Friday: “The Hook” – 5.9km hard

September 30, 2016Leave a comment

Weather: A bit chilly, around 50F. Brisk wind from the NNE at 11mph with gusts to 20. Lots of chop. The water was a mess.

Plan:

Warmup to north end of the lake
Head Race Piece
- ~6km
- from north end of the lake, around two island near the south end and then back to the Narrows. The radius of the turn is nearly the same as the big eliot turn in the HOCR.
- Rate: r26
- Pace: <2:15
Cool down back to boathouse

|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00008|02439|16:49|03:26.8| 17.7 | 130 |08.2|warmup
|02447|05900|26:40|02:15.6| 26.0 | 169 |08.5|Head Race Piece
|08347|01808|12:15|03:23.3| 19.6 | 142 |07.5|Cool down

500m splits
|02447|00501|02:10|02:09.7| 26.2 | 151 |08.8|
|02948|00502|02:14|02:13.5| 25.3 | 163 |08.9|
|03450|00500|02:14|02:14.0| 25.3 | 164 |08.9|
|03950|00498|02:13|02:13.5| 25.4 | 167 |08.9|
|04448|00499|02:12|02:12.3| 25.3 | 167 |09.0|
|04947|00501|02:14|02:13.7| 25.6 | 169 |08.8|
|05448|00499|02:15|02:15.3| 25.7 | 170 |08.6|
|05947|00500|02:16|02:16.0| 25.8 | 171 |08.6|
|06447|00503|02:16|02:15.2| 26.2 | 172 |08.5|
|06950|00494|02:20|02:21.7| 26.9 | 175 |07.9|
|07444|00503|02:25|02:24.1| 26.7 | 176 |07.8|
|07947|00400|01:51|02:18.7| 27.9 | 178 |07.7|

To make sense of the splits, here is a map, with the 500m chunks shown.

So, what’s going on?

0-500: 2:09.7 Nice water, tail wind, adrenaline = nice fast splits
500-1000: 2:13.5 water starts to get sloppy, we struggle to get in the groove with the tail wind
1000-1500: 2:14.0 water is worse, but the rowing is better
1500-2000: 2:13.5 water continues to degrade, I feel good enough to push a bit harder, my HR goes up from 164 to 167 in this section
2000-2500: 2:12.3 under the bridge, which kills the chop. we pick up speed and it feels pretty good
2500-3000: 2:13.7 There is enough lake between us and the bridge for the chop to pick back up. My energy is flagging a bit by this point. I start to dread the thought of the big turn.
3000-3500: 2:15.3 Just about the worst water of the row. Quite tough to get to full compression because the chop is screwing with the set of the boat.
3500-4000: 2:16.0. I have no idea why we are slow here. The water was better, and I was pushing very hard.
4000-4500: 2:15.2. Same story as the above. No idea what was slowing us down.
4500-5000: 2:21.7. The big turn. We did great along the south side of the island, but as we emerged from the lee of the island, we got hit by a big gust and a ton of chop coming down the channel between the islands. In an instant the boat slowed down to a 2:30 pace or slower. We got into the lee of the second island and actually picked up a bit of speed through the last half of the turn.
5000-5500: 2:24.1. We get out from behind the second island and turn into the teeth of the wind. The boat feels like it weighs a thousand pounds, but with the headwind, it is also set like a rock. The rowing feels very connected, and we pound up into the wind. It is pretty damn slow, but satisfying in a masochistic way.
5500-5900: 2:18.7. I brought the rate up and worked on trying to row as cleanly as I could. The pace came down and we slugged our way back to the narrows.

Final result was 2:15.6. I was hoping for better because of the tail wind, but I bet we would have been <2:15 in flat water and no wind.

One side note: Changed my pitch today. Was rigged with 4deg pitch inserts. Changed to 6 degree inserts. It might be placebo effect, but I felt like my oar depth was better and my finishes were crispier. I liked it! We checked the span, and it was 159 at stroke and 158 in bow. Joe is planning to move them both to 160.

So, I am off the water for a while. I am taking off to Asia for 11 days on Sunday. Bummer that it’s happening so close to the HOCR, but duty calls.

Thursday: Steady State OTW

September 29, 20161 Comment

On the water, down in Newton in my single.

The featured image is an aerial view that I found of the old watch factory in Waltham. The little bridge is just over 2km from the start of the rowable section of the river, and about 900m from the end at the Moody street dam. Going down river, which is from the bottom of the picture to the top, you need to go through the span of the bridge right against the right hand shore, so you need to turn right at the corner of the straight wall to line up with the bridge. Also notice that the bridge crosses the river at an angle so you need to turn aggressively in the other direction as soon as you have your line to the bridge. It adds a bit of fun to workouts and keeps my head on a swivel!

Weather: Cool and Breezy. Wind was NNE between 5 and 10mph with gusts to 15mph. This was a head wind going downriver and a tail wind coming up river. It was forecast to be overcast, but it was actually mostly clear. A lovely fall day, really.

Plan:

4 lengths of the river
Short stops for a drink of water at the end of each chunk.
Rate: r20
Pace: better than 2:30
HR Cap: 155
Technique: Work on balance, try to get blades off the water on recovery. Work on getting a good reach at the catch and staying forward through the initial drive.

Today I decided that I would be careful enough and get data to recalibrate my speedcoach. Instead of using the built in routine, I decided to just match start times and durations of the four moving segments between speedcoach and RIM, and then use the formula helpfully provided in the speedcoach manual.

Here is the Speedcoach data….

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00009_|_1094_|_06:15_|_2:51.5_|_117___|_18.7_|_09.4_|_121___|_warmup
01103_|_2779_|_14:32_|_2:36.8_|_294___|_20.2_|_09.5_|_148___|_m
03882_|_0099_|_00:38_|_3:09.9_|_011___|_17.6_|_09.0_|_136___|_r
03981_|_2643_|_13:24_|_2:32.0_|_272___|_20.3_|_09.7_|_150___|_m
06624_|_0134_|_00:58_|_3:36.4_|_013___|_13.4_|_10.3_|_133___|_r
06758_|_2727_|_14:37_|_2:40.7_|_296___|_20.3_|_09.2_|_151___|_m
09485_|_0086_|_00:36_|_3:29.3_|_008___|_13.3_|_10.8_|_123___|_r
09571_|_2672_|_13:35_|_2:32.6_|_274___|_20.2_|_09.8_|_150___|_m
12243_|_1097_|_06:10_|_2:48.4_|_125___|_20.3_|_08.8_|_141___|_c

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
01094_|_06:15_|_2:51.5_|_117___|_18.7_|_09.4_|_121___|_warmup
10821_|_56:07_|_2:35.6_|_1136___|_20.2_|_09.5_|_150___|_Main set
00319_|_02:12_|_3:26.3_|_032___|_14.6_|_10.0_|_131___|_rest meters
01097_|_06:10_|_2:48.4_|_125___|_20.3_|_08.8_|_141___|_cool down
13331_|_10:44_|_2:39.2_|_1410___|_19.9_|_09.5_|_146___|_Total

The important bit is the time and distance for the main set

10821m in 56:07 sec.

Here is the RIM data

| Tstart_ | Dist_ | Time_ | _Pace_ | SPM_ | avgHR | _DPS___ | Remarks
| 00:00.0 | 01243 | 08:14 | 3:18.7 | 15.6 | 113.6 | 09.7 | warming up
| 07:44.0 | 02884 | 14:35 | 2:31.7 | 20.3 | 147.8 | 09.7 |
| 22:19.0 | 00167 | 01:20 | 3:59.5 | 20.3 | 138.5 | 06.2 |
| 23:39.0 | 02737 | 13:20 | 2:26.1 | 20.4 | 150.5 | 10.1 |
| 36:59.0 | 00150 | 02:02 | 6:46.7 | 18.6 | 132.9 | 04.0 |
| 39:01.0 | 02808 | 14:35 | 2:35.8 | 20.3 | 150.9 | 09.5 |
| 53:36.0 | 00140 | 01:48 | 6:25.7 | 19.4 | 137.1 | 04.0 |
| 55:24.0 | 02797 | 13:36 | 2:25.9 | 20.3 | 149.6 | 10.1 |
| 09:00.0 | 01198 | 06:34 | 2:44.4 | 21.3 | 142.4 | 08.6 |

| Tstart_ | Dist_ | Time_ | _Pace_ | SPM_ | avgHR | _DPS___ | Remarks
| 00:00.0 | 01243 | 08:14 | 3:18.7 | 15.6 | 113.6 | 09.7 | warmup
| 00:00.0 | 11226 | 56:06 | 2:29.9 | 20.3 | 149.7 | 09.8 | Mainset
| 00:00.0 | 00457 | 05:10 | 5:39.2 | 19.3 | 135.8 | 04.6 | rests
| 00:00.0 | 01198 | 06:34 | 2:44.4 | 21.3 | 142.4 | 08.6 | cool down

From RIM, 11226 in 56:07

The formula is

new cal factor = (old cal factor * true distance) / displayed distance

(0.962 * 11226) / 10821 = 0.998 (my new cal factor)

Look at that, I’ve gained 5 seconds of boat speed without working any harder!

Other than this, the workout was entirely unremarkable. My hands are a mess. I have blisters on my index fingers, and a bad one under the callous at the base of my ring finger. Today didn’t make them any worse, but my hands hurt a bit during the row. I must be gripping differently in the double and causing some trouble.

The wind was enough to be noticeable, but there wasn’t any chop (I love this river!) So, I set the pace by using the HR limit. If I got up to the limit, I would back off the pressure a bit to bring it back in line.

Tomorrow: Back to Quinsig. Another attempt at the grand hook workout. 6km with a big turn starting at about the 5km mark. Great practice for head racing!

Wednesday:4 x 5 x 2′

September 28, 20161 Comment

Weather: Wind from the NE. Weather data says it was less than 5mph, but it felt stronger than that on the lake. Overcast, but no fog!

Plan:

Warmup to north end of the lake
4 x ( 5 x 2′ / 30″ paddle)
3 ish minute rests between sets
- with a minute or so of square blade drills in each rest
rate pyramid in each set of 5: 24, 26, 28, 26, 24
pace: better than 2:15
Cool down with some feet out rowing to work on finishes

We did 2 power 10s and a 20 during the warmup and finished with a minute or so of alternating squared and feathered.

The first 2 sets were with a tail wind. It made us a bit sloppy. The r28 felt good though. The boat felt nice and light and I felt unhurried and like we in good sync.

We did about minute of square blade drills in the breaks between sets. Between sets 2 and 3, we did about 2 minutes of drills in the cove. The water was nice a flat, and frankly, I wanted a bit more rest for the last two sets.

When we headed up into the wind, we were a lot slower. Just about 10 seconds difference in pace between the downwind and upwind pieces. But even though the boat felt heavier, I felt like our technique was a bit more solid. At times in a couple of the intervals, we would lose the set of the boat for a few strokes. I would find myself dragging my starboard oar, dropping in the catch early because the boat felt unstable, or basking my right thumb on the opposite oar toward the end of the stroke. The good news is that we seemed to be able to get back on track within the interval.

| Tstart_ | Dist_ | Time_ | _Pace_ | SPM_ | avgHR | _DPS___ | Remarks
| 00:00.0 | 02498 | 16:30 | 3:18.2 | 18.3 | 122.6 | 08.3 | warming up
| 16:30.0 | 00469 | 02:00 | 2:07.9 | 24.0 | 151.8 | 09.8 |
| 18:30.0 | 00096 | 00:30 | 2:36.3 | 22.8 | 156.3 | 08.4 |
| 19:00.0 | 00466 | 01:59 | 2:07.7 | 26.0 | 160.8 | 09.0 |
| 20:59.0 | 00097 | 00:31 | 2:39.8 | 23.8 | 162.1 | 07.9 |
| 21:30.0 | 00477 | 02:00 | 2:05.8 | 27.3 | 164.8 | 08.7 |
| 23:30.0 | 00092 | 00:30 | 2:43.0 | 23.3 | 165.1 | 07.9 |
| 24:00.0 | 00459 | 02:00 | 2:10.7 | 25.6 | 165.5 | 09.0 |
| 26:00.0 | 00080 | 00:30 | 3:07.5 | 23.2 | 165.1 | 06.9 |
| 26:30.0 | 00470 | 02:00 | 2:07.7 | 24.4 | 166.4 | 09.6 |
| 28:30.0 | 00331 | 02:30 | 3:46.6 | 21.1 | 141.8 | 06.3 |
| 31:00.0 | 00443 | 02:00 | 2:15.4 | 23.9 | 153.3 | 09.3 |
| 33:00.0 | 00075 | 00:30 | 3:20.0 | 23.7 | 156.9 | 06.3 |
| 33:30.0 | 00450 | 01:59 | 2:12.2 | 26.2 | 162.1 | 08.7 |
| 35:29.0 | 00097 | 00:31 | 2:39.8 | 24.7 | 166.1 | 07.6 |
| 36:00.0 | 00462 | 02:00 | 2:09.9 | 28.3 | 169.0 | 08.2 |
| 38:00.0 | 00086 | 00:30 | 2:54.4 | 24.8 | 170.1 | 06.9 |
| 38:30.0 | 00448 | 02:00 | 2:13.9 | 27.0 | 170.7 | 08.3 |
| 40:30.0 | 00091 | 00:30 | 2:44.8 | 24.8 | 172.0 | 07.3 |
| 41:00.0 | 00439 | 02:00 | 2:16.7 | 25.5 | 171.8 | 08.6 |
| 43:00.0 | 00627 | 06:59 | 5:34.1 | 23.3 | 127.7 | 03.8 |
| 49:59.0 | 00429 | 02:01 | 2:21.0 | 24.2 | 153.2 | 08.8 |
| 52:00.0 | 00080 | 00:30 | 3:07.5 | 22.7 | 158.8 | 07.0 |
| 52:30.0 | 00425 | 02:00 | 2:21.2 | 26.4 | 162.9 | 08.1 |
| 54:30.0 | 00088 | 00:30 | 2:50.5 | 24.9 | 166.8 | 07.1 |
| 55:00.0 | 00445 | 02:00 | 2:14.8 | 28.3 | 168.7 | 07.9 |
| 57:00.0 | 00085 | 00:30 | 2:56.5 | 24.9 | 170.1 | 06.8 |
| 57:30.0 | 00420 | 01:59 | 2:21.7 | 26.4 | 170.1 | 08.0 |
| 59:29.0 | 00082 | 00:31 | 3:09.0 | 23.9 | 169.2 | 06.6 |
| 00:00.0 | 00424 | 02:00 | 2:21.5 | 24.7 | 167.5 | 08.6 |
| 02:00.0 | 00252 | 03:00 | 5:57.1 | 19.9 | 140.1 | 04.2 |
| 05:00.0 | 00413 | 02:00 | 2:25.3 | 24.3 | 153.0 | 08.5 |
| 07:00.0 | 00079 | 00:30 | 3:09.9 | 23.7 | 162.7 | 06.7 |
| 07:30.0 | 00432 | 02:00 | 2:18.9 | 26.2 | 164.4 | 08.3 |
| 09:30.0 | 00078 | 00:30 | 3:12.3 | 24.3 | 165.4 | 06.4 |
| 10:00.0 | 00426 | 02:00 | 2:20.8 | 27.5 | 166.8 | 07.7 |
| 12:00.0 | 00073 | 00:29 | 3:18.6 | 24.3 | 168.7 | 06.2 |
| 12:29.0 | 00426 | 02:01 | 2:22.0 | 26.4 | 168.7 | 08.0 |
| 14:30.0 | 00078 | 00:30 | 3:12.3 | 23.8 | 170.9 | 06.6 |
| 15:00.0 | 00429 | 02:00 | 2:19.9 | 25.3 | 169.8 | 08.5 |
| 17:00.0 | 00297 | 01:20 | 2:14.7 | 28.9 | 175.7 | 07.7 |
| 18:20.0 | 02439 | 16:34 | 3:23.8 | 20.0 | 136.7 | 07.4 |

| Tstart_ | Dist_ | Time_ | _Pace_ | SPM_ | avgHR | _DPS___ | Remarks
| 00:00.0 | 02498 | 16:30 | 3:18.2 | 18.3 | 122.6 | 08.3 | warm up
| 00:00.0 | 02567 | 20:31 | 3:59.8 | 22.8 | 146.0 | 05.5 | rests
| 00:00.0 | 02439 | 16:34 | 3:23.8 | 20.0 | 136.7 | 07.4 | cool down
| 00:00.0 | 01821 | 08:00 | 2:11.8 | 24.5 | 160.8 | 09.3 | r24 downwind
| 00:00.0 | 01823 | 07:58 | 2:11.1 | 26.2 | 164.8 | 08.7 | r26 downwind
| 00:00.0 | 00939 | 04:00 | 2:07.8 | 27.8 | 166.9 | 08.4 | r28 downwind
| 00:00.0 | 01695 | 08:01 | 2:21.9 | 24.6 | 160.8 | 08.6 | r24 upwind
| 00:00.0 | 01703 | 08:00 | 2:20.9 | 26.3 | 166.5 | 08.1 | r26 upwind
| 00:00.0 | 01168 | 05:20 | 2:17.0 | 28.1 | 169.7 | 07.8 | r28 upwind

Put it all together and you get an average pace for all intervals of 2:15.5. This is a bit slower than the last time we did this workout. That time we did it in 2:14.1 in perfect water. Today I also had a bit higher heart rate, so more effort to go slower.

My assumption is that the difference is down to wind. I would guess that the tail wind was giving us about 3 seconds of pace, and the head wind was costing us about 7, that would yield about 2 seconds of pace degradation.

Tomorrow: Back in my single for an easy r20 session.

Tuesday: 4 x 20′ L4

September 27, 20161 Comment

It was pouring rain this morning. I decided to do an erg session instead of heading out to the river. It’s funny. I think last year, I probably would have scoffed at the elements and gone out anyway, but this year, I seem to feel a little different. Less driven perhaps. More normal perhaps. Who knows.

So, I got to the gym at work around 7AM and settled in for an endurance workout.

Plan:

4 x 20′
1′ rests
L4 format
ramp power up from 160W during the first 10 minutes
Target power 185W avg
HR cap: 155

After the sublime 40′ session last night, I was wondering what it would feel like today. I started even more conservatively than yesterday, with 4′ at 16, then 3′ at 17, etc up to 1′ at 19. Then I went into 10 minutes of flipping between 18 and 19. Despite the fact that I was rowing about 12W lower power through the first 20 minutes, my HR response was almost the same as yesterday. During the second 20 minutes, my session yesterday was 6W higher, but had a marginally lower HR. My RPE definitely matched the HR data. I felt like I was working a lot harder for it today.

Here is a graphical comparison (courtesy of rowsandall.com). The red trace was yesterday, and the blue trace today.

I am intrigued by the difference. I would love to tease apart the causes. Potential contributors:

Incomplete recovery (about 14 hours from yesterday’s session to today’s)
Closed to fasted state this morning (just a coffee with some skim milk) vs 3 hours after lunch yesterday
Time of day (I always seem to do better in afternoon sessions)
Humidity (it was about the same temp, but higher humidity this morning)
Socks yesterday, sneakers today

It would take a while to really exercise all of these variables. But I think this points to a potential issue in many training approaches. At least for me, I don’t think it is valid to use a power @ 2mmol/l guideline that was measured in the afternoon for morning sessions or visa versa. Unless I can explain the causes for the difference.

Tomorrow: Back on Quinsig for another 4 x ( 5 x 2′ / 30″ paddle) / 3′ rest

Monday PM: 40′ L4

September 26, 2016September 27, 2016Leave a comment

Towards the end of the day, I was still feeling a bit unsatisfied by the interrupted morning session. It provided some HIT, but not nearly as much active time as I had hoped. I decided to do a shortish L4 session.

Of course I was not entirely prepared to do an erg session at work. I puyt back on my sweaty clothes from the morning, and rowed in socks, since my sneakers were at home, but it was a wonderful session. I felt strong.

Plan:

L4 format
Start at 16spm and 160w and work up to target power over the first 10 minutes.
target power 185. I figured that I would do alternating 2′ sections of 180W and 190W
HR cap of 150

SO, I started with 2′ at r16, then 2′ at r17, then r18, then r19. I was just barely nudging up into the UT2 HR zone, so I pushed on to r20 and 200W for 2 minutes. The next 10 minutes I flipped back and forth between r19 and r20. My HR went up into the UT1 zone around the 20 minute mark and I decided to back off the power a bit, so I changed the middle 2 minutes down to a r18 (180W), and my HR came down nicely. So, for the rest of the workout, I just cycled between r18,r19, and r20.

It was a wonderful workout. I enjoyed every minute of it.

Monday: Equipment Problems Mar Threshold Session

September 26, 2016Leave a comment

Weather: Cold (35-40F). Thick mist rising off the warm lake water. Light wind from the north, maybe 5mph. Damn near pitch black when we launched. Between the mist and the darkness, it was a tough day to be steering the boat. I felt bad for Joe, he was looking around almost every stroke, trying to pick out dim bow lights in the gloom.

Plan:

Warm up to north end of the lake including a few power 10s and 20s
5.8km from North end of the lake to the south end, finishing with a broad turn back to finish around the beach.
- r26
- pace: ~2:15
Cool down and drills back to the boathouse

It started off well enough. It was cold and damp when we launched and as soon as we got out onto the lake, we noticed the light breeze from the north. It was enough to make something bigger than ripples, but smaller than waves.

We did 2 10s and one 20 on the way up to the north end of the lake and spun around to head south again. We got up to speed over about 5 strokes and then settled into a nice rhythm at 26 spm. The boat was moving pretty well. We about 1500 meters into the piece, when I hear a big THWANG! from my port oarlock. I look out and the backstay is flapping around and there is no bolt on the top of the pin holding the oarlock in place. We paddle in to the dock from there and scrounge up some spacers and a new bolt to get it all repaired. On the map below, the red arrow is the scene of the crime.

So, now we need a new plan. I thought it would make sense to go from the route 9 bridge down to the islands, do the same broad turn, and then take it all the way back up the lake back to the bridge. I figure that this would be almost 6km, so a pretty good approximation of the original plan.

Off we go. We paddle to the bridge and then take it up to r26. Again, the boat is moving pretty well. We surge down lake, and along the way, Joe points out a big inflatable boat-like object drifting unoccupied on the other side of the lake. Well, that’s another thing to keep our eyes open for, now isn’t it. We continue down through the narrows, and past the first island. Joe lines us up for the beginning of the turn and we blast along the south shore of the big island. We are in pea soup fog at this point, and about to cross the uplake channel, so Joe start’s shouting “Look Ahead!” as loud as he can, just in case there is a boat hidden in the murk. As fortune would have it, there wasn’t and we zipped across the lane and around the outside of the smaller island and finished the turn. We were just settling back in for the rest of the journey up lake, when THWANG!, Joe’s port back stay is flapping in the breeze and he has no top bolt on his oarlock anymore. We assessed the situation, Joe grabbed the spacers off the top of the pin, so we didn’t lose them overboard, and we picked back up the pace once again. I imagine that it would have been a bit nerve wracking for Joe, because one bad finish and his oarlock would have sailed off the top of the pin, but he rowed clean and no disasters happened. In fact, after he spotted the drifting inflatable, and the fog cleared a bit, we managed some of the cleanest and fastest rowing we did during the whole session.

In the map below, the arrow shows where the second backstay let go.

We fixed the backstay when we got to the dock, and I checked the tightness of the top bolts on all of the oarlocks. (Something I obviously should have done when I fixed the first one!, Doooh!) There was some good rowing, but all in all, a hugely unsatisfying session.

Here’s HR, pace and rate for the warmup and the first piece.

|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00010|02310|15:04|03:15.7| 17.7 | 126 |08.6|warmup
|02320|01576|07:02|02:13.9| 25.5 | 154 |08.8|rep #1
|03896|00533|07:02|06:35.9| 22.3 | 112 |03.4|busted backstay

|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00000|02310|15:04|03:15.7| 17.7 | 126 |08.6|warmup
|00000|01576|07:02|02:13.9| 25.5 | 154 |08.8|main set
|00000|00533|07:02|06:35.9| 22.3 | 112 |03.4|rests

I felt like we were faster than the shown average, so I did some 250 splits. We had two slow downs

|02320|00247|01:05|02:11.6| 26.0 | 136 |08.8|
|02567|00251|01:06|02:11.5| 25.3 | 152 |09.0|
|02818|00250|01:08|02:16.0| 25.5 | 155 |08.7| <—slow down
|03068|00249|01:06|02:12.5| 25.5 | 158 |08.9|
|03317|00252|01:07|02:12.9| 25.5 | 159 |08.9|
|03569|00250|01:08|02:16.0| 25.6 | 160 |08.6| <—Slow down

Here’s the same for the second half.

|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00009|00321|03:32|05:30.2| 07.7 | 090 |11.8|warmup
|00330|03449|15:39|02:16.1| 26.2 | 157 |08.4|rep #2
|03779|00118|00:49|03:27.6| 24.1 | 150 |06.0|busted backstay
|03897|01623|07:13|02:13.4| 27.1 | 161 |08.3|rep #3
|05520|00287|03:06|05:24.0| 20.4 | 124 |04.5|rest

|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00000|00321|03:32|05:30.2| 07.7 | 090 |11.8|warmup
|00000|05072|22:52|02:15.3| 26.5 | 158 |08.4|main set
|00000|00405|03:55|04:50.1| 21.2 | 130 |04.9|rests

Again, I felt like we were faster, so I looked at the splits.

This is the chunk from the bridge, down around the islands and starting back north.

|00348|00500|02:14|02:14.0| 25.6 | 142 |08.7|
|00848|00501|02:17|02:16.7| 25.6 | 152 |08.6|<— Not sure what slowed us down here.
|01349|00497|02:15|02:15.8| 25.8 | 156 |08.6|
|01846|00504|02:16|02:14.9| 26.4 | 159 |08.4|
|02350|00500|02:16|02:16.0| 26.4 | 162 |08.4|
|02850|00496|02:17|02:18.1| 27.2 | 165 |08.0| <—Main part of the turn
|03346|00391|01:47|02:16.8| 26.4 | 164 |08.3|

|03850|00497|02:18|02:18.8| 26.2 | 152 |08.2|<—trying to see if it worked with no bolt
|04347|00502|02:13|02:12.5| 27.2 | 162 |08.3|
|04849|00500|02:12|02:12.0| 27.2 | 166 |08.3|
|05349|00171|00:44|02:08.7| 28.5 | 169 |08.2|<—big 20 to finish

So, the plan was for 5800m of threshold, we got 6500m of threshold, but in 3 pieces with long rests.

Tomorrow: The weather is supposed to be terrible, so I think I will do a 4×20 steady state session on the erg at work.

Saturday: 40km easy bike ride

September 25, 2016Leave a comment

Down on the cape.

We’re heading back this afternoon. I’m hoping to do an easy hour later today on the erg, and then a head race piece with Joe tomorrow morning.

Friday: 4 x ( 5 x 2′ hard / 30″ paddle) / 3′ rest (2x)

September 23, 2016September 23, 20161 Comment

Thursday: I felt very tired when the alarm went off at 5:15am. I hit the snooze button and slept in. I took it as a rest day.

Weather: Incredible, again. Flat water. nice temperature. What an amazing fall it’s been.

I was out in Worcester again this morning for another hard session with Joe. Today, the objective was to work on our technique and synchronization at race rate and pressure.

Plan:

4 sets of 5 x 2′ hard / 30″ paddle
3 or 4 minutes between sets
rate: 24/26/28/26/24 in each set
pace: ~2:15
technique: work on blade depth and cleaner finishes

First we did a 2K warmup to the north end of the lake. In the warmup up we did a couple of power 10s and one power 20 to get a taste of what was to come.

We set up and started from the North end. The first set of five we enthusiastic, but a bit ragged in terms of technique. Joe also needed to do a hell of a lot of looking around, so he felt like he could really get in a good groove. It was still very dark and there were quite a few eights out on the water with pitifully dim lights. He was rightfully concerned that we might plow right into one.

The first set finished up a bit south of the bridge, so we did a quick loop to make sure we wouldn’t run out of lake in the second set. The second set was much better in terms of technique, but a bit slower. The last two pieces in this set were a bit shaky.

Then we paddled the rest of the way to the south end of the lake, and set up for the third set. From the first two sets, I think we both had a better idea of a sustainable level of pressure and could focus a bit more on technique. The r28 rep in this set was especially crisp. The 2nd to last rep of this set was a bit ragged, but the last rep at r24 was much better.

This set finished a bit south of the Rt 9 Bridge. We took a bit shorter rest here and got into the last set. The first rep finished under the bridge. The next two were good, and then the end was in sight. The 2nd to last at r26 was not memorable, but the last one at r24 started right in front of the QRA docks. This time of day, there is always a bunch of people there, so I could feel myself sitting up straighter and really concentrating on nailing every single stroke. It ended up being just about as fast as the very first rep we did at the beginning of the workout. Amazing what pridefulness can inspire…

On the way back to the dock we worked on a bit of square blade rowing. We did some alternating square and feathered (I love doing that!), and then some sets of 5 and 10 square blade strokes at a time. This was a mess at the start, but we improved a lot over about a 1000 meters. We went straight from rowing on the square into a couple of power 20s, and they felt great! Some of the best, crispest stroke we took all day. I think we have to do some rowing on the square in our warmups from now on.

Looking at the splits for the different rates is interesting.

r24: 2:15.1
r26: 2:14.2
r28: 2:11.8

I was expecting to see a bit more speedup from 24 to 26. I think that might be because we had r24 reps for the very first and very last reps, so they were a bit faster. Still, since r26 is most likely our go to pace for head races, we have to do some more work on efficiency at that rate.

| Tstart_ | Dist_ | Time_ | _Pace_ | SPM_ | avgHR | _DPS___ | Remarks
| 00:00.0 | 02424 | 16:00 | 3:18.0 | 15.2 | 120.6 | 10.0 | warming up
| 16:00.0 | 00464 | 02:00 | 2:09.3 | 24.4 | 149.7 | 09.5 |
| 18:00.0 | 00095 | 00:30 | 2:37.9 | 22.0 | 159.1 | 08.6 |
| 18:30.0 | 00464 | 02:00 | 2:09.3 | 26.2 | 161.9 | 08.8 |
| 20:30.0 | 00088 | 00:29 | 2:44.8 | 23.1 | 164.8 | 07.9 |
| 20:59.0 | 00467 | 02:01 | 2:09.6 | 28.0 | 164.0 | 08.3 |
| 23:00.0 | 00088 | 00:30 | 2:50.5 | 23.1 | 166.7 | 07.6 |
| 23:30.0 | 00455 | 02:00 | 2:11.9 | 26.4 | 164.5 | 08.6 |
| 25:30.0 | 00090 | 00:30 | 2:46.7 | 23.2 | 167.2 | 07.8 |
| 26:00.0 | 00452 | 02:00 | 2:12.7 | 24.8 | 165.4 | 09.1 |
| 28:00.0 | 00436 | 04:30 | 5:09.6 | 21.8 | 124.6 | 04.5 |
| 32:30.0 | 00452 | 02:00 | 2:12.7 | 24.9 | 147.1 | 09.1 |
| 34:30.0 | 00089 | 00:30 | 2:48.5 | 23.0 | 160.3 | 07.8 |
| 35:00.0 | 00450 | 01:59 | 2:12.2 | 26.3 | 162.9 | 08.6 |
| 36:59.0 | 00092 | 00:31 | 2:48.5 | 23.8 | 166.3 | 07.5 |
| 37:30.0 | 00449 | 02:00 | 2:13.6 | 28.1 | 164.8 | 08.0 |
| 39:30.0 | 00087 | 00:30 | 2:52.4 | 24.0 | 168.4 | 07.3 |
| 40:00.0 | 00438 | 02:00 | 2:17.0 | 26.4 | 166.1 | 08.3 |
| 42:00.0 | 00088 | 00:30 | 2:50.5 | 24.4 | 168.4 | 07.2 |
| 42:30.0 | 00426 | 02:00 | 2:20.8 | 24.6 | 165.7 | 08.6 |
| 44:30.0 | 00563 | 05:00 | 4:26.4 | 20.2 | 128.9 | 05.6 |
| 49:30.0 | 00444 | 01:59 | 2:14.0 | 24.7 | 149.0 | 09.0 |
| 51:29.0 | 00093 | 00:31 | 2:46.7 | 23.7 | 160.8 | 07.6 |
| 52:00.0 | 00447 | 02:00 | 2:14.2 | 26.3 | 160.6 | 08.5 |
| 54:00.0 | 00086 | 00:30 | 2:54.4 | 24.3 | 164.5 | 07.1 |
| 54:30.0 | 00454 | 02:00 | 2:12.2 | 28.7 | 165.3 | 07.9 |
| 56:30.0 | 00083 | 00:30 | 3:00.7 | 24.5 | 169.8 | 06.8 |
| 57:00.0 | 00427 | 02:00 | 2:20.5 | 26.9 | 164.6 | 07.9 |
| 59:00.0 | 00080 | 00:29 | 3:01.2 | 24.7 | 165.7 | 06.7 |
| 59:29.0 | 00438 | 02:01 | 2:18.1 | 25.0 | 163.9 | 08.7 |
| 01:30.0 | 00258 | 03:00 | 5:48.8 | 19.8 | 131.8 | 04.4 |
| 04:30.0 | 00428 | 02:00 | 2:20.2 | 24.6 | 149.0 | 08.7 |
| 06:30.0 | 00096 | 00:30 | 2:36.3 | 24.6 | 161.2 | 07.8 |
| 07:00.0 | 00446 | 02:00 | 2:14.5 | 27.1 | 161.3 | 08.2 |
| 09:00.0 | 00081 | 00:30 | 3:05.2 | 24.4 | 165.2 | 06.6 |
| 09:30.0 | 00455 | 02:00 | 2:11.9 | 29.1 | 166.1 | 07.8 |
| 11:30.0 | 00084 | 00:30 | 2:58.6 | 25.0 | 170.5 | 06.7 |
| 12:00.0 | 00443 | 01:59 | 2:14.3 | 26.8 | 166.8 | 08.3 |
| 13:59.0 | 00086 | 00:31 | 3:00.2 | 24.6 | 170.6 | 06.8 |
| 14:30.0 | 00448 | 02:00 | 2:13.9 | 25.2 | 169.7 | 08.9 |
| 16:30.0 | 02355 | 18:21 | 3:53.8 | 24.2 | 134.4 | 05.3 |

| Tstart_ | Dist_ | Time_ | _Pace_ | SPM_ | avgHR | _DPS___ | Remarks
| 00:00.0 | 02424 | 16:00 | 3:18.0 | 15.2 | 120.6 | 10.0 |warm up
| 00:00.0 | 02663 | 20:31 | 3:51.1 | 21.9 | 142.7 | 05.9 | rests
| 00:00.0 | 02355 | 18:21 | 3:53.8 | 24.2 | 134.4 | 05.3 | cool down
| 00:00.0 | 03552 | 16:00 | 2:15.1 | 24.8 | 157.5 | 09.0 | r24 pieces
| 00:00.0 | 03570 | 15:58 | 2:14.2 | 26.6 | 163.6 | 08.4 | r26 pieces
| 00:00.0 | 01825 | 08:01 | 2:11.8 | 28.5 | 165.0 | 08.0 | r28 pieces

Wednesday: Twisty 4 x 2k / 4′ rest (2x)

September 21, 2016Leave a comment

Weather: Awesome. Sunrise is at 6:33am, so when we launched at 5:40 it was still very dark. The eastern sky was just starting to lighten up. No wind. Clear skies. Flat water.

In the race last weekend, one of our week points was maintaining speed and technique during the big sweeping turns. Today’s workout was designed to try to practice that. In the south end of the lake, there are a set of small islands and the lake is much wider. I looked at it compared the turn radius that you need to hold for the big turn on the charles before the Eliot Bridge. The inset in the map below is the Eliot turn. The rest of the map is the south end of Lake Quinsigamond at exactly the same scale. By doing a figure 8 around the little island on the eastern side of the lake, it is a similar turn to two Eliot Bridge turns in opposite directions. If you start and finish at the small island to the north, it’s about 2000m.

Plan:

4 x 2000m
3′ to 5′ rest
spm: 24-28
pace: faster than 2:20
technique: try to avoid digging too deep. Clean up finishes. work on maintaining speed in the turn.

It turned out to be a very hard workout! I’m not sure about Joe, but it nearly killed me. I was a bit lightheaded and woozy for a while after we landed.

Here’s the whole thing on a map. The boathouse is on the top, and we warmed up going down lake to the little island next to the google maps red “pin”. Then there are four loops around the islands. Then a cool down going back up to the boathouse.

Here is a zoom of each of the four loops.

As we went along, Joe got more and more comfortable with the best line around the small island. The biggest difference was from rep number 2 to rep number 3. In Reps 1 and two we lost a ton of boat speed at the apex of the turn. You can see the divot in the pace plot. In rep #1, the pace was killed around the 3000m point, and we slowed all the way to a 2:42 pace. We only got back our boat speed in the last 400m or so. In rep #2, we still lost speed at the apex of the curve, and the pace dropped to 2:33, but we managed to get back on track sooner. In rep #3, the pace never got worse than 2:27 and we held boat speed through the whole back half of the turn. By the fourth rep, I was toast. I rated lower and rowed like crap.

The piece splits back that up. Rep #2 had a furious sprint at the end at 30 spm, but was still slower overall than the third rep.

|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00010|01990|10:45|02:42.1| 17.7 | 131 |10.5|warmup
|02000|01999|09:39|02:24.8| 26.6 | 162 |07.8|rep #1
|03999|00251|03:28|06:54.3| 18.1 | 126 |04.0|rest
|04250|02000|09:13|02:18.3| 28.1 | 166 |07.7|rep #2
|06250|00500|06:04|06:04.0| 13.9 | 129 |06.0|rest
|06750|01928|08:51|02:17.7| 27.2 | 170 |08.0|rep #3
|08678|00341|04:27|06:31.5| 26.2 | 130 |02.9|rest
|09019|02001|09:47|02:26.7| 26.0 | 168 |07.9|Rep #4
|11020|02171|13:56|03:12.5| 20.7 | 146 |07.5|cool down
|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00000|01990|10:45|02:42.1| 17.7 | 131 |10.5|warmup
|00000|07928|37:30|02:21.9| 26.9 | 166 |07.9|main set
|00000|01092|13:59|06:24.2| 18.8 | 129 |04.1|rests
|00000|02171|13:56|03:12.5| 20.7 | 146 |07.5|cool down

I’d call that about 38′ of HIT and 37′ of LIT.

Tomorrow: 75′ steady state in my single down in Newton.

Week #10 Training Review

September 20, 2016Leave a comment

Date	Day	Workout Type	mode	Planned Workout	*Actual*
9/12/16	Mon	Rest		Rest 0′ HIT 0′ LIT	5.5K hard 25′ HIT 40′ LIT
9/13/16	Tue	Long Intervals	otw	4 x 2500 / 5′ rest r24 45′ HIT 30′ LIT	4×2900 / 1′ rest r20 0′ HIT 75′ LIT
9/14/16	Wed	Steady State	otw	4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150) 0′ HIT 75′ LIT	15×3′ / 1′ rest 45′ HIT 30′ LIT
9/15/16	Thu	Short Rest Intervals	otw	4 x (3 x 3′ on / 1′ paddle) / 2′ rest 36′ HIT 40′ LIT	4 x 20′ @ 185 0′ HIT 80′ LIT
9/16/16	Fri	warmup only	erg	warm up only 20′ LIT	warmup + 2 500s plus cool down 5′ HIT 45′ LIT
9/17/16	Sat	CRI Fall Classic	race	Race 40′ LIT 25′ HIT	Race 40′ LIT 25′ HIT
9/18/16	Sun	long and easy	erg	4 x 30′ / 1.5′ rest (lactate) 0′ HIT 120′ LIT	4 x 20′ @ 185 0′ HIT 80′ LIT
Total				106′ HIT 325′ LIT	100′ HIT 390′ LIT

Well, this is something new! I actually had higher LIT minutes than plan.

HIT / LIT split:
- Planned: 25% HIT, 75% LIT
- Actual: 20% HIT, 80% LIT
LIT: 325′ plan, 390′ Actual (120%)
HIT: 106′ plan, 100′ Actual (94%)

Other than the fact that the race could have gone better, a pretty good training week.

Quantified Rowing

Measure – Adjust – Improve

Month: September 2016

Friday: “The Hook” – 5.9km hard

Thursday: Steady State OTW

Wednesday:4 x 5 x 2′

Tuesday: 4 x 20′ L4

Monday PM: 40′ L4

Monday: Equipment Problems Mar Threshold Session

Saturday: 40km easy bike ride

Friday: 4 x ( 5 x 2′ hard / 30″ paddle) / 3′ rest (2x)

Wednesday: Twisty 4 x 2k / 4′ rest (2x)

Week #10 Training Review