Sunday PM: 2x5K/2′ rest

April 20, 2015Leave a comment

Just a quick session to loosen up the joints and to do a lactate test.

Power: 195.5. HR: 143.7, Rate: 19.1, Lactate: 2.6

Too high. Reduced power to 190W for next piece.

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 20, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_05000_|_20:14.3_|_02:01.4_|_195.5_|_19.1_|_131.9_|_ 62.3% _|_13.0_|_10.2
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01250_|_05:02.6_|_02:01.1_|_197.3_|_19.2_|_103.4_|_ 42.1% _|_12.9_|_10.3
02_|_01250_|_05:03.7_|_02:01.5_|_195.2_|_19.2_|_138.8_|_ 67.2% _|_12.9_|_10.2
03_|_01250_|_05:03.9_|_02:01.6_|_194.8_|_18.8_|_141.9_|_ 69.5% _|_13.2_|_10.4
04_|_01250_|_05:04.1_|_02:01.6_|_194.5_|_19.1_|_143.7_|_ 70.7% _|_12.9_|_10.2

2015-04-20_17-49-53

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 20, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_05000_|_20:24.1_|_02:02.4_|_190.8_|_19.2_|_143.1_|_ 70.3% _|_12.8_|_09.9
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01250_|_05:06.3_|_02:02.5_|_190.3_|_19.2_|_134.7_|_ 64.3% _|_12.8_|_09.9
02_|_01250_|_05:05.6_|_02:02.2_|_191.6_|_19.2_|_144.3_|_ 71.2% _|_12.8_|_10.0
03_|_01250_|_05:05.7_|_02:02.3_|_191.4_|_19.0_|_146.3_|_ 72.5% _|_12.9_|_10.1
04_|_01250_|_05:06.5_|_02:02.6_|_190.0_|_19.4_|_147.2_|_ 73.2% _|_12.6_|_09.8

Random Intervals on Lake Quinsigamond

April 18, 20156 Comments

The original intent of today’s training was to do a hard 5K from the south end of the lake to the north end, but this was disrupted by events. I ended up with a 3.3K interval, and two 1.2K intervals. It was a lovely morning for a row. Sunny, mid 50s, very little wind. The water was flat except for some waterskier wakes. Even those weren’t too bad today.

I warmed up from the boat house to the south end of the lake, including some 20 and 30 stroke bursts working rate up from 24 to 30. I also did about 1K on the square and felt pretty solid in the boat.

The I set up for my 5K, and took off. My objectives were:

Rate above 26
Pace around 2:15
Keep working on earlier tap down and crisp finishes

Keeping pace on target was a bit of an issue. The battery that decided to be dead today was the new XGPS160. I hadn’t charged for a couple of weeks, but I’ve only used it on about 6 outings, so I thought I’d be OK. Turns out, I was wrong. I will have to plan to keep it plugged into the charge when I’m not using it. Without the XGPS, I was back to relying upon the iPhone GPS, and on Crewnerd, that means there is a pretty good lag and the pace hunts around a bit. I ended up pretty much ignoring the pace and rowing by feel. If I felt like I was about to die, I knew I was rowing hard enough. Like my 1K intervals, I found that if I stopped concentrating on my finishes, that I would layback too much and slow down. When I got back on track, and got really good compression at the catch, and finished well, the boat definitely moved much better. I’ve heard that about rowing with the Fat2s. You need to work on the front half of the stroke to get any speed.

So, I had run through a couple of wakes without huge slow downs, and I was getting pretty winded by the time I approached the bridge. A sculler heading in the opposite direction hailed me and told me that they were starting races soon on the 2K course at the north end of the lake. I pressed on, hoping that I could sneak north outside the race lanes and finish my 5K. I sped back up, and went under the bridge, and started to turn to the side of the course. I turned around to look and there were 3 eights steaming down the course towards the finish. I was safely out of the way, but there was no way I was going to try to finish a hard 5K in the return lane while they were actually running races, so I pulled the plug with a mixture of regret and relief. It would have been a tough last 2K, but I wanted to finish what I had started.

What to do now? I decided to do go from the bridge, back south to the end of the lake, and after a bit of a rest I took off on that project. I had gotten about 750m into that when the other boats I was out with passed me heading north. I changed my mind and decided to stop at the narrows after about 1200m, and then do another rep going back north. Maybe it was a rationalization, but I didn’t want them all to wait for me back at the dock if they were done. That’s considered a bit rude.

I spun just south of the narrows and did my final rep. I knew it would all be over in 150 strokes, so I pushed this one a bit harder. While I was doing that rep, the quad passed me going south again. Oh well, they weren’t going in after all.

I finished the rep at the bridge, turned south again and pulled my feet out of the shoes. I rowed my cooldown with my feet out. Another good way to make sure that I concentrated on my finishes. The quad passed me heading north this time, and I turned to follow them back to the dock.

It was a pretty strenuous workout. I was happy with the rate. I was not as happy with the pace. My pace on the 3K was around 2:17. I want to be a lot faster than that. I don’t think it’s fitness, so I need to keep working technique

Start_|_Dist_|__Time_|_Split Pace_|_Strokes_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_Remarks
00000_|_4073_|_30:35_|_3:45.3_____|_461_____|_15.1_|_08.8_|_warmup
04073_|_3312_|_15:08_|_2:17.1_____|_395_____|_26.1_|_08.4_|_interval #1
10225_|_0435_|_01:50_|_2:06.4_____|_046_____|_25.1_|_09.5_|_rest
07857_|_1228_|_05:37_|_2:17.2_____|_149_____|_26.5_|_08.2_|_interval #2
05916_|_1417_|_06:39_|_2:20.8_____|_169_____|_25.4_|_08.4_|_rest
09368_|_1240_|_05:30_|_2:13.1_____|_150_____|_27.3_|_08.3_|_Interval #3
10608_|_1447_|_10:26_|_3:36.3_____|_176_____|_16.9_|_08.2_|_cd feet out

Distance_|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strokes_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_Remarks
4073_____|_30:35_|_3:45.3_|_461_____|_15.1_|_08.8_|_warmup
5780_____|_26:15_|_2:16.2_|_694_____|_26.4_|_08.3_|_Main set
1447_____|_10:26_|_3:36.3_|_176_____|_16.9_|_08.2_|_Cool down
1852_____|_08:29_|_2:17.4_|_215_____|_25.3_|_08.6_|_rest meters
13152____|_15:45_|_2:52.8_|_1546____|_20.4_|_08.5_|_Total

Tomorrow: Rest day.

Friday AM: 14K Steady State in the rain

April 17, 2015April 17, 20155 Comments

Technology failed me today. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get my HR monitor to link up with either my phone or my speedcoach. I have to assume that it has consumed yet another battery. I really like the Polar H7, but the battery life is not very good, and seemingly random. Some batteries last a long time, some of them only last a few weeks.

So, I was flying blind in terms of intensity, and as I always do, I’m sure I pushed too hard due to the lack of the feedback. Oh well, I had fun pushing too hard.

The weather was less than perfect, and I enjoyed it a lot. It was 50F and raining, with about a 10mph wind blowing from upriver to downriver. Rowing downriver, I felt like a god! The boat felt light and my splits were fast. Rowing upriver, it was like I had pushed the drag lever up to 8. Every stroke felt very heavy and the boat had very little run. It was hard work.

But the good news was that I was able to concentrate on those crisp finishes from yesterday, and getting good compression at the catch. When I got it right, I was rewarded with a 5 second improvement in boat speed. When I got sloppy, I slowed right down.

I did two laps of the river. This is about 20 minutes downriver from launch to the Moody Street dam, then 15 minutes upriver, stopping before the twisty turny part. Then 15 minutes back down river. Finally, 20 minutes back home.

Tomorrow: A hard 5.5K on Lake Quinsigamond

Thursday AM: 5x1K / 500m rest OTW

April 16, 2015April 17, 201510 Comments

The wind from yesterday was gone. The water was perfect. It was a bit cold (around 40F), but it warmed up as I was rowing. Another beautiful morning to be on the river.

Today’s mission was to mimic the workout that Sander had done yesterday. He did a 4x1K. Since mine would no doubt be slower, I decided to add a punishment rep. Actually, the way things worked out, the end of my fourth rep put me at the far end of the 1K course, so I decided that another rep would be a good idea.

The objectives:

Pace faster than 2:15
Stroke rate 26 to 28
Try to row clean, blades off the water, etc

I did a superlative 6×1000 last August and finished with an average pace of 2:07.0. That was my best ever 1K interval session. This was my third session of the season, so I had pretty modest expectations.

Side note: Water temp this morning was probably around 2C. In August water tem is around 20C. From Biorow Vol 9, No 105, the impact of the water temp would be 1.5%. In other words, a 2:05 split today would be a 2:03 split in 20C water. I like this side note, it makes me feel faster!

Back to the story. I started with a long warmup. I did the OTW warmup that I got to like last season all the way to the dam, and then turned and did reasonable pressure steady state back to the start of the 1K course, another 2.5K or so.

Then into the intervals. I tried to keep myself under control. I tend to push so hard that I blow up in OTW interval sessions, so I purposely aimed a bit low. Nevertheless, I was really working hard in the last third of each interval and even had to ease up a bit in the last couple. In terms of technique, I found that a winter of erging on slides had had two effects, one positive, one negative.

The positive effect was on the recovery. I was much better maintaining my balance and fully extending my arms and swing my back before breaking my knees. This allowed me to maintain balance and control as I went back up the slide to the catch. I need to take some video, but I didn’t feel like I was bouncing into the catch like last year.

The negative effect was on layback. On the erg, putting a bit more layback and really pulling the handle all the way to your chest helps your splits a fair amount. Basically anything that gets more chain out of the machine helps increase your power per stroke. In the boat, the 2.5M meters that I did on the erg were causing me to wait to long to tap down. This meant that I had too much layback, my hands would bump my ribs, and that made my finishes sloppy. I figured this out somewhere in interval number 2, and from there I consciously worked on less layback, earlier tapdown and crisper finishes. When I got it right, it gave me 2 seconds on my split. It was hard to consistently get right. I want to get this on tape too.

So, at the end of the day, I ended up with a 2:08.1 avg, so a second slower than last august. If I grade it on the tempurature curve, I did better! I see this as a positive sign for the season. My fitness is getting better, and my technique needs work.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_5680_|_28:44_|_2:31.8_|_552___|_19.2_|_10.3_|_149___|_warmup
05700_|_1000_|_04:17_|_2:08.7_|_111___|_25.9_|_09.0_|_168___|_Interval #1
06700_|_0300_|_02:11_|_3:39.0_|_030___|_13.7_|_10.0_|_138___|_rest
07000_|_1000_|_04:15_|_2:07.3_|_114___|_26.9_|_08.8_|_167___|_Interval #2
08000_|_0500_|_03:14_|_3:14.5_|_055___|_17.0_|_09.1_|_136___|_rest
08500_|_1000_|_04:15_|_2:07.6_|_119___|_28.0_|_08.4_|_168___|_Interval #3
09500_|_0500_|_03:44_|_3:44.2_|_055___|_14.7_|_09.1_|_132___|_rest
10000_|_1000_|_04:17_|_2:08.7_|_118___|_27.5_|_08.5_|_168___|_Interval #4
11000_|_0500_|_03:13_|_3:13.3_|_056___|_17.4_|_08.9_|_138___|_rest
11500_|_1000_|_04:16_|_2:08.1_|_117___|_27.4_|_08.5_|_169___|_Interval #5
12500_|_1360_|_07:37_|_2:48.0_|_147___|_19.3_|_09.3_|_147___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
05680_|_28:44_|_2:31.8_|_552___|_19.2_|_10.3_|_149___|_warmup
05000_|_21:21_|_2:08.1_|_579___|_27.1_|_08.6_|_168___|_Main set
01800_|_12:23_|_3:26.5_|_196___|_15.8_|_09.2_|_136___|_rest meters
01360_|_07:37_|_2:48.0_|_147___|_19.3_|_09.3_|_147___|_cool down
13840_|_10:06_|_2:31.9_|_1474___|_21.0_|_09.4_|_152___|_Total

Tomorrow: 15K steady state OTW, HR limit 155.

Wed PM: Windy 8K

April 16, 2015April 16, 20153 Comments

I flew home from LA, which required me to get up at 4AM. I arrived at Logan airport around 4pm, and decided that I really, really wanted to go for a row. The weather indicated that the wind would be 15mph gusting to 25, but I figured that my sheltered little river would be OK.

I was mostly right. There were some sections where the wind was so strong that I was just trying to hang on. There were other sections, at the end of a longer exposed section where the waves and whitecaps were big enough to cause significant problems on recovery and wash over the deck of the boat. But it was glorious nonetheless! It was great to be out on a sunny day after being cooped up on a plane for 5 hours.

I worked a little too hard for a good quality steady state session, but it was good to get some rough water practice.

4×20’/1’r at Crossfit Anaerobic (Oh the irony!)

April 14, 2015April 14, 20152 Comments

No training yesterday, I was up before 5AM to catch a flight out to LAX. Then into meetings for the rest of the day, and a very nice dinner at the Crow Bar. They have a delightful slogan.

The place has about 50 beers on tap, mostly local and as far as I could tell, delicious. They also have a “black label” burger, consisting entirely of ground ribeye and served on a brioche bun along with french fries, cooked in duck fat.

Needless to say, I definitely needed to hit the gym this morning. So I toddled off Crossfit Anaerobic in Irvine, which was close enough for me to walk to from my hotel.

As usual, the folks there were very nice, the facility was clean and well equipped. The erg I selected from a row of identical machines was smooth and well maintained.

Then it was time to settle in for my purely aerobic workout and crossfit anaerobic (There’s that irony).

Target power was 195W, and it felt nice and easy. HR popped quickly up to about 145 and then very slowly drifted up from there. It felt like the right power.

I was holding 195W through 19 minutes of the last interval, and decided to finish strong. So, I upped the rate to 24 and held >300W for the last minute.

Tomorrow: Flying back home, and hopefully getting in time to go for a row on my way home.

Sunday PM: Bonus Session 3×20′ steady state -ish

April 12, 2015Leave a comment

I have to fly out early tomorrow morning to California, and I doubt I will have any time to fit in a workout. So, I thought it would be a good idea to do a second session today.

Nothing to taxing, but some more meters in the bank.

As usual, I started with a 20 minute lactate test. As usual for a Sunday, it felt easier than on any other day. Target was 193W, but I was having trouble getting it down below 195W. And my HR was nicely controlled and stayed below 140 throughout the piece.

Power: 195.1W, Rate: 19.4spm, AvgHR: 137.4bpm, Lactate: 1.4mmol/l

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 12, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_04938_|_20:00.0_|_02:01.5_|_195.1_|_19.4_|_132.8_|_ 62.9% _|_12.8_|_10.1
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01236_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.4_|_195.7_|_19.4_|_123.0_|_ 56.0% _|_12.7_|_10.1
02_|_01235_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.5_|_195.3_|_19.4_|_133.9_|_ 63.8% _|_12.7_|_10.1
03_|_01235_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.4_|_195.4_|_19.4_|_136.7_|_ 65.8% _|_12.7_|_10.1
04_|_01232_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.8_|_193.9_|_19.2_|_137.4_|_ 66.3% _|_12.8_|_10.1

So, then I setup for 2 more 20 minute pieces. I row these using rowpro, and I have gotten in the habit of just setting them up as a single continuous row. I started doing it that way because it is the way you have to do it for online rows, but it just works better for the spreadsheet to do it this way. For a 2×20’/1’rest, I set up a continuous row of 42′ and then set up the splits to be 21 minutes long. That way, the avg power for the split is accurate throughout. I row down from 42′ to 22′, then I grab a drink of water and a quick wipe of the towel. I start paddling with a few seconds to go before the 21 minute mark, and then I’m into the second piece. I row that down from 21′ down to 1′, and then I have to decide what I want to do with that last minute. Sometimes I just row it out at the target pace. Other times, I paddle it as a quick cool down. Most often, I do a quick 1′ at higher rate and pressure for a bit of fun at the end of the row.

You can do the same thing for 3×20′ (63′) or 4×20′ (84′).

Today, I dutifully did my next 20 minutes at 195W target power. My HR monitor was dropping in and out, but I had enough readings to see that my HR was staying nice and low. I also felt terrific. So, during the 1 minute break, I decided to row the last 21′ harder. I did the first 5′ at r22 and 220W, then 5′ at r21/210W, then 5′ at r20/200W, then 5′ at r19/190W. That left 1 minute to go. I bumped it up to r24 and tried to take long hard strokes. I was able to hold about 275W (1:48) at r24 comfortably.

This was a great way to make the time pass quickly and to get a bit more intensity. Through the whole thing, my HR never went above UT1. There is something magic about Sundays.

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 12, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_10339_|_42:00.0_|_02:01.9_|_193.4_|_19.6_|_138.2_|_ 66.8% _|_12.5_|_09.8
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_04952_|_20:00.0_|_02:01.2_|_196.7_|_19.3_|_131.1_|_ 61.8% _|_12.9_|_10.2
02_|_00060_|_01:00.0_|_08:22.1_|_002.8_|_05.0_|_128.2_|_ 59.7% _|_12.0_|_00.6
03_|_01297_|_05:00.0_|_01:55.7_|_226.1_|_22.0_|_137.7_|_ 66.5% _|_11.8_|_10.3
04_|_01273_|_05:00.0_|_01:57.9_|_213.8_|_21.2_|_147.5_|_ 73.4% _|_12.0_|_10.1
05_|_01250_|_05:00.0_|_02:00.0_|_202.5_|_20.0_|_146.9_|_ 73.0% _|_12.5_|_10.1
06_|_01231_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.8_|_193.6_|_19.0_|_145.3_|_ 71.8% _|_13.0_|_10.2
07_|_00277_|_01:00.0_|_01:48.1_|_276.9_|_24.0_|_150.7_|_ 75.7% _|_11.6_|_11.5

Tomorrow: 7am flight to LAX. Probably no training.

7K in a double on Lake Quinsigamond

April 12, 2015April 12, 20151 Comment

Beautiful day for a row. Around 40F, and a light wind from the west. The water was perfect. We had 8 people this morning so we boated a quad, and two doubles. I was in one of the doubles with Joe. Joe is the guy who taught me how to row and is the backbone of our club. Right now, he is nursing a shoulder injury, so we took it pretty easy today.

At this point, the lake is mostly ice free. There is still some icy spots at the south end of the lake. We headed down lake and turned around one of the islands, then headed north until the Gazebo. There were a bunch of 8+s out getting ready for some racing.

Most of the row was nice steady state at around a 20 rate. I was doing my best to keep my legs down until my body position was right for the catch. I was also working a little bit on trying to keep from going too deep at the catch. This was pretty sloppy though.

When we turned around the island, we took a short break to try out the drill that I posted. We took turns trying it, with the other just setting the boat. That’s the great thing about a double. You can work on things like this without risking a swim!

Forgot my Heart Rate Monitor, so the graph isn’t nearly as pretty.

Based on feedback from Sander I decided to get the XGPS160 bluetooth unit to use with CrewNerd. It worked flawlessly. With it the Crewnerd pace display responds instantly to changes in boat speed, and you can turn the smoothing all the way down without seeing erratic displays. So, instead of a Speedcoach GPS II for $400 that provides a 5hz update rate, I have a $149 unit that supports 10Hz updates, and has a better display with my iPhone6. I think I like the idea of bluetooth enabled accessories and the the iphone as a hub. Now, if someone releases bluetooth force gauges and impeller, you’d have everything you need to be fully instrumented in the boat!

I had to make some modifications to my spreadsheet, since it is now generating 10x more data. But that took only a few minutes.

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.

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