Lovely sunny weather. Still warm and humid.
Plan
- 4 rate ladders (1000m @ 18, 1000m @ 20, 500m @ 22, 250m @ 24)
- Pace target, better than 2:30 for the r18, roughly 2 to 4 seconds faster for each rate jump.
- HR cap at 157
I totally blew the HR cap. I torched the first rate ladder. Really pushed the pace through the r18 and r20 section, and didn’t want to slow down. There was a bit of a head wind heading up river, so the 2nd and fourth ladders were impacted a little bit. By the time I got to the fourth ladder, I was pretty worn out, and it felt like gremlins were attached to the bottom of my boat slowing me down.
I need to be way more disciplined in the early stages of these workouts and slow down to stay under the cap. I’m worried about tomorrow’s session now.
My HR monitor was not in the mood to work with the speedcoach, so the HR plots are from RIM. The pace and rate chart is from the speedcoach. You can see that the rate looks pretty good, but the pace is much better from the speedcoach (and you also lose the effect of upstream and down stream).
Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:24_|_2:45.4_|_085___|_15.7_|_11.5_|_099___|_warmup
01000_|_1000_|_04:48_|_2:24.1_|_086___|_17.9_|_11.6_|_139___|_18
02000_|_1000_|_04:42_|_2:21.2_|_097___|_20.6_|_10.3_|_154___|_20
03000_|_0500_|_02:15_|_2:15.1_|_050___|_22.2_|_10.0_|_163___|_22
03500_|_0250_|_01:02_|_2:04.8_|_025___|_24.0_|_10.0_|_167___|_24
03750_|_0250_|_01:41_|_3:21.0_|_028___|_16.7_|_08.9_|_129___|_turn
04000_|_1000_|_04:55_|_2:27.3_|_090___|_18.3_|_11.1_|_149___|_18
05000_|_1000_|_04:56_|_2:27.9_|_100___|_20.3_|_10.0_|_156___|_20
06000_|_0500_|_02:21_|_2:21.0_|_053___|_22.6_|_09.4_|_164___|_22
06500_|_0250_|_01:06_|_2:11.8_|_025___|_22.8_|_10.0_|_168___|_24
06750_|_0250_|_01:57_|_3:53.6_|_032___|_16.4_|_07.8_|_127___|_turn
07000_|_1000_|_05:01_|_2:30.3_|_092___|_18.4_|_10.9_|_106___|_18
08000_|_1000_|_04:56_|_2:28.2_|_102___|_20.7_|_09.8_|_107___|_20
09000_|_0500_|_02:18_|_2:18.3_|_052___|_22.6_|_09.6_|_114___|_22
09500_|_0250_|_01:02_|_2:05.0_|_025___|_24.0_|_10.0_|_110___|_24
09750_|_0250_|_01:53_|_3:45.4_|_037___|_19.7_|_06.8_|_110___|_turn
10000_|_1000_|_05:12_|_2:36.0_|_095___|_18.3_|_10.5_|_099___|_18
11000_|_1000_|_05:04_|_2:32.0_|_104___|_20.5_|_09.6_|_103___|_20
12000_|_0500_|_02:22_|_2:22.2_|_054___|_22.8_|_09.3_|_117___|_22
12500_|_0250_|_01:03_|_2:06.6_|_026___|_24.6_|_09.6_|_111___|_24
12750_|_1210_|_07:30_|_3:06.0_|_146___|_19.5_|_08.3_|_122___|_square blade
Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:24_|_2:45.4_|_085___|_15.7_|_11.5_|_099___|_warmup
04000_|_19:55_|_2:29.4_|_363___|_18.2_|_11.0_|_123___|_r18
04000_|_19:39_|_2:27.3_|_403___|_20.5_|_09.9_|_129___|_r20
02000_|_09:17_|_2:19.1_|_209___|_22.5_|_09.6_|_139___|_r22
01000_|_04:14_|_2:07.1_|_101___|_23.8_|_09.9_|_139___|_r24
11000_|_53:04_|_2:24.7_|_1076___|_20.3_|_10.2_|_129___|_main set
00750_|_05:30_|_3:40.0_|_097___|_17.6_|_07.7_|_122___|_rest meters
01210_|_07:30_|_3:06.0_|_146___|_19.5_|_08.3_|_122___|_cool down
Looking at the paces, it is curious to me how much faster I am at r22 and r24. The r20 is impacted because all of the r20 segments included going through the s-turn.
Tomorrow: 8×1000 / 2′ rest
I will probably build rate through the workout 2x 24, 2 x 26, 2 x 28, 2 x 30. I may stick at r28 depending on how well it goes.
Quantified Rowing 
A tough workout tomorrow, especially when you arrive at 28spm already tired …
I agree with your analysis. Keeping the heart rate low, ignoring the pace and taking it as an opportunity to work on technique/feel the boat run will probably make you faster in the long run. For two reasons. The first reason will appeal to your quantifying mind. It’s because the polarized plan works and that’s what you’ve been doing during winter with your lactate measurements. Take that “I am at 2:18 pace on the erg and it helps me progress” feeling to the water. The second reason is more fluffy. Work on technique, feel the boat run, watch and enjoy the river.
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