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4×20’/1′ rest on the erg

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over slept this morning, so no time for a row. Went to the gym at work around 4:30 to pound some steady state meters. 
20:00.0, 4897m, 190.2w, r21

20:00.0, 4896m, 190.2w, r21

20:00.0, 4897m, 190.2w, r20

20:00.0, 4897m, 190.2w, r20

Forgot my hr strap at home so no stats. Felt about right though. 

Tuesday: 4 x 2500 / 5′ – Threshold Training

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Conditions: Cloudy, 70F, 75% humidity.  A bit better than yesterday, but still pretty sticky.  Light wind from the NW (1-2mph) which is a headwind going up river.

Plan:

  1. 4 x 2500 / 5′ rest
  2. Rate: 24 spm
  3. Pace: faster than 2:15
  4. Technique:  Keep rate at or above 24.  Try to maintain good posture (don’t slump at the catch). Try to stay forward during the leg drive.  Try to minimize layback at the finish and keep finishes clean.

Screen Shot 2015-07-21 at 9.45.24 AM Screen Shot 2015-07-21 at 9.45.39 AM

Screen Shot 2015-07-21 at 9.46.38 AM

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:14_|_2:40.4_|_105___|_20.0_|_09.3_|_120___|_warmup
01000_|_2000_|_08:41_|_2:10.3_|_217___|_25.0_|_09.2_|_161___|_Int #1 (shortened)
03000_|_0900_|_05:04_|_2:48.7_|_098___|_19.4_|_09.2_|_124___|_rest
03900_|_2500_|_10:59_|_2:11.8_|_276___|_25.1_|_09.1_|_168___|_Int #2 (head wind)
06400_|_0600_|_04:05_|_3:23.9_|_072___|_17.7_|_08.3_|_130___|_rest
07000_|_2500_|_11:05_|_2:13.1_|_278___|_25.1_|_09.0_|_171___|_Int #3 (tail wind)
09500_|_0400_|_03:04_|_3:50.5_|_056___|_18.2_|_07.1_|_131___|_rest
09900_|_2600_|_12:07_|_2:19.9_|_288___|_23.8_|_09.0_|_166___|_Int #4 (head, bailed on the rep twice)
12500_|_1320_|_07:41_|_2:54.5_|_166___|_21.6_|_08.0_|_139___|_feet out

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:14_|_2:40.4_|_105___|_20.0_|_09.3_|_120___|_warmup
09600_|_42:53_|_2:14.0_|_1059___|_24.7_|_09.1_|_167___|_Main set
01900_|_12:13_|_3:12.8_|_226___|_18.5_|_08.4_|_128___|_rest meters
01320_|_07:41_|_2:54.5_|_166___|_21.6_|_08.0_|_139___|_cool down
13800_|_08:01_|_2:27.9_|_1556___|_22.9_|_08.9_|_153___|_Total

Quick warmup.  Then right into the first rep.  24 spm felt good and I was able to maintain much closer to 2:10 than 2:15, which was nice to see.  I had to maneuver around a paddle boarder and I passed a sculler going the other way in the s-turn, but other than that, I was just counting strokes and hoping for it all to be over.

As I approached the Prospect Street bridge, I saw that another sculler was stopped in my path to the proper arch.  I needed to talk to this guy anyway, so I decided to stop this piece at 2K.  8:41 @ r24 – I’m happy with that.

The sculler is Bruce.  He and I both launch from the same place.  I wanted to ask him if he could take a quick video of me from a bridge so I can check my catch angle.  He was ready and willing to help out!

I paddled out to the Moody Street dam and turned around for interval #2.  This one was a little bit slower with the touch of headwind, and it certainly hurt a bit at the end, but no drama.

I paddled to start of the next interval and had a drink of water.  I was starting to feel pretty tired.  But this one was with the ghost of a tail wind.  I was starting to really feel the fatigue and the pace sagged a bit in the middle.  But once I went through the Prospect Street bridge, I pushed the rate up a bit and brought the pace to around 2:10.

The last two intervals had pushed my HR up above 95% of HRR and I was really depleted.  But I set out on the last interval.  The head wind was a bit stronger, but still probably below 4mph.  Right before I went back under the Prospect Street bridge, my starboard oar touched bottom on two strokes in a row.  The river level is about a foot below normal, I guess I need to steer a different line through here until it comes back up.

After the bridge, I was really struggling.  My form was starting to fall apart and my splits were getting worse.  I made it to beginning of the s-turn and I decided that I had had enough.  So, I coasted to a stop.  I immediately regretted it.  I started up again and pushed through the turn, but bailed again about 30 strokes into the last stretch, and then picked up again after a couple of paddled strokes.  From there it was just grinding it out to the end.  All of my drama cost me about 30 seconds on the time for the whole interval.

This was hard work.  My training over the past month has been very sprint focused, and I think I have some aerobic base building to do.

When you put it all together, the average pace for the session was 2:14.  I think next I do this, I will probably aim at about a 2:13 or so.

Tomorrow:  4 x 3000 / 1′ rest (HR cap at 80% HRR – 157 bpm)

Workouts

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Over time, I’ve found some good workouts for different purposes.  Here is a partial list

Endurance Workouts:  The intent of these workouts is to build aerobic fitness, improve CV capacity and increase the rate at which lactate is processed in muscles.  The primary energy source is fat metabolism.

  • 4 x 20′ / 1′ r (18 to 20 SPM) – This is my bread and butter session on the erg.  The intent of the 1′ rests is to allow you to rehydrate and stretch.  I typically do this session with a HR monitor and aim for a pace that keeps my HR between 70% and 80% of my HRR.
  • Wolverine Plan L4 workouts:  These can be done in a number of formats, but I usually do either 2 x (4 x 10′)/2’r or 4 x (2 x 10′)/1’r.  Instead of using my 2K pace as a target for the paces, I usually go slower so that my HR only goes above 80% HRR at the end of the highest stroke rate intervals.
  • Half Marathons:  These are good every once in a while.  My pace  and rate in these is usually the same as a 4×20′, but because there are no rests, my HR will end up a little higher at the end.

Threshold Workouts:  The intent of these workouts is to improve lactate processing and tolerance.  Generally, HR in these workouts will rise consistently and end up at or around 90% HRR by the end.

  • Continuous Rows:  These are basically middle distance time trials.  5K, 6K, 30 minute, 10K, 60 minute.  Generally free rate, although sometimes I will do them with a rate cap of 24spm.
  • Pushes:  These are continuous rows that are rowed with a strong negative split.  The primary one that I do is a 10K push.  For this workout you setup the PM for a 10K distance and 1000m splits.  You start at pace about 8 seconds slower than you current 10K best pace.  So, if you can do a 10K time trial at a 1:52 pace, then you would start this workout at 2:00.  Then after 1000m, you speed up by a second to a 1:59 pace.  The PM display can show you the pace for your current split.  You just keep speeding up after each 1K section.  The last 2K is pretty intense.  You can do this with other distances or even based on time (like 30 minutes with 3 minute splits).  The good thing about this workout is that it keeps you engaged trying to hit the paces exactly.
  • Short rest intervals:  These have about the same training effect as the continuous pieces but allow you to row a bit faster, and are more engaging mentally.
    The main style of these workouts that I do is:

    • 15 x 3′ / 1′ rest.  This workout is done at about your 6K pace, maybe a second or two slower.  I try to negative split this workout by noting the number of meters I do in the first rep and trying to increase that by 1 or 2 meters in each successive rep.

Long Interval Workouts:  These workouts are the essential to preparing for both 2K racing, and also for head races and middle distance time trials.  Generally they are done at around the same pace as a 5K or 6K time trial.  Faster for the shorter intervals, slower for the longer ones.  I have found that the best way to control the intensity of these workouts is to row to specific stroke rates in each interval.  For the most intense sessions, do them as free rate and let nature take it’s course.  Interval rests are designed to be between 0.5 and 1.0 times as long as the interval work period and should be long enough for your heart rate to get back below into the UT2 zone (<70% HRR).  I generally do active rests, paddling at about 2:30 pace (2K + 50 ish), but I stop rowing long enough for a sip of water and to wipe my hands and face.  These session should drive HR at or above 90% HRR in the last couple of intervals.

  • The classics:  These are from the Wolverine Plan and also in the Pete Plan
    • 4 x 2K / 5′ rest
    • 5×1500 / 5′ rest
    • “The Waterfall” – 3K / 2.5K / 2K / 5′ rest.  A fun variation of this one is to keep going to 1.5K / 1K / 500 for sprinty finale.
  • Other ideas
    • 8 to 10 x 1000 / 3’r  Need to be careful about pacing the first few reps on this one.  It’s easy to go too fast as first.
    • Time based versions of these (4 x 8′, 5 x 6′, etc).  I am doing more of these when I do erg sessions during OTW season.  Since my pace is about 20 to 25 seconds slower in my boat than on the erg, if I want to emulate a 4x2K OTW session on an indoor rower, I will do it as 4×8′ or even 4×9′.

Short Interval Workouts: These workouts are the primary tool to improve 2K racing times.  They are generally done at about 2K race pace and rate.  Interval rests are between 1x and 2x work time.   I do active rests again at about 2:30 pace, and I also stop for water or a wipe down every couple of reps.  I try to get my HR down below UT2 (<65% HRR) by the end of the rests, but that might not be possible by the last few reps.

  • The classics:  From the Wolverine Plan (and used also by the Pete Plan)
    • 8×500 / 3’30” rest – pace is a bit faster than 2K race pace
    • 4 x 1000 / 5′ rest – pace is a second or two slower than 2K race pace
    • “The Pyramid” (250/500/750/1000/750/500/250) / 1’30” rest for each 250m in the prior rep – pace on this one is 2K race pace going up and speed up coming back down
  • Other ideas:
    • 6 x 750 / 4′ rest
    • Time based versions (8 x 2′, 6 x 3′, 4 x 4′, etc)

Very Short Interval Workouts:  Since On the Water Master Sprint racing is done over a 1K distance, I have found that additional sprint training is useful.  It might help with 2K training a bit, but is most necessary for short races.

  • 16 x 250 / 2′ rest
  • 3 x ( 6 x 1′ / 1′ rest) / 5′ rest
  • 5 x 20 strokes @ 32 /10 stroke paddle, 5 x 20 strokes @ 34 / 15 stroke paddle, 5 x 20 strokes @ 36 / 20 stroke paddle, 5′ rest between sets  ( from RowsAndAll: Sprint training.  That workout is 30″ instead of 20 strokes for each work interval)

Saturday: pointless abuse

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i headed out to Lake Quinsigamond, and during the drive, I noticed the flags at all the car dealerships snapping in a brisk wind out of the north. When I got to the lake, there was a lot of chop and some whitecaps.

In a moment of foolishness, I thought that it would be a good idea to get some rough water practice in case conditions next weekend are less than ideal. What I actually learned is that if it’s blowing this hard and the water is this awful, don’t bother to go race. It was awful.

There were 8 of us this morning, so we had a coxed 4, a double and me in a single. We headed down lake with a hefty tail wind and lots of lumpy waves. This wasn’t so bad. At least until we got waked three times in a row. The last one was the worst. The angle of the wake was perfectly aligned to my direction of travel so I was rowing in it for at least a minute. I think I got maybe two good stretches of a thousand meters or so but the rest was just wave slappingly horrible rowing.

As we turned at the south end of the lake, it became clear just how bad the wind was. Just paddling in it as a crosswind was very difficult. We got lined up and started back up the lake right into it as a headwind.  At first, I found I could not row with any pressure at all. It was all I could do to stay balanced in the confused waves at the mouth of the cove. Over about 5 minutes, I got more comfortable and started to get a bit of a better rhythm.

I passed the four and the double right before the narrows in a stretch of reasonably flat water and as we came around the point, the waves and wind hit me and practically pulled an oar out of my hand.

Around this time, rowing in motion decided that what I was doing did not resemble rowing closely enough and stopped reporting paces and stroke rates.  Good thing too, because I was working hard to see anything faster than 2:50 as a split anyway.  I bashed my way to the bridge and managed put some clear water between me and the other boats, but I was not havin. g much fun.

I continued north another 1500m until I saw the double turn back for the dock. With a feeling of relief, I turned and headed for home. Rowing with the tailwind and was a nice relief. It was still a real challenge to deal with the chop, but I was much more able to get into a groove and deal with the water going downwind.

Pit was even a challenge getting lined up with the dock in cross wind and chop.  I basically slid out of the boat onto the dock.

It wasn’t much of a workout. I wish I had taken it as a rest day and gone tomorrow morning instead.

All together, it was about 10k of rowing which took about an hour and twenty minutes.   Ugly. Just ugly.

Easy and Breezy: 11 x ( 500 square blade / 500 steady state )

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The weather report was not very promising yesterday, with rain, cold temps and high winds forecasted.  I went to the length of packing gym clothes in case I decided to skip the OTW in favor of an erg session in the gym at work.

As it turned out, it was a lovely morning.  Sunny, chilly, but not freezing.  It was pretty calm when I started, but the wind built during the row and ended up about 10-15mph from the west by the time I finished.  It certainly impacted the splits, but it didn’t imact what I was trying to do.

So, what was I trying to do.

Plan:

  1. Alternate 500 meters of square blade rowing with 500 meters of steady state rowing
  2. Technique focus:
    1. Attempt to row without touching water on recovery (work on balance)
    2. Finish each stroke without my hands touching my torso (clean finishes)
    3. Full compression both on the square and steady state (balance)

I started with a quick set of drills.

  • King of the mountain:  sit at the catch, and lift and drop the oars.  Focus on isolating the arm motion and maintaining balance.  I did about 20 reps.
  • Top Quarter:  Going straight from the King of the mountain, take teeny, tiny strokes from the catch to about 6 inches down the slide, then back to the catch.  Essentially isolating the catch.  I took about 10 strokes that way and started to get the hang of it.  Then I caught water with my starboard oar and caused enough panic to pull the plug on it for the day.  At least I didn’t flip and it sure seems like it will be a good drill.
  • arms only for about 100m, then arms and body.  Focusing on clean finishes.
  • Pause at body over.  I did that for about 500m

This all took me to the cut, after I maneuvered through, I paddled until I had exactly 1000m on the speedcoach, and then went right into square blades.  500m of that, then switch to 500m of steady state between 18 and 20 spm.  For both normal and square blade rowing, I tried to keep the stroke power reasonably high, so that I wasn’t just paddling along.  And I tried to get all the way to full compression at the catch.

I found that I could sometimes take a couple strokes without touching water.  And when I touched, it was lightly on a single side, usually starboard.  When the water was flat, it was easier than when it was gusting, but the wind actually made it a bit more challenging and interesting.

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Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace___|_Strks_|_Rate_|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:33_|_2:50.1_|_083___|_14.9_|_11.8_|_119___|_warmup
01000_|_0500_|_02:34_|_2:34.2_|_047___|_18.3_|_10.6_|_134___|_on the square
01500_|_0500_|_02:22_|_2:22.4_|_047___|_19.8_|_10.6_|_146___|_steady state
02000_|_0500_|_02:31_|_2:31.2_|_047___|_18.7_|_10.6_|_143___|_on the square
02500_|_0500_|_02:18_|_2:18.5_|_051___|_22.1_|_09.8_|_152___|_steady state
03000_|_0500_|_02:25_|_2:24.9_|_048___|_19.9_|_10.4_|_149___|_on the square
03500_|_0500_|_02:35_|_2:34.8_|_048___|_18.6_|_10.4_|_140___|_steady state
04000_|_0500_|_02:47_|_2:46.5_|_051___|_18.4_|_09.8_|_141___|_on the square
04500_|_0500_|_02:29_|_2:29.2_|_048___|_19.3_|_10.4_|_143___|_steady state
05000_|_0500_|_02:44_|_2:44.1_|_051___|_18.6_|_09.8_|_144___|_on the square
05500_|_0500_|_02:34_|_2:33.5_|_048___|_18.8_|_10.4_|_148___|_steady state
06000_|_0500_|_02:41_|_2:41.2_|_049___|_18.2_|_10.2_|_150___|_on the square
06500_|_0500_|_02:35_|_2:34.6_|_050___|_19.4_|_10.0_|_144___|_steady state
07000_|_0500_|_02:34_|_2:33.7_|_047___|_18.3_|_10.6_|_141___|_on the square
07500_|_0500_|_02:20_|_2:20.5_|_047___|_20.1_|_10.6_|_150___|_steady state
08000_|_0500_|_02:35_|_2:34.6_|_049___|_19.0_|_10.2_|_143___|_on the square
08500_|_0500_|_02:23_|_2:23.1_|_049___|_20.5_|_10.2_|_151___|_steady state
09000_|_0500_|_02:34_|_2:33.7_|_050___|_19.5_|_10.0_|_144___|_on the square
09500_|_0500_|_02:35_|_2:34.5_|_049___|_19.0_|_10.2_|_136___|_steady state
10000_|_0500_|_02:44_|_2:44.2_|_050___|_18.3_|_10.0_|_143___|_on the square
10500_|_0500_|_02:37_|_2:37.0_|_047___|_18.0_|_10.6_|_143___|_steady state
11000_|_0500_|_02:55_|_2:54.7_|_052___|_17.9_|_09.6_|_140___|_on the square
11500_|_0500_|_02:36_|_2:35.8_|_050___|_19.3_|_10.0_|_144___|_steady state
12000_|_0500_|_02:32_|_2:32.2_|_050___|_19.7_|_10.0_|_148___|_on the square
12500_|_0500_|_02:35_|_2:34.7_|_054___|_20.9_|_09.3_|_155___|_steady state
13000_|_1080_|_05:48_|_2:41.0_|_113___|_19.5_|_09.6_|_148___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:33_|_2:50.1_|_083___|_14.9_|_11.8_|_119___|_warmup
06000_|_31:35_|_2:37.9_|_591___|_18.7_|_10.2_|_143___|_Square Blade rowing
06000_|_29:59_|_2:29.9_|_588___|_19.6_|_10.2_|_146___|_Steady State
01080_|_05:48_|_2:41.0_|_113___|_19.5_|_09.6_|_148___|_cool down
14060_|_12:55_|_2:35.6_|_1375__|_18.9_|_10.2_|_143___|_Total

Tomorrow:  Since I won’t be able to row this weekend, I will plan to do a long interval session tomorrow.  4×2500/ ~4′ rest.  Target rate: r26, Target split 2:15

20′ + 30′ steady state

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Pressed for time this morning.  So, I could only fit in a 20 minute lactate test and 30 minutes more.

Off slides today, at home.  It felt like a tough slog.  Again, i had trouble toning the power down to 185W.

186.7W, AvgHR 145.1, r17.8, Lactate: 1.9

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The next 30 minutes, I was far more disciplined about sticking to 185W.

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If my afternoon works out OK, I am going to try to sneak out for a row!  Tomorrow, is spring cleanup day at the boathouse and a first row on Quinsig.  Apparently, there is about 1.5km of rowable water accessible from our dock, even though there is still about 5km of ice at both ends of the lake

4×20′ Steady State

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On slides.  Target Power: 178W at r20

Lactate after 20′ –> 1.5mmol/l (so, increased power to 180W for steady state on slides)

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A good workout.  Happy to see things going in the right direction.

Tomorrow: Another crack at the CTC, plus a short interval workout.