I got back from Korea late Friday night, around 11pm. And even though the flights were fine and I got some rest on the flight, I was wasted. I struggled to sleep on Friday night, and Saturday night, and Sunday night, and Monday night. Each night, I would fall asleep, but wake up at 2am and spend the rest of the night tossing and turning. I didn’t get a good night sleep until last night when I got 7 blissful hours.
Along with the sleep issues, I felt rundown and grumpy during the day. My motivation to train was low and my training sessions were abysmal. A lot of this was just being tired, but also knowing that I am in a period with a lot of travel and no immediate training objective makes it hard to push through. Maybe it’s good not to in this case.
I reached out to Marlene for advice and she was fine with backing off a bit. I decided to change things up. For the next couple weeks, I’m modifying the plan.
- Faithfully do my PT exercises 5 or 6 times a week
- 3x mini-strength sessions a week
- KB swings
- pull ups
- front squats
- on non-strength days do shorter erg sessions, working on proper technique and base aerobic fitness
- on strength days, do a short erg warmup and maybe a bit of cross training on the treadmill
I’ll do this through Feb 24th and then dive back into normal training. The goal then will be to get ready to get back on the water. I feel better having made the mental switch.
Recent training details….
Saturday – 2/3: In the evening, I decided to try to do what I thought would be an easy 10K push on the dynamic. I started at 2:04, and aimed to finish at 1:55. I made it 6K and then backed off to a paddle. With 1000m left, I was pretty pissed off, so I targeted 1:55 and it nearly killed me.
Workout Summary - media/20180204-0310250o.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|10000|40:33.0|02:01.7|196.8|21.8|158.8|182.0|11.3 W-|10000|40:33.0|02:01.7|195.2|21.6|157.9|182.0|11.5 R-|00000|00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|182.0|00.0 Workout Details #-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS- 00|01000|04:07.0|02:03.5|183.9|18.9|120.4|136.0|12.8 01|01000|04:05.3|02:02.6|189.4|20.2|145.6|150.0|12.1 02|01000|04:03.2|02:01.6|194.4|21.3|154.1|157.0|11.6 03|01000|04:01.3|02:00.7|199.4|22.2|158.9|161.0|11.2 04|01000|03:59.1|01:59.6|204.6|22.8|163.6|165.0|11.0 05|01000|03:57.6|01:58.8|208.7|23.5|168.0|170.0|10.8 06|01000|04:11.8|02:05.9|182.3|21.1|164.4|172.0|11.3 07|01000|04:09.9|02:04.9|179.2|19.9|164.0|167.0|12.1 08|01000|04:10.9|02:05.4|177.4|19.8|166.2|168.0|12.1 09|01000|03:47.8|01:53.9|237.5|26.7|175.6|182.0|09.9
Sunday: I felt pretty awful all day long and didn’t train.
Monday: Not much sleep, headed in to the gym with the intent to do the tough session that was originally planned for Saturday:
- 6 x (3’@28, 7’@18) / 1′
- 3’@28: Cat III (1:48)
- 7’@18: Cat VI (2:05-2:08)
I gave it my best, but I flamed out after 3. My HR never really came back down. This was kind of a low point for me. That’s when I reached out for advice.
Workout Summary - media/20180205-1240290o.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|07618|33:00.0|02:10.0|205.6|21.2|154.4|174.0|10.9 W-|07469|30:00.0|02:00.5|202.5|20.5|155.5|174.0|12.3 R-|00154|03:00.0|09:45.6|014.9|12.0|152.5|174.0|00.0 Workout Details #-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS- 00|00828|03:00.0|01:48.7|264.6|26.1|130.0|154.0|10.6 01|01661|07:00.0|02:06.5|173.9|17.7|147.4|155.0|13.4 02|00828|03:00.0|01:48.7|268.6|26.4|156.1|169.0|10.4 03|01664|07:00.0|02:06.2|175.9|18.3|160.6|170.0|13.0 04|00820|03:00.0|01:49.7|263.6|26.3|159.2|174.0|10.4 05|01667|07:00.0|02:05.9|176.6|18.3|167.5|174.0|13.0
Tuesday – 2/6:
Another night of bad sleep. I was awake from 2am, and gave up trying around 4am. I did a couple of crossword puzzles and then headed to work early.
The plan:
- PT exercises
- Mini strength session (KB swings, front squats, pull ups)
- 40 minute erg
The PT exercises were fine. I had a blast with the strength stuff
- 3 sets of 20 KB swings with a 16kg kettle bell. I felt the third set. I think I need a heavier KB, this is the biggest one on the rack at work.
- Front squats: I’ve always done regular back squats. Mainly because you can do heavier weights. But from what I’ve been reading, front squats are a bit more functional for rowing related strength, and because the weight is more limited, and you are forced into a more erect posture, there is less risk of injury. Today, I did a set of 10 with the bare bar, and 5 sets of 8 with 50 lbs on the bar. I felt that in the last set as well.
- Pull ups. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 with about 30 seconds between sets
Then onto the erg. Between the swings and the squats, there was nothing left in my legs. I was having trouble holding a Cat VI pace. I lasted for 20 minutes and decided that it was no fun at all.
Workout Summary - media/20180206-1640290o.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|04771|20:14.0|02:07.3|171.7|17.9|149.6|156.0|13.2 W-|04777|20:14.0|02:07.1|171.4|17.9|149.7|156.0|13.2 R-|00000|00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|156.0|00.0 Workout Details #-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS- 00|00488|02:00.0|02:03.0|180.6|17.3|125.0|144.0|14.1 01|00481|02:00.0|02:04.7|180.4|18.4|146.5|150.0|13.1 02|00480|02:00.0|02:05.1|179.1|18.4|150.1|151.0|13.1 03|00474|02:00.0|02:06.6|172.9|18.2|151.5|153.0|13.0 04|00471|02:00.0|02:07.5|168.8|18.2|151.7|153.0|13.0 05|00470|02:00.0|02:07.6|168.8|17.4|153.9|154.0|13.5 06|00469|02:00.0|02:08.0|167.0|17.3|153.9|154.0|13.5 07|00471|02:00.0|02:07.3|169.5|18.2|154.7|156.0|13.0 08|00469|02:00.0|02:08.1|166.5|18.0|155.5|156.0|13.0 09|00470|02:00.0|02:07.8|168.0|17.9|154.1|155.0|13.1 10|00035|00:14.5|03:27.9|105.4|14.3|155.0|155.0|10.1
So, I was tired of rowing, but I felt like doing more. I decided to go do a couple of HIIT bursts on the treadmill. I cranked the incline to 15% and fast walked for 4:20. Then I cranked the speed up to 7mph and sprinted until 5:00. With the lag of the machine, I was basically at speed for 30 full seconds. At the 5 minute mark, I hopped off the belt and then turned the speed back down. I did that 4 times total. Like before, I seemed to get better at the mechanics of sprinting, essentially running more on my toes and increasing my cadence. I guess that is the running equivalent of “rating up”.
Wednesday: Ah bliss! I slept 7 hours last night without any insomnia. I got up at 5:15 and headed off to work. I was almost paralyzed by DOMS from my tiny strength session yesterday. I guess that’s a good sign that I should keep a session or two of strength work in my rotation all the time. My thighs were the sorest, but my butt, my lats and forearms all let me know that they were quite upset with me. I kinda liked it.
Today, I was short on time and wanted a light session anyway. So, after doing minimal PT exercises, I decided to just do a 10k at Cat VI (r18/2:05). That’s what I did. HR was still higher than it should have been, but that might have been because of the muscle soreness.
Pretty unremarkable, huh?
Workout Summary - media/20180207-1345260o.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|09996|41:33.0|02:04.7|180.1|18.2|146.0|157.0|13.2 W-|10000|41:34.0|02:04.7|180.1|18.2|146.0|157.0|13.2 R-|00000|00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|157.0|00.0 Workout Details #-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS- 00|00980|04:03.5|02:04.3|177.2|17.5|120.3|134.0|13.8 01|01009|04:11.5|02:04.6|181.2|18.3|139.7|145.0|13.1 02|00990|04:06.5|02:04.5|181.4|18.3|144.7|145.0|13.2 03|01007|04:11.0|02:04.7|180.8|18.4|144.3|147.0|13.1 04|00996|04:09.0|02:05.0|179.3|18.2|148.2|151.0|13.2 05|01009|04:12.0|02:04.9|179.7|18.2|149.3|151.0|13.2 06|00989|04:06.5|02:04.7|180.9|18.2|151.1|152.0|13.2 07|01009|04:11.5|02:04.7|180.8|18.3|152.8|154.0|13.2 08|00997|04:09.0|02:04.9|179.7|18.3|154.2|155.0|13.1 09|01014|04:13.5|02:04.9|179.8|18.0|155.0|157.0|13.3
That brings us up to the present.
Tomorrow:
- Full PT Suite
- Strength (KB Swings, Front Squats, Pull ups, Add push ups)
- erg – 8 x 5′ (4:30 cat VI, 0:30 Cat II) / 30″
Quantified Rowing 