Saturday: 4×20′ Steady State with lactate tests

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Based on feedback from Boris and Tom, I dialed back the steady state power from th 190W that I targeted last week to 180W this weekend.  The goal was to get some meters in the bank and do another experiment to see what my lactate levels do over long pieces.

Plan:

  1. 4×20′ / 1′ rest (actually about 1:15 or so by the time I did the lactate test and had a slug of water)
  2. Target rate: 18 to 19 spm
  3. Target power: 180W
  4. No HR cap, training to target power
  5. Lactate tests after each 20′ piece.

Very interesting results.  Kind of depressing really.  I backed off power by 10W and the saw very close to the same picture for HR and lactate.

Screen Shot 2015-09-21 at 9.37.04 AM Screen Shot 2015-09-21 at 9.36.49 AM

Output
Workout Summary – Sep 21, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_19268_|_80:00.0_|_02:04.6_|_181.1_|_18.3_|_142.2_|_ 69.6% _|_13.2_|_09.9
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI_|_Lac

01_|_04821_|_20:00.0_|_02:04.4_|_181.6_|_18.2_|_125.3_|_ 57.7% _|_13.3_|_10.0_|_1.7
02_|_04818_|_20:00.0_|_02:04.5_|_181.2_|_18.1_|_138.7_|_ 67.2% _|_13.3_|_10.0_|_3.3
03_|_04816_|_20:00.0_|_02:04.6_|_180.9_|_18.1_|_149.2_|_ 74.6% _|_13.3_|_10.0_|_4.1
04_|_04813_|_20:00.0_|_02:04.7_|_180.7_|_18.9_|_155.0_|_ 78.7% _|_12.8_|_09.6_|_5.2

Compared to last week, my HR took a little longer to hit each band.  And my lactate at 20 minutes was lower than last week (1.7 vs 2.3), by after 20 minutes, my HR and lactate just kept on rising and rising.

lac

Now, this is really intriguing.  Based on what I was doing the past couple of years, I would have enthusiastically embraced the 1.7 reading and kept my training power at 180W, because I wouldn’t have taken any more readings.

So, this these results are a bit counterintuitive because it is generally thought that a lactate reading below 2.0 after 20 minutes indicates that the power level is low enough that it will stay there for the duration of the training session.  I am not sure what is going on, but I have a few ideas.  Lactate accumulation can result from two causes.

  1.  The ability to metabolize fat is low, therefore the transition from fat metabolism to glycogen metabolism occurs at a lower power than the training power.  This causes the over production of pyruvate, which leads directly to lactate levels rising
  2. The ability to metabolize lactate is low, therefore lactate accumulation happens at a lower power level than expected.

Of these, the more plausible is number 1.  If I have been habitually training at too high an intensity, then I have been bathing my muscles in lactate and that would provide plenty of stimulus to improve lactate metabolism.  But, the same hypothesis, too high a training power, would definitely cause fat metabolism to shut down and not be developed and improved.  I’ve become an anaerobe by doing my steady state at too high an intensity.

I did some digging and found a thread over on Rowing Illustrated which is on point.

A rower with a 380W 2K (roughly 6:30) did a 20′ lactate test at 185W and got a lactate reading of 11.1mmol/l.  He finally ended up down at 155W with a 1.85 reading after 20 minutes.

Anyway, I think another shot at this with the power down at 170W next weekend is my next step.

Friday: 16K steady state over HOCR course

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This might be the best week of the whole season in terms of weather.  Every day since last Sunday has been just about perfect.  Today was no exception.  Sunny, upper 60s, light wind from the SW only 1 or 2 mph, which was generally a tail wind heading down river.

Plan:

  1. 3K warmup, gradually getting up to 20spm
  2. 2 x 5K / 1′ rest over the HOCR course
  3. 3K cool down

Screen Shot 2015-09-18 at 12.06.36 PM Screen Shot 2015-09-18 at 12.06.18 PM

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_2980_|_14:30_|_2:25.9_|_284___|_19.6_|_10.5_|_142___|_w
03000_|_5000_|_23:39_|_2:21.9_|_493___|_20.8_|_10.1_|_155___|_m
08000_|_0250_|_01:27_|_2:53.0_|_027___|_18.7_|_09.3_|_125___|_r
08250_|_5000_|_24:19_|_2:25.9_|_513___|_21.1_|_09.7_|_155___|_m
13250_|_3130_|_16:16_|_2:35.9_|_343___|_21.1_|_09.1_|_152___|_c

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
02980_|_14:30_|_2:25.9_|_284___|_19.6_|_10.5_|_142___|_warmup
10000_|_47:58_|_2:23.9_|_1006___|_21.0_|_09.9_|_155___|_Main set
00250_|_01:27_|_2:53.0_|_027___|_18.7_|_09.3_|_125___|_rest meters
03130_|_16:16_|_2:35.9_|_343___|_21.1_|_09.1_|_152___|_cool down
16360_|_20:11_|_2:27.0_|_1660___|_20.7_|_09.9_|_151___|_Total

There was tons of traffic on the river this morning.  Heading down river, at first I was going back and forth with a 2x.  They were doing pieces and paddling in between.  They would pass me during their pieces and then I’d pass them when they paddled.  Then we both caught up with a group of 3 or 4 singles that seemed to speed up as we got to them.  That is what pushed me above the cap.  On the Charles, there always seems to be a bridge coming up and you need to decide if you will try to pass before the bridge or tuck in behind until after the bridge.  The first bridge, I tucked in behind.  That’s the brief slow down to 2:50 or so.  Other wise, I pushed to get clear ahead.  If I trained on this stretch of river all the time, I would have to break the habit, or I would never train at the right intensity for steady state workouts!

Coming up river, I was in the company of 4 women’s collegiate eights.  They were doing pause drills and other stuff, so we were roughly the same pace for most of the way up the HOCR course.  But that also was a motivator to try to keep the pace up.  I’d rather row in the clean water ahead than the choppy mess that 4 boats and 2 launches leave behind.  They did pass me with about 3K to go, and it was pretty miserable for about 1km after that with the wakes bouncing off the sides of the river, which is pretty narrow up there.  I finally fell far enough behind that the water was reasonable for the last 2K or so.

Tomorrow:  4×20’/1’r on the erg at 180W with lactate tests

Let this be a lesson for me: Read the plan carefully —> A whole lot of 20 stroke sprints

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Another glorious morning to be on the water.  Sunny, upper 60s, basically no wind.  Three boats from Brandeis plus a launch were out, but they were finishing as I was getting going.

The plan:

Per the training plan…

5 x 20@32/10 off / 5 x 20@34/15 off / 5 x 20@36/20 off, 8′ between sets

When I read that last night, I decided that it meant that I should row

  • 5 – 20 strokes bursts at 32 with 10 stroke paddle between each
  • 8 minute rest
  • 5 – 20 stroke bursts at 34 with 15 stroke paddle between each
  • 8 minute rest
  • 5 – 20 stroke bursts at 36 with 15 stroke paddle between each

Of course, what happened on the water was completely different.  I did my first 5 bursts and felt pretty good.  I started paddling my 8 minute rest, and decided to do a couple more 20s.  I did 2 more, and then I had a moment of complete confusion.  I decided that I must have misread the training plan, and the “correct” workout was actually this:

  • 3 sets of
    • 5×20@32/10 off + 5×20@34/15 off + 5×20@36/20 off
  • 8 minutes of rest between each set

This was a murderous change.  First, I didn’t have enough river to do all 15 bursts in each direction, so I ended up shaving off a couple of 20s at the end of each set.  Second,  That’s a lot of fast rowing!  It nearly killed me!

After I finally got to work and did some work, and got a spare moment, I went back to look at the post on Sander’s blog to figure out whether my initial or subsequent interpretation was correct.

The workout is an adaptation of a session that Sander posted here.

Here is the original form of the workout:

This is another one from my personal list of interesting workouts that I collected over the years. It says:

3x(5×30″)/R8 (1) 30″/30″ @36spm, (2) 30″/45″ @ 38spm, (3) 30″/60″ @40spm

So three sets of 5 times 30 seconds of hard work, with mini rests that get longer for the higher stroke rates. Eight minutes rest between the sets. This is the first time I am doing it this season and I am not sure whether the stroke rates weren’t originally intended for the double or even the quad, so I lowered the target spm by 2.

I changed it from being time based to be stroke based, just because it’s easier for me to count strokes than watch the clock, but it’s pretty clear that it seems to indicate that you do 3 sets of 5, with 8 minutes between sets.  To dispell any doubts, he also posted a chart of his results for the workout:

Yep, 3 sets of 5.  What a painful error.  Anyway, it’s over now, and I’ll never make that mistake again.

So, given what an over reach the workout was, here’s how it went.

Screen Shot 2015-09-17 at 12.17.57 PM Screen Shot 2015-09-17 at 12.17.40 PM

So, I setup the speedcoach to record stroke data.  So it logged pace, rate and distance on every stroke, versus every 20m like I usually do.  Looking at the speedcoach data, I started cheating the stroke counts.  A lot of the 20s were actually 19s or in some cases even 18s.  Since I didn’t take many strokes during the rests, they don’t really show up, but you can see where the rate decreases in the SPM chart.  I basically had enough river to squeeze in 2 reps at r36 before I ran out of river.

The other thing is that I ran out of speedcoach memory right after I finished the main set.  The memory holds 1500 strokes, and I finished my last interval with stroke number 1449, so my 1km cool down was not stored.  No great loss.

Here is a summary by rate of the intervals.

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
03774_|_19:45_|_2:37.0_|_406___|_20.6_|_09.3_|_132___|_warmup
03119_|_21:50_|_3:30.0_|_423___|_19.4_|_07.4_|_162___|_rest meters
00242_|_01:25_|_2:56.7_|_051___|_35.8_|_04.7_|_138___|_cool down (plus another 1km)

02590_|_10:15_|_1:58.7_|_309___|_30.2_|_08.4_|_162___|_r32
01714_|_06:44_|_1:57.9_|_216___|_32.1_|_07.9_|_163___|_r34
00710_|_02:40_|_1:52.9_|_094___|_35.2_|_07.6_|_163___|_r36
05014_|_19:39_|_1:57.6_|_619___|_31.5_|_08.1_|_162___|_All intervals

So, I guess I can’t be too unhappy with 5km rowed a sub-2:00 pace.  But it’s amazing how fast you lose your touch to row at higher rates.  I was very sloppy, and the acceleration curves looked just horrendous, even though I wasn’t even able to get up to the target rates except in the very middle of most of the reps.

I’m kind of tired now.

Tomorrow:  Steady state on the HOCR course. r20, light and fluffy

The featured image is a picture I took this morning of a Blue Heron standing on a floating log in the lagoon where I launch.  Behind it is the Newton Marriott hotel, and in the foreground, some of the canoes that you can rent where I launch.  The weeds are thicker in this direction, but the whole lagoon is pretty weed choked at this point of the year.  I gets a bit better as the water cools down.

Wednesday: Light and fluffy – 14km steady state at r20

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Another glorious morning!  Temperature was in the mid 60s.  It was dry and clear.  When I first started there was a thin mist clinging to the river, only about 6 inches or so.  Very cool to row through.  You could fleetingly see the air turbulence in the mist as you rowed through it. When I started it was flat calm, but a gentle wind from the northwest, maybe 2 mph or so.  Just enough so I noticed the difference in the way the boat felt.  Downstream, it felt very light, upstream it felt a bit heavier.  It was the kind of morning that made me very happy that I took up rowing, just to be out in it.

As a bonus, I got to whack, not one, but two swans on the ass because they did not clear my path quickly enough.  Pretty to look at, nasty as hell, those swans.  They shook their tail feathers vigorously at me as I paddled away smugly.

Oh yeah, back to the training.  The plan:

  1. 4x3000m / 1′ rest (that’s the length of the really rowable part of my river.  1′ is just enough to turn the boat around)
  2. Rate: r20
  3. Pace: no target, but I get sad when it’s slower than 2:30
  4. HR cap: 75% HRR (150)

The priority for me today was to row to the HR cap.  This was made a bit more challenging by a slightly wonky HR monitor pickup, but worked out well.

Screen Shot 2015-09-16 at 9.13.41 AM Screen Shot 2015-09-16 at 9.13.56 AM

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_06:06_|_3:06.8_|_107___|_17.5_|_09.2_|_107___|_w
01000_|_2800_|_13:12_|_2:21.5_|_271___|_20.5_|_10.3_|_138___|_m
03800_|_3020_|_14:30_|_2:24.0_|_294___|_20.3_|_10.3_|_143___|_m
06820_|_3000_|_14:21_|_2:23.5_|_291___|_20.3_|_10.3_|_147___|_m
09820_|_3000_|_14:47_|_2:27.8_|_301___|_20.4_|_10.0_|_149___|_m
12820_|_1060_|_05:55_|_2:47.2_|_122___|_20.6_|_08.7_|_145___|_c

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_06:06_|_3:06.8_|_107___|_17.5_|_09.2_|_107___|_warmup
11820_|_56:50_|_2:24.2_|_1157___|_20.4_|_10.2_|_144___|_Main set
01060_|_05:55_|_2:47.2_|_122___|_20.6_|_08.7_|_145___|_cool down
13860_|_08:51_|_2:29.0_|_1386___|_20.1_|_10.0_|_141___|_Total

I guess the perfect temperature and flat water were conducive to rowing fast.  The first leg downstream, I was holding about a 2:20 pace with my HR solidly in the UT2 range.  After that, it gradually crept up to 150 and then I slowed down to keep it there.  The last leg up river there might have been a bit more wind, or more likely I was just starting to get tired and row less efficiently.

Tomorrow:  Things get a bit more intense.  It’s short rest interval day.  The training plan calls for some higher rate work.  It’s a workout adapted from Sander’s suggestions for 1km racing.

5 x 20@32/10 off / 5 x 20@34/15 off / 5 x 20@36/20 off, 8′ between sets

Even though it is head racing season.  I want to get some higher rate rowing in once every couple of weeks to keep my timing together and work on keeping my strokes light and crisp.

Featured image credit:  http://static.panoramio.com/photos/large/42171760.jpg

Tuesday: 5x2K / 500m rest – Boom

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Weather:  cool (60F), sunny, light wind from the west, maybe 2-4 mph.

Plan:

  1.  5 x 2000 / 500m rest (roughly 5 minutes)
  2. rate target: 28 spm
  3. pace target: 2:12

Screen Shot 2015-09-15 at 11.17.59 AM Screen Shot 2015-09-15 at 11.17.29 AM

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:20_|_2:43.3_|_095___|_17.8_|_10.3_|_121___|_w
01000_|_2000_|_08:28_|_2:07.1_|_224___|_26.4_|_08.9_|_160___|_m
03000_|_0500_|_03:23_|_3:23.4_|_057___|_16.8_|_08.8_|_124___|_r
03500_|_2000_|_08:37_|_2:09.2_|_232___|_26.9_|_08.6_|_166___|_m
05500_|_0500_|_03:46_|_3:45.9_|_069___|_18.3_|_07.2_|_128___|_r
06000_|_2000_|_08:38_|_2:09.4_|_232___|_26.9_|_08.6_|_168___|_m
08000_|_0500_|_03:27_|_3:27.3_|_061___|_17.7_|_08.2_|_130___|_r
08500_|_2000_|_08:42_|_2:10.4_|_238___|_27.4_|_08.4_|_170___|_m
10500_|_0500_|_03:35_|_3:35.3_|_066___|_18.4_|_07.6_|_128___|_r
11000_|_2000_|_08:47_|_2:11.8_|_236___|_26.9_|_08.5_|_168___|_m
13000_|_3260_|_18:05_|_2:46.4_|_369___|_20.4_|_08.8_|_141___|_c

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:20_|_2:43.3_|_095___|_17.8_|_10.3_|_121___|_warmup
10000_|_43:12_|_2:09.6_|_1162___|_26.9_|_08.6_|_166___|_Main set
02000_|_14:12_|_3:33.0_|_253___|_17.8_|_07.9_|_128___|_rest meters
03260_|_18:05_|_2:46.4_|_369___|_20.4_|_08.8_|_141___|_cool down
16240_|_20:49_|_2:29.3_|_1879___|_23.3_|_08.6_|_151___|_Total

Holy shit!  That went well.  Comparing the stats from last time on the 5x2k

  • Avg Pace: 2:09.6 (2:12.9)
  • Stroke rate: 26.9 (25.9)
  • Avg HR: 166 (169)

I certainly faded a bit in the last two reps.  In the last rep especially, I just couldn’t get the boat moving in the middle of the rep.  I was having paranoid fantasies about weeds on the fin and mythical head winds in the whole middle 1000m.  Once I got to about 500m left to go, I started pushing harder and counting down the strokes.  That helped pull the avg pace down a bit.

Tomorrow:  The plan calls for 4 x 3000 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit at 80% HRR).  That would be a HR cap at 157.  I think I will row to a 75% HRR cap instead (150).  Should be interesting trying to keep the rating up, the strokes long, and the pressure light.

Monday: Easy Rate Ladders

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It felt like fall this morning.  Sunny, cool (55F), a bit of breeze from the SW at about 8mph.  This was a stiff headwind while rowing upriver and a tail wind going down river.   SW and NE are really the only two wind directions that are not mostly sheltered  on the river.  It was a challenge to row lightly enough into the wind to make progress and keep HR in check.

Plan:  My training plan called for:

Rate Ladder 4 x (1000 @ 18, 1000 @ 20, 500 @ 22, 250 @ 24) / 2′ rest

But, based on how high my lactates got in my test on Saturday, even while my HR as reasonably low, I decided to drop the rate by 2 and try to keep the session more focused purely on endurance.  I also shortened the rests.  I took the full 2 minutes between the 2nd and 3rd piece, otherwise I just turned and went.

So, as executed it was:

Rate Ladder 4 x (1000 @ 16, 1000 @ 18, 900 @ 20) / 1′ rest

Screen Shot 2015-09-14 at 12.45.19 PM Screen Shot 2015-09-14 at 12.45.02 PM

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:09_|_2:37.8_|_081___|_15.7_|_12.1_|_118___|_w
01000_|_1000_|_04:55_|_2:27.5_|_081___|_16.5_|_12.3_|_132___|_16
02000_|_1000_|_04:46_|_2:23.1_|_087___|_18.2_|_11.5_|_141___|_18
03000_|_0900_|_04:09_|_2:18.6_|_084___|_20.2_|_10.7_|_148___|_20
03900_|_0100_|_00:34_|_2:49.5_|_007___|_12.4_|_14.3_|_132___|_r
04000_|_1000_|_05:13_|_2:36.3_|_086___|_16.5_|_11.6_|_140___|_16
05000_|_1000_|_05:05_|_2:32.6_|_093___|_18.3_|_10.8_|_147___|_18
06000_|_0900_|_04:26_|_2:27.9_|_091___|_20.5_|_09.9_|_154___|_20
06900_|_0100_|_00:33_|_2:45.0_|_008___|_14.5_|_12.5_|_135___|_r
07000_|_1000_|_04:56_|_2:27.8_|_082___|_16.6_|_12.2_|_141___|_16
08000_|_1000_|_04:52_|_2:25.8_|_089___|_18.3_|_11.2_|_150___|_18
09000_|_0900_|_04:15_|_2:21.7_|_085___|_20.0_|_10.6_|_155___|_20
09900_|_0100_|_00:37_|_3:04.0_|_009___|_14.7_|_11.1_|_142___|_r
10000_|_1000_|_05:20_|_2:40.1_|_089___|_16.7_|_11.2_|_146___|_16
11000_|_1000_|_05:12_|_2:36.2_|_096___|_18.4_|_10.4_|_152___|_18
12000_|_0900_|_04:33_|_2:31.9_|_093___|_20.4_|_09.7_|_155___|_20
12900_|_1140_|_06:25_|_2:48.8_|_121___|_18.9_|_09.4_|_139___|_c

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:09_|_2:37.8_|_081___|_15.7_|_12.1_|_118___|_warmup
00300_|_01:44_|_2:52.8_|_024___|_13.9_|_12.5_|_137___|_rest meters
01140_|_06:25_|_2:48.8_|_121___|_18.9_|_09.4_|_139___|_cool down

04000_|_20:23_|_2:32.9_|_338___|_16.6_|_11.8_|_140___|_r18
04000_|_19:55_|_2:29.4_|_365___|_18.3_|_11.0_|_148___|_r18
03600_|_17:24_|_2:25.0_|_353___|_20.3_|_10.2_|_153___|_r20
11600_|_57:43_|_2:29.3_|_1056___|_18.3_|_11.0_|_146___|_main set

You can see the difference between headwind and tail wind.  It was a pretty consistent 9 second delta.  I’d guess the headwind was about a 6 second impact and the tailwind was a 3 second benefit.

But, I was really happy with how I managed to lighten up at higher stroke rates to keep my HR reasonable.  You can see it most clearly in the r20 sections with the plateau at 155.

Tomorrow:  Hell day…5 x 2000 / 5′ rest r28. Pace target 2:12

Sunday: Hard Distance on Quinsig

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Cloudy, cool (60F), very light breeze from the east.  This was a light cross wind and not a factor.

Plan:

  1.  Long warmup, keep HR reasonable low
  2. Head race simulation, 5K from bottom of lake to the QRA docks (rate target: 26, Pace target: faster than 2:15)
  3. feet out cool down

Screen Shot 2015-09-13 at 11.08.23 AM Screen Shot 2015-09-13 at 11.08.37 AM

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0240_|_01:19_|_2:44.6_|_023___|_17.5_|_10.4_|_113___|_drills
00260_|_3440_|_16:47_|_2:26.4_|_306___|_18.2_|_11.2_|_144___|_warmup
03700_|_0180_|_01:01_|_2:49.4_|_015___|_14.8_|_12.0_|_123___|_turn
03880_|_4940_|_21:51_|_2:12.7_|_561___|_25.7_|_08.8_|_176___|_4.9km hard
08820_|_2640_|_14:12_|_2:41.3_|_271___|_19.1_|_09.7_|_140___|_cool down feet out

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
03680_|_18:06_|_2:27.6_|_329___|_18.2_|_11.2_|_141___|_warmup
04940_|_21:51_|_2:12.7_|_561___|_25.7_|_08.8_|_176___|_Main set
00180_|_01:01_|_2:49.4_|_015___|_14.8_|_12.0_|_123___|_rest meters
02640_|_14:12_|_2:41.3_|_271___|_19.1_|_09.7_|_140___|_cool down
11440_|_55:10_|_2:24.7_|_1176___|_21.3_|_09.7_|_154___|_Total

I was lucky today in so many ways.  First, the water was perfect.  Second, the temperature was perfect.  Third, I was training with a mixed double.  They said that they were going to be aiming at 2:20 splits, so I gave the 40 second head start and then gave chase.  I caught up with them a bit north of the route 9 bridge, and we were side by side for about 1000m.  I pushed really hard in the first 2000m and I was pretty gassed, but I didn’t want to let them go.  With about 1000m left, I started pushing harder again and got a couple of boatlengths ahead of them by the end.

It was really good that I was chasing them.  If I was on my own, I think I would have bailed at the bridge.  The last 2000m were a real challenge.   My HR was above 95% HRR the whole second half of the row.

After we finished, we rowed up to the top of the lake, and did a few drills and had a drink.  Then we had a nice gentle row with feet out back to the docks at Regatta Point.

I’m very happy with the time, a 2:12.7 pace.  I don’t think I’ve come anywhere near that before, even in times with a tail wind.  Flat water makes a huge difference.

Tomorrow:  Back on my little stretch of the Charles River.  The plan calls for

Rate Ladder 4 x (1000 @ 18, 1000 @ 20, 500 @ 22, 250 @ 24) / 2′ rest

I think I might shift the rates down by 2 and row with a hard cap at 150, based on the lactate results from Saturday.

Saturday: 90′ Lactate Experiment

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I was really tired on Friday night, so I decided to sleep in instead of rowing on Saturday morning.  I needed the sleep, all 12 hours of it!

After running around, doing errands, I decided to do an erg session in the late afternoon.  I had not eaten since 9AM, and I started around 4PM, so I was reasonably fasted.  I wanted to duplicate my situation rowing in the mornings as closely as I could.

I wanted to get a better feeling for what my lactate and HR did in a longer session at constant power.  I’ve been doing steady state sessions around 190W and I thought that was reasonably close to a 2.0 mmol/l intensity.  So, the experiment design was simple.

Row a sequence of 9 – 10 minute pieces at 190W, and measure lactate after each during a 1:30 rest.  Here is the RowPro view of the experiment

Screen Shot 2015-09-13 at 11.38.39 AM Screen Shot 2015-09-13 at 11.38.52 AM

And the split data:

Output
Workout Summary – Sep 13, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_19862_|_90:24.0_|_02:16.5_|_137.5_|_17.9_|_145.8_|_ 72.2% _|_12.2_|_07.7
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_02450_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_190.7_|_19.5_|_129.2_|_ 60.5% _|_12.6_|_09.8
02_|_00049_|_01:30.0_|_15:22.2_|_000.4_|_02.7_|_116.3_|_ 51.2% _|_12.2_|_00.2
03_|_02453_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.3_|_191.4_|_20.0_|_135.2_|_ 64.7% _|_12.3_|_09.6
04_|_00038_|_01:30.0_|_19:59.2_|_000.2_|_02.0_|_130.0_|_ 61.0% _|_12.5_|_00.1
05_|_02451_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_190.9_|_19.9_|_141.6_|_ 69.2% _|_12.3_|_09.6
06_|_00057_|_01:30.0_|_13:03.5_|_000.7_|_03.3_|_125.2_|_ 57.6% _|_11.5_|_00.2
07_|_02450_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_190.7_|_19.8_|_144.9_|_ 71.5% _|_12.4_|_09.6
08_|_00055_|_01:30.0_|_13:33.1_|_000.7_|_04.0_|_125.2_|_ 57.6% _|_09.2_|_00.2
09_|_02451_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_191.0_|_20.0_|_147.7_|_ 73.6% _|_12.3_|_09.5
10_|_00043_|_01:30.0_|_17:23.5_|_000.3_|_02.7_|_135.3_|_ 64.7% _|_10.8_|_00.1
11_|_02453_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.3_|_191.3_|_20.3_|_152.0_|_ 76.6% _|_12.1_|_09.4
12_|_00038_|_01:33.0_|_20:28.0_|_000.2_|_01.9_|_147.3_|_ 73.3% _|_12.6_|_00.1
13_|_02458_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.1_|_192.5_|_20.2_|_157.3_|_ 80.4% _|_12.2_|_09.5
14_|_00032_|_01:33.0_|_24:08.3_|_000.1_|_01.3_|_146.0_|_ 72.3% _|_16.1_|_00.1
15_|_02383_|_09:48.0_|_02:03.4_|_186.3_|_20.2_|_160.3_|_ 82.5% _|_12.0_|_09.2

This resulted in the following data:

lactate table

Which, when graphed, looks like:

Screen Shot 2015-09-13 at 11.37.52 AM

So, what does this mean?

  1. 190W is too high of a power level for me right now.
  2. My HR takes a while to work it’s way up, but the lactate tracks effort pretty quickly
  3. My endurance is suspect.  The plateau from 20 to 30 is interesting.  I was able to hold that for that period, but I guess I fatigued and started to rely on more fast twitch muscles, which started to generate more lactate.  That’s also the point in the row where it started to feel like work.
  4. I was still in my UT1 band until after 60 minutes of rowing, but my lactates were way above the 2.0mmol/l target.  My rule of thumb of keeping it below the top end of UT1 is NOT a good guideline.

This was valuable enough that I think I will try it again next weekend at 185W.  I suspect that the plateau will be lower and longer, but will break free again and start to climb.

Friday: Steady State on the HOCR course, a bit too hard

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Interesting conditions this morning.  60F, raining, and a 10-15 mph wind from the North, gusting to over 20.  I cartopped down to the lower Charles to row the HCR course again.  I’m starting to get the hand of it, but I was still off the ideal line a number of times.

Here’s how the wind overlayed the course.

wind and course

So, you can see that for much of the row, it was a stiff cross wind, but at times it was a tail or head wind.  The toughest stretch was rowing upriver through the Powerhouse Stretch.

The Plan

  1. Steady state r18 to r20
  2. go downstream about 8km, turn at the start of the HOCR course.  Row the course upstream to the finish (about 5km), then cool down from there to the ramp (about 3km)
  3. HR cap at 157
  4. Work out navigation, technique and aerobic fitness

Screen Shot 2015-09-11 at 2.40.53 PM Screen Shot 2015-09-11 at 2.40.32 PM

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:00_|_2:32.9_|_089___|_17.8_|_11.0_|_133___|_warmup
01000_|_7000_|_34:53_|_2:29.5_|_672___|_19.3_|_10.4_|_158___|_downriver
08000_|_0200_|_01:30_|_3:44.8_|_023___|_15.4_|_08.7_|_139___|_wide turn
08200_|_5320_|_27:17_|_2:33.8_|_552___|_20.2_|_09.6_|_161___|_up river
13520_|_2960_|_16:10_|_2:43.8_|_318___|_19.7_|_09.3_|_148___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:00_|_2:32.9_|_089___|_17.8_|_11.0_|_133___|_warmup
12320_|_02:10_|_2:31.4_|_1224___|_19.7_|_10.1_|_159___|_Main set
00200_|_01:30_|_3:44.8_|_023___|_15.4_|_08.7_|_139___|_rest meters
02960_|_16:10_|_2:43.8_|_318___|_19.7_|_09.3_|_148___|_cool down
16460_|_24:49_|_2:34.6_|_1654___|_19.5_|_10.0_|_155___|_Total

The trip down river was largely uneventful.  There was tons of traffic on the river, but most of it was on the other side heading upstream.  And the stuff heading down river with me was roughly sticking around my pace.  I would have hoped to see a bit better pace with the tail wind sections, but oh well.  The two pace spikes were basically me misaligning to bridges and needing to make some sharper turns.

The water got quite choppy toward the end of the powerhouse stretch and continued to deteriorate as I made the turn to go under the BU bridge into the basin.  This seemed to be the time with the stiffest breeze, mostly a cross wind here, but it was trying to toss around my oars a bit.

I continued about 700m past the BU bridge to get to an even 8km, then did a wide turn to go back upriver in a roaring gale.  As I approached the cambridge side of the river, I got a bit of a wind shadow and the water was also much flatter, so it was easier going.  The wind was a bit more on my bow, so the splits suffered a bit.  I was hoping to tone down the exertion level a bit because I was above my 157 cap, but as I was lining up to go upriver, I saw that there was a sculler about 50m behind me and he was gaining on me.

They say that as soon as you have two boats, you have a race.  I don’t know if that is true, but I certainly didn’t feel like being passed, so I increased the pressure and tried to maintain the distance.  It was hard.  He was fast. And young.  And fit.

He also stopped at the riverside boat club, about 1500m from the start of the HOCR course.  I was a bit relieved, and surprisingly, a bit disappointed too.  But soon, I had another challenge.  There was an eight right ahead of me and they were sitting dead in the water, so I swung out toward the middle of the river to pass in front of the RBC docks.  When I was a couple of boat lengths astern of them, they started rowing.  I’m a man who knows his limitations, and I know I can’t out row an eight, but they looked like they were drilling, and the stern pair was setting the boat, so I pressed on.  The cox apparently saw some motivational value and called for more pressure.  Complicating matters was a bridge about 100m ahead of us.  I decided that I should get the hell out of dodge and cranked the rate and pressure to get clear of them and the bridge.  That’s the little band of purple.

After that, it was a long slow slog into the wind through the rest of the powerhouse stretch, and then under the bridge by the Weld boathouse.  As I passed the Harvard boathouse, they were boating 3 eights.  I think they were the heavies, but I’m not sure.  I was hoping they’d head down river, but they turned in behind me and started churning upstream.  Great.  See the little band of green?  That’s when I passed under the bridge, and was getting a bit of tail wind and just relaxing.  Then I kept pushing the pace more and more to try to stay ahead of these monsters.  I managed to make it to the end of the HOCR course.  By then, the lead boat was nearly on my tail.  The river is pretty narrow up here, so I pulled off to the side and had a drink of water.  The first 2 boats passed me and I started rowing more gently upstream.  I pulled off again for the 3rd boat a little later.  Then it was a bit of a slog into the wind for the finish.

It was a good outing, even with the wind.  The river is very rowable with a north wind, and learning all the steering points is definitely taking some time.  I hope I can do this every Friday.

Tomorrow:  Hard 5.5k on quinsig

Thursday: Short Rest Intervals – 4 x (5 x 2′ on / 30″ paddle) / 4′ rest

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I’m back in the boat.  Only my second row in the last 12 days.  Between travel and a quick bout with a stomach bug, I’ve missed 10 sessions in my training plan.  Now the work resumes where I left off.

The conditions this morning were lovely, but hot and humid.  It was 70F when I launched and around 75F when I landed, and 93% humidity!  It was generally close to flat calm, expect for a brief period when I was heading downriver for the last time when a little headwind kicked up.  It seemed to fade as quickly as it came.

The Plan:

  1. 4 x ( 5 x 2′ on / 30″ paddle ) / 4′ rest – This is designed for the length of the river.  I can fit in 5 2′ intervals as long as the rests are pretty short.  Then take a longer rest to turn the boat and grab a drink at the ends of the river.
  2. The “on” intervals target 26 SPM and pace faster than 2:15.
  3. The “off” intervals are a light paddle, but keep moving.
  4. The goal is to push a bit faster than head race pace and get practice maintaining technique at head race rates as I get deeper and deeper into fatigue.

Screen Shot 2015-09-10 at 10.36.11 AM Screen Shot 2015-09-10 at 10.35.55 AM

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:41_|_2:53.8_|_105___|_18.5_|_09.3_|_122___|_w
01000_|_0460_|_01:58_|_2:08.7_|_050___|_25.3_|_09.2_|_153___|_m
01460_|_0100_|_00:32_|_2:38.5_|_010___|_18.9_|_10.0_|_154___|_r
01560_|_0480_|_02:03_|_2:07.6_|_054___|_26.4_|_08.9_|_158___|_m
02040_|_0080_|_00:27_|_2:50.0_|_010___|_22.1_|_08.0_|_158___|_r
02120_|_0480_|_02:03_|_2:08.6_|_056___|_27.2_|_08.6_|_161___|_m
02600_|_0100_|_00:33_|_2:44.0_|_012___|_22.0_|_08.3_|_161___|_r
02700_|_0460_|_01:58_|_2:08.0_|_052___|_26.5_|_08.8_|_165___|_m
03160_|_0080_|_00:29_|_2:59.4_|_010___|_20.9_|_08.0_|_165___|_r
03240_|_0460_|_01:58_|_2:08.3_|_052___|_26.4_|_08.8_|_167___|_m
03700_|_0320_|_02:02_|_3:10.6_|_038___|_18.7_|_08.4_|_140___|_r
04020_|_0460_|_01:57_|_2:06.6_|_052___|_26.8_|_08.8_|_158___|_m
04480_|_0120_|_00:39_|_2:43.8_|_015___|_22.9_|_08.0_|_166___|_r
04600_|_0440_|_01:52_|_2:07.2_|_051___|_27.3_|_08.6_|_170___|_m
05040_|_0080_|_00:30_|_3:09.4_|_010___|_19.8_|_08.0_|_170___|_r
05120_|_0460_|_01:59_|_2:09.7_|_054___|_27.2_|_08.5_|_170___|_m
05580_|_0080_|_00:31_|_3:13.7_|_011___|_21.3_|_07.3_|_171___|_r
05660_|_0460_|_01:58_|_2:08.5_|_052___|_26.4_|_08.8_|_172___|_m
06120_|_0080_|_00:31_|_3:12.5_|_011___|_21.4_|_07.3_|_173___|_r
06200_|_0240_|_01:03_|_2:10.2_|_029___|_27.8_|_08.3_|_173___|_m
06440_|_0080_|_00:30_|_3:05.0_|_009___|_18.2_|_08.9_|_171___|_r
06520_|_0220_|_00:57_|_2:09.3_|_025___|_26.4_|_08.8_|_170___|_m
06740_|_0080_|_00:30_|_3:05.0_|_007___|_14.2_|_11.4_|_132___|_r
06820_|_0460_|_02:01_|_2:11.1_|_053___|_26.4_|_08.7_|_159___|_m
07280_|_0080_|_00:30_|_3:07.5_|_011___|_22.0_|_07.3_|_168___|_r
07360_|_0460_|_02:00_|_2:10.0_|_052___|_26.1_|_08.8_|_171___|_m
07820_|_0080_|_00:32_|_3:17.5_|_011___|_20.9_|_07.3_|_173___|_r
07900_|_0440_|_01:58_|_2:13.5_|_052___|_26.6_|_08.5_|_174___|_m
08340_|_0080_|_00:34_|_3:33.1_|_012___|_21.1_|_06.7_|_173___|_r
08420_|_0440_|_02:00_|_2:15.9_|_052___|_26.1_|_08.5_|_173___|_m
08860_|_0080_|_00:33_|_3:23.7_|_011___|_20.2_|_07.3_|_173___|_r
08940_|_0420_|_01:53_|_2:14.9_|_050___|_26.5_|_08.4_|_174___|_m
09360_|_0280_|_02:02_|_3:37.7_|_035___|_17.2_|_08.0_|_149___|_r
09640_|_0460_|_02:00_|_2:10.1_|_051___|_25.6_|_09.0_|_162___|_m
10100_|_0080_|_00:29_|_2:58.8_|_010___|_21.0_|_08.0_|_171___|_r
10180_|_0480_|_02:05_|_2:10.7_|_057___|_27.3_|_08.4_|_173___|_m
10660_|_0080_|_00:30_|_3:10.0_|_011___|_21.7_|_07.3_|_173___|_r
10740_|_0440_|_01:57_|_2:13.5_|_052___|_26.6_|_08.5_|_174___|_m
11180_|_0080_|_00:33_|_3:26.9_|_011___|_19.9_|_07.3_|_173___|_r
11260_|_0440_|_01:57_|_2:12.5_|_052___|_26.8_|_08.5_|_174___|_m
11700_|_0080_|_00:33_|_3:23.1_|_012___|_22.2_|_06.7_|_175___|_r
11780_|_0460_|_02:01_|_2:12.0_|_054___|_26.7_|_08.5_|_177___|_m
12240_|_1320_|_07:29_|_2:49.9_|_154___|_20.6_|_08.6_|_143___|_c

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:41_|_2:53.8_|_105___|_18.5_|_09.3_|_122___|_warmup
09120_|_39:37_|_2:10.3_|_1052___|_26.6_|_08.7_|_168___|_Main set
02120_|_13:28_|_3:10.5_|_267___|_19.8_|_07.9_|_160___|_rest meters
01320_|_07:29_|_2:49.9_|_154___|_20.6_|_08.6_|_143___|_cool down
13540_|_06:14_|_2:26.7_|_1578___|_23.8_|_08.6_|_160___|_Total

So, that was really hard.  I was glad to see that my stomach bug seems to be behind me.  I wasn’t entirely happy with my technique.  I caught myself doing a couple things wrong multiple times during the row.  I was opening my back early (which I could see as a hump in the RIM boat acceleration curve).  And I was also getting sloppy about getting to full compression and reaching reaching for the catch.  When I noticed this, and corrected it, it was essentially a two second improvement on the pace almost instantly.  There were, of course, numerous other flaws.  Sloppy finishes, wobbly balance, etc, but these are lower priority to fix than the other two.

I was happy to see Brandeis back on the water today.  They were out with 4 boats and 2 launches.  They were working on drills today, and I managed to pick the wrong side to try to pass a four.  They turned toward the bank and cut off my path in one of my intervals.  I should have steered under pressure to go around the other side, since this is basically a perfect head racing practice moment, but I pulled the plug, maneuvered around and then picked it up again after I was clear. I was very talkative since I couldn’t spare any oxygen, but I was really glad to have some company.

Tomorrow:  Another steady state session on the HOCR course.