Ambition Should be made of sterner stuff

March 26, 2018March 26, 2018Leave a comment

Yesterday, I did my session around 5pm and it was a hard one. This morning, after a rather lousy night’s sleep,, I was up at 5:15 and off to work.

I headed to the fitness center at 7 and this was my plan:

Full PT exercise suite (I haven’t done it for a couple weeks and I’m noticing that my back hurts and my legs are starting to splay at the catch again.)
Then 3 x 20′ / 3′ with one arm KB swings during the rests. (15 each side during each rest)
- Cat VI: r18, 2:03-2:08

I did my PT exercises and then the first set of KB swings. Then I setup on the rowed and did the first 20 minutes. Between the session last night and the first of KB swings, my legs felt empty and it was hard work from the start.

I finished the first 20’s and then did another set of the KB swings. Which brought my HR up to 165, and then sat down for the next 20 minutes. This was pretty hard work. I slowed down to keep my HR below 155.

I finished rep 2 and did another set of KB swings, then started rep #3 on the erg. I was struggling along for about 6 minutes and then decided that I had had enough for today. I’m disappointed that I didn’t finish the session, but I think the idea of doing the KB swings is a good one. I need to do more strength work.

          Workout Summary - media/20180326-1225310o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|11202|53:30.0|02:23.3|153.5|15.8|147.3|156.0|13.2
W-|11036|46:30.0|02:06.4|174.1|17.8|148.2|156.0|13.3
R-|00168|07:00.0|20:53.5|016.3|02.7|141.3|156.0|03.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04820|20:00.0|02:04.5|180.9|18.0|144.7|152.0|13.4
01|04749|20:00.0|02:06.3|173.8|17.9|152.0|156.0|13.2
02|01467|06:30.0|02:12.9|154.2|17.1|147.4|154.0|13.2

Tomorrow:

10 minute warmup
Peak Power training (10 x 10″ / 1′ rests) max drag
2 x 20’/1′ Cat VI (r18,2:03-2:08)

Sunday: 2 x 2k / 2 x 1k / 2 x 500 – On the Oartech DX

March 26, 2018March 26, 20185 Comments

Last Thursday night, I picked up an Oartech DX rowing machine from the Riverside Boat Club in Cambridge. The local rep for Oartech offer to let me try for a few sessions if I agreed to write up what I thought of it.

Those impressions are coming soon. Right now, I just want to jot down the details on the session I did yesterday afternoon.

My wife and I got home from the Cape around 3. I did some chores and errands and finally sat down to work out around 5.

The session:

2 x 2000m / 2’
- Rating: Cat V pace; target SR 22 (1:58 – 2:02)
2 x 1000m, rest 3’ easy
- Rating: Cat IV pace: target SR 24-26 (1:52)
2 x 500m, rest 2’ easy
- Rating: Cat III pace: target SR 26-28 (1:48)

I added another 2K (r18-20, 2:03-2:08) to the beginning as a warmup.

         Workout Summary - media/df_20180325-231815.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|11170|50:57.0|02:16.9|222.2|21.9|150.3|176.0|10.0
W-|09000|34:52.0|01:56.3|224.4|22.0|151.7|176.0|11.8
R-|02174|16:04.0|03:41.9|217.3|21.7|147.1|176.0|06.1
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|02000|08:14.4|02:03.6|184.4|18.4|130.8|144.0|13.2
01|02000|07:51.0|01:57.7|214.7|22.1|152.8|163.0|11.5
02|02000|07:50.6|01:57.6|215.2|21.8|158.9|169.0|11.7
03|01000|03:42.0|01:51.0|255.8|24.2|163.2|176.0|11.2
04|01000|03:42.5|01:51.3|254.5|24.0|163.5|176.0|11.2
05|00500|01:47.8|01:47.8|284.3|26.3|154.6|171.0|10.6
06|00500|01:44.6|01:44.6|307.3|26.4|161.7|175.0|10.9

So, I managed to hit all targets, but it was hard work! I compared it to the two prior times I did this workout, both on the static erg.

The power was basically identical in all sessions.
My heart rate was higher today. I think this is mostly a machine difference, not a difference in how I was feeling.
The drive length was basically identical between static and the Oartech DX. I was expecting a slightly shorter drive length.

Here is power and WPS versus stroke rate. I was working hard to stick to the stroke rates and so it is showing an increase for the higher rates.

Plan for Monday:

Combined strength / endurance
3 x 20′
Between each 20′ do 20 KB swings and pull ups.

Saturday: 3 x 15′ / 4′ – Rate Ladders

March 24, 2018Leave a comment

Down on the cape.

It’s been a great day. I got up around 9, and went out to the bakery. I got some farmers bread, chocolate croissants, and other pastries and a delicious latte and headed home.

We had some breakfast and then it was time for some work around the house.

The winter has been tough on the exterior of the house. A couple of stretches of sand fencing were blown down. So the first task was to replace and resecure the fencing.

Then I went and bought some fiberglass screening and replaced the torn screens in three of the storm doors.

Finally, around 5pm, I headed downstairs to do my erg session. This is the second time at this workout and the first time was tough.

3 x 15′ / 4′ rest
- 5′ @ Cat VI r20 (2:03-2:08)
- 4′ @ Cat V r22 (1:58-2:02)
- 3′ @ Cat IV r24 (1:52-1:56)
- 2′ @ Cat III r26 (1:48 exactly)
- 1′ @ Cat II r28 (1:45 or faster)

I actually misremembered the paces and I was aiming at 2:06, 2:02, 1:57: 1:52, 1:47

          Workout Summary - media/20180324-2200360o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|13207|57:02.0|02:09.6|180.1|22.3|152.1|183.0|10.4
W-|11368|45:00.0|01:58.8|210.7|22.5|154.7|182.0|11.3
R-|01848|12:02.0|03:15.5|065.8|21.6|142.4|182.0|08.7
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|01199|05:00.0|02:05.1|176.9|19.5|126.7|139.0|12.3
01|00991|04:00.0|02:01.0|197.2|21.7|145.4|151.0|11.4
02|00784|03:00.0|01:54.8|230.6|24.0|156.9|160.0|10.9
03|00542|02:00.0|01:50.6|258.4|25.9|164.9|168.0|10.5
04|00283|01:00.0|01:45.9|292.8|28.2|170.2|173.0|10.0
05|01192|05:00.0|02:05.9|178.3|19.6|140.9|151.0|12.2
06|00988|04:00.0|02:01.4|195.7|22.2|157.6|162.0|11.1
07|00778|03:00.0|01:55.7|224.9|23.7|165.9|171.0|10.9
08|00541|02:00.0|01:50.9|256.2|25.7|173.8|176.0|10.5
09|00283|01:00.0|01:46.1|290.9|28.1|177.7|179.0|10.0
10|01190|05:00.0|02:06.0|175.9|19.5|144.9|154.0|12.2
11|00991|04:00.0|02:01.1|196.8|22.1|161.1|166.0|11.2
12|00782|03:00.0|01:55.1|229.2|23.9|170.9|175.0|10.9
13|00538|02:00.0|01:51.6|252.2|26.0|177.5|181.0|10.4
14|00285|01:00.0|01:45.2|297.7|31.0|180.9|182.0|09.2

Well, I might have aimed slow on pace, but it was a very hard workout.

The heart rate was almost identical to the the first time I did this workout on March 10th. That time I started a bit faster and slowed down.

Tomorrow:

2 x 2000m / 2’
- Rating: Cat V pace; target SR 22 (1:58 – 2:02)
2 x 1000m, rest 3’ easy
- Rating: Cat IV pace: target SR 24-26 (1:52)
2 x 500m, rest 2’ easy
- Rating: Cat III pace: target SR 26-28 (1:48)

Back in town for a week.

March 24, 20181 Comment

Tuesday night: After my afternoon workout, I headed to the office for prep meetings and then to Cardiff by the Sea for a very nice diner at the Pacific Coast Grill. I got back from dinner around 10pm and by the time I had caught up with email, it was around midnight.

Wednesday – March 21: Rest Day

I had planned to get up at 5:30 to go to Crossfit near the hotel, but when my alarm went off, I couldn’t find the motivation to get out of bed. I slept until around 7:30, showered and headed off to the airport.

I flew up to San Jose. Again I had a prep meeting in our office and then a customer meeting at 3pm. I was done by around 5pm and headed to SFO for my flight home, a red eye departing ay 8:45pm. I wasn’t sure if it would actually depart because another snow storm was forecast in Boston.

As it turned out, we left on time and arrived early, about 4:45am. I slept maybe an hour on the flight. I guess it was a “rest day”

Thursday – March 22: 3 x 1500@24 + 3 x 500 @ 28+

Since it was so early, I drove home and crawled into to bed. I slept from 6:30 to 10:30 and then went to work. I had a couple of meetings and then headed to the gym. The plan for today was…

3 x 1500m / 1’
- Rating: Cat IV pace; target SR 23-24 + (1:52)
3 x 500m / 2’ easy
- Rating: Cat II pace: target SR 28-30 (1:45)

I had low expectations because of my travels, but the session turned out well. I added a 1500 @ Cat VI at the beginning as a bit of a warm up.

Compared to the first time I did this workout last week, this was a much better effort. I blew up in the 3rd 1500 last time and I had no oomph for a sparkly last rep. You can see the dip in power in the third rep (green was last time), and the much higher heart rate in the right plot.

Friday – 23 March: 30 minutes with bumps.

Although it feels like the world is conspiring to make it impossible for me to maintain reasonable consistency in training, I realize that it is just a product of the choices that I am making. The consequence of wanting to remodel the master bathroom in our house is that I had to meet a contractor this morning during my usual workout time. I thought that meant that wouldn’t get in any kind of a session, but as it turned out, I had a brief window in the evening, once we had come down to Cape Cod.

I popped down to the basement for a quick 30 minutes session. I decided the main intent was to just work up a sweat and go to bed feeling a bit more relaxed. So, I invented a session on the spot.

30 minutes
6 x 5′ splits
each split 4′ at Cat VI pace, 1′ at Cat II pace.

I was on slides, and I gotta say, with the slides aligned and level, I love rowing this way. The Steady state stuff was smooth and it was a pleasure to rate up. I pushed the 3rd bump a bit too hard and took the 4th slow bit a little slower than plan, but overall this was just a really nice little workout.

Workout Summary - media/20180324-0300470o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|07515|30:00.0|01:59.8|209.2|21.2|149.5|171.0|11.8
W-|07523|30:00.0|01:59.6|209.2|21.2|149.5|171.0|12.0
R-|00000|00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|171.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00989|04:00.0|02:01.3|192.6|18.8|124.3|140.0|13.1
01|00289|01:00.0|01:43.9|306.8|27.3|148.7|154.0|10.6
02|00979|04:00.0|02:02.6|190.7|18.6|150.6|157.0|13.1
03|00289|01:00.0|01:43.7|311.7|27.1|154.9|163.0|10.7
04|00970|04:00.0|02:03.7|187.0|19.2|156.1|165.0|12.6
05|00287|01:00.0|01:44.4|302.0|28.5|155.6|161.0|10.1
06|00913|04:00.0|02:11.4|155.8|19.7|145.0|161.0|11.6
07|00289|01:00.0|01:43.8|308.8|29.3|152.1|159.0|09.9
08|00949|04:00.0|02:06.5|174.3|20.0|153.6|161.0|11.8
09|00293|01:00.0|01:42.5|323.8|29.1|158.1|165.0|10.1
10|00962|04:00.0|02:04.7|181.8|18.8|160.7|166.0|12.8
11|00314|01:00.0|01:35.7|395.1|34.9|153.8|171.0|09.0

I did a quick 1000m cooldown after that and now I feel great!

Tomorrow: Rate ladders!

Session:

3 x 15’ / 4’
- 5’@ Cat VI; SR 20
- 4’ @ Cat V; SR 22
- 3’ @ Cat IV; SR 24
- 2’ @ Cat III; SR 26
- 1’@ Cat II; SR 28

San Diego: 60 minutes in the fitness center

March 21, 2018Leave a comment

I was up at 4:45am so I could get to the airport to catch a 7:10am flight out to San Diego.

I arrived around 10:30 and I was at my hotel before noon. I had no meetings until 2pm, so I headed off to the fitness center to try to get in some kind of a session.

I was feeling stiff and a bit tired from the early start, so I started easy, with a 30 minute march on the treadmill with the incline at 15%. This slowly brought my HR up to the top of the UT1 range by the time I was finished. Aside from being really bored, I was feeling pretty good.

So, I hopped on the elliptical to do another 30 minutes. This time as a HIIT session with
6 x (4:20 of easy and 0:40 of really hard). This was no where near as traumatic as the HIIT session I did on the treadmill in SF last week, but I was pretty gassed at the end of each sprint.

Then it was off to the rest of my day. 3 hours of internal meetings and then a customer dinner that lasted from 6:30 to 9:30.

Tomorrow: I am hoping to head over to Crossfit Del Mar at 6am before my flight at 10AM up to San Jose. The workout planned is

3 x 1500m / 1’
Rating: Cat IV pace; target SR 23-24 + (1:52)
3 x 500m / 2’ easy
Rating: Cat II pace: target SR 28-30 (1:45)

The Glamour of Business Travel

March 19, 2018March 19, 2018Leave a comment

Thursday, 15 March: No training, travel to CA.

Friday, 16 March: Quickie HIIT session

35 minute treadmill in the fitness center.

6 x (30″ hard / 4’30” easy)

Felt like crap. The intervals really hurt. Then I headed to the airport to fly home. I got home around 6pm.

Saturday, 17 March: No training. Rest Day.

I went to the Boston Flower Show with my wife and had dinner in Boston.

Sunday, 18 March: 4 x 20′ / 3′ Dynamic

          Workout Summary - media/20180318-2130340o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|20700|92:00.0|02:13.3|159.9|20.6|144.6|160.0|10.9
W-|19049|80:00.0|02:06.0|175.3|20.2|146.7|160.0|11.8
R-|01654|12:00.0|03:37.8|057.4|23.4|131.0|160.0|09.9
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04825|20:00.0|02:04.4|181.4|20.3|136.2|148.0|11.9
01|04783|20:00.0|02:05.4|177.4|20.3|145.3|152.0|11.8
02|04749|20:00.0|02:06.3|174.4|20.1|151.4|159.0|11.8
03|04691|20:00.0|02:07.9|168.0|20.0|153.8|160.0|11.7

I felt really strong through the first two intervals, but I kind of ran out of steam in the second half of the third interval. The last one was a bit of a struggle.

Monday, 19 March: 2 x 2k/2′ + 2 x 1k/3′ + 2 x 500/2′

I added a 2k warmup to the front end.

          Workout Summary - media/20180319-1215340o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|11321|50:52.0|02:14.8|169.9|19.7|142.4|169.0|11.3
W-|09000|34:49.0|01:56.1|226.5|21.9|144.7|169.0|11.9
R-|02326|16:03.0|03:27.1|047.3|15.0|137.2|169.0|11.8
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|02000|08:14.9|02:03.7|182.9|18.1|129.5|143.0|13.4
01|02000|07:51.6|01:57.9|215.9|22.1|146.0|156.0|11.5
02|02000|07:49.5|01:57.4|216.1|22.2|150.6|160.0|11.5
03|01000|03:42.8|01:51.4|253.7|24.0|151.3|166.0|11.2
04|01000|03:40.7|01:50.4|262.5|23.8|152.7|169.0|11.4
05|00500|01:45.6|01:45.6|305.4|25.1|146.4|165.0|11.3
06|00500|01:44.7|01:44.7|313.2|25.2|152.4|168.0|11.4

The PM was considerably more generous than rowsandall in terms of the paces.

Tomorrow: I fly out to San Diego first thing in the morning. I’m hoping that I can do a workout in the Hotel Fitness Center once I get there. I have a business dinner that night.

Tough Session: 3 x 1500/1′ + 3 x 500/2′

March 14, 2018Leave a comment

Went to bed a bit late, but slept well (if only for about 5 hours). Up at 5:15 to head to work.

Plan:

3 x 1500m / 1’
- Rating: Cat IV pace; target SR 23-24 (Pace: 1:52)
3 x 500m / 2’ easy
- Rating: Cat II pace: target SR 28-30 (Pace: 1:45)
Notes: Stay on the target paces, no faster, no slower.

I added a 2K at Cat VI pace to warmup.

I figured I would be OK since the pace for my 20′ test was faster than what was required for the 3×1500. But I was a bit worried about the short turnaround from the peak power session at 5pm last night to this session at 7:30am today. I wasn’t sore this morning, but my legs felt “empty”.

The first two reps were OK, but really taxing. I was counting strokes the whole way. The third rep, I basically chickened out. I think I could have made it, but I was really struggling, and I knew that I had the 3×500 yet to go. I HD’ed briefly in the middle and started up again at a slightly slower pace. Stopping once really took the wind out of my sails so when it started stinging again near the end, I just paddled it out.

The 500s were far more humane, even though they were a lot faster. I was having trouble holding the stroke rate above 28 because I was really focusing on trying to sequence the recovery correctly. The last of the 500s was pretty brutal, but I was not in the mood to bail on any more intervals.

          Workout Summary - media/20180314-1230360o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|08981|40:38.0|02:15.7|182.8|21.6|156.4|177.0|10.2
W-|08000|30:36.0|01:54.8|235.5|23.0|155.4|177.0|11.5
R-|00985|10:01.0|05:05.4|022.0|17.2|159.3|177.0|08.3
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|02000|08:19.0|02:04.7|179.3|18.2|133.5|146.0|13.2 - wu
01|01500|05:37.8|01:52.6|248.6|23.8|157.6|170.0|11.2
02|01500|05:33.5|01:51.2|254.1|24.0|167.2|175.0|11.2
03|01500|05:55.4|01:58.5|216.2|24.0|169.0|177.0|10.5 - HD!
04|00500|01:43.4|01:43.4|316.2|27.8|160.4|174.0|10.4
05|00500|01:44.0|01:44.0|310.8|27.1|160.5|174.0|10.6
06|00500|01:43.6|01:43.6|313.7|27.9|159.3|171.0|10.4

Next time, I think I can get this one on target.

Tomorrow: I am flying off to San Francisco first thing in the morning. I have meetings in the afternoon and a dinner. Then I head home Friday morning. I will take a rest day tomorrow and try to a quick session in the hotel fitness center before I fly home.

Snow Day: Peak Power

March 14, 2018Leave a comment

I was working from home yesterday. We had a massive snow storm. About 17″ in Hopkinton.

Here’s the snow totals for the area.

Despite the snow, I had a full schedule. I was on calls constantly from 9 am to 4:30pm. Then I had a bit of a break, then on the phone again from 6pm to 7:30.

During the break I had enough to squeeze in an abbreviated workout.

The planned session:

Easy warm up 5-10’
Peak Power Test
- Set your erg on watts. Set drag factor at 200. Then test your 10-second peak power.
- Note your peak watts then subtract 10%, write that number down so you know what to aim for the workout
Peak Power Training:
- 1 set of 10 x 10-seconds, 1’ rest between.
- Repeat 10-second all out sprints, full slide with 1’ rest between. Each sprint should begin from a start position at the top of the slide.. Secure the handle during the 1’ rest so the flywheel slows down.
- If the peak watts falls below 90% of your peak power value for two 10- second sprints stop the set..
Session: 2 x 20’ / 1’
- Rating/Pace: Cat VI; target SR 18-20, regular drag factor (Pace: 2:03 to 2:08)

Because of time constraints, I used the first sprint as my peak power test benchmark. I also did not have time for the 2×20 afterward, so I just did a 10 minute cool down.

Here’s the whole thing. During the warmup, I did 4 little 5 stroke bursts with the wheel spinning. During the peak power session, I let the wheel stop between each and set the drag to max (DF = 171, I guess I need to do a little cleaning).

I had set up the session as 100m/1′ intervals. 100m takes about 13 strokes at these rates. For the first couple of intervals, I held the power through the full 100m. After that, I trailed off after 10 seconds because I wanted to retain the intent of the workout. It was basically 10 or 11 strokes. I ended up at about 55 strokes per minute, and I wasn’t shortening the stroke much. For the bursts my drive length was 1.21m vs 1.29m when rowing with full power at r24.

The peak power session was a bit strange to do on the dynamic. I was expecting it to be terrible. I’ve had trouble with interval sessions on the dynamic and I’ve struggle to rate up. But with the drag set to max and such a short interval, I could really hammer it. The load comes on so fast at the catch compared to the static erg that I was able to get higher power than I have seen in years.

My all time low pull split was 1:16.9, which is 770W. My first burst peaked at 786W (1:16.6). So I guess I have a new low pull PB. The first interval is also a clear PB for my fastest 100m ever. I don’t remember the display, but my old mark was 17.6 seconds and I think both the first and second were faster than that.

I guess I have found the one thing that the dynamic is good for.

Here’s a plot of the peak power bursts plotted versus strokes

You can see that the power really didn’t fade all that much. I guess that means that I should have been able to get a higher peak power initially. Here it is plotted against the 10% limit.

I’m interested to try the same session on slides and on a static machine to get a comparison.

Today: A bit tougher session

3 x 1500m / 1’
- Rating: Cat IV pace; target SR 23-24 (Pace: 1:52)
3 x 500m / 2’ easy
- Rating: Cat II pace: target SR 28-30 (Pace: 1:45)
Notes: Stay on the target paces, no faster, no slower.

Back in the Saddle

March 13, 20181 Comment

I arrived home around 10pm on Friday night. I didn’t sleep at all on the flight so I was quite tired. I slept from midnight to 11am the next morning. A fantastic night’s sleep.

Saturday, March 10: 3 x 15’/4′ Rate Ladder

Our internet enable thermostat told us that our house down on the cape was getting colder and colder. When we are not there, It’s supposed to stay at 55F, but it had dipped all the way down to about 48F. It seemed as if there was something wrong with the heating system. So, I headed down there to check it out. I did all the troubleshooting that I could and it seemed pretty clear that there was a furnace problem. I put in a call to the furnace people and they told me they’d be over in an hour. Imagine my shock when they showed up an hour later! The technician quickly found the problem (a bad igniter), installed a replacement, and we were all set.

I wanted to make sure that the house actually started heating up, so I came down prepared to do an erg session while I waited. As a bonus, that meat that I could do the session on slides, a most agreeable way to do an erg session.

I was not sure what to expect from the session. It is my first pass through a new training plan and this is one of the more important weekly sessions.

Session: 3 x 15’ / 4’
Rating/Pace: Row each 15’ with the following rate changes:
- 5’@ Cat VI; SR 20 (pace: 2:03 – 2:08)
- 4’ @ Cat V; SR 22 (pace: 1:58 – 2:02)
- 3’ @ Cat IV; SR 24 (pace: no faster than 1:52)
- 2’ @ Cat III; SR 26 (pace: 1:48 or faster)
- 1’@ Cat II; SR 28 (pace: 1:45 or faster)

I was worried about the last 6 minutes of these intervals, but I figured I could pull it out.

     Workout Summary - media/20180310-2220300o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|12876|57:00.0|02:12.8|178.7|21.5|150.6|181.0|10.5
W-|11485|45:00.0|01:57.5|218.2|22.6|153.2|181.0|11.4
R-|01399|12:00.0|04:17.2|030.7|17.6|140.7|181.0|06.4
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|01208|05:00.0|02:04.2|179.9|19.3|122.2|131.0|12.5
01|01005|04:00.0|01:59.5|204.8|21.8|140.9|146.0|11.5
02|00802|03:00.0|01:52.2|247.4|24.1|155.1|162.0|11.1
03|00557|02:00.0|01:47.7|280.5|26.0|165.4|169.0|10.7
04|00288|01:00.0|01:44.1|311.7|28.5|169.8|172.0|10.1
05|01193|05:00.0|02:05.7|179.2|19.4|139.6|151.0|12.3
06|00999|04:00.0|02:00.1|202.3|21.9|156.8|162.0|11.4
07|00796|03:00.0|01:53.0|241.8|24.2|165.8|171.0|11.0
08|00555|02:00.0|01:48.2|276.8|26.4|173.8|176.0|10.5
09|00288|01:00.0|01:44.0|312.6|28.5|178.2|179.0|10.1
10|01186|05:00.0|02:06.5|174.5|19.7|144.6|154.0|12.0
11|00990|04:00.0|02:01.3|196.2|21.9|161.0|165.0|11.3
12|00787|03:00.0|01:54.3|234.5|23.8|169.5|172.0|11.0
13|00543|02:00.0|01:50.6|258.7|26.2|175.5|178.0|10.4
14|00289|01:00.0|01:43.9|309.5|30.9|178.8|181.0|09.4

So, I nailed the first two intervals, and I needed to back off a little bit in the third, but I finished pretty strongly in the last minute. All in all a good workout after a long trip.

Sunday – March 11: 3 x 20’/3′ Cat VI, Dynamic

The workout plan called for a harder session, but I I had two excuses queued up to avoid it. First, was adequate recovery with Jet Lag. Second, was a very strong desire to avoid doing harder sessions on the dynamic, since it sucks.

This was a very pleasant workout. My HR was nice and low, and I felt good. I was a second faster on splits compared to the session I did before I left on my trip, so that’s heartening.

    Workout Summary - media/20180311-2255300o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|15515|69:00.0|02:13.4|160.7|20.2|136.7|150.0|11.1
W-|14310|60:00.0|02:05.8|175.7|20.2|139.3|150.0|11.8
R-|01208|09:00.0|03:43.5|060.4|20.3|119.7|150.0|07.6
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04768|20:00.0|02:05.8|175.1|20.1|132.0|145.0|11.9
01|04772|20:00.0|02:05.7|176.0|20.1|141.2|147.0|11.8
02|04771|20:00.0|02:05.8|176.0|20.2|144.6|150.0|11.8

See the blip in the heart rate toward the end of the first interval? I started thinking about work and my HR just took off. I guess I might be carrying a bit of work related stress.

Monday – March 12: 2x2k / 2x1k / 2×500

This is another “important” workout. I did it this morning at work on the static erg after a really terrible nights sleep. Jet lag sucks.

The detail plan:

2 x 2000m / 2’ easy
Rating: Cat V pace; target SR 22 (pace: 1:58-2:02)
2 x 1000m / 3’ easy
Rating: Cat IV pace: target SR 24-26 (pace: 1:52 or slower)
2 x 500m / 2’ easy
Rating: Cat III pace: target SR 26-28 (pace: 1:48 or faster)

So, this looked a fair bit easier than the Saturday 3×15 rate ladder session. In the execution, I added another 2K at r18 as a warmup.

       Workout Summary - media/20180312-1230330o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|11437|50:57.0|02:13.6|171.9|19.9|144.1|168.0|11.3
W-|09000|34:55.0|01:56.4|223.3|21.7|146.8|165.0|11.9
R-|02441|16:01.0|03:17.1|059.9|15.9|138.2|165.0|12.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|02000|08:11.6|02:02.9|186.8|18.2|134.9|145.0|13.4
01|02000|07:54.0|01:58.5|212.6|21.8|149.7|157.0|11.6
02|02000|07:51.2|01:57.8|214.1|21.8|152.2|159.0|11.7
03|01000|03:43.1|01:51.5|252.3|23.8|151.2|164.0|11.3
04|01000|03:43.1|01:51.5|253.0|23.8|151.2|165.0|11.3
05|00500|01:47.2|01:47.2|284.1|25.1|144.0|163.0|11.2
06|00500|01:45.5|01:45.5|296.6|25.6|149.1|165.0|11.1

So, that was pretty great. I hit the paces in every piece and had enough headroom to focus on technique throughout. All in all, a really fun session.

Tomorrow: Peak power training….10 x 10″ sprints / 1′ rest + 2 x 20’/3′ Cat VI. Unfortunately on the dynamic.

Doing my best

March 9, 20182 Comments

In brief, things are hectic. I last posted on Friday, February 16, 19 days ago. A lot has happened since then, but it has been tough to maintain a reasonable training schedule. I’ve been on four continents, and slept in my bed at home 5 times in the past 19 days.

Saturday, Feb 17: 4 x 20 / 3′ Dynamic

Maybe the best, most relaxed session I’ve ever had on the dynamic. It still felt sluggish and heavy, but by focusing on the HR cap and allowing the rate to be at r20 instead of r18, it was kind of OK.

          Workout Summary - media/20180217-2015360o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|19586|92:00.0|02:20.9|165.0|20.1|147.7|156.0|10.6
W-|18897|80:00.0|02:07.0|170.7|20.1|148.8|156.0|11.7
R-|00693|12:00.0|08:39.3|059.4|20.3|130.7|156.0|01.2
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04752|20:00.0|02:06.3|173.1|20.0|142.7|152.0|11.9
01|04708|20:00.0|02:07.4|169.4|20.2|150.2|155.0|11.6
02|04713|20:00.0|02:07.3|169.7|20.1|151.7|156.0|11.7
03|04724|20:00.0|02:07.0|170.8|20.2|150.7|156.0|11.7

Sunday, Feb 18: No Training.

My wife and I flew to Aruba for some fun in the sun.

Monday – Feb 19: 5km run on the beach

Barefoot, right along the water line where the sand was the firmest. It was hot, and I was going slow.

Tuesday – Feb 20: 6km run

My feet were a bit beaten up from the barefoot run, so I wore shoes and ran the foot path along the back of the beach. Lots of twists and turns and people to avoid.

Wednesday – Feb 21: No training – rest day

My legs were really sore from two days of running. I don’t run much!

Thursday – Feb 22: Fitness Center

30 minutes on stationary bike

Treadmill – max incline (15%). 6 x (4:30 walk, 0:30 sec sprint)

Friday – Feb 23: Run on the beach

About 4.4km. Not too taxing

Saturday – Feb 24: Quick run on the beach

We had to clear out of the hotel by 11, so I went for a final quick run on the beach. I pushed the pace a little quicker.

We got home around 8pm that night.

Sunday – Feb 25: 8 x (4:30 @ r20, 0:30 @ r32+)/30″ – Dynamic

I got up early to do this workout. I was departing in the early afternoon for Italy. It seems that my happy times for the Cat VI session on the dynamic do not extend to sprinting. Unlike rowing on slides, where rating up is, frankly, a blast, sprinting on the dynamic is pretty miserable. I suffered through the and came close to the targets, but this session is usually a breeze and it certainly wasn’t.

          Workout Summary - media/20180225-1610370o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|10067|44:00.0|02:11.1|169.1|20.7|156.9|177.0|11.0
W-|09602|40:00.0|02:05.0|184.2|21.3|155.8|174.0|11.5
R-|00479|04:00.0|04:10.7|018.9|15.3|168.6|174.0|20.7
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|01100|04:30.0|02:02.8|187.0|20.6|129.9|149.0|11.9
01|00143|00:30.0|01:45.0|303.9|32.6|152.4|156.0|08.8
02|01075|04:30.0|02:05.5|177.2|19.5|148.9|155.0|12.3
03|00146|00:30.0|01:42.9|319.5|34.0|157.2|160.0|08.6
04|01073|04:30.0|02:05.8|174.8|19.8|154.5|162.0|12.0
05|00146|00:30.0|01:42.4|322.2|34.0|160.5|165.0|08.6
06|01061|04:30.0|02:07.2|169.2|20.1|156.0|165.0|11.8
07|00148|00:30.0|01:41.5|331.2|36.4|162.6|167.0|08.1
08|01039|04:30.0|02:09.9|163.6|20.1|158.2|166.0|11.5
09|00150|00:30.0|01:40.1|348.5|35.0|165.7|169.0|08.6
10|01023|04:30.0|02:11.9|158.3|19.0|161.6|172.0|12.0
11|00152|00:30.0|01:38.8|358.4|36.9|166.5|170.0|08.2
12|01009|04:30.0|02:13.8|149.8|18.7|163.7|173.0|12.0
13|00149|00:30.0|01:40.8|333.9|35.2|165.0|168.0|08.5
14|01037|04:30.0|02:10.2|160.5|20.2|167.2|172.0|11.4
15|00151|00:30.0|01:39.5|351.6|35.7|171.4|174.0|08.5

Here is a comparison of the same workout

Static rower
Slides
Dynamic

The first plot shows average power. The first session on a static erg was pretty typical for this workout. The second one, on slides is 10 watts higher because I was having such a blast rating up on slides that I really kicked the sprints hard. I tried to rate up in a similar way on the dynamic, but the stroke was so heavy that I could get the rate. Even though the drag factor was only 129, it felt like the gearing was much much heavier. And I was so gassed from the short sprints that I couldn’t maintain Cat VI power in the slow sections.

Then it was off to Milan for business.

Monday – Feb 26: No Training.

I arrived in Milan at 6am, went to the hotel, napped for an hour, then started my day. We prepped in the office until mid-afternoon when we headed to our customer’s facility for meetings. These lasted until 6:30. Then we out to dinner. I wasn’t back to my hotel until around 11pm. I slept well.

Tuesday – Feb 27: No Training

I needed to be in the office by 9, and I needed to catch up on sleep, so I skipped training.

Wednesday – Feb 28: 50′ in the Fitness Center

The hotel had a tiny, claustrophobic fitness center in the basement. It had 2 treadmills and two stationary bikes, plus one of those useless combination weight machine things. I did a 30 minute max incline fast walk thing and then 20 minutes on the stationary bike on a rolling hills program. I wanted something easy, and it was.

Then I headed off to the airport to fly home. I barely made my connection in Munich, and I guess that added about 20 minutes of very brisk walking to my exercise total for the day. I arrived home around 9pm that night.

Thursday – March 1: No Training

I decided to no try to get up at 5am and I intended to try to sneak to the gym during the day, but things got hectic and I never made it. Bummer.

Friday: March 2: 3 x 20’/ 3′

Just an easy session. At work on the static rower.

Workout Summary - media/20180302-1325350o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|15083|69:00.0|02:17.2|159.7|17.6|140.1|155.0|12.4
W-|14442|60:00.0|02:04.6|180.9|18.8|142.0|155.0|12.8
R-|00643|09:00.0|06:59.6|018.2|09.4|127.2|155.0|36.8
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04823|20:00.0|02:04.4|181.2|18.8|136.2|145.0|12.9
01|04810|20:00.0|02:04.7|180.7|18.9|142.7|150.0|12.7
02|04809|20:00.0|02:04.8|180.8|18.8|147.0|155.0|12.8

Honestly, I was expecting that it was going to be a lot worse!

Saturday – March 3 – 10 x 500 @ 22 / 2′ rest

At home on the dynamic rower. Another epic battle with a supposedly easy workout.

The weird HR thing at the beginning of the last interval is a glitch. I was working my ass off and watching the HR reaing slowly drop down and the rise up again.

You can see how I gave up on trying to hold Cat VI pace during the rests in the second half of the workout.

Then I rushed around madly to get ready for my trip to Shanghai and Shenzhen. My flight took off around 2am Sunday morning.

Sunday – March 4: Effectively did not exist.

I started flying at 2am, and arrived in Hong Kong at 5am on March 5th with the time zone change.

Monday – March 5: 8 x (4:30 @ 18, 0:30 @32+)

I’m staying at Kerry Hotel in Shanghai which is a great hotel. They have a great fitness center with 2 Concept2 model D rowers. One of them has a PM5, and it linked up fine with painsled. Unfortunately, for some reason the export of the data from this specific rower does not work. I’ve put out a call for help from Rick Terrell, and he said that this particular PM5 is appending some weird stuff at the end of the workout. Anyway, I did the workout. It went pretty well, considering I was on a plane for about 20 hours prior to doing it. And I felt a lot better once I was done.

Each of the 5′ intervals are 4:30 at about 2:05, and 0:30 at about 1:35. It was fun to try to make sure that the total for 5 minutes was just above 1250m.

Tuesday – March 6: 10 x 500@r22 / 2′ rest

Another good workout, considering the road miles. The 2′ rests were just 500m intervals rowed at Cat VI pace.

Wednesday – March 7: 3 x (5 x 500 @ r24/1′)/5′

This was hard work.

500m warmup at cat vi
5 x 500 @ 24 / 1′ rest
for the 5′ rest, 1′ rest/500′ at 2:45 ish/1′ rest
repeat twice more

I felt pretty tired after the first set, but I kind of got into a groove for the rest of the workout.

The rest f the day was pretty busy. I had a lunch with a customer, and then a group of us fly from Shanghai to Shenzhen in the evening. We got to the hotel in Shenzhen around 11pm.

Thursday – March 8: 60′ Fitness Center LIT

Nice Westin hotel. Reasonably equipped fitness center, but no rowing machines.

30 minute cross trainer random program, level 16
30 minute max incline (15%) fast walk. Adjusted speed to maintain < 155HR.

Friday – March 9: Strength Session plus 30 minutes cross trainer

The hotel had kettle bells!

Strength session

PT stuff (SI joint stretch, archer stretch, med ball twists on swiss ball)
KB swings (with 20kg bell)
- 10 both arms
- 2 x 2 x 20 singe arm swings (alternating arms by set)
Chin ups: 4, 3, 3, 2
(the bar was really high, I had to jump up to it. It’s a lot harder starting from such a low position.
Dumbell Deadlifts: 30 kg. 3 x 10 deadlifts

Then I did a 30 minute random program level 14 on the cross trainer.

I wore my HR strap during the strength session just to get an idea of what was going on.

Whew. That brings us up to the present. I have checked out of my room and I’m about to take a car from here to the Hong Kong Airport, which I am told is a long drive. I catch a flight at 6pm tonight fly for 15 hours and magically arrive in Boston around 8pm Friday night.

Tomorrow: I have a new workout plan from Marlene. I can’t wait to get going. I have decided that I need some competition to get myself focused and motivated. So, I’m aiming to do the Cromwell Cup in July, a 1km sprint race. So, she has put together a plan to start me down the road for that event.

The first session….looks a lot like a pretty classic rate ladder session. Might be a bit tough on the dynamic, but that’s OK.

3 x 15’ / 4′
- 5’@ Cat VI; SR 20 –> 2:03 to 2:08
- 4’ @ Cat V; SR 22 –> 1:58 – 2:02
- 3’ @ Cat IV; SR 24 –> 1:52
- 2’ @ Cat III; SR 26 –> 1:48
- 1’@ Cat II; SR 28 –> 1:45

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations.

Quantified Rowing

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