300_|_18:17_|_2:46.3_|_363___|_19.8_|_09.1_|_141___|_rest meters
01960_|_10:57_|_2:47.7_|_227___|_20.7_|_08.6_|_141___|_cool down
14040_|_09:31_|_2:28.5_|_1563___|_22.5_|_09.0_|_148___|_Total

Tomorrow: Steady State and some practice starts, maybe 20 or so.

Sunday: 80 minute Wolverine Plan L4

June 3, 2015June 3, 2015Leave a comment

Plan: (on the erg)

8×10′
1′ rest every 20′
180 strokes per 10′ (4’@16, 3’@18,2’@20,1’@22)
170W at 16, 190W at 18, 210W at 20, 230W at 22

This turned out to be a bit to intense. I dropped down by 10W in the second 20′, and then by another 10W beyond that to keep my HR in the aerobic zone. Very humid. Left a huge puddle on the floor (of sweat)

In the last minute, I upped it to r24 and tried to see how hard I could pull. I was above 300W by the end of the minute.

Output
Workout Summary – Jun 03, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_19430_|_84:00.0_|_02:09.7_|_160.4_|_17.6_|_145.4_|_ 71.9% _|_13.2_|_09.1
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_02458_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.0_|_192.6_|_17.9_|_114.5_|_ 50.0% _|_13.7_|_10.8
02_|_02459_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.0_|_192.7_|_18.1_|_147.4_|_ 73.3% _|_13.6_|_10.6
03_|_00059_|_01:00.0_|_08:31.3_|_002.6_|_05.0_|_144.2_|_ 71.1% _|_11.7_|_00.5
04_|_02411_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.4_|_181.7_|_18.2_|_144.2_|_ 71.1% _|_13.2_|_10.0
05_|_02295_|_10:00.0_|_02:10.7_|_156.8_|_17.9_|_145.6_|_ 72.1% _|_12.8_|_08.8
06_|_00058_|_01:00.0_|_08:33.0_|_002.6_|_05.0_|_146.8_|_ 72.9% _|_11.7_|_00.5
07_|_02369_|_10:00.0_|_02:06.6_|_172.4_|_18.0_|_146.8_|_ 72.9% _|_13.2_|_09.6
08_|_02371_|_10:00.0_|_02:06.5_|_172.8_|_18.1_|_153.6_|_ 77.7% _|_13.1_|_09.5
09_|_00043_|_01:00.0_|_11:45.4_|_001.0_|_03.0_|_153.3_|_ 77.5% _|_14.2_|_00.3
10_|_02241_|_10:00.0_|_02:13.8_|_146.0_|_17.2_|_147.7_|_ 73.5% _|_13.0_|_08.5
11_|_02388_|_10:00.0_|_02:05.6_|_176.6_|_18.6_|_159.8_|_ 82.1% _|_12.8_|_09.5
12_|_00276_|_01:00.0_|_01:48.5_|_273.8_|_24.0_|_170.6_|_ 89.8% _|_11.5_|_11.4

After Sunday’s workout, we headed down to NJ for my son’s graduation. No training on Monday or Tuesday.

Quantified Rowing

Measure – Adjust – Improve

Month: June 2015

Monday: Breezy Steady State. Pushed too hard

Saturday: 11K in a double and National Learn to Row Day

Friday: 5×500 – Still not my usual self

Thursday: Steady State and Starts

Wednesday: 5×1000 – Low Motivation Day

Sunday: 80 minute Wolverine Plan L4