Weather: Cloudy, cool, around 48F. Moderate wind 5 to 10 mph from the SW. This was a headwind going up river.
My original plan was to do 5 x 2K / 5′ rest. While I drove to the river, I decided to change that to 4 x 2500 for a couple of reasons. I was running a bit late and I wanted to save the 5′ rest time and end up back at the right end of the river at the end of the last rep. I wanted to keep working on steering and 2.5km includes both the s-turn and the bridge in the rep.
So, my modified plan was
- 4 x 2500 / 5′ rest
- pace: faster than 2:15
- rate: target r28 or higher (this was the highest priority for me. I would really like to get my race rate up to 29 or 30, and right now it is more like 27)
So, I did a very quick warmup and then dove straight into my first rep. I had a tail wind and I was holding 2:10 or better without a lot of trouble. I steered around the Brandeis boats, and in the s-turn, I passed the coach from LaSall College who was doing steady state. I was happy with the line I took through the turn and the bridge was good too.
But it felt like so much work! I was tired and I wasn’t having much fun. After I finished, the dude from Lasall eventually rowed up and we had a nice chat about the HOCR. He rowed in the Master 4s with the Riverside Boat Club. I decided that I better get going on my next rep, so I started up and when the Speedcoach clicked over to 4000m, I took up the rate and discovered just how much headwind there was. It was a lot of work to get the split down below 2:20. I was still not having much fun. I threaded the needle through the bridge and then passed my friend Bruce going the other direction in front of the watch factory. I did the s-turn just right and then slowly, inexorably counted down the meters to the end of the piece. My heart rate was reasonable, and I was not in any way in distress, but gosh it was kind of miserable.
It was also getting a bit late. I realized that I would end up being a bit late for my first meeting if the traffic was bad, but I decided to go do the next rep anyway. At least I did for the first 250 meters. At that point, I just didn’t want to do it any more. So I stopped. Then I turned around and rowed back to the dock and called it a day.
This is basically something that I don’t do. I will fail on reps, miss targets, steer into weeds and cheat on rests, but I don’t think I can remember another time where I just quit on a workout. Thinking through it, it seems pretty clear what happened. I have been focused with singular intensity on the HOCR. Knowing that I would be rowing in that event was an incredible tool to stick with really hard workouts. And I felt like I did my best in the day. I have another event coming up, but it certainly is not anything like the HOCR. I certainly want to do my best, but I think I don’t have the drive to push the high intensity as hard as I was, at least for a week or so.
I think it is probably a good idea to give myself a break. Congratulate myself for a good run up to last weekend and focus on maintaining and building my base for now. I will probably pull back to one or two high intensity sessions per week until the race on Nov 7th. After that, I will be putting a new training plan into place and focusing on my next set of goals.
Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:19_|_2:42.7_|_101___|_19.0_|_09.7_|_116___|_w
01000_|_2500_|_10:45_|_2:09.1_|_297___|_27.6_|_08.4_|_162___|_m
03500_|_0500_|_03:11_|_3:11.3_|_057___|_17.9_|_08.8_|_128___|_r
04000_|_2500_|_11:36_|_2:19.1_|_315___|_27.2_|_07.9_|_168___|_m
06500_|_2340_|_14:01_|_2:59.7_|_277___|_19.8_|_08.4_|_132___|_c
Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:19_|_2:42.7_|_101___|_19.0_|_09.7_|_116___|_warmup
05000_|_22:21_|_2:14.1_|_612___|_27.4_|_08.2_|_165___|_Main set
00500_|_03:11_|_3:11.3_|_057___|_17.9_|_08.8_|_128___|_rest meters
02340_|_14:01_|_2:59.7_|_277___|_19.8_|_08.4_|_132___|_cool down
08820_|_44:52_|_2:32.6_|_1047___|_23.3_|_08.4_|_146___|_Total
Tomorrow: Steady State. 4x3k/1′ rest r20, HR cap 150
Quantified Rowing 
5k at race pace. Not bad. Reminds me of my 2x3k with no rest. I posted a video a couple of weeks ago.
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You probably do need to give yourself a break! HOCR is a long race which will have taken a lot out of you, and there was a certain lack of not training going on directly afterwards!
https://quantifiedrowing.wordpress.com/2015/10/18/sunday-3-x-20-1-rest/
😀
I talk to a lot of people at regattas and most say that a race basically takes 2 weeks out of their training schedule. The week before with high intensity stuff and taper, and the week after as they need days off (often coupled with logistics of getting boats back etc) and lighter sessions.
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