Conditions:  Overcast, warm (70F), humid, very light variable breeze.

One the primary reasons that I keep a training journal is to help keep myself accountable.  Did I do what I planned to do? How did I perform relative to targets?  Did I notice anything that I can work on to improve?  Was there anything that I did well that I want to make sure I remember?

This is also why I keep my journal public, so that the other sets of eyes can help keep me honest.  All of that really hinges on whether or not I am honest with myself in what I write.  So, I made a promise to myself to write what really happens and try my best to avoid making stuff up after the fact to justify the facts of the workout.

Today was a perfect example.  My workout plan was:

1. 5x1500m / 5′ rest
2. Rate target: r26
3. Pace Target: faster than 2:15

Pretty simple.  But a different story on the water.  The issue was the weather.  When I pulled into the parking lot, it was overcast.  The weather report was for Thunderstorms later in the day. By the time I left the dock, it was REALLY overcast, and the world had that sort of greenish tinge.  In the back of my head I wondered if it was a good idea to go out, but I immediately doubted my motivations.  Today’s workout was going to be uncomfortable, and I wondered if I was just looking for an excuse to bail out.  So, I kept going.

I did a quick warmup and rolled straight into the first interval. Which went quite well.  I pushed the pace a bit too much, but I was thrilled with the avg pace (2:07.6).  As soon as I finished, I heard a rumble of thunder.

It is just a common and logical groundrule that when you hear thunder, you get the hell off the water.  Of course, I was at the far end of the 2K course when I finished the first Interval, so the fastest way to get back to the dock was to actually do the second interval, and then keep going.  That’s what I intended to do.  I even pushed the pace hard, kind of assuming that I’d be done.  But when I finished the interval, I was really conflicted.  Do I scrub the workout and try to squeeze in an erg session?  What would I use for clothes?  When would I do it?  The sky looked a little bit lighter to me and I decided that it must be clearing up, based more on what I was hoping than what I was seeing.  So, I went for interval Number 3.

In Interval number three, I found that I really had pushed the first 2 pieces too hard and I blew up around 400 into it.  I skipped about 2 strokes and then reset my target back to 2:15.  That was hard enough, but I was able to carry that pace through the s-turn and push a bit harder in the last 200m.

After I finished this interval, I was paddling out my rest when I saw an actual lightning bolt off to the south, like I could see the bolt, not just a flash.  From the amount of time between the lighting and thunder, it was still a couple of miles off, but it really spooked me.  But again, this happened at the far end of the course and the fastest way home was to just do interval #4.

Interval #4 was uneventful.  I stuck with the slower target and pushed the pace a little after I got through the s-turn.  By the HR data, I was working quite hard, but I was in control and I had no desire to bail out of it.  As I finished this interval, I was again confronted with a choice.  Go back to the dock, like I should, or do interval #5.  At this point, the only reason to do interval #5 was because that was what the plan said I should do and that was what I had said that I was going to do.  The right thing would have been to go home, but basically, I just didn’t want the feeling of having bailed out on the last rep haunting me all day.  I especially didn’t want write a journal entry congratulating myself on being prudent when I actually felt like I was copping out.

So, I did the last interval and really nailed it too.  As soon as I finished this one, it started raining, but there didn’t seem to be any more thunder or lightning.

But now I am left with the feeling that I took a stupid risk for no good reason.  It was a great training session.  Right on the edge of failure, very challenging, but that certainly would not have been worth getting killed in my boat for.

I guess one thing I should do is to make sure I have a extra set of workout clothes on days when the forecast is iffy.  Then I can more realistically execute an alternate session if I bail out of the OTW workout.  Other than that, I think I need to just wise up a bit.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:25_|_2:45.8_|_100___|_18.5_|_09.8_|_116___|_warmup
01000_|_1500_|_06:23_|_2:07.6_|_165___|_25.9_|_09.1_|_160___|_Int #1
02500_|_0500_|_03:12_|_3:12.4_|_053___|_16.5_|_09.4_|_124___|_rest
03000_|_1500_|_06:27_|_2:09.0_|_172___|_26.7_|_08.7_|_166___|_Int #2
04500_|_0500_|_03:29_|_3:28.5_|_056___|_16.1_|_08.9_|_120___|_rest
05000_|_1500_|_06:40_|_2:13.2_|_167___|_25.1_|_09.0_|_166___|_Int #3
06500_|_0500_|_03:24_|_3:24.4_|_063___|_18.5_|_07.9_|_135___|_rest
07000_|_1500_|_06:37_|_2:12.4_|_173___|_26.1_|_08.7_|_170___|_Int #4
08500_|_0500_|_03:27_|_3:26.8_|_064___|_18.6_|_07.8_|_127___|_rest
09000_|_1500_|_06:32_|_2:10.7_|_175___|_26.8_|_08.6_|_171___|_Int #5
10500_|_2680_|_16:07_|_3:00.3_|_322___|_20.0_|_08.3_|_134___|_Cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:25_|_2:45.8_|_100___|_18.5_|_09.8_|_116___|_warmup
07500_|_32:39_|_2:10.6_|_852___|_26.1_|_08.8_|_167___|_Main set
02000_|_13:32_|_3:23.0_|_236___|_17.4_|_08.5_|_127___|_rest meters
02680_|_16:07_|_3:00.3_|_322___|_20.0_|_08.3_|_134___|_cool down
13160_|_07:42_|_2:34.3_|_1510___|_22.3_|_08.7_|_147___|_Total

Next time I do this workout, I will try to stick to a 2:11 avg pace for the first 4 reps and then try for a faster last rep.

Tomorrow:  Rate ladders (1000@18, 1000@20, 500@22, 250@24)