10k Threshold – Season Best

April 11, 2015April 12, 20154 Comments

Between dealing with getting my car serviced and having a customer in visiting at work, I didn’t have time for a workout yesterday.

Today is my weekly threshold workout. I’ve been working the ranking distances the past few Saturday’s and today, the 10K was on the menu. My all time best was a 36:33 set last winter when I was in tip top shape. I’m close to that now, but I based on the 5K time last weekend, I thought I would be a bit slower. I was still hoping for something a faster than 37:00 though, so I set 1:51 as my target pace.

I did a 20′ steady state piece as a warmup.

193.8W, 138.1bpm, 19.1 spm, 1.9mmol/l. Nothing to complain about there.

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 11, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_04927_|_20:00.0_|_02:01.8_|_193.8_|_19.1_|_134.3_|_ 64.0% _|_12.9_|_10.2
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01231_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.9_|_193.2_|_19.2_|_125.5_|_ 57.8% _|_12.8_|_10.1
02_|_01233_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.6_|_194.5_|_19.4_|_135.5_|_ 64.9% _|_12.7_|_10.0
03_|_01233_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.6_|_194.4_|_18.8_|_138.1_|_ 66.8% _|_13.1_|_10.3
04_|_01230_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.0_|_192.9_|_18.8_|_138.3_|_ 66.9% _|_13.1_|_10.3

The main thing I have been working on in these threshold rows is trying to get my cruising rate up higher. Today for the 10K, I really wanted to hold 26spm.

I took off a bit fast, but quickly got into a groove around 1:50.5 and 26 spm. Then it was just a matter of counting to 26 over and over again. If I saw the rate drop down to 25, I would try to lighten up and focus on getting my hands away quickly. I was happy when I passed through the 30 minute mark and saw that I was further than my ranked 30 minute (8147 today vs 8128 ranking). I let my pace drift up to 1:51.5 or so because I was starting to feel pretty tired. I noticed just a little bit of a slow down got me back feeling like I was in control again. When I finally got down to 1000m left, I tried to inch the rate up a bit and get the pace down below 1:50. Then when I passed the 500m to go mark, I counted out 20 stroke for length, then 10 strokes, and then sprinted a 5-10-5 to the end. It was a good row. I was consistent and pushed close to, but not beyond my limits.

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 11, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_10000_|_36:46.5_|_01:50.3_|_260.7_|_25.9_|_170.4_|_ 89.7% _|_10.5_|_10.1
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01000_|_03:40.9_|_01:50.4_|_259.8_|_24.7_|_145.6_|_ 72.1% _|_11.0_|_10.5
02_|_01000_|_03:39.7_|_01:49.9_|_263.9_|_25.9_|_163.8_|_ 85.0% _|_10.5_|_10.2
03_|_01000_|_03:39.7_|_01:49.8_|_264.2_|_25.7_|_168.3_|_ 88.1% _|_10.6_|_10.3
04_|_01000_|_03:40.4_|_01:50.2_|_261.6_|_25.9_|_170.0_|_ 89.3% _|_10.5_|_10.1
05_|_01000_|_03:41.0_|_01:50.5_|_259.5_|_26.1_|_172.3_|_ 91.0% _|_10.4_|_10.0
06_|_01000_|_03:41.4_|_01:50.7_|_258.2_|_25.8_|_173.9_|_ 92.1% _|_10.5_|_10.0
07_|_01000_|_03:41.8_|_01:50.9_|_256.6_|_26.0_|_175.3_|_ 93.1% _|_10.4_|_09.9
08_|_01000_|_03:42.5_|_01:51.3_|_254.1_|_25.6_|_176.2_|_ 93.8% _|_10.5_|_09.9
09_|_01000_|_03:42.2_|_01:51.1_|_255.1_|_25.9_|_177.9_|_ 95.0% _|_10.4_|_09.8
10_|_01000_|_03:36.9_|_01:48.5_|_274.4_|_27.1_|_179.4_|_ 96.0% _|_10.2_|_10.1

After a couple minutes to catch my breath, I setup and did a long 5K happy ending cooldown. Starting at 2:05, then slowing by 0:05 every 1000m. Amazing how well that works to flush out the muscles. I feel great now.

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 11, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_05000_|_22:29.8_|_02:15.0_|_142.3_|_17.0_|_140.1_|_ 68.2% _|_13.1_|_08.4
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01000_|_04:09.8_|_02:04.9_|_179.6_|_19.9_|_143.9_|_ 70.8% _|_12.0_|_09.0
02_|_01000_|_04:20.0_|_02:10.0_|_159.3_|_18.0_|_147.7_|_ 73.6% _|_12.8_|_08.9
03_|_01000_|_04:29.9_|_02:15.0_|_142.4_|_16.0_|_143.6_|_ 70.6% _|_13.9_|_08.9
04_|_01000_|_04:40.0_|_02:20.0_|_127.5_|_15.4_|_136.3_|_ 65.5% _|_13.9_|_08.3
05_|_01000_|_04:50.1_|_02:25.0_|_114.7_|_15.9_|_128.5_|_ 59.9% _|_13.0_|_07.2

Tomorrow: I’m going to head off to Quinsigmond for my first row out there of the season.

3×20′ / 1′ on slides – Back home

April 9, 2015April 9, 20153 Comments

I got to my hotel around midnight and was up at 5am to catch my flight back to Boston.

I had hoped to get on the water today, but the weather conspired against me at both ends of the trip. First, my departure from Chicago was delayed by an hour, compressing the time available for a real row. And once I arrived at Boston and was greeted by drizzle, wind and 35F temperatures, the decision was basically made for me. I decided that an hour on slides would have to suffice for today.

My training power has been all over the place over the past couple of weeks. And the fact that so many of my sessions have been on a static erg confused me further as I tried to figure out the right target pace. I decided that 193W was a reasonable place to start. It turned out that I would have done better with 190W, but it wasn’t far off.

The stats: 193W, 144.6BPM, 20 SPM, 2.4mmol/l (above target)

So, after the first 20 minutes, I reduced my target power down to 190W for the rest of the workout. That slowed down the HR drift and made the rest of the ride pretty easy.

Based on my schedule tomorrow, I am not sure if I can fit in a workout at all. If I do, it will likely be a quick 40 minutes of steady state on slides.

April Cross Team Challenge – 1000m + 4x300m + 1000m / 2′ rest

April 8, 2015April 8, 20151 Comment

One of the cool things about indoor rowing is the opportunity for casual competition. I really enjoy the monthly Cross Team Challenges. To participate in these, you join a rowing team (virtual, or ummm, non-virtual), and then do a specific rowing challenge for each month of the year. Teams take turns choosing the challenge based upon a remarkably complex formula that rewards participation and performance in the challeges.

The fun thing is that it is both an individual competition, and also a team competition. The team aspect is based on “boats”. Each boat has slots for 3 Male HWT rowers, 1 male LWT, and 1 female rower. Teams try to build the fastest boats, and also try to float the greatest number of boats, so the is motivation for folks at all levels to do the challenge.

I will never be fast enough (or young enough, or big enough, or strong enough) to play in the upper echelons of the folks participating, but it is a blast to see where you end up compared to other folks that you typically are similar to. It’s a great motivator to really put everything into a workout session, and it certainly adds variety.

I will look at the specific CTC and decide whether it looks most like a short interval session, a long interval session, or a hard continuous row, and then substitute it in for that “slot” in my workout plan. This all works fine in the winter. It’s more of a challenge when I can row on the water, but we’ll row under that bridge when we come to it.

Enough background, on to the rowing! This month’s challenge is

1000m + 4x300m + 1000m / 2′ rest

To me that looked like a pretty good short interval workout. So, I slotted it in this week in place of the usual type of session. I think I was due to do the 4×1000. I did this one at Crossfit Carbon in Vernon Hills, IL because I’m on the road for business.

Warmup was 20 minutes steady state. I intended to do it at 190W, but I was all excited for things to come and ended up at 197W. For such a big increase in watts, my HR was nicely in control. Although you can see the big variations as I was mentally rehearsing the CTC. I was basically rowing the same pace throughout.

Then, into the main event. I was hoping I could do about a 1:40 avg pace for the whole thing, so I though getting the first rep done with a 1:41 or better pace would be a good start. I think I picked the right pace for the first rep, because I was shivering all over and nearly threw up when I finished it.

By the end of the 2 minute rest, I was good as new and targeted 1:36 for the first 300. All the 300s were really no problem. I might be able to squeeze another second or so of pace, but I was pretty close to the edge on them. The 2 minute rests started to feel a lot shorter.

I was worried about the last 1000m. I decided to target a 1:42 pace to make sure that I didn’t blow up. These felt pretty good and I was actually able to do a little bit better. I was struggling a bit by the time I had 500m to go, but there was no way I was going to let all that work go to waste by stopping now. I closed my eyes, tried to keep the rate up and counted strokes down to the end. It turned out that I held very close to the same pace on the last as the first, and I felt physically better after the last than the first.

I finished with a 2K cool down, starting at 2:00 pace and slowing by 5 seconds every 500. I was aiming at 8:30.0, and I hit 8:30.0. Yesssss.

Tomorrow: Not quite sure what will be happening. I am scheduled to fly home in the morning, but I may need to extend here longer. If I stay here, it will be a 4×20′ on the erg. If I get home, roughly the same thing on the water.

3×20’/1′ at Crossfit Carbon in Vernon Hills, IL

April 7, 2015April 7, 20155 Comments

No lactate test today, and plenty of noise on the HR data, but a delightful workout. I was going to row at 187W, up just a little from Sunday’s row, but it felt so easy, and my HR was happily low, so I went with 193-ish.

As I have found at every single Crossfit box that I have visited, these folks were friendly, and the ergs were meticulously maintained. There was a beginner class going on while I rowed and three experts (all women) doing a fiendish looking WOD that involved clean and jerks, rowing and kipping pull ups. I was thoroughly intimidated, but the time passed extremely quickly with so much going on around me.

Tomorrow: I will head back to Crossfit Carbon. Most likely I will make an attempt at the CTC.

4×20′ – Amazing difference

April 6, 20151 Comment

I had intended to take today off, but then I remembered that I was taking off for Chicago first thing Monday morning and would probably not have time for a workout. Of course, by then it was 6 at night and I had consumed a big easter lunch, along with beer, wine and other spirits. I didn’t feel too full, so I thought an easy session would be OK.

Besides, I was interested to see what happened.

Well, it was stunningly easy. I had to work hard to slow down to 185W, and when I did, my HR just ticked along, barely teetering along the bottom UT2 range through the second half of the 20 minutes. And the lactate test was similarly low –> 1.7mmol/l

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 05, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_04869_|_20:00.0_|_02:03.2_|_187.0_|_19.0_|_131.6_|_ 62.1% _|_12.8_|_09.9
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01222_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.8_|_189.1_|_19.0_|_119.4_|_ 53.5% _|_12.9_|_10.0
02_|_01220_|_05:00.0_|_02:03.0_|_188.1_|_19.4_|_135.5_|_ 64.9% _|_12.6_|_09.7
03_|_01214_|_05:00.0_|_02:03.6_|_185.4_|_18.8_|_136.3_|_ 65.5% _|_12.9_|_09.9
04_|_01214_|_05:00.0_|_02:03.6_|_185.5_|_18.6_|_135.1_|_ 64.6% _|_13.1_|_10.0

So, after that happy result, I dialed in a 63′ minute rowpro session, with 21 minute splits. That way, I can row 20 minutes, take my 1 minute rest, and then start up a new 20 minutes with a new split so I can watch the avg watts. It makes it a lot easier to hit the 185W target. The rest of the session was exactly the same. Easy and anything, and my HR never really rose much.

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 05, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_15027_|_63:00.0_|_02:05.8_|_175.9_|_18.7_|_138.6_|_ 67.1% _|_12.8_|_09.4
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_04857_|_20:00.0_|_02:03.5_|_185.7_|_19.1_|_135.7_|_ 65.0% _|_12.7_|_09.7
02_|_00102_|_01:00.0_|_04:53.9_|_013.8_|_09.0_|_127.2_|_ 59.0% _|_11.3_|_01.5
03_|_04859_|_20:00.0_|_02:03.5_|_185.9_|_18.8_|_139.9_|_ 68.0% _|_12.9_|_09.9
04_|_00107_|_01:00.0_|_04:39.4_|_016.1_|_11.0_|_128.1_|_ 59.6% _|_09.8_|_01.5
05_|_05101_|_21:00.0_|_02:03.5_|_185.8_|_18.9_|_140.7_|_ 68.5% _|_12.8_|_09.8

So is this a new workout secret? Have a couple beers and a big slice of lemon meringue pie a couple hours before each workout? Perhaps I can start a new trend?

Tomorrow: Off to Chicago. Looking for a rowing machine somewhere near Buffalo Grove.

Saturday: 5K Hard – Season Best

April 4, 2015April 4, 20152 Comments

This morning I headed out to the boathouse in Worcester to meet up with some of the folks from my club. There are serious deliberations going on to merge the masters sculling club and masters sweep club. There is ample history making the process delicate. But it would be great if we could combine forces and get more boats out on the water every day.

A bit later, after I got home, I headed off to the erg to do my weekly hard distance row. I started off with my normal 20′ steady state piece, with a lactate test. My heart rate was delightfully low, and I felt fantastic. I also did a great job holding 185W after the first 5 minutes. But my lactate reading was a 2.2. I was expecting something closer to 1.5. Weird. Maybe it was a bad measurement. Who knows.

186.7W, 19.0SPM, 137.1BPM, 2.2mmol/l

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 04, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_04866_|_20:00.0_|_02:03.3_|_186.7_|_19.0_|_131.8_|_ 62.3% _|_12.8_|_09.9
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01225_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.5_|_190.5_|_19.6_|_122.0_|_ 55.3% _|_12.5_|_09.7
02_|_01214_|_05:00.0_|_02:03.6_|_185.5_|_18.8_|_133.1_|_ 63.2% _|_12.9_|_09.9
03_|_01214_|_05:00.0_|_02:03.6_|_185.5_|_18.6_|_135.5_|_ 64.9% _|_13.1_|_10.0
04_|_01214_|_05:00.0_|_02:03.6_|_185.5_|_18.8_|_137.1_|_ 66.0% _|_12.9_|_09.9

Then I freshed up a bit, and setup my 5K. My target pace was 1:48. Honestly, I wanted to be a bit faster than that, since I held a 1:48 for the 6K last weekend. the other objective was to try to keep the rate up. I wanted to hold 28spm for this session.

It was a tough row, but not as bad as the 6K. I managed a 17:49.6, which makes this the second fastest 5K I have ever done, about 3 seconds off my PB from last year. I didn’t check the number before, but even if I had, I’m not sure I could have sprinted early enough to shave another 4 seconds off my time. In any case, I am THRILLED to be that close to my time from last year. I was in my best shape ever last season, and I finally feel like I am on the track toward those kinds of times.

In terms of rate, I had a bit of a sag in the middle, but averaged about 27.5. So, I still need to work on it. I feel very sluggish trying to rate up when I am not on slides now. I guess that’s a good trade off if my OTW rowing improves.

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 04, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_05000_|_17:49.6_|_01:47.0_|_286.0_|_27.5_|_168.8_|_ 88.5% _|_10.2_|_10.4
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01000_|_03:32.6_|_01:46.3_|_291.5_|_27.4_|_148.4_|_ 74.0% _|_10.3_|_10.6
02_|_01000_|_03:33.1_|_01:46.6_|_289.2_|_27.6_|_167.3_|_ 87.4% _|_10.2_|_10.5
03_|_01000_|_03:35.8_|_01:47.9_|_278.6_|_27.0_|_171.6_|_ 90.5% _|_10.3_|_10.3
04_|_01000_|_03:34.1_|_01:47.1_|_285.3_|_28.0_|_176.7_|_ 94.1% _|_10.0_|_10.2
05_|_01000_|_03:34.0_|_01:47.0_|_285.6_|_27.8_|_179.8_|_ 96.3% _|_10.1_|_10.3

I was pretty much destroyed at the end.

I did a long 5K cooldown. Starting at 2:00 pace and slowing down by 5 seconds after each 1K. By the time I finished, my HR was below UT2 range and I felt much better.

Tomorrow: rest day!

Friday PM: First Row of the Season – 10K in my fluid

April 4, 20153 Comments

I finished my last meeting of the day around 3pm and decided to get my boat and all my stuff together and head out for the first row of the season. No training objective other than to see how things felt and enjoy a nice warm afternoon.

One purpose was to get my boat moved onto it’s rack, down in Newton. I setup my boat, got the rigger back on, put on the speedcoach, put my iphone on it’s new mount and launched without any fuss.

First I headed up stream to my old boathouse and to get the feel of rowing again. I was a bit tentative for the first dozen or so strokes, but I quickly noticed that my balance was good. I was keeping one or both blades off the water right away. I also noticed that I was easily keeping my recovery sequenced right, with my legs all the way down until my arms were extended and my back leaning forward. I also didn’t feel like I was rushing into the catch. I need to take some video and get RIM set up to make sure that I am not deluding myself, but I think spending the winter on slides was a very good thing.

It will take a bit of time to get my on the water pacing right. I was pushing the pace too hard and my HR shows it. I need to just relax a bit and ease up on the pressure to get a good UT2/UT1 rhythm going. Anyway, it is all good. I’m back on the water and I think I am going to row better than I was last season.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0760_|_04:44_|_3:06.6_|_077___|_16.3_|_09.9_|_099___|_warmup
00780_|_1420_|_06:49_|_2:24.0_|_137___|_20.1_|_10.4_|_157___|_downwind
02420_|_2340_|_11:23_|_2:26.0_|_222___|_19.5_|_10.5_|_161___|_downwind
04760_|_0380_|_01:35_|_2:04.3_|_040___|_25.4_|_09.5_|_173___|_sprint
05160_|_3000_|_15:30_|_2:35.1_|_302___|_19.5_|_09.9_|_162___|_upwind
08160_|_1920_|_10:40_|_2:46.7_|_203___|_19.0_|_09.5_|_154___|_cooldown

It was a bit of an adventure trying to carry my boat over a giant snowbank to get it to it’s rack. But now it is safe and sound and I can get out and row now!

4×20′ / 1′ r – Not quite slow enough

April 2, 20152 Comments

Intended to drop power to 185W, but settled at 187W. Tried to hold the rate at 18 for the first 20 minutes.

20′, r18, 186.9W, AvgHR: 142.9, Lactate: 1.6

No problems with those numbers. Pushed on at 187W and was fine through the next 2 20′ pieces. In the last piece, I kind of did a slow motion crash into the wall. My HR started to run away from me and I felt a much higher level of fatigue. So, after about 10 minutes of trying to hold 187, I slowed down to about 180W and essentially paddled it out. HR stayed stubbornly high though.

Tomorrow: Same thing, but at 185W

Waterfall – 3K / 2.5K / 2K, 5′ rest – dug deep for this one

April 1, 20151 Comment

This workout is one of the wolverine plan classics. Also included in the Pete Plan. Pacing for me is usually a bit slower than the other long interval sessions. I figured that since I did a 6K at 1:48 pace last Saturday, that 1:48 would be a safe pick for pacing on this workout. Turns out it was a bit more of a stretch than I expected.

I started out with a 20′ steady state piece, to warmup and take a lactate reading. I was aiming at 185W but the first half got away from me a little bit and I found myself aat an avg of 190W with 10 minutes to go, so I stuck to 185W like glue the rest of the way. So, the lactate is probably more in line with 185W than the average shown here.

20′, Avg Power: 187.3W, AvgHR: 147.1, Lactate: 1.6mmol/l

Then into the real workout. I was feeling a bit uncomfortable since I forgot my seat pad at home. Now that I am doing a better job at rocking my hips over on recovery, I have a very annoying, and sometime painful bump as I rotate over my sitz bones. The pad takes care of it well, but without the pad it is like walking with a pebble in your shoe.

Nevertheless, there were intervals to be done and I was just the guy to do them. My general strategy in these long intervals is to count strokes the strokes in each 1000m portion of the interval. Off slides, this is usually just under 100 strokes. On slides, my distance per stroke is a bit under 10, and the number of strokes per 1000m is usually between 104 and 110, depending on pace and fatigue.

The first interval went just fine. Start fast, bleed off pace during the first 500m, then try to hold 1:48 through the next 500m, allow things to drift to 1:49 during the middle 1000m, and then try to pull it back a touch during the last 1000m. I felt OK, but my HR was a bit higher than I would have hoped.

I did a slow 750m during the 5 minute rest, had a drink and setup for the 2500m. This was really hard. I was deeply into the red by halfway through and I was rowing with my eyes closed and trying to hang on to 1:49s. My average had climbed up to about 1:48.3 or 4. Then I lucked out. With less than 1000m to go, Seven Nations Army, by the White Stripes started up in my head phones. Turns out, the beat is nearly perfect for about 30 or 31 SPM. By hitting the down beats hard, I started pulling 1:47s, then 1:46s. The average pace clicked over from 1:48.0 to 1:47.9 just as I was pulling my last stroke.

The 750 during the rest felt very short and I was not looking forward to the 2K. Turns out it went fine. No crisis. HR was pretty much railed with 1 or 2 beats of my MaxHR, but I was able to stick to 1:48s through the middle 1000m, and push a little bit harder in the last 500m to get a faster last.

Avg pace; 1:47.8 – Happy with that.

Last year, I did this one at an avg pace of 1:46.4, so I have a ways to go before I am back to that kind of shape.

Tomorrow: 4×20/1′ Steady state – 185W

4×20 – Now at reduced power

March 31, 20152 Comments

I held on to hope for the first 20 minute piece. Since I did 20 minutes at 190W with a lactate of 1.3mmol/l on Saturday on my erg at home. I thought I would exactly replicate that and see what happened today. Answer…Lactate of 2.6!

I’m still trying to figure it all out, but independent of the reasons why, it is is clear that I need to train at a lower power. So, my new training power is 185W. And that’s what I did for the next 3 20 minute pieces.

But it is interesting to try to try to fit a theory around this. So, what I saw last week was steadily decreasing lactate readings, and increasing HRs after my hard session on Wednesday. Lactate readings were very low on Saturday. Then I did a very hard 6K and took Sunday off. Come back on Monday and HRs are more normal, but lactates are up.

Prior to Sunday, I had rowed at least 10K 24 days in a row to try to complete the Mud Season Madness. Granted one session a week was pretty easy, but the rest of them were at least 60 minutes of steady state or hard intervals / threshold type workouts. Over roughly the same period, I managed to lose about 10 pounds. I think I managed to achieve a cumulative depletion of glycogen over the period so that I was forced to metabolize fats, which does not produce lactate. When I finally took a day off, and, I must admit do some re-feeding (and beer-dration), my gylcogen stores were fully restored. So, going into the workouts monday and today, the power level was high enough to demand gycolysis and the glycogen stores were there to satisfy the demand. the product of that metabolism was higher lactate levels.

The higher power and lower lactate last week was not the result of an improved ability to metabolize lactate, but a lack of glycogen to make lactate in the first place. That is not what I was trying to induce with training.

So, as I said, the conclusion is the same. Get the training power down to a better number and increase it very slowly. Maybe 3W per week as Tom has suggested.

First 20 minutes. Power: 191.4W, Avg HR over the last 5 minutes: 144.6, lactate: 2.6

utput
Workout Summary – Mar 31, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_04907_|_20:00.0_|_02:02.3_|_191.4_|_19.0_|_136.4_|_ 65.5% _|_12.9_|_10.1
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01229_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.0_|_192.6_|_19.0_|_120.5_|_ 54.3% _|_12.9_|_10.1
02_|_01228_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.1_|_192.1_|_19.2_|_138.7_|_ 67.2% _|_12.8_|_10.0
03_|_01225_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_190.7_|_18.8_|_142.0_|_ 69.5% _|_13.0_|_10.1
04_|_01224_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.5_|_190.2_|_18.8_|_144.6_|_ 71.4% _|_13.0_|_10.1

Then drop power to 185 for the next 3 pieces. Decided to drop stroke rate to 18 based on a suggestion from “mightyquinn” over on the Rowing Illustrated boards.

This was a happier power level, and may still be a bit too high. I got bored with about 2 minutes to go. I was staring at a projected distance of 14950m and that pissed me off. So, I cranked up the stroke rate to 27 and power to 300W and finished with a little flair.

Output
Workout Summary – Mar 31, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_15017_|_63:00.0_|_02:05.9_|_175.5_|_17.7_|_146.8_|_ 72.9% _|_13.5_|_09.9
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_04839_|_20:00.0_|_02:04.0_|_183.6_|_17.8_|_139.1_|_ 67.4% _|_13.6_|_10.3
02_|_00086_|_01:00.0_|_05:48.1_|_008.3_|_08.0_|_133.0_|_ 63.1% _|_10.8_|_01.0
03_|_04855_|_20:00.0_|_02:03.6_|_185.5_|_17.9_|_146.9_|_ 73.0% _|_13.6_|_10.4
04_|_00049_|_01:00.0_|_10:15.2_|_001.5_|_04.0_|_146.5_|_ 72.7% _|_12.2_|_00.4
05_|_04634_|_19:00.0_|_02:03.0_|_188.1_|_18.0_|_152.5_|_ 76.9% _|_13.6_|_10.4
06_|_00553_|_02:00.0_|_01:48.5_|_274.2_|_24.5_|_164.9_|_ 85.8% _|_11.3_|_11.2

Tomorrow: 3K / 2.5K / 2K on 5′ rest. Target pace: 1:48 (6K pace). On slides.

Quantified Rowing

Measure – Adjust – Improve

Category: Training Journal