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.