Weather: Hot as hell. Upper 70s and humid. Light, flukey headwind heading up river, maybe 2 to 4 mph.
Plan:
- 5 x 2000m / 5′ rest
- rate: r26
- pace: better than 2:15
Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:59_|_3:03.0_|_111___|_18.6_|_08.8_|_117___|_warmup
01000_|_2000_|_08:33_|_2:08.2_|_218___|_25.5_|_09.2_|_162___|_Interval #1
03000_|_0500_|_03:24_|_3:23.6_|_059___|_17.4_|_08.5_|_120___|_rest
03500_|_2000_|_08:47_|_2:11.6_|_235___|_26.8_|_08.5_|_169___|_Interval #2
05500_|_0500_|_03:35_|_3:35.0_|_067___|_18.7_|_07.5_|_131___|_rest
06000_|_2000_|_08:47_|_2:11.8_|_231___|_26.3_|_08.7_|_172___|_Interval #3
08000_|_0500_|_03:42_|_3:42.3_|_068___|_18.4_|_07.4_|_131___|_rest
08500_|_2000_|_09:03_|_2:15.7_|_239___|_26.4_|_08.4_|_172___|_Interval #4
10500_|_0500_|_03:51_|_3:51.0_|_074___|_19.2_|_06.8_|_134___|_rest
11000_|_2000_|_09:08_|_2:17.1_|_226___|_24.7_|_08.8_|_171___|_Interval #5
13000_|_3320_|_19:50_|_2:59.3_|_377___|_19.0_|_08.8_|_141___|_fo,sbr,sru
Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:59_|_3:03.0_|_111___|_18.6_|_08.8_|_117___|_warmup
10000_|_44:18_|_2:12.9_|_1149___|_25.9_|_08.7_|_169___|_Main set
02000_|_14:32_|_3:38.0_|_268___|_18.4_|_07.5_|_129___|_rest meters
03320_|_19:50_|_2:59.3_|_377___|_19.0_|_08.8_|_141___|_cool down
16300_|_24:39_|_2:35.8_|_1905___|_22.5_|_08.6_|_152___|_Total
Between the slight tail wind and fresh legs, the first 500m of the first rep felt so easy that I thought the speedcoach was broken!* I was pulling under a 2:10 split without any trouble. I just kept pushing along and sure enough around 1000m mark, it really started to bite. That’s when I went into the s-turn. I cut the corners of the turn which puts me into the up river lane coming out the turn. Unfortunately, this morning this lane happened by occupied by another sculler. To add to the problem going through the turn down river you are basically rowing right to the east, so there was a ton of solar glare looking over my shoulder and I missed him until I was only about a boat length away. I was about half an oar length off of his path, and we ended up just touching oars.
It was totally my fault and I have to be more careful through that turn when I’m rowing into the sun. I apologize profusely by email afterwards and he seems to hold no real ill will, but he would have every right to.
After that setback, I spun back up to speed and hammered through the rest of the rep. I finished with an average pace of about 2:08, which is damn fast for me.
After I finished, I noticed I was tired and regretted my exuberance.
The other reps passed painfully and uneventfully. In each of them, I would try to row to a level of effort, not a specific pace, so the ones with a headwind were a little slower. At the end of the fourth interval, I lied to myself and told me that I could stop after the 4th interval and just go home. Then after the rest, I betrayed myself and made me do the last rep as planned. I reminded myself that the HOCR was coming and it would be better to fail today than to fail then.
So, to give myself a little break, I decided to target r24 for the last rep and let the pace settle between 2:15 and 2:20. That was plenty hard enough.
I finished the 5th rep at the far end of the river, about 3K from the dock. So I rowed 1K with feet out trying to use RIM to see how clean I could get get my finishes. Then I put back on the shoes and did 500m on the square, then 500m with slow roll ups. Then I basically just limped the rest of the way home. Between the intense session and the heat, I was totally spent. I basically crawled out of the boat at the dock.
Tomorrow: 4 x 3000m / 2′ rest, r20, HR limit at 80% HRR (157)
- I didn’t believe it until I got onto the computer and compared the pace from the speedcoach with the pace from the GPS and they lined up pretty much perfectly.
Quantified Rowing 