There is a nifty table in chapter 6 of Rowing Faster which provides targets for aerobic threshold (AeT) and Anaerobic Threshold (AnT) for different classes of rowers.
Since I have these wattages from my recents tests, I thought I’d look at how I stacked up.
I weight about 195lbs (88KG). So, in watts per Kg, my results were:
So, this lines up with my other tests, that my AnT is “better” than my AeT, and I should work to develop my aerobic base.
Base building week continues. So, another aerobic endurance session. Today, I had the time and energy to do the full 80 minute session.
I made a couple of tiny adjustments to reduce intensity because yesterday’s reading was so high, but they were more window dressing than real change. First thing was I went back to looking at pace instead of watts. The pace impact of that was only a couple tenths of a second during the main part of the session, but it also slowed down my 10 minute built in warmup. I think it also changed things up enough that I stopped thinking about hitting magic watts numbers and relaxed a bit.
Plan:
So, today, at virtually the same power and rate as yesterday, my HR drift was lower, and my lactates were back in target range. I’m guessing that the fatigue from Sunday’s 6K is finally out of my system.
The abnormally long rest between the 3rd and 4th pieces was a quick work phone call that I needed to take.
I think I will do a bonus 30 or 40 minutes steady state this afternoon. Tomorrow morning, I am flying off to Dallas on business. So thursday will be a rest day. I fly home on Friday, so I might be able to get in a short session Friday evening once I am home.
Feeling kind of tired this morning. I guess lack of rest is starting to catch up with me.
Plan:
HR just kept climbing today, and lactate reading was off the chart too. RPE was very high. I felt like I was working very hard.
I’m going to back off another 5 watts or so on steady state power for now.
I am scheduled for a second session this afternoon. I think extra rest might be beneficial instead. Tomorrow morning is another endurance session.
So, with the 6K test I did yesterday, I completed my first thorough fitness assessment. The tests that I did were:
Results
The 2-speed test doesn’t tell anything now. It is something that can be repeated easily to measure progress over time.
For the other tests:
The first take away from these tests is that I have a bigger gap between aerobic threshold and VO2Max. Basically, this means that my 2K is faster than “should” be based on my aerobic threshold power. I’m guessing that this means that my lactate tolerance is higher than some and allows me to overachieve on the 2K. The diagnosis is that I should build a better aerobic base.
The second take away is that the ratio between my V02Max (2K power) and my anaerobic threshold (6K power), is very small. In terms of pace, my 2K pace was 1:42.6. My 6K pace was 1:47.5. That’s a difference of 4.9 seconds. In general, for heavyweights, the rule of thumb is 5 seconds slower pace when you double the distance (Paul’s law). If you plug in my 6K pace, the predicted 2K pace is 1:39.5, about 3 splits faster! So, the take away from this for me is that my 2K is pretty damn slow.
Now consider the VO2Max to 30 sec avg power. My ratio is much higher than the “Ideal”, essentially meaning that my peak power is low relative to my VO2Max. So, even though my 2K is slow, if I was to use peak power as a predictor it should be slower still! This again points to me leaning more heavily on lactate tolerance than anaerobic power to get through the 2K distance
In essence, none of this should be surprising. I designed a training plan to focus on head racing. I wanted to optimize my performance at the 5K to 6K distance, and it looks like that is what happened. In retrospect, I would have done better if I had been able to maintain and build my aerobic base, but the deficits in peak power are entirely expected and entirely fine with me.
So, how do these results impact my training plan? Honestly, not much. I already suspected that my aerobic base was weak from the lame ass 2.0mmol steady powers that I could hold, and I baked a higher amount of endurance into the plan for that reason. I also had baked in a training block with a lot of peak power work in the last month before 2K competition since I know that those gains are temporary and tough to maintain without killing my aerobic base.
The interesting part of this (at least to me) is to see what happens when I do the test block after the Crash-Bs to see if what I’m planning to do actually works. The other thing that the testing gives me is a clue about what to do next summer to get ready for head racing season. My thought now is to replace one high intensity session per week with more endurance training. I’ll have to think some more in terms of a block periodization strategy.
Plan:
Tired legs from yesterday’s exhertions. Also a warmer room and wearing a shirt meant that I was a lot sweatier, and my HR was higher. I pulled the power down by 3 watts, and the lactates were 0.2 lower than Saturday, despite the higher RPE and HR.
This is a base building / transition week, so I’ll be sticking to endurance sessions. Tomorrow is 4 x 20’/1′. The plan calls for an afternoon session (30′ UT2), but I’m not sure if I can fit it in around work commitments.
Right before I went to go do this test, I read Sander’s post about how he might have had a PB if he went out less conservatively and had a “Contempt of Death”. I was very uncertain about what I could do today. On one hand, I haven’t done a lot of work on the erg, and I was pretty far away from PB pace on my 2K test. On the other hand, I’ve been working this distance all autumn.
So, I decided to set up three pace boats on RowPro.
I started with a 2K warmup with 3 bursts at 1:45 to 1:50.
Workout Summary – Nov 15, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_02000_|_08:07.3_|_02:01.8_|_193.6_|_19.7_|_125.7_|_ 58.0% _|_12.5_|_09.8
Then in to the main event. With Sander’s words ringing in my head, I went out to see if I could hold 1:48. I felt pretty good through 1000. By the time I got to 2000, it was starting to hurt, but my HR was nice an low. I was just counting out each 1000m. It was generally about 95 to 98 strokes per 1000. It wasn’t very dramatic, but it was pretty nasty going with 2000 to go, and I eased up just a little bit for a few strokes. With 1000 left, I knew I was going to make it and started to push a bit more. In the end, I finished with a 1:47.5 and a 21:29.9. Not the PB that I thought it was at the time, but still a hell of a row.
Thanks to Sander and the Contempt of Death.
Workout Summary – Nov 15, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_06000_|_21:29.9_|_01:47.5_|_281.8_|_26.7_|_170.1_|_ 89.4% _|_10.5_|_10.6
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI
01_|_00500_|_01:48.7_|_01:48.7_|_272.6_|_24.8_|_137.4_|_ 66.2% _|_11.1_|_11.0
02_|_00500_|_01:47.4_|_01:47.4_|_282.2_|_26.2_|_157.4_|_ 80.4% _|_10.6_|_10.8
03_|_00500_|_01:46.9_|_01:46.9_|_286.9_|_26.4_|_164.4_|_ 85.4% _|_10.6_|_10.9
04_|_00500_|_01:47.3_|_01:47.3_|_283.7_|_26.3_|_168.3_|_ 88.1% _|_10.6_|_10.8
05_|_00500_|_01:47.6_|_01:47.6_|_281.1_|_26.2_|_170.2_|_ 89.5% _|_10.6_|_10.7
06_|_00500_|_01:47.7_|_01:47.7_|_280.2_|_26.2_|_172.2_|_ 90.9% _|_10.6_|_10.7
07_|_00500_|_01:47.7_|_01:47.7_|_280.3_|_26.7_|_174.5_|_ 92.5% _|_10.4_|_10.5
08_|_00500_|_01:48.1_|_01:48.1_|_277.2_|_26.6_|_176.3_|_ 93.9% _|_10.4_|_10.4
09_|_00500_|_01:47.8_|_01:47.8_|_279.3_|_26.7_|_177.9_|_ 95.0% _|_10.4_|_10.5
10_|_00500_|_01:47.9_|_01:47.9_|_278.3_|_27.2_|_178.8_|_ 95.6% _|_10.2_|_10.2
11_|_00500_|_01:47.8_|_01:47.8_|_279.5_|_27.8_|_179.9_|_ 96.4% _|_10.0_|_10.0
12_|_00500_|_01:45.1_|_01:45.1_|_301.2_|_28.5_|_180.9_|_ 97.1% _|_10.0_|_10.6
I did a lactate test 4 minutes after finishing, just for fun. 13.6mmol/l
Then I did long “happy ending” cool down.
Workout Summary – Nov 15, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_05000_|_21:24.1_|_02:08.4_|_165.3_|_19.1_|_146.8_|_ 72.9% _|_12.3_|_08.7
Tonight, I drink my SB Beer. Tomorrow is supposed to be a rest day, but I think I will do a light endurance session instead.
During “test week”, I am doing 3 x 20′ steady state on the off days. I’m trying to home in on the right training power and also do something that I think will be easy to keep up with in future test weeks.
Today, it was chilly outside, so with open windows, it was quite cool, maybe mid-50s, and it was quite breezy, so I had a lot of air flow. I’ve noticed a very strong correlation between HR and temperature, so I expected my HR to stay low and it did. It also felt incredibly easy. I had intended to back off from 193W to 190W for todays session, but it just felt so incredibly easy, I couldn’t do it. I stuck with 193W.
As usual, I did the slow start. I’m more convinced every day that this makes a big difference
Workout Summary – Nov 14, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_14589_|_60:00.0_|_02:03.4_|_186.3_|_18.9_|_130.6_|_ 61.4% _|_12.9_|_09.9
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI
01_|_04745_|_20:00.0_|_02:06.4_|_173.1_|_17.9_|_122.7_|_ 55.8% _|_13.3_|_09.7
02_|_04919_|_20:00.0_|_02:02.0_|_192.9_|_19.4_|_132.8_|_ 63.0% _|_12.7_|_09.9
03_|_04924_|_20:00.0_|_02:01.8_|_193.5_|_19.4_|_135.7_|_ 65.0% _|_12.7_|_10.0
But lactates don’t lie. When I used this power on Thursday, I tested at 3.0mmol/l. Today, with my HR so low and a low RPE to match, I expected to test out well below 2.0, but that is not what happened. I tested out at 2.5mmol/l.
That’s a bit better than Thursday’s reading, but still above target. It just goes to show you how variable HR is as a guide for steady state training. If I was using HR as a guide, I would have pushed the pace much harder and my lactates would have probably been above 5.0 by the end.
There is a little nagging doubt in the back of mind that maybe this test was wrong. Maybe I contaminated it with a bit of sweat. But I’m pretty careful, and it isn’t that far off. I only have to be a little bit above target to start to accumulate lactate and over 60 minutes, the difference between 2.0 and 2.5 is very small.
So, I have to earn the right to train at 193W. I have to back off and get 3 tests below 2.0 before I push the pace up.
Here are my 60′ lactates
Later today I’ll be doing my 6K test. Target is sub 1:50 pace. SB last year was 1:49 pace. PB is 1:47.6 pace. I think a PB is out of reach, but if today is a good day, I might be able to match last season. I need to remember that this is just a marker for the beginning of winter training.
Objective: Row a 6:34 2K at the CRASH-B sprints on February 28, 2016
Plan Principles: The plan is based on principles from The Science Of Winning, by Jan Olbrecht, and a lecture by Stephen Seiler.
Of course this will change based on travel and life, but this is the basic template.
| Month | Day | Date | Mesocycle | AM Workout | PM Workout |
| November | M | 11/16/15 | Base building | Rest day | |
| T | 11/17/15 | 4 x 20′ UT2 / UT1 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| W | 11/18/15 | 4 x 20′ UT2 / UT1 | |||
| T | 11/19/15 | 4 x 20′ UT2 / UT1 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| F | 11/20/15 | 4 x 20′ UT2 / UT1 | |||
| S | 11/21/15 | 4 x 20′ UT2 / UT1 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| S | 11/22/15 | 4 x 20′ UT2 / UT1 | |||
| M | 11/23/15 | Hard Distance 95% LT Power |
Rest day | ||
| T | 11/24/15 | 4 x 15’/2′ | 30′ UT2 | ||
| W | 11/25/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| T | 11/26/15 | 60′ | 30′ UT2 | ||
| F | 11/27/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| S | 11/28/15 | HM | 30′ UT2 | ||
| S | 11/29/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| M | 11/30/15 | Rest day | |||
| December | T | 12/1/15 | 4 x 5K / 2′ | 30′ UT2 | |
| W | 12/2/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| T | 12/3/15 | 2 x 30′ / 5′ | 30′ UT2 | ||
| F | 12/4/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| S | 12/5/15 | HM | 30′ UT2 | ||
| S | 12/6/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| M | 12/7/15 | Rest day | |||
| T | 12/8/15 | 15 x 3′ / 1′ | 30′ UT2 | ||
| W | 12/9/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| T | 12/10/15 | 10K | 30′ UT2 | ||
| F | 12/11/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| S | 12/12/15 | HM | 30′ UT2 | ||
| S | 12/13/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| M | 12/14/15 | Rest day | |||
| T | 12/15/15 | 30′ | 30′ UT2 | ||
| W | 12/16/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| T | 12/17/15 | 60′ | 30′ UT2 | ||
| F | 12/18/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| S | 12/19/15 | HM | 30′ UT2 | ||
| S | 12/20/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| M | 12/21/15 | Long Intervals 105% LT Power |
Rest day | ||
| T | 12/22/15 | Waterfall | 30′ UT2 | ||
| W | 12/23/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| T | 12/24/15 | 4 x 2K | 30′ UT2 | ||
| F | 12/25/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| S | 12/26/15 | 5 x 1500 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| S | 12/27/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| M | 12/28/15 | Rest day | |||
| T | 12/29/15 | 3 x 10′ | 30′ UT2 | ||
| W | 12/30/15 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| T | 12/31/15 | 4 x 8′ | 30′ UT2 | ||
| January | F | 1/1/16 | 4 x 20’/1′ | ||
| S | 1/2/16 | 5 x 6′ | 30′ UT2 | ||
| S | 1/3/16 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| M | 1/4/16 | Rest day | |||
| T | 1/5/16 | Waterfall | 30′ UT2 | ||
| W | 1/6/16 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| T | 1/7/16 | 4 x 2K | 30′ UT2 | ||
| F | 1/8/16 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| S | 1/9/16 | 6K hard | 30′ UT2 | ||
| S | 1/10/16 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| M | 1/11/16 | Rest day | |||
| T | 1/12/16 | 3 x 10′ | 30′ UT2 | ||
| W | 1/13/16 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| T | 1/14/16 | 4 x 8′ | 30′ UT2 | ||
| F | 1/15/16 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| S | 1/16/16 | 5k hard | 30′ UT2 | ||
| S | 1/17/16 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| M | 1/18/16 | Short Int / Pk Power 115% LT Power |
Rest day | ||
| T | 1/19/16 | 4 x 1000 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| W | 1/20/16 | 3 x 20′ / 1′ plus PP | |||
| T | 1/21/16 | 6 x 750 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| F | 1/22/16 | 3 x 20′ / 1′ plus PP | |||
| S | 1/23/16 | 8 x 500 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| S | 1/24/16 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| M | 1/25/16 | Rest day | |||
| T | 1/26/16 | 4 x 1000 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| W | 1/27/16 | 4 x 500 | |||
| T | 1/28/16 | 3 x 500 | |||
| F | 1/29/16 | warm up only | |||
| S | 1/30/16 | Likely date for Cranberry Crunch | |||
| S | 1/31/16 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| February | M | 2/1/16 | Rest day | ||
| T | 2/2/16 | 4 x 1000 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| W | 2/3/16 | 3 x 20′ / 1′ plus PP | |||
| T | 2/4/16 | 6 x 750 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| F | 2/5/16 | 3 x 20′ / 1′ plus PP | |||
| S | 2/6/16 | 8 x 500 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| S | 2/7/16 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| M | 2/8/16 | Rest day | |||
| T | 2/9/16 | 4 x 1000 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| W | 2/10/16 | 3 x 20′ / 1′ plus PP | |||
| T | 2/11/16 | 6 x 750 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| F | 2/12/16 | 3 x 20′ / 1′ plus PP | |||
| S | 2/13/16 | 8 x 500 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| S | 2/14/16 | 4 x 20’/1′ | |||
| M | 2/15/16 | Rest day | |||
| T | 2/16/16 | 4 x 1000 | 30′ UT2 | ||
| W | 2/17/16 | 3 x 20′ / 1′ plus PP | |||
| T | 2/18/16 | 6 x 750 | |||
| F | 2/19/16 | 3 x 20′ / 1′ plus PP | |||
| S | 2/20/16 | 8 x 500 | |||
| S | 2/21/16 | 3 x 20′ / 1′ | |||
| M | 2/22/16 | Race Taper | 4 x 1000 | ||
| T | 2/23/16 | Rest day | |||
| W | 2/24/16 | 4 x 500 / 4′ | |||
| T | 2/25/16 | 3 x 500 / 4′ | |||
| F | 2/26/16 | 2 x 500 / 4′ | |||
| S | 2/27/16 | warm up only | |||
| S | 2/28/16 | Crash-B Sprints! | |||
| M | 2/29/16 | Test Week | Rest day | ||
| March | T | 3/1/16 | 2-speed | ||
| W | 3/2/16 | Peak Power | |||
| T | 3/3/16 | 3 x 20′ / 1′ | |||
| F | 3/4/16 | 2K | |||
| S | 3/5/16 | 3 x 20′ / 1′ | |||
| S | 3/6/16 | 6K | |||
Plan:
6:50.4…Not terrible, but not as good as I could have done. I had a little breakdown around 800 meters. I was fully prepared for “the wave”. When I do more speed work, I get used to the crisis moment that hits around then. Kind of a combination pain, chills, nausea, drowning feeling that passes over the course of about 10 strokes. Anyway, it hit me hard today and I paused before I really knew what was going on. I started going again almost immediately and finished without any more drama. Kind of a lame and it definitely cost me about 3 or 4 seconds off the time.
But as a marker for the start of the indoor season, it isn’t so bad. I ranked it for fun and it’s 18 out 778 in my age group (97th %-ile). I think with a month or so of base work, and then a couple months of sharpening, taking 3 seconds off my splits is entirely feasible. I’d like to build a plan to be within striking distance of my 2K PB by the crash-bs.
Tomorrow: 3×20’/1′ steady state at 190W.
More deviations from the test week plan. As I drafted the plan, I had decided that between test days, I would do 2×20′ of steady state. Today I changed my mind for a couple reasons.
Plan:
Workout Summary – Nov 12, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_14583_|_60:00.0_|_02:03.4_|_186.1_|_18.6_|_139.3_|_ 67.6% _|_13.1_|_10.0
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI
01_|_04741_|_20:00.0_|_02:06.6_|_172.7_|_17.8_|_124.6_|_ 57.2% _|_13.4_|_09.7
02_|_04922_|_20:00.0_|_02:01.9_|_193.2_|_19.0_|_143.0_|_ 70.2% _|_13.0_|_10.2
03_|_04920_|_20:00.0_|_02:02.0_|_192.9_|_19.1_|_149.4_|_ 74.8% _|_12.9_|_10.1
Lactate Reading after finishing was 3.0mmol/l vs target of <2.0.
So, 193W is a bit too much for right now. I will back off to 190W and monitor. When I get 3 readings under 2.0, I’ll push again.
It’s tough for me to remember that there is little downside to going too slow, but pushing too fast reduces the effectiveness of the training. That’s why lactate testing is such a useful tool for me.
Tomorrow: 2K time trial. I’d like to beat 6:50.
Quantified Rowing 