Tough December.

December 30, 2019December 30, 2019Leave a comment

At the end of November, Strava told me that I was in the best shape I had been for 2 years. In January of 2018, I reached a 99. On 12/1/2019, I peaked at 95.

Then came December

September: 28 training hours
October: 29 training hours
November: 31 Training hours
December: 20 Training hours, and 10 of those hours are in the past 10 days. 7.5 hours between 12/2 and 12/20.

What happened? Well, I needed to prioritize work over training.

Week of 12/2: trip to Taiwan. I struggled with a packed schedule and jet lag going in both directions. I had a couple of lackluster workouts while I was there, but missed 2 days around each end of the trip.

Week of 12/9: Full day offsite management meeting with dinner on Tuesday. Then 2 day conference on wed and thursday.

Week of 12/16: Early morning meetings on Tuesday and Wednesday. Quick trip to California on Thursday, with a return on Friday.

Since then, I’ve been on vacation and trying to just do mostly steady state work.

When this happens, all I can do is to take stock and figure out where to go from here.

I think when I get back to work, I will do a set of fitness tests to get a baseline and then resume the wolverine plan variant that I was using.

Monday – 12/2: no training – flying to Taiwan

Tuesday – 12/3: no training – arrived in Taiwan late evening

Wednesday – 12/4: 40 minute steady state row. Felt very sluggish. Didn’t like the erg. shock cord tension was very low and it felt mushy. Not sure why.

Thursday – 12/5: No training – conference calls

Friday – 12/6: 3×20′ on the crappy erg.

Saturday – 12/7: No Training

I got in around midnight and home around 1:30AM. I slept late the next morning and felt terrible all day long.

Sunday – 12/8: 3 x 30’/2′ L4

Long and easy.

Monday – 12/9: 4 x 1000/5′

Back at it! Start with a fletcher warmup. It was a rude shock to the system.

Then the fun part. I wanted to hit 1:45 for all the reps, but I had a bit of a breakdown in the third interval. I backed off on the fourth.

Bummer

Tuesday – 12/10: No Training

Management Offiste meeting

Wednesday – 12/11: No Training

I was catching up on email and really got into a creative groove. I wrote two articles for our internal corporate blog. I looked up and discovered that I had just enough time to shower before my first meeting of the day.

Mid day, I went in to the Massachusetts Conference for Women. My company is a sponsor of the event and we send about 90 people. It was the first time I attended and it’s an impressive conference with a great line up of speakers.

Thursday – 12/12: No Training

Back to Boston for the rest of the conference.

Friday – 12/13: 3×20’/2′ L4

Just a nice steady state L4 session.

That evening, we went down to the cape and I sleep like a deadman. It was such a great night’s sleep that I have thought of it fondly ever since.

Saturday – 12/14: 3×30’/2′ L4

Down on the cape.

Sunday – 12/15: Half Marathon L3

Target power 190W. Lost a bit of steam around the 60 minute mark. I was tired.

Monday – 12/16: No Training

No idea why.

Tuesday – 12/17: 60 minute L4

I had a 7:30 meeting, so I ended up sneaking down to the gym before lunch.

Wednesday – 12/18: No Training

8am meeting and no chance to train during the day. We had a corporate holiday party Wednesday night.

Thursday – 12/19: No Training

Woke up at 3:45 to catch a 6:10AM flight to California. Had a couple of customer meetings, including a nice dinner.

Friday – 12/20: No Training

Woke up at 5AM so I could get to the airport in time to join a 6AM conference call. Flew home, arrived around 7pm.

Saturday – 12/21: 3×30’/2′ L4

Feeling the decline in fitness.

Sunday: 12/22 – 4 x 20′ / 2′ L4

Still a struggle.

Monday – 12/ 23: 60′ L3

This was brutal. I really thought I could hold a 1:58. Turns out I couldn’t.

Tuesday – 12/24: 3×20’/2′ L4

My mind is really on christmas, but I am enjoying the audio book I’m listening to. So, I’m just piling up steady state meters.

Wednesday – 12/25: 3×20’/2′ L4

Merry Christmas! I went and rowed while dinner was cooking. Same session, worse heart rate. I suspect that this is from the 2 beers on Christmas Eve.

Thursday – 12/26: 3×20/2′ L4

Same again. Even worse. Starting to wonder if I’m coming down with something.

Friday – 12/27: 30 minute aborted session

I was planning a 3×30 L4, but I felt tired and listless and bored, so I quit after 30 minutes.

Saturday – 12/28: 16 x 250 / 2′ L1

Time to shake things up. A bit of sprinting. And a session with no prior precedent so no chance to fail against inflated expectations.

Start with the obligatory fletcher warmup.

Then the fun part. Doing this on slides was very interesting. I allowed the flywheel to stop for each of the reps to do a standing start. And I worked on trying to take a few strokes to get to full. It was good to work on keeping my layback minimized and keeping the rate high and stroke light. Some of the reps, I slowed down a fair amount after the first ten strokes. Buy the end, I was spent!

Sunday – 12/29: 4×20’/2′ L4

Very sedate today. HR was quite high.

Tomorrow, we head off to the cape for our new year’s extravaganza! Hopefully, I can squeeze in an L2 session in the afternoon.

Piling up meters

December 2, 2019December 2, 2019Leave a comment

Saturday – Nov 30 – 4 x 20′ / 2′ L4

In the early evening after dropping my sons off back in Cambridge.

On slides. Classic L4 progression

       Workout Summary - media/20191201-2301590o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|20024|01:28:00.0|02:11.8|166.9|19.1|136.9|158.0|11.9
W-|19238|01:20:00.0|02:04.8|179.9|19.4|137.3|157.0|12.4
R-|00791|00:08:00.0|05:03.4|036.3|15.6|133.4|157.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04787|20:00.0|02:05.3|177.2|19.0|128.6|137.0|12.6
01|04840|20:00.0|02:04.0|183.8|19.8|137.5|153.0|12.2
02|04758|20:00.0|02:06.1|174.6|19.0|139.5|148.0|12.5
03|04852|20:00.0|02:03.7|184.0|19.9|143.4|157.0|12.2

Sunday – Dec 1 – 3 x 30’/2′ Steady State

The goal here was to maximize power and keep HR below target for each section.

first 30′ – 145
second 30′ – 150
third 30′ – 155

       Workout Summary - media/20191201-2301190o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|21998|01:35:59.9|02:10.9|169.1|19.6|143.4|156.0|11.7
W-|21431|01:29:28.5|02:05.2|177.6|19.8|143.9|156.0|12.1
R-|00571|00:06:00.0|05:15.4|056.1|16.1|136.5|156.0|07.5
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|07196|30:00.0|02:05.1|177.7|19.7|135.7|145.0|12.2
01|07065|29:28.5|02:05.2|178.2|19.8|145.5|152.0|12.1
02|07171|30:00.0|02:05.5|176.8|19.9|150.4|156.0|12.0

Felt tired. It was my 13th day in a row without a break. The double session on 11/21 was actually one session in Shanghai, and then another at home after my flight.

Now I am sitting in the lounge in the airport, waiting to board my flight. I am on my way to Taiwan for some customer meetings, I will be returning on Friday night (late). Last year, there was an erg in the fitness center. Hopefully, I can keep up on my plan.

Good progress

November 30, 2019November 30, 2019Leave a comment

Tuesday – Nov 26 – 2 x 40′ / 2′ Steady State

Felt tired. At work in the fitness center. Needed to slow it down in the second 40 minutes.

       Workout Summary - media/20191126-1350330o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|19217|01:24:00.0|02:11.1|165.6|19.5|144.7|154.0|11.7
W-|18973|01:20:00.0|02:06.5|172.9|20.2|144.9|154.0|11.8
R-|00246|00:04:00.0|08:07.8|018.1|06.3|140.7|154.0|16.5
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|09552|40:00.0|02:05.6|176.5|19.9|140.5|150.0|12.0
01|09421|40:00.0|02:07.4|169.4|20.4|149.4|154.0|11.5

Wednesday – Nov 27 – Waterfall

At home on slides.

Started with a 2k warmup. Got a little carried away.

So I did a 1K buffer to kind of get settled down.

Last time I did this workout, I managed a 1:53.6. So the target this time was 1:53.

I blew it away.

That’s a good improvement. I’ll be happy when this is back below 1:50

Thursday – Nov 28 – 60′ L4

At home on slide before we headed up to Vermont of Thanksgiving.

That felt kind of hard!

Friday- Nov 29 – 10K threshold

Did this late in the day, around 7 pm.

2k warmup

Last time my pace was 1:57.2, so I wanted to target 1:56. I thought I might be able to go a little harder, so I tried to keep 1:55 on the screen. About halfway through, I started to push it a bit more. HR was remarkably low, but it felt really hard.

Then a 2k happy ending cool down.

Comparing this row to my 10K row on November 2, there is really good improvement.

Lower ending hr and slower HR rise over the piece
16W higher power
slightly higher stroke rate

This is my highest ranking this season at the 92nd percentile.

Today, a steady state session.

Looping back around again.

November 25, 2019Leave a comment

I’ve completed the three week cycle of the plan, and then had a 1 week interruption to go to China. Now, I am back to repeating the workouts for the second time through and have a much better idea of pace targets.

Sunday – Nov 24 – 3 x 30′ / 2′ Steady State with a bit of L4 action

I was feeling a tired and my HR was a bit higher than I expected, but it was a good session. I got bored and decided to do the last 30 minutes in L4 format.

       Workout Summary - media/20191124-2146140o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|22007|01:35:59.8|02:10.9|164.8|19.3|143.9|162.0|11.9
W-|21250|01:29:33.9|02:06.4|173.4|19.4|144.5|162.0|12.2
R-|00761|00:06:00.0|03:56.4|044.8|17.4|135.4|162.0|09.4
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|07041|29:42.1|02:06.6|172.7|19.2|137.0|146.0|12.3
01|07117|30:00.0|02:06.5|173.5|19.9|145.2|151.0|11.9
02|07092|29:51.8|02:06.3|174.1|19.1|151.1|162.0|12.4

There is something brewing with the monitor on this rower. The spikes that you see at the end of the first 30′ piece were transients. I saw them on the monitor too. I was rowing along and suddenly the power went up above 200 and the stroke rate was way off too. There is also missing strokes, something that I saw a lot more of a while ago, but is still an issue on this specific machine.

Monday – Nov 25 – 8 x 500 / 3’30”

Last time I did this session was October 25th. I targeted a 1:45 pace, did the first 7 reps between 1:44 and 1:45, and kicked out a nice faster last rep at 1:41.9. That brought the average to 1:44 even for whole session.

So today’s target was 1:44 for the first 7 and a faster last. But, I am getting ahead of myself. I started with a fletcher warmup.

That was hard work. I was worried that I might not be up to the session.

But, it turns out I was OK. In fact, I was really nailing it in the middle reps. The last couple started to bite pretty hard, but I focused on trying to keep my rate up above 30 and row nice and light.

Here is the comparison between sessions.

1.2% shorter DPS (correlates with slightly higher stroke rate)
2.4% higher peak force.
1.9% higher stroke rate
3.1% higher power (up from 309 to 319W)

I’m really happy with the session. I had an irresistible urge to lie down for a minute in the locker room afterwards, and I’m pleasantly sore now. I’ve kind of missed doing these sprint interval sessions.

Shanghai Diversion

November 24, 2019November 24, 2019Leave a comment

Monday – Nov 18 – No Training

Flew to Shanghai via Montreal, arrived Tuesday evening

Tuesday – Nov 19 – No Training

Got to my hotel around 6:30 pm. I was asleep by 7:00.

Wednesday – Nov 20 – 3 x 30′ Fitness Center

Slept hard until 1:30 in the morning when I popped awake. After trying to get back to sleep for a while, I gave up and did some email and other work. I headed to the gym around 5:30. I had a lot of time on my hands, so I did 30′ treadmill (15% grade, 3mph), 30′ stationary bike, 30′ elliptical.

I had a bunch of meetings during the day and a customer dinner that night. I learned all about Moutai, a chinese spirit made from Sorghum. At 53% alcohol, it packs quite a kick.

Shanghai Thursday – Nov 20 – 2 x 30′ Fitness Center

I woke up with my alarm at 5:30 and after checking email, I headed back to the fitness center. 30′ treadmill (varying grade, 5 mph), 30′ bike. I started a third 30′ piece, but decided I had had enough for the day and quit about 5 minutes in.

I headed to the airport to catch a 12:35 departure. This flight was awesome. A Boeing 787 direct from Shanghai to Boston. Just under 15 hours and no connections. It was fantastic. I arrived at 1:30pm on Thursday.

Hopkinton Thursday – Nov 21 – 2 x 30′ / 2′

Not a typo. Because of the flight back, I had an extra long Thursday and a window to do another workout. This on on slides in my basement, Steady state at 175W. Heart Rate a bit elevated, probably because of the long flight.

        Workout Summary - media/20191121-2111150o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|14478|01:02:10.2|02:08.8|169.7|19.8|144.9|155.0|11.7
W-|14239|00:59:55.1|02:06.2|175.0|19.8|145.4|155.0|12.0
R-|00242|00:31:37.8|65:29.2|042.6|21.2|153.6|155.0|00.1
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|07155|29:45.0|02:04.7|176.6|19.7|140.3|153.0|12.2
01|07084|30:10.1|02:07.8|173.4|19.8|150.4|155.0|11.8

Friday – Nov 22 – 15 x 3′ / 1′

At work in the fitness center on a static erg. Because of the 6K that I did at 1:51.7, I decided that I could use 1:51 as a target for this workout. And then I pushed faster than that for the first few reps and totally burned myself out. I massively struggled through the rest of the workout. So, 6 good ones, then a HD in the 7th, a good 8th, more trouble in the ninth, a couple good ones, then trouble in 12th, two more good ones and the last was a shambles. Best to forget all about this one.

I think next time, I use a target of 1:54 or so.

Saturday – Nov 23 – 2 x 40’/2′ L4

There has been a thread going on Facebook about the Wolverine Plan, so I was inspired to go back to one of my favorite L4 workouts. Back in the good old days, I would do this on a static erg with the watts target equal to the SPM x 10 (r16 = 160W, r18 = 180W). On slides, I move the stroke rate up by 2, so r18 = 160W, r20 = 180W.

        Workout Summary - media/20191123-2201170o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|19709|01:24:00.2|02:07.9|171.1|19.6|136.9|158.0|12.0
W-|19090|01:20:00.0|02:05.7|176.2|19.4|136.9|157.0|12.3
R-|00635|00:04:00.6|03:09.6|069.1|23.9|137.1|157.0|07.4
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00472|02:00.0|02:07.1|164.3|18.1|095.2|117.0|13.1
01|00482|02:00.0|02:04.6|180.8|19.9|121.8|124.0|12.1
02|00464|02:00.0|02:09.4|161.9|18.4|123.7|126.0|12.6
03|00482|02:00.0|02:04.4|178.0|19.1|127.2|129.0|12.6
04|00466|02:00.0|02:08.7|166.6|17.7|127.9|131.0|13.2
05|00482|02:00.0|02:04.5|180.6|19.9|129.5|134.0|12.1
06|00466|02:00.0|02:08.9|164.2|18.3|130.7|134.0|12.7
07|00483|02:00.0|02:04.2|182.2|19.8|131.7|134.0|12.2
08|00437|01:52.1|02:08.4|165.6|18.1|131.9|133.0|12.9
09|00514|02:07.9|02:04.4|182.4|19.9|133.3|136.0|12.1
10|00466|02:00.0|02:08.6|164.7|18.1|132.8|135.0|12.9
11|00483|02:00.0|02:04.2|182.1|19.9|133.8|135.0|12.1
12|00499|02:00.0|02:00.2|201.3|22.0|139.4|142.0|11.3
13|00483|02:00.0|02:04.3|179.5|20.0|140.4|142.0|12.1
14|00465|02:00.0|02:09.1|163.6|18.2|136.5|138.0|12.8
15|00925|04:00.0|02:09.7|160.6|18.0|132.6|135.0|12.8
16|00724|03:00.0|02:04.4|181.4|20.1|135.1|144.0|12.0
17|00501|02:00.0|01:59.7|206.5|21.2|143.0|145.0|11.8
18|00258|01:00.0|01:56.3|223.4|23.8|148.3|150.0|10.9
19|00464|02:00.0|02:09.2|160.9|17.8|125.2|132.0|13.0
20|00483|02:00.0|02:04.3|181.6|19.9|135.3|138.0|12.1
21|00466|02:00.0|02:08.7|164.5|18.5|139.4|141.0|12.6
22|00482|02:00.0|02:04.5|180.8|20.0|139.5|143.0|12.0
23|00464|02:00.0|02:09.3|163.4|18.3|140.8|143.0|12.7
24|00483|02:00.0|02:04.2|182.3|20.0|140.6|144.0|12.1
25|00464|02:00.0|02:09.3|163.4|18.2|141.8|144.0|12.8
26|00312|01:17.3|02:04.0|183.0|20.4|140.7|144.0|11.8
27|00634|02:42.7|02:08.2|163.7|18.4|143.6|146.0|12.7
28|00481|02:00.0|02:04.7|180.5|20.1|143.0|145.0|12.0
29|00463|02:00.0|02:09.5|161.3|18.1|141.4|145.0|12.8
30|00344|01:25.5|02:04.3|181.4|20.1|142.4|145.0|12.0
31|00637|02:34.5|02:01.2|195.7|21.7|147.8|152.0|11.4
32|00389|01:36.7|02:04.3|182.6|20.0|149.5|152.0|12.1
33|00558|02:23.3|02:08.4|165.4|18.7|146.3|150.0|12.5
34|00928|04:00.0|02:09.3|161.4|18.1|142.6|144.0|12.8
35|00726|03:00.0|02:03.9|183.5|20.1|146.7|150.0|12.0
36|00501|02:00.0|01:59.7|203.3|22.1|150.9|154.0|11.4
37|00258|01:00.0|01:56.5|222.2|23.9|155.9|157.0|10.8

Not quite flat on the work per stroke.

Today: Planning to do a long and slow 3×30.

Erg Based Training is so simple!

November 17, 2019Leave a comment

I last posted on November 11th, right after I struggled with the Pyramid workout. Since then, I’ve had some OK workouts, some good workouts, but the main thing I’ve had is consistency. I been able to follow my plan at just about 100% conformance for the past three weeks.

Just in time for three weeks of travel and holidays! Let’s see how well I can maintain momentum through this.

Tuesday – November 12 – 4 x 20′ / 2′

At work, static erg. Nothing fancy. Just doing the meters. Working with a HR cap of 150.

       Workout Summary - media/20191112-1401180o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|20011|01:27:59.9|02:11.9|160.6|19.7|137.7|150.0|11.6
W-|18981|01:19:52.4|02:06.2|173.5|20.2|139.1|150.0|11.8
R-|01034|00:08:00.0|03:52.1|033.7|14.6|124.7|150.0|11.3
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04773|20:00.0|02:05.7|174.0|19.9|129.7|138.0|12.0
01|04742|20:00.0|02:06.5|173.2|20.2|138.6|146.0|11.7
02|04747|20:00.0|02:06.4|173.2|20.2|143.4|149.0|11.8
03|04719|19:52.4|02:06.4|173.5|20.5|144.6|150.0|11.6

Good session.

Wednesday – 13 November – 5 x 1500/5′ L2

Always my favorite of the L2 workouts. Pace target was 1:51.0.

Started with a 2k warmup.

Then the main session. I chickened out about the 1:51 target and decided 1:52 would be better.

        Workout Summary - media/20191113-1341120o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|10974|00:52:45.7|02:24.2|157.6|22.0|143.0|176.0|09.5
W-|07500|00:27:44.4|01:51.0|256.1|26.7|155.5|176.0|10.1
R-|03476|00:25:01.6|03:36.0|048.4|16.7|129.1|176.0|08.9
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|01500|05:32.4|01:50.8|254.4|26.2|149.6|164.0|10.3
01|01500|05:35.5|01:51.8|253.5|26.6|154.6|167.0|10.1
02|01500|05:33.3|01:51.1|254.4|26.9|156.5|170.0|10.0
03|01500|05:33.1|01:51.0|255.9|26.9|158.1|172.0|10.1
04|01500|05:30.1|01:50.0|262.7|27.2|158.7|176.0|10.0

As it turned out, with a bit of a fast last, I was able to make the target after all.

Later Wednesday morning, I headed down to Washington DC to do a presentation at a conference.

Thursday – 14 November – steady state cross training in Washington

30′ inclined walk

10′ stationary bike (I was not enjoying it)

20′ on an ellipitcal

Friday – 15 November – 3 x 20′ / 1′

I was pressed for time, so I cut back from an 80 minuter session to 60′. I pushed the power target up a bit, mainly just to see what would happen. I was very happy with the result. My HR was higher, but plateaued pretty well.

        Workout Summary - media/20191115-1331160o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|14840|01:03:00.4|02:07.4|175.2|19.9|142.0|157.0|11.8
W-|14481|00:60:00.0|02:04.3|182.0|20.0|141.9|157.0|12.0
R-|00363|00:03:00.5|04:08.7|038.8|17.5|143.6|157.0|07.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04829|20:00.0|02:04.2|181.7|20.1|131.1|144.0|12.0
01|04825|20:00.0|02:04.3|182.1|20.0|144.0|150.0|12.0
02|04826|20:00.0|02:04.3|182.2|20.0|150.5|157.0|12.1

That was really gratifying. I feel like my base fitness is starting to return.

Saturday – 16 November – 6K Threshold

I was nervous about this session all day. I was originally going to do it with company at the lake with some clubmates, but we ended up locked out of the storeroom where the ergs are kept. So I was able to procrastinate a bit longer. I finally got up the nerve to go do it. First, a 2K warmup.

Then there wasn’t anything else to do but to give it a try. I had put my 10K and my 30 minute sessions into the Free Spirits pace predictor and it spit out a 1:51.4 target. Holy hell, that felt fast. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. So, off I went trying to keep 1:51’s on the screen. That worked out OK through the first 2000, but I was starting to really feel it. My HR was well in control, but I had that vaguely drowning feeling you get when you’re on the edge. I played with pace and rate a bit to see if anything felt better and counted out blocks of 100 strokes. The section from 4000 to 5000 was the worst. I managed to get some control of myself by really trying to concentrate on stroke technique. Keeping my knees down during the first part of the recovery and limiting my layback. Then into the last 100 strokes, and it was just a matter of getting through it. I managed a small sprint in the last 500 meters.

Then a happy ending cool down.

I am very happy with that. I ranked it and for it’s currently 38th for the 50-59 heavies. Roughly the 90th percentile. It’s a full minute off my best 6K time, so lots of room for improvement, but a good hard row.

Sunday – 17 November – 3 x 30’/2′

Long and easy. Perfect for a sunday afternoon.

        Workout Summary - media/20191117-1926120o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|22004|01:36:00.0|02:10.9|167.2|19.8|136.9|147.0|11.6
W-|21455|01:30:00.0|02:05.8|175.3|19.9|137.9|147.0|12.0
R-|00553|00:06:00.0|05:25.7|046.4|18.1|121.5|147.0|08.6
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|07137|30:00.0|02:06.1|173.3|19.5|134.3|141.0|12.2
01|07135|30:00.0|02:06.1|174.9|20.0|138.7|144.0|11.9
02|07183|30:00.0|02:05.3|177.8|20.3|140.7|147.0|11.8

I wanted to stay below a HR cap of 150, and started with a power target of 173W. I nudged it up in each 30′ segment by a couple of watts. More signs of progress.

Tomorrow: I fly out to Shanghai at 9am.

Broken on the Pyramid

November 11, 2019Leave a comment

Sunday – November 10 – 3 x 30’/2′

When you get the target power right, these sessions are actually quite pleasant. My target today was 170W, but I happened to end the first 30 minutes at 173W, so I tried to match that for the next two pieces. My HR was a little higher than other sessions, but well within bounds.

Compared to last Sunday, much higher HR and drift this week, for only 1 more watt.

Monday – 11 November – L1 Pyramid

On the older Model C static erg in the fitness center.

I slept terribly last night and woke up at 5:15 feeling not at all rested. But there was a hard session in the plan.

Started with a fletcher warmup. Not my best work. I slowed way below target after the 1 minute and 30 second sprints.

I had a target of 1:44 for the session and I was worried about it. I probably should have backed off of it on principle, but I’ dumb that way.

The first 2 intervals were no problem. The third was really hard and I was just barely hanging on at the end of it. I went into the 1000m interval with a bad attitude and had a mental break about 300m into it. I paddled a few strokes and then decided to row it out to a softer target, around 1:46 or so. The last 10 strokes were very difficult.

For the 750m, I decided to stick with 1:46 and then see if I could speed it up in the last 250m. I was pretty shattered after I finished it, but I had 4:30 to recover. The 500 was fine. I started to rate up and just punched it out. The last 250 is always good fun, and today was no exception.

       Workout Summary - media/20191111-1316100o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|07061|00:38:06.6|02:41.9|138.3|23.4|142.2|173.0|07.9
W-|04000|00:14:05.9|01:45.7|309.6|28.9|150.1|171.0|09.8
R-|03067|00:23:10.2|03:46.7|037.9|20.1|137.3|171.0|05.7
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00250|00:51.0|01:42.0|311.6|27.8|115.8|141.0|10.6
01|00500|01:44.2|01:44.2|317.7|29.3|149.9|166.0|09.8
02|00750|02:34.9|01:43.3|318.2|29.1|157.6|171.0|10.0
03|01000|03:47.5|01:53.8|267.5|26.8|153.3|169.0|09.8
04|00750|02:37.5|01:45.0|302.8|28.3|154.6|171.0|10.1
05|00500|01:41.7|01:41.7|334.9|30.6|147.1|167.0|09.7
06|00250|00:49.0|01:38.0|427.4|36.5|138.9|156.0|08.4

So, with a massive issue in the middle interval, I still finished only 1.2 seconds off of target. I could have done the middle interval around 1:48 and hit the target. This was a useful lesson. Stick to the target and let yourself slow down for the 1000m interval. Same target next time.

Tomorrow. 4 x 20’/2′ at 170W

So far so good

November 10, 2019Leave a comment

Tuesday – Nov 5 – 3 x 20′ / 1′

In the fitness center at work, static erg. b A bit short on time because I had to get to some offsite training by 8:15am. Original plan was 4×20, I had to shorten it to 3×20.

Started at 165W and increased as I went along.

Wednesday – November 6 – 4 x 2000/5′

This is an intimidating session. I had a reasonably good idea for the pace target because of the waterfall from last week: 1:53.0

The first rep was a warmup. The average pace for the 4 work reps was 1:51.6. The first two were no problem, the third was tough and I was struggling to hold pace in the last one after the first 500m of it. I’m really happy to complete it cleanly. 1:51.5 target for the first 3 next time, with hopefully a faster last.

Thursday – 7 November – rest day

I wasn’t planning a rest day, but when I got to work I wanted to work on requirement definition for the “secret new feature” on rowsandall.com. And then I discovered that I had a 8 am meeting. So, there wasn’t enough time for a row.

Friday – 8 November – 3 x 20’/1′

Another day with early meetings, but I went right to the gym and got to work. Today, I started at 170W and pushed it a bit while trying to keep my HR below 145 through the first 40 minutes. I loosened the cap in the last 20 minutes to 150.

Saturday – 9 November – Hard 30′

At home on slides. I was nervous about this session because of all the 10Ks that I bailed out on over the summer. But based on the 1:57.2 10K that I did last week, a reasonable target for this piece was 1:56. In my head, I really wanted to hold 1:55, but I was afraid that would be a stretch.

I started with a 2000m warmup.

Here’s the main piece. Looks pretty boring. It wasn’t. I was making very small adjustments to stroke rate to try to hold 1:55. And I counted strokes for each 1000m of the piece. The hardest bit was probably from 5000 to 6000m. Still pretty far from the end, but deep into the hole. When I got to 2 minutes left, I was sure I was going to make it and I rated up to try to get over 7850. I did…7855m. That’s a 1:54.5 pace. I have to shave 2 seconds off that to get back above 8K for 30 minutes. I think that’s doable.

        Workout Summary - media/20191109-2211370o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|07856|00:30:00.0|01:54.6|232.8|25.8|165.5|179.0|10.1
W-|07860|00:30:00.0|01:54.5|232.8|25.8|165.5|179.0|10.2
R-|00000|00:00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|179.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|01049|04:00.0|01:54.4|228.5|24.6|141.1|158.0|10.6
01|01044|04:00.0|01:54.9|230.3|25.1|160.5|162.0|10.4
02|01046|04:00.0|01:54.7|231.8|25.4|164.4|167.0|10.3
03|01044|04:00.0|01:54.9|230.6|25.6|167.4|168.0|10.2
04|01048|04:00.0|01:54.5|233.4|25.8|170.6|172.0|10.2
05|01043|04:00.0|01:55.1|229.9|26.0|172.9|174.0|10.0
06|01044|04:00.0|01:55.0|230.7|26.5|175.4|177.0|09.8
07|00542|02:00.0|01:50.8|261.7|29.6|178.2|179.0|09.2

Then a 2K happy ending cool down.

Tomorrow: Long row — 3 x 30’/2′

Sun: 3 x 30, Monday: 4 x 1000

November 4, 2019Leave a comment

Sunday – November 3 – 3 x 30′ / 2′

Down on the cape, on slides. But now with a fan! What a difference it made.

The plan was to row this at 165W, but as time rolled on, and my HR stayed nice and low, I was able to push it up and did the last 30 minutes at 175W. Nice to be able to push harder in one of these sessions for a change.

       Workout Summary - media/20191103-1816170o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|21991|01:35:59.8|02:11.0|162.6|19.6|134.1|145.0|11.7
W-|21141|01:29:27.5|02:06.9|171.3|19.8|134.9|145.0|12.0
R-|00854|00:06:00.0|03:30.9|044.0|17.7|123.0|145.0|08.3
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|06936|29:38.8|02:08.2|166.5|19.1|128.9|136.0|12.2
01|07054|29:48.7|02:06.8|171.9|20.1|135.7|142.0|11.8
02|07151|30:00.0|02:05.9|175.5|20.1|140.1|145.0|11.9

Monday – November 4 – L1 – 4 x 1000 / 5′

The classic, soul crushing sprint workout.

I managed the 8×500/3’30” at a 1:44 pace. When I have been doing the Pete Plan, I saw a 2 to 3 second delta between the pace for 8×500 and 4×1000. I am also interested in building some success here, so I decided to set a reasonably soft target, 1:48.

First a fletcher warmup. Felt better than I have on an erg this entire season. Good rate control. Felt good at the paces.

       Workout Summary - media/20191104-1307140o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|05048|00:20:19.0|02:00.7|204.7|20.2|141.1|163.0|12.3
W-|05052|00:20:19.0|02:00.7|204.7|20.2|141.1|163.0|12.5
R-|00000|00:00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|163.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00984|04:19.0|02:11.6|166.8|16.9|110.8|130.0|13.5
01|00995|04:00.0|02:00.6|199.6|20.3|136.9|144.0|12.2
02|00764|03:00.0|01:57.8|213.5|22.2|146.0|148.0|11.5
03|00264|01:00.0|01:53.7|238.3|23.9|150.4|152.0|11.1
04|00137|00:30.0|01:49.2|264.1|25.8|153.7|156.0|10.6
05|00489|02:00.0|02:02.8|190.5|18.3|154.9|158.0|13.3
06|00283|01:00.0|01:46.2|290.0|27.8|153.8|158.0|10.2
07|00495|02:00.0|02:01.2|200.1|18.5|157.8|160.0|13.4
08|00149|00:30.0|01:40.6|332.9|30.1|156.1|159.0|09.9
09|00491|02:00.0|02:02.2|196.0|18.6|159.0|163.0|13.2

Then I set up for the intervals.

The first felt pretty easy, so I pushed a little to negative split the next one. That one was OK too, so I decided to try to beat 1:46 for the third. That worked out OK too, so I decided to try to beat 1:45 for the last one. That was a bit of a stretch. I started up at 30 spm and I was looking at 1:44s and 1:43s, but it took a very long time to get to halfway, and I was feeling the pain around then. I pulled tried to lighten up my stroke and focus on technique to distract myself. That got me to 250 to go, and then I just counted the strokes down. No problem.

That was good fun. Target for next time is a scary 1:46.

Tomorrow: Hopefully 4×20 if I have enough time in the morning. Again starting at 165 and adjusting up or down to stay below 145bpm.

The next phase

November 3, 2019November 3, 20191 Comment

Sunday – October 26 – Slow roll

I felt like rowing on Sunday, so I headed into the basement to do an easy session. I wanted to long and slow, so I plugged in a HM and off I went.

Something went badly with Painsled, and it only recorded the first 400m of the row. But I didn’t know that at the time.

Monday – 28 October – 8 x 500/3:30

Not sure what to do for a training plan, but when in doubt I might as well just follow my own version of the Pete plan. So, time for a sprint session.

Started with a fletcher warmup

Then into the session. I aimed at 1:45 split.

Not bad.

Tuesday – 29 October – Fartek on Quinsig in a double

I saw that the weather forecast for Tuesday morning was looking pretty good. Misty, calm and warm. I met Joe at 5:30 and we headed out with no particular plan.

We warmed up headed down to the south end of the lake. Then started north. After we passed the islands, I told Joe that I was game for anything, and he suggested that we do a pyramid up to the bridge. Once we were there, we dropped into a 2k piece at a sub-threshold pace. On the way back to the dock, we were side by side with a women’s eight and we wanted to stay there, so we worked a bit harder than we would have.

All in all, a very pleasant morning.

Wednesday – October 30 – Waterfall

Target was a 1:55 pace.

The first 2000 was the warmup. I ended up an average pace of 1:53.6.

Hard but doable. I’m liking this.

Thursday – 31 October – 4 x 20’/2′

The plan was to row at 165W and that’s what I did. I think that’s my training power for now, until I earn the right to go faster.

This was interesting. My heart rate started nice and low, but it did not plateau the way it should. It just kept rising. I think that means that my aerobic base is not as good as it should be. Basically that my easy sessions have been too hard and I have not been building ability to metabolize fat. I need to be careful and limit intensity of my endurance sessions

       Workout Summary - media/20191031-1246090o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|19386|01:28:00.0|02:16.2|152.1|17.5|133.4|150.0|12.6
W-|18668|01:20:00.0|02:08.6|164.9|17.9|134.2|150.0|13.0
R-|00723|00:08:00.0|05:31.8|024.1|12.9|125.4|150.0|16.2
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04637|20:00.0|02:09.4|161.3|17.9|123.2|133.0|13.0
01|04680|20:00.0|02:08.2|166.6|18.1|132.6|138.0|12.9
02|04679|20:00.0|02:08.2|166.3|17.9|137.4|145.0|13.0
03|04673|20:00.0|02:08.4|165.6|17.8|143.6|150.0|13.1

Friday – 1 November – No Training

Scheduled rest day

Saturday – 2 November – 10K threshold

On slides. Started with a 2k warmup.

Then into the 10K piece, target pace 1:58.

I’d say that was pretty consistent. I was reasonably comfortable through the first 30 minutes and it was pretty tough going from there to the end. I never felt in distress though.

        Workout Summary - media/20191102-1906560o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|10000|00:39:03.0|01:57.2|216.0|24.7|162.0|180.0|10.4
W-|10000|00:39:03.5|01:57.2|216.0|24.7|162.0|180.0|10.4
R-|00000|00:00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|180.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|01000|03:49.6|01:54.8|215.0|24.0|134.8|148.0|10.9
01|01000|03:55.0|01:57.5|215.9|24.3|151.4|154.0|10.5
02|01000|03:55.3|01:57.7|215.1|24.1|155.5|158.0|10.6
03|01000|03:55.2|01:57.6|215.2|23.9|159.0|161.0|10.7
04|01000|03:54.8|01:57.4|216.1|24.6|162.4|165.0|10.4
05|01000|03:54.9|01:57.4|216.2|24.7|165.3|167.0|10.3
06|01000|03:55.7|01:57.8|214.1|24.6|167.8|171.0|10.4
07|01000|03:55.7|01:57.8|213.9|24.9|171.7|175.0|10.2
08|01000|03:56.0|01:58.0|213.1|25.2|174.1|175.0|10.1
09|01000|03:51.5|01:55.8|225.8|26.7|177.5|180.0|09.7

Look at those even splits. Nice.

Here’s a comparison of today’s row with the one that I did on 12 October.

3 more watts today
Slightly lower HR
half an spm higher rate (which is good)

So, I’m happy with that. A little bit of progress over the past month.

Tomorrow: 4 x 20 at 165W

Quantified Rowing

Measure – Adjust – Improve