I’m not sure what’s wrong with me right now. I feel like my highest gear has been taken away. To put it another way, I can’t seem to really dive into the pain box. I’ve felt this way in today’s workout and also in the previous 4×8′ workout. A couple weeks ago, I felt like I could push and my HR would eventually rise up to above 180. In these past two workouts, I feel like I’m hitting a wall with my HR around 170.
Today, I pushed through the first interval on target (<1:48), but I couldn’t hold the pace during the second interval, and needed to downshift about a third of the way through. I eventually pulled it back together and ended up with a 1:50.7 pace. For the third interval, I reset the target to 1:49 and just pounded it out and finished at 1:48.8. But it felt like the longest 2K of my life, and I was spent at the end.
So, I’m not all that happy with the workout. But I have noticed this kind of thing before in my training. I go through a week or two where it is really hard to work at high heart rates, and then eventually I push through. This meso-cycle is also a really tough one for me. These long interval workouts are a bitch and trying to pump myself up for 3 of them each week is challenge. But the end is already in sight. Soon, I will be shifting gears to the sprint and power mesocycle. I’m looking forward to that in a twisted and perverse way.
I think I will do a 30 minute recovery row this afternoon, and tomorrow morning will be a normal 4×20 L4.
Quantified Rowing 
The waterfall is one of the worst sessions when you’re in the situation you’ve described. When I only did Pete plan sessions throughout the year, I would cycle from slow (fall) to fast (winter) to painful and slower (spring). Then I start doing them on the water and there is no objective measure to compare.
Unless you’re overtrained, it’s just a difficult session and there will be better ones soon.
LikeLike
I really don’t think I’m overtrained. I’ve been careful about keeping my LIT sessions easy and I don’t feel like I have any other overtraining symptoms.
One thing that has happened is that I did go through a 4 week mesocycle at power levels lower than this. In my distance mesocycle, I was generally at paces slower than 1:50. Over long sessions (60 minutes), this would build up to high HRs, but it took a while. I think that I have not adapted to the faster paces and the quicker build of lactate yet. I will in time, and I will be glad to have the additional aerobic base.
The other thing that is motivating me is that I feel like I am conducting a trial of this training methodology. I want to implement the plan in a way that is reasonably close to how it was designed. After I go through the whole season, and do the tests at the end, then I can analyze the results, draw conclusions and decide what to do next. Right now is the wrong time to adjust.
LikeLiked by 1 person
If its an early morning session it could just be not back in the routine yet.
I did an easy row early this morning and everything was well out, HR and Lactate. First early (6:30am) morning Ergo since the 18th December. My body clock has changed to lie in and so body not playing ball so early.
LikeLike
I think you could be right about that. It’s basically the same thing as jet lag. It takes me a few days to readjust after a trip to the west coast.
LikeLike