Month: October 2016

Tuesday: 4 x 500 taper

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In my single, down in Newton.  First day of the taper for the HOCR.

Following the same taper plan I always do.  (The paper it’s based on is here)

The idea is to do a decreasing number of high intensity intervals as you approach race day.   By doing this you maintain your VO2max while also lightening the training load to get some supercompensation.  If you compare the approach with pure rest, and a low intensity taper, you get a longer time to fatigue.

screen-shot-2015-09-30-at-9-26-01-am

So, today was 4 intervals.  Tomorrow is 3, Thursday is 2.  Friday should be a total rest day, but we will be doing a slow scouting run on the race course.

Weather:  Dark!  I boated at 6:30 and it was overcast so the full moon was blocked.  There was very little light at first, but it got better over the first 30 minutes.  There was a bit of wind at first, but it died down during my warmup.  It was unseasonably warm, around 62F.

Plan:

  • Full Rojabo style warmup
  • 4 x 500m intervals
  • As much rest as I wanted, 2 to 5 minutes
  • Pace target 2:00 (I was stunned to see that I did these with a 1:55 pace target in July)
  • Rate: 28 spm

screen-shot-2016-10-18-at-6-02-07-pm

My warmup was my version of the Rojabo warmup.  I like it because it fits the length of the river really well and is just taxing enough.

  • 10 strokes at 20spm / 10 paddle
  • 20 strokes at 22 / 20 paddle
  • 30 @ 24 / 30 paddle
  • 20 @ 26 / 20 paddle
  • 20 @ 28 / 20 paddle
  • 20 @ 30 / 20 paddle
  • 20 @ 32 / 20 paddle

Then I had a drink and did the first interval, which took me to the bridge.  I paddled through the bridge and felt pretty good, so I took off on the second one with only a couple minutes of rest.  That one hurt a bit more, and I had a taste of the lactate rush after I finished it (nausea, feeling like I would pee my pants, stuff like that).  I paddled through the s-curve, and then setup for the third interval.  I took this one a bit easier and felt few ill effects afterwards.  This one took me past the island and left me a bit too close to the end to keep going straight, so I paddled back to the end of the straight 1k chunk and set up.  My legs felt it in the last one.  But it was the last one.

I used both RIM and my speedcoach.  I’m seeing some weird stuff on the speedcoach.

Here’s the RIM data.

Here are the splits.

Workout Summary - media/20161018-175618-77540o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|05474|32:45.0|02:59.5|21.4|139.9|174.0|07.8
W-|02000|09:02.0|02:15.7|25.0|147.7|173.0|07.9
R-|07672|49:50.0|03:14.9|20.4|137.4|173.0|08.3
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
02|00500|01:59.9|01:59.9|27.8|158.7|169.0|09.0
03|00500|02:01.6|02:01.6|28.0|158.1|173.0|08.8
04|00500|02:00.7|02:00.7|28.1|158.1|173.0|08.8
05|00500|01:59.8|01:59.8|28.7|160.4|173.0|08.7

Here’s the plots from the speedcoach.

I am struggling to explain the pace changes that occur in the first and second intervals.  Parsing this data into splits shows that the first rep was a bit slower on the speedcoach.  The other ones line up reasonably well.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks

00020_|_0078_|_00:23_|_2:27.4_|_008___|_20.9_|_09.8_|_124___|_warmup

00100_|_0499_|_02:03_|_2:03.2_|_058___|_28.3_|_08.6_|_162___|_rep #1

00600_|_0274_|_02:00_|_3:38.6_|_037___|_18.5_|_07.4_|_142___|_rest

00860_|_0499_|_02:00_|_2:00.6_|_058___|_28.9_|_08.6_|_165___|_rep #2

01360_|_0449_|_03:07_|_3:27.9_|_059___|_19.0_|_07.6_|_135___|_rest

01820_|_0485_|_01:57_|_2:00.2_|_056___|_28.8_|_08.7_|_164___|_rep #3

02320_|_0803_|_05:12_|_3:14.2_|_095___|_18.3_|_08.5_|_129___|_rest

03100_|_0396_|_01:35_|_1:59.7_|_046___|_29.1_|_08.6_|_166___|_rep #4

03500_|_1727_|_10:04_|_2:54.8_|_188___|_18.7_|_09.2_|_132___|_cool down

The best thing about a taper is that it’s fun to row fast!

Tomorrow:  Back on Quinsig for 3 x 500 plus drills.

 

Monday: 4 x ( 5 x 2′ / 30″ rest) / 3′ rest in 2x

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Weather:  Incredible.  Very little wind.  Flat water.  Temperature above 60F!!!!  A full moon out, so visibility was great even though the sun didn’t come up until we were done.

Plan:

  • warm up to north end of lake.  A couple of power 10s and a power 20.
  • 4 sets of (5 x 2′ on / 30″ paddle)
  • Each set done as a ladder 24/26/28/26/24
  • 2 to 3 minutes of rest between sets
  • cool down back to boat house

Screen Shot 2016-10-17 at 4.05.17 PM.png

| Tstart_ | Dist_ | Time_ | _Pace_ | SPM_ | avgHR | _DPS___ | Remarks
| 00:00.0 | 02417 | 14:29 | 2:59.8 | 18.4 | 124.3 | 09.1 | warming up
| 14:29.0 | 00453 | 02:00 | 2:12.5 | 24.2 | 148.7 | 09.3 |
| 16:29.0 | 00094 | 00:30 | 2:39.6 | 22.6 | 155.8 | 08.3 |
| 16:59.0 | 00462 | 02:00 | 2:09.9 | 26.5 | 159.4 | 08.7 |
| 18:59.0 | 00093 | 00:30 | 2:41.3 | 23.5 | 159.5 | 07.9 |
| 19:29.0 | 00459 | 02:00 | 2:10.7 | 27.7 | 161.0 | 08.3 |
| 21:29.0 | 00083 | 00:30 | 3:00.7 | 22.1 | 160.6 | 07.5 |
| 21:59.0 | 00441 | 02:00 | 2:16.1 | 26.2 | 158.3 | 08.4 |
| 23:59.0 | 00087 | 00:30 | 2:52.4 | 22.9 | 159.6 | 07.6 |
| 24:29.0 | 00444 | 02:00 | 2:15.1 | 24.4 | 158.2 | 09.1 |
| 26:29.0 | 00175 | 02:00 | 5:42.9 | 15.6 | 125.6 | 05.6 |
| 28:29.0 | 00450 | 02:01 | 2:14.4 | 24.4 | 147.4 | 09.1 |
| 30:30.0 | 00084 | 00:29 | 2:52.6 | 22.9 | 155.8 | 07.6 |
| 30:59.0 | 00449 | 02:00 | 2:13.6 | 26.4 | 158.7 | 08.5 |
| 32:59.0 | 00087 | 00:30 | 2:52.4 | 23.2 | 162.3 | 07.5 |
| 33:29.0 | 00462 | 02:00 | 2:09.9 | 27.9 | 162.8 | 08.3 |
| 35:29.0 | 00083 | 00:30 | 3:00.7 | 23.5 | 164.9 | 07.1 |
| 35:59.0 | 00448 | 02:00 | 2:13.9 | 26.1 | 164.1 | 08.6 |
| 37:59.0 | 00083 | 00:30 | 3:00.7 | 23.7 | 164.8 | 07.0 |
| 38:29.0 | 00439 | 02:00 | 2:16.7 | 24.7 | 162.3 | 08.9 |
| 40:29.0 | 00359 | 04:00 | 5:34.3 | 15.1 | 119.7 | 05.9 |
| 44:29.0 | 00451 | 02:00 | 2:13.0 | 24.5 | 143.9 | 09.2 |
| 46:29.0 | 00085 | 00:30 | 2:56.5 | 23.1 | 153.8 | 07.4 |
| 46:59.0 | 00452 | 02:00 | 2:12.7 | 26.7 | 157.0 | 08.5 |
| 48:59.0 | 00085 | 00:30 | 2:56.5 | 24.5 | 161.0 | 06.9 |
| 49:29.0 | 00461 | 02:00 | 2:10.2 | 28.5 | 161.9 | 08.1 |
| 51:29.0 | 00083 | 00:30 | 3:00.7 | 24.4 | 164.9 | 06.8 |
| 51:59.0 | 00442 | 02:00 | 2:15.7 | 26.6 | 161.3 | 08.3 |
| 53:59.0 | 00085 | 00:30 | 2:56.5 | 24.0 | 161.8 | 07.1 |
| 54:29.0 | 00457 | 02:00 | 2:11.3 | 24.8 | 162.1 | 09.2 |
| 56:29.0 | 00258 | 03:00 | 5:48.8 | 23.9 | 128.0 | 03.6 |
| 59:29.0 | 00438 | 02:00 | 2:17.0 | 26.3 | 147.0 | 08.3 |
| 01:29.0 | 00095 | 00:30 | 2:37.9 | 24.5 | 156.2 | 07.8 |
| 01:59.0 | 00471 | 02:00 | 2:07.4 | 28.4 | 161.5 | 08.3 |
| 03:59.0 | 00084 | 00:30 | 2:58.6 | 25.1 | 165.1 | 06.7 |
| 04:29.0 | 00465 | 02:00 | 2:09.0 | 30.1 | 165.7 | 07.7 |
| 06:29.0 | 00082 | 00:30 | 3:02.9 | 22.9 | 168.0 | 07.2 |
| 06:59.0 | 00454 | 02:00 | 2:12.2 | 28.0 | 165.6 | 08.1 |
| 08:59.0 | 00077 | 00:30 | 3:14.8 | 24.2 | 168.2 | 06.4 |
| 09:29.0 | 00448 | 02:00 | 2:13.9 | 26.5 | 165.5 | 08.5 |
| 11:29.0 | 01353 | 09:48 | 3:37.3 | 19.4 | 128.1 | 07.1 |

| Tstart_ | Dist_ | Time_ | _Pace_ | SPM_ | avgHR | _DPS___ | Remarks
| 00:00.0 | 02417 | 14:29 | 2:59.8 | 18.4 | 124.3 | 09.1 | warmup
| 00:00.0 | 02162 | 16:59 | 3:55.7 | 20.7 | 141.5 | 06.2 | rests
| 00:00.0 | 01353 | 09:48 | 3:37.3 | 19.4 | 128.1 | 07.1 | cool down
| 00:00.0 | 02694 | 12:01 | 2:13.8 | 24.5 | 153.8 | 09.2 | r24
| 00:00.0 | 03580 | 16:00 | 2:14.1 | 26.4 | 158.9 | 08.5 | r26
| 00:00.0 | 02307 | 10:00 | 2:10.0 | 28.1 | 162.6 | 08.2 | r28
| 00:00.0 | 00465 | 02:00 | 2:09.0 | 30.1 | 165.7 | 07.7 | r30

That was exhausting, but pretty darn fun.  HR was notably low for the RPE of the workout.  I guess I was never really on the edge.  And the boat speed was better.  We’ve done this workout twice before.  The first time our avg pace was 2:14.1.  The second time it was windier and the avg pace was 2:15.5.  Today, on very nice water, and with a lower HR, the avg pace was 2:12.7.  Gotta say, I’m pretty happy with that.

It’s interesting how we were faster at r24 than we were at r26.  Part of that is that the r24s were the first and last rep of each set, so we were fresher in the first and more motivated in the last, but I also think that we are just cleaner at r24.  I think for racing we should probably be working between  these two rates.

Tomorrow:  Back in my single for a taper session 4 x 500 at r28.  With long rests and some technique drills.

 

Sunday: 3 x 20′ L4

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We got home around noon.  I had a bunch of errands and other work around the house to do.  I finally had a window to erg around 5:30pm.  I just wanted a easy endurance session to keep things ticking over.

Plan:

  • 3 x 20′ / 1′ rest
  • L4 format, 10W x stroke rate
  • Ease into over the first 10 minutes, starting at 160W
  • Thereafter aim for ~190W (18/19/20/19/18)
  • HR Cap at ~150
  • Lactate test at the end.

2016-10-16-18-46-55

The workout felt good.  Nice low HR, and RPE was fine.  But when I tested Lactate at the end, it was 2.4mmol/l.  A bit too high.  Time to move the training power back to 185W.

 

Saturday: 16km Open Water Row

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We headed down to the cape after work on Friday and arrived around 8pm.  I’m still struggling a bit with Jet lag and I was asleep by 10pm.  I woke up around 4am, but managed to eventually get back to sleep and got up for good around 7:30.  When I got up, I looked out and it was absolutely stunning outside.  Temperature was around 55F, and there was just a little bit of wind, maybe 1-2mph.  Even better, it was nearly high tide, so launch and recovery would be easy.  I tossed my boat on top of my car and headed to the beach about 2 minutes away.

I launched and discovered that I had forgotten my seat!  Oh well, I paddled to the base of my stairs, ran up to my house, got my seat, and then I started my row.

Screen Shot 2016-10-16 at 8.28.22 AM.png

First, I headed straight up to Wellfleet harbor.  I noticed that my boat speed was pretty good (around 2:30-2:40).  Remember, I am in an Alden star.  I usually have to work pretty hard to go that fast.  Then it occurred to me that I was riding the incoming tide up the harbor.  After that, it was kind of fun to maintain the same pressure and watch the boat speed move around depending on the tidal current.

I rowed through Wellfleet harbor and around the town pier.  I rowed a way up into the old harbor.   I turned around when it started to get a bit narrow.  Then I headed south along the east shore of the harbor, turning again when I ran out of space.

Then I headed across toward the long spit that forms Wellfleet harbor.  At the north end of this is a tidal estuary called the Herring River.  I had never gone up there, so I paddled through with the tide and briefly saw a 2:20 pace when I was in the middle of the channel.

I did a big loop around and headed back south along the spit.  I rowed 2km south, and then cut across the bay.  The wind had picked up just a little and there was a cross chop that made rowing a bit more challenging.  Once I was over to Lt. Island, the water was flatter and I pushed along to the finish at the beach.

Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|16727|94:49.0|02:50.1|21.1|145.9|156.0|08.4
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|05048|28:00.0|02:46.4|20.2|139.4|147.0|08.9 - With the tide
02|05476|30:00.0|02:44.4|20.9|146.6|151.0|08.7 - harvbor & Herring River
03|05614|32:49.0|02:55.4|22.2|151.6|156.0|07.7 - Back against the tide

I felt great after the workout.  Energized and happy.  But within an hour or so, I felt pretty drained.  It was a long session.  I had trouble keeping my eyes open by 8pm and I was asleep before 10.

The featured image was the sunset on Saturday night.  It was close to low tide then.  I’m not sure the picture does justice to the incredible colors.

 

Friday: Head Race Piece in the 2x

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Thursday:  I got home from the airport around 11pm. I slept in and didn’t have a chance to workout.  Probably not a bad idea anyway.  I felt pretty beaten up by the flights.

Friday:

Weather:  Light wind from the NorthEast, about 3-5 mph.  A tailwind for the first 5K of the 6.5K piece.  It was completely dark at 5:30am.  It was around sunrise when we finished.

Plan:

  • Warmup to the north end of the lake
  • Head race piece from the north end of the lake, with a loop around the islands to practice turning under pressure
  • Rate: 24-25, Pace between 2:15 and 2:20
  • Cool down:  just back to the dock.

Screen Shot 2016-10-16 at 8.37.14 AM.png

I felt shaky at first.  It had been 2 weeks since I had been in a boat.  But by the time we got to the north end of the lake, I was fine.  In some ways, it might have been good.  I was a bit more deliberate in my stroke.  I was doing better getting my blades off the water, and I was more conscious about blade depth.

Since I had had been out of the boat for a while, and also since Joe was racing on Saturday, we decided to keep the rate a bit lower.  This worked out well.  Sad to say, we start to lose efficiency above about 25 spm.

Workout Summary – media/20161014-165601-77329o.csv
–|Total|-Total-|–Avg–|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
–|Dist-|-Time–|-Pace–|SPM-|-HR–|-HR–|-DPS
–|10880|62:16.0|02:51.7|23.1|147.7|173.0|07.5

Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
02|02000|10:29.3|02:37.3|21.0|144.6|158.0|09.1
03|06500|29:43.7|02:17.2|25.4|165.1|173.0|08.6
04|01780|13:06.0|03:40.8|20.1|132.1|173.0|06.8

The was the dawn after we put away the boat.  I pretty morning.

2016-10-14 06.35.11.jpg

4 x 1.8km Threshold on Treadmill

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Ooof.  Hard work.

I hit the fitness center at 6am on the dot.  My legs and back are still sore from the weights, but loosened up during my warmup.

Plan:

  • 20 minute warmup with 3 – 2 minute chunks at 5:30 pace
  • 4 x 10′ (2.5% grade, 5:30/km pace)
  • 5′ recoveries (2.5% grade, 12:00/km pace)

I made it through the first two intervals at my target pace, but I needed to to dig really deep to finish  the second one.  I gave myself a break and took the pace down to 6:00/km for the last two intervals. This took just enough of the edge off so I could complete the workout.  HR monitor started to act up again in the last two intervals.

I’m really tired now.

Tonight I fly out around 5pm.  I am flying through Dallas and get home to Boston at 11pm Boston time.  I can’t wait to get home.

Tuesday: 2 x 30′ fitness center

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I was planning a 3 x 30′ session this morning, but I just got bored and tired and then I stopped.

  • 30′ inclined march (15% grade, 5 km/h)
  • 30′ on some weird version of an cross trainer.

I walked over to a stationary bike, and got on and started pedaling.  But my thighs hurt a bit, and I was feeling pretty unmotivated.  I decided 60 minutes was enough for today.

Now, my whole body hurts with DOMS from the puny weights I was lifting.  I imagine it will hurt even worse tomorrow.

Tomorrow:  Threshold run on the treadmill – 4 x 10′

I have a couple more meetings tomorrow and then fly out of Korea in the early evening.  I am so tired of being on the road.  I can’t wait to get home.

 

Week 13 Review

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Date Day Workout Type mode Planned Workout Actual
10/3/16 Mon rest  rest  rest
10/4/16 Tue Long Intervals otw 5 x 2000 / 5′ rest r28

45′ HIT
45′ LIT

 40′ treadmill

40′ LIT
10/5/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 3000 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit at 80% HRR)

75′ LIT

  3 x 30′ cross train

90′ LIT
10/6/16 Thu Short Rest Intervals otw 12 x 500 / 1’30” rest (sr 22,24,26,28,30,32,32,30,28,26,24,22)

30′ HIT
50′ LIT

  30′ Threshold run

30′ HIT
20′ LIT
10/7/16 Fri Technique UT2/UT1 otw Bungee Row first half, Steady state r20 second half

75′ LIT

  3 x 30′ cross train

90′ LIT
10/8/16 Sat warmup only  erg warm up only

20′ LIT

  3 x 30′ cross train

90′ LIT
10/9/16 Sun Snake Race  race  25′ HIT
45′ LIT		  14 x 500m / 1′ rest
treadmill

38′ HIT
20′ LIT
Totals  100′ HIT
310′ LIT		 68′ HIT
350′ LIT
  • HIT
    • Planned: 100′, Actual: 68′ (68%)
  • LIT
    • Planned: 310′, Actual 350′ (112%)
  • Polarization
    • Planned: 24%, Actual: 16%

So, good work on the endurance training.  I definitely fell a bit short on the HIT.  I do wonder how effective HIT cross training is, but I really should have tried to do one additional HIT session over the week.

Now I have 13 days to the HOCR.  Looking forward, here’s the plan…

Monday: 40′ LIT plus weights
Tuesday: 3 x 30′ LIT cross train
Wednesday: 30′ Threshold Run
Thursday: 4 x 20′ erg or 75′ OTW
Friday:  OTW interval session
Saturday: 90′ LIT (either bike or Open water row)
Sunday: 4 x 20′ erg
Monday: OTW Head race piece
Tuesday: 75′ OTW LIT
Wednesday: OTW 4 x 500m
Thursday: OTW 3 x 500m
Friday: Practice run on HOCR course
Saturday: Race Day!

Monday: 40′ elliptical, a little strength training

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Back in the fitness center at the JW Marriott in Seoul.  I slept well, and a long time too, maybe 8 hours.  But I woke up sore and tired.  Looking back over the past week, I’m not too surprised.  My volume is a lot higher than normal.  I think it’s OK to push a bit past normal for these two weeks to try to get a little bit of supercompensation when I taper back for the HOCR.  I’ll be forced into a rest day when I travel back over Wednesday/Thursday.

Today, I thought it would be good to do a little strength work, especially for rowing related moves.  But I wanted to do a little aerobic work first.*  So, here is the plan

Plan:

  • 40′ elliptical (easy intervals)
  • Front Squats
  • seated rows

The work on the elliptical felt pretty damn hard, but my HR was pretty low.  I guess that is accumulated fatigue.

As for strength, I had no idea what to expect.  The fitness center was admirably equipped.  There was not one, but two, squat racks.  Not Smith machines, but actual squat racks.  So, I decided that doing some front squats would be a good idea.  Why Front Squats?  Well since I haven’t done any lifting for the longest time, I didn’t want to do back squats and be tempted to go too heavy and mess myself up.  By doing front squats, I was much more limited in what I could lift.

I warmed up with 12 reps of just the bar (20kg).  I was surprised that I was feeling it in my thighs just from the warm up set.  Then I loaded two 10kg plates and embarked on my first set.  I managed 8 reps with good form, but my thighs were complaining.  Wow!  I think I need to do some remedial strength work!  I did 2 more sets of 8 reps.

Then I went over to a cable pull station and got myself set up to be able to do seated rows.  I set it up so that I got tension with the bard over my toes, and I essentially did the body/arms part of the stroke with as much acceleration as I could.  I loaded the full stack (45kg) and managed 2 sets of 20 and 1 set of 15.

After that I thought about doing some more, but I was pretty torched, so I had a drik of water, and called it a day.

Tomorrow:  The fitness center triathlon (again).

Sunday: Intervals, they’re good for the Seoul

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Sorry, couldn’t resist the pun.

Check out what I saw in the hotel fitness center.  Yes, indeed, that is a mechanical horse.  In fact, I saw someone riding it.  This was not a wild bucking ride like the mechanical bulls in a bar, more like the little horsies you see in small arcades.  Imagine, they had two of these things, about 40 treadmills, 20 ellipitcals, countless stair steppers, free weights, weight machines…BUT NOT A SINGLE ROWER!  Arghhhhhh!  What the hell is wrong with these people!

Sorry, back to the workout.

Plan:

  • 5 minute warmup
  • On the treadmill
  • 14 x 500m at 5:30/km and 2.5% grade
  • 1′ rest at 8’/km and 2.5% grade

At first I thought I might have made things too easy.  By the end I was pretty sure I hadn’t.  It was a struggle to get through the last few reps.  The HR monitor was problematic today.  It kept sliding down and was getting some bad readings at the beginning, and dropouts at other times.

Tomorrow:  40′ endurance plus strength.  I have all these weights here, I might as well use them.