Week #9 – Training Review

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Date Day Workout Type mode Planned Workout Actual
9/5/16 Mon Rest 4×20′ erg
80′ LIT
9/6/16 Tue Long Intervals otw 5 x 2000 / 5′ rest r28
40′ HIT
30′ LIT		  sept CTC
17′ HIT
25′ LIT
9/7/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
75′ LIT		  as planned
75′ LIT
9/8/16 Thu Short Rest Intervals otw 5 x 20@32/10 off / 5 x 20@34/15 off / 5 x 20@36/20 off, 8′ between sets
15′ HIT
45′ LIT		 4×20′ on erg
80′ LIT
9/9/16 Fri Technique UT2/UT1 otw Bungee Row first half, Steady state r20 second half
75′ LIT		 Threshold OTW
5km hard plus power pieces
30′ HIT
30′ LIT
9/10/16 Sat Hard Distance otw 5.5K r30
30’HIT
30′ LIT		 Rest Day
on the Cape, cleaning a deck
9/11/16 Sun long and easy erg 4 x 30′ / 1.5′ rest (lactate)
120′ LIT		  90′ step test
90’LIT
Summary  85′ HIT
375′ LIT		  47′ HIT
360′ LIT

Again, I am low on high intensity minutes, caused by 2 HIT sessions in the week instead of three.

I am surprising on track for LIT minutes, which is a bit surprising.  I didn’t do the mammoth Sunday row I had planned, but I did 4 endurance sessions instead of 3.

The plan had me at 18% HIT / 82% LIT.  This week was 12% HIT and 88% LIT.  A lot of the things that I’ve read seem to point toward a lower percentage of HIT in a polarized plan.   Given what’s been happening with my training this fall, I guess we will eventually find out if it works for me.

Tuesday: 74 minutes of Steady State

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Weather:  Awesome.  Clear, cool.  A very light breeze from SW, barely noticeable until the last segment when it built enough to slow me down.

Plan:

  • Recover from yesterday’s intense session
  • >70′ steady state
  • rate: 20 spm
  • pace: ~2:30
  • HR cap: < 155

I had trouble getting organized this morning.  I was late leaving the house.  I needed to stop on the way to the boathouse to use the bathroom.  There was goose poop all over the dock (luckily I am now carrying a broom in my mobile boathouse).  And I managed to forgot my “Bite Guards” in my duffel and didn’t realize it until I was twenty strokes from the dock.  I wanted to row with them because I had some raw spots from the double yesterday that I didn’t want to irritate further.  Oh well.

I am also still struggling with the speedcoach.  I need to recalibrate the pace, and the HR pickup antenna has come loose from the bottom of the seat deck.  It’s been a problem finding time to do this kind of routine stuff because I am pressed for time in the mornings during the week and skipping off to the cape on weekends.  Oh well, I am more and more happy with the the way that RIM is working.  The pace seems much more responsive than CrewNerd in the boat, and the live acceleration graph definitely keeps me focused on form later in each session.  You can definitely tell from it when you are shortening the stroke, or rushing the catch and a myriad of other issues.

Today’s workout was almost entirely uneventful.  I would like to be faster, but I have to be realistic about making progress when I have other priorities that reduce the time I have to train.

First Interval, for some reason HR data wasn’t working in RIM
|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00010|01090|05:49|02:40.1| 19.6 | 000 |09.6|warmup
|01100|02969|14:24|02:25.5| 20.5 | 000 |10.0|rep #1
|04069|00076|01:12|07:53.7| 16.5 | 000 |03.8|turn

|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00000|01090|05:49|02:40.1| 19.6 | 000 |09.6|warmup
|00000|02969|14:24|02:25.5| 20.5 | 000 |10.0|main set
|00000|00076|01:12|07:53.7| 16.5 | 000 |03.8|rests

1st

 

So, I restarted RIM and that seemed to fix it. Here’s the data for the reps 2 through 4.
|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00059|02909|14:18|02:27.5| 19.7 | 144 |10.3|rep #2
|02968|00061|01:10|09:33.8| 16.9 | 127 |03.1|turn
|03029|02939|14:12|02:24.9| 19.9 | 149 |10.4|rep #3
|05968|00036|00:52|12:02.2| 16.3 | 144 |02.6|turn
|06004|02956|15:09|02:33.8| 19.9 | 149 |09.8|rep #4
|08960|01130|06:31|02:53.0| 20.6 | 140 |08.4|back to dock

|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00000|08804|43:39|02:28.7| 19.8 | 147 |10.2|main set
|00000|00097|02:02|10:28.9| 16.6 | 134 |02.9|rests
|00000|01130|06:31|02:53.0| 20.6 | 140 |08.4|cool down

Put all the reps together and the pace is 2:27.9.  Not bad for the HR I guess.

Now I am on a plane over Oklahoma, on my way to LA.  I have customer meetings tomorrow and Thursday morning.  My plan is to drop in on Crossfit Anaerobic in Newport Beach and use an erg.  My workout plan for  the week is a bit disrupted, and I have my first head race this weekend.

The plan was

  • Monday:  rest
  • Tuesday: Threshold 4×2500
  • Wednesday: Steady State
  • Thursday: Short rest intervals 4 x (3′ on / 1′ paddle) 2′ rest
  • Friday: Warmup Only
  • Saturday: CRI Fall Classic

The new plan is

  • Monday:  Threshold – 5.5km hard on Quinsig
  • Tuesday: 75′ steady state
  • Wednesday: Short Rest Intervals (on the erg)
  • Thursday: Steady State 4 x 20′ (on the erg)
  • Friday: Warmup only
  • Saturday: Race Day!

I’m not tapering for this race, I think it’s more important to keep working on endurance for the races later in the schedule.

 

Monday: Head Race Piece on Quinsig in a 2x

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Weather:  A bit chilly, around 50F.  Clear skies, but a low mist was rising from the lake.  This effected Joe a lot more than me because he had to make sure we didn’t hit anything or any body.  There was a very light breeze which seemed to mostly come out of the north, which was a slight tail wind.  Looking at weather stations near the lake, they show no wind at all.

Plan:

  • Warmup to the north end of the lake
  • Hard 5.5km from the north end of the lake to the south end.
    • rate: 26
    • pace: better than 2:15
  • Cool down and a few power pieces back to the dock.

We launched around 5:40 and the sky was just starting to lighten up in the east.  We headed north at an easy 18 spm and got warmed up.  We were in the club’s Vespoli 2x, which I think is a better boat for us.  My foot position was also a bit better.  I had more room at the finish and I like my catch position.  I was still coming down hard on the track ends, so I need to remember by bite guards.

We spun up at the north end and then started the piece.  The intent was to simulate a head race at our target rate and race pressure.  I wanted to make sure that we had some time trying to row hard while carrying a lot of fatigue before we raced next weekend.

I liked this boat a lot more.  I felt like I was getting good strokes in, and there were sections where the boat really felt like it was moving very well.  Probably the best section was during the last third of the piece.  When we passed the first island past the narrows, the boat just seemed to get a lot lighter and we were in very good synchronization.

Here is a comparison of our strokes in the first 1000, when we were fresh, but the boat felt a bit heavier and the “magic” section.

I specifically tried to pick out single strokes to avoid any averaging.  The thing that jumps out at me is that we had better finishes in the magic section.  The hump between 0.8 and 1.0 sec is lower.  The acceleration is still sloping up to a peak right before the finish, and I’ve changed my mind to say that it’s probably OK.  In the boat, when we are running well, I can feel the surge late in the leg drive and through the body swing.  It makes sense that it takes more of the stroke to accelerate a heavier boat and two rowers than a single.  The thing that we have to work on is consistency.  Hopefully a couple of rows per week between now and the HOCR, we can lock it in.

This was a much better piece that the one we did on Friday.   The avg pace was 2:14.4, and a fair amount of the time, we were hovering around 2:10.  We would have done even better, if we hadn’t been waked about 500m from the end.  That slowed us down a bit and we struggled to get back up to speed for the last bit of the piece.

On the way back up lake, we took it easy all the way up through the narrows and then did 4 sets of 20 on/10 off.  Then to cap it off we did a 30 stroke piece after we got past the rt9 bridge.

|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00020|02330|13:16|02:50.8| 18.2 | 129 |09.6|warmup
|02350|05502|24:39|02:14.4| 26.2 | 164 |08.5|hard 5.5k
|07852|02046|12:52|03:08.7| 24.1 | 136 |06.6|rowing light
|09898|01349|06:27|02:23.4| 25.7 | 154 |08.1|20 on 10 off
|11247|00239|00:57|01:59.2| 28.9 | 160 |08.7|last 30
|11486|00251|03:08|06:14.5| 24.4 | 122 |03.3|back to dock

|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00000|02330|13:16|02:50.8| 18.2 | 129 |09.6|warmup
|00000|06851|31:06|02:16.2| 26.1 | 162 |08.4|main set
|00000|02046|12:52|03:08.7| 24.1 | 136 |06.6|rests
|00000|00490|04:05|04:10.0| 25.5 | 131 |04.7|cool down

It was so pretty this morning when we landed I could resist taking a few pictures.

Tomorrow:  Back in my single on the Charles for a long and slow endurance session.  r20 and HR cap at 155.

 

 

Sunday: Lactate 10′ Step Test

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Plans for any training down on the Cape this weekend were disrupted by other priorities.  We had all kinds of appointments on Saturday morning, and the main mission for the day was to prepare the deck around the house for a coat of wood sealer.  This took much longer than I was hoping because I vastly underestimated how much deck there was to prepare.  (1400 SQ FT!)  Anyway, by the time that was done, I was not in the mood to do much of anything beside hang out with my wife and drink a couple of beers.

I was thinking I could go for a row on Sunday morning, but when I woke up, it was blowing like crazy.  The peak gust was 50mph (80km/h) and sustained winds were around 35mph (55km/h).  I didn’t even like the thought of trying to pedal a bike into that kind of a headwind, so I decided to wait until the afternoon and just do an erg session.

But what session to do?  I was planning on an early morning row in the Double with Joe on Monday morning, so I didn’t want anything too intense.  And there was a fresh new box of lactate test strips that had just arrived.  So, I quickly decided to do the same 10 minute step test that Sander did last week.

My protocol:

  • No warmup
  • 10 minute steps
  • 1:30 rests
  • start at 160W and increment by 5W to 200W
  • Measure HR throughout and lactate at the end of each step

The purpose of the test is to help define an appropriate steady state intensity for endurance training.  I suspect that it would be around 180-185W or so.

When yo put the data  into a plot, it looks a bit weird.  The test did not go entirely smoothly.  I suspect the lactate test for 170 was contaminated with sweat, leading to a high reading.  The one at 175 had to be redone due to an “E-4” (insufficient sample size).  At 180, I also suspect contamination.  The rest of the readings I think were good.  I had my method down pretty smoothly by then and I was doing a good job cleaning my hands.  I suspect that the inflection above 190W is totally legit. Based on this data, I could try to train at 190W, but I suspect that this would be a bit too intense.  I did this test after a full rest day, and late in the afternoon (my best time of day).  The temp was warm, but cooling down during the session.

9-11

I had plenty of time to think, and one of the things that occurred to me is that it is entirely plausible that it takes me 30 minutes to really warmup for a steady state session.  Some of my best results a couple of seasons ago were when I eased into the first 20 minute session by starting at a lower power and then hitting target power for the second 20 minute piece.  When I did that, I think I was able to hold higher “watts at 2.0 lactate”.  I think I might make that my standard procedure over the winter.

So, 185W will be my training power for now.  Next weekend, I think I will do a 90 minute session at 185W and do lactate tests every 10 minutes to see what happens.  The hypothesis I am testing is that my lactate will initially rise toward 2.0, then fall back toward 1.0, hitting a trough around 40 minutes, and then start to rise again after 60 minutes.

Friday: 5km Threshold in 2x

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Weather:  light and variable wind ~2mph from the south.  This was a minor head wind for the main piece.

We boated at about 5:45.  It was just starting to get light out.  Dawn was at 6:21.  This was the first prep session for Joe and I in the double.  We have our first race on Sept 17, and the HOCR on October 22.  The objective for today was to get a baseline for where are now, and to work on timing and technique at head race rates.  Not too concerned about pace yet.  We also have to figure out which boat to use.

Plan:

  • ~2km warmup to the North end of the lake.
  • 5km from north end of the lake to the south cove.
    • 2km at 22
    • 2km at 24
    • 1km at 26
  • Additional short pressure pieces at 26 from south end of the lake to the boathouse.

It was a very enjoyable outing.  I really like rowing with Joe.  He seems to like being in bow, and I LOVE being able to ignore everything else and focus on rowing hard.  I’m not sure about Joe, but I was wiped out when we were done.

screen-shot-2016-09-09-at-12-31-22-pm

The heart rate indicates that I was working pretty hard at the end.  The pace indicates that we have a fair amount of work to do.

As soon as we started rowing with pressure, it was clear to me that we wanted to rate higher than 22.  We were at 23 or 24 through the first 2k.  Next we shifted up to about a 25 and this felt pretty good, and got better as we went along.  I tried to push the last 1k up above 26 and we probably were closer to 27 on average.   This was a little ragged, but I think it is the right rate target for us to work on.

On the way back up the lake we did 3 sets of 10 strokes and 4 sets of 20 strokes at rates between 26 and 28.  We tried to work on synchronization by rowing very lightly, but at the same rates during the “off” parts of that.

I used RIM for the session and a spent a couple minutes looking at the boat acceleration curves.

Screen Shot 2016-09-09 at 12.25.07 PM.png

 

For reference, here is an annotated view of the parts of the stroke on an acceleration curve.

screen-shot-2016-09-09-at-1-05-01-pm

It comes from Rowing Biomechanics newsletter (Kleshnev).

Here is a view of a single stroke from the r24 chunk of the row with the same features noted.

9-9

 

Looking at the curves and metrics, I think it backs up a couple things I noticed in the boat.  I am not really used to looking at these curves for a double, so I’m not all that sure of my conclusions.

  1. The positive bump right at the finish, right after the #7 is way more pronounced than what I see in the single.  I think this is my fault.  I felt like we were hanging up a bit at the finish.  I was not comfortable with my foot position today.  I was crowded at the finish and so I was pushing down early and hard.  I think an inch more to the bow and I would have been fine.
  2. The peak of the drive bump is quite late in the stroke.  I think that might be a sign that one or both of us is “shooting the slide” a little bit.  I probably need to sit up a bit taller at the catch and really engage early in the stroke.

Next time we row, I think it might be a good idea to use the live display of acceleration and do some 10 stroke bursts with minor changes to technique to see if we can see the change in acceleration.

Tonight:  I’m heading down to the cape. It looks like the weather will be nice for an open water row.  If it doesn’t pan out that way, I’ll go for a bike ride.  In either case, it will be long and slow.

Thursday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest

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Last night I reviewed my schedule for today and realized that I had an all day offsite meeting that I was scheduled to attend today.  This made the logistics of doing an OTW session unworkable.  Also, last night I made arrangements to meet up with my doubles partner on Friday morning for a training session on Lake Quinsigamond.  I’m intending that to be an r24 Head Race Simulation type of session, so I changed today’s session from a hard, short interval session into an endurance session.

Plan:

  • static erg at work
  • 4 x 20′
  • 1′ rest
  • rate: 19-20
  • power: 185W
  • HR cap: 157

2016-09-08-08-05-29

Just like yesterday, this session was way, way harder than it should have been.  Compare it to the session that I did on Monday at exactly the same power.

Screen Shot 2016-09-05 at 5.06.46 PM

I tried to respect the HR cap at 157, and dropped the power down to 180 about halfway through the third 20′ piece, and to 182 for the whole 4th piece.  It felt hard, but not all that hard, and I didn’t feel drained at the end.

Tomorrow:  5.5k @ r24 in a 2x on quinsig.

One annoying thing.  I did the session on painsled, but after I finished, there was nothing in the painsled log.  Good thing I had my wahoo fitness app as a backup, or else it would have been like I hadn’t worked out at all! 😉

 

Wednesday: 14K Steady State

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Weather:  Intermittent light rain.  Overcast.  Light wind from the east ~2mph.

Plan:

  • steady state
  • 4x the length of the river
  • r20.
  • HR cap at 155

Sometime when it rains, rowing can be a magical experience.  The rain flattens out the water, and the it muffles all the noises.  You feel like you are gliding effortlessly along.

Today was not that day.

Today, every stroke felt sluggish.  The splits were slow and the it seemed like the boat was 50 pounds heavier than it used to be.  The 2mph headwind made it feel like I was rowing up a long slow hill.  And when I turned around, it seemed like the wind just disappeared.

But, I went out and I did the work.  Good for me!

|Start|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00020|01306|06:58|02:40.0| 19.6 | 128 |09.6|warmup
|01326|02623|13:11|02:30.8| 20.6 | 149 |09.7|rep #1
|03949|00187|02:19|06:11.7| 11.9 | 130 |06.8|cool down
|04136|02843|13:50|02:26.0| 20.5 | 152 |10.0|rep #2
|06979|00128|01:10|04:33.4| 20.2 | 148 |05.4|rest
|07107|02822|14:43|02:36.4| 20.1 | 154 |09.5|Rep #3
|09929|00110|01:47|08:06.4| 13.7 | 133 |04.5|rest
|10039|02774|13:52|02:30.0| 19.9 | 152 |10.0|Rep #4
|12813|01217|06:19|02:35.7| 21.5 | 155 |09.0|cool down

|00000|01306|06:58|02:40.0| 19.6 | 128 – warmup
|00000|11062|55:36|02:30.8| 20.3 | 152 – main set
|00000|01217|06:19|02:35.7| 21.5 | 155 – rests
|00000|01306|06:58|02:40.0| 19.6 | 128 – cool down

Very high HR for a 2:30 pace.  Oh well.

Tomorrow:  Short rest intervals.  Plan calls for…5 x 20@32/10 off / 5 x 20@34/15 off / 5 x 20@36/20 off, 8′ between sets

I don’t think I want to do that.  I think I will substitute a 4 x (8 x (1′ on / 30″ off) ) 4′ rest

Week 8 Training Review

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Date Day Type mode Planned Workout Actual
8/29/16 Mon Rest  rest OTW Rate Ladders
80′ LIT
Meso Cycle #2 – Long Intervals
8/30/16 Tue Long Intervals otw 3000 / 2500 / 2000 5′ rest
45′ HIT
30′ LIT		  4 x 2500 / 4′ rest
45′ HIT
30′ LIT
8/31/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
75′ LIT		 4 x 2800 / 1′ rest r20
71′ LIT
9/1/16 Thu Short Rest Intervals otw 4 x (5 x 2′ on / 30″ paddle) / 2′ rest

40′ HIT
35′ LIT

  Short Intervals as described
40′ HIT
35′ LIT
9/2/16 Fri Technique UT2/UT1 otw Square Blades / Slow Roll Up / r20 2 minutes each, repeated
75′ LIT		  Bike ride
80′ LIT
20′ HIT
9/3/16 Sat Hard Distance otw 5.5K r30
20′ HIT
50′ LIT		  rest
9/4/16 Sun long and easy erg 4 x 30′ / 1.5′ rest (lactate)
120′ LIT		 rest
Week 8 Summary   115′ HIT
385′ LIT 		  105′ HIT
296′ LIT
  • 91% of HIT minutes, but I missed the key “hard distance” session
  • 76% of LIT minutes, based on taking an extra rest day this weekend.  I am not able to allocate as much time to training as I had planned.

 

This takes on greater urgency now.  I just received an email letting me know that my bid for a slot in the Men’s Master (50+) 2x for the Head of the Charles was accepted.  So, there’s a good reason to train!

 

 

Tuesday: September CTC – 10′

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I prepared for anything this morning.  I dressed for rowing outside, and packed my sneakers to do an erg session in case the weather was no good.  Turns out the weather was awful.  Chilly with a steady, light rain and a blustery wind.  So, I drove straight to work with the intention to do the September CTC.

Screen Shot 2016-09-06 at 8.13.09 AM

First, a Fletcher warmup.

Then the main event!  I targeted a 1:48 pace.  This turned out to be pretty close to a maximum effort.  I backed off a little with 3 minutes to go because I felt like I was losing it.  I let it slide to a 1:50 pace until there was a minute and a half to go and then picked it back up again for the last 40 strokes.

After a bit of gasping, I set up for a quick 2K cool down.  I was aiming for 9:00.0.  I missed it by 0.2

Tomorrow:  Training plan calls for a steady state OTW session.  Who am I to argue.

 

Monday: 4 x 20 @ 185W

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Saturday and Sunday we had guests and there was never a good time to go train.

We came home last night and today, in  the afternoon, I settled in for a long and easy erg session.

Plan:

  • 4 x 20′
  • 1′ rests
  • power:  185W
  • HR limit: 155

I got back into listening to a Teaching Company course.  This one is a skeptics view of american history.  Today I heard about the beginnings of the labor movement and america’s ambivalent attitude toward imperialism.  The time passed quickly.

Tomorrow the forecast is for lots of wind, showers and a chance of thunderstorms.  I think another erg session is called for.  Maybe a shot at the September CTC.