Technique: Focus on clean, early finishes. Minimize layback. Try to avoid opening my back early in the drive.
I started with King of the Mountain, and then a couple of sets of Top Quarter. Then arms only, arms and back. Then a bit of legs only and a 20 stroke burst at 24. Then a light paddle to get 1000m on the Speedcoach. Basically a very short warmup, only about 6 minutes. I figured it was OK because I was starting at r22 and would be completely warmed up by the time I got to the higher rate intervals.
The wind was light, but noticeable when I was rowing downriver. The boat just felt a bit heavier and a couple seconds slower on pace. I felt much more comfortable at all the rates than last time. Even the r32 was better, but still nothing to write home about.
I did a very similar workout on April 29th. That time I did 10×500, starting at r24 up to r32, and back down again. The conditions were a little bit better (less wind). Here is a graphical comparison of the paces that I was able to hold at the same rates for the two workouts.
Basically, 1 to 5 seconds faster for every rep. Boo-ya!
Tonight I am taking the red eye to London and then connecting to Munich. I spend Wednesday and Thursday in Germany and fly home on Thursday night. I will probably end up taking Wednesday off, maybe sneaking in an erg session on Thursday, and then rowing again on Friday. No more high intensity until the weekend.
Sunday: I think the training benefits of heavy yard work are under rated. I was out from 12 to 3 and then from 3:30 to 6:30. The task was to weed and edge the flow beds, and then spread mulch to make them look pretty. I ended up spreading about 4 cubic yards of mulch, and by the end of the day, I was extremely tired. Like it was a struggle to just sit up, kind of tired. Even a Dairy Queen Blizzard dd not fully revive me. Needless to say, I did not do the planned half marathon.
Monday: No surprise, I woke up stiff and sore this morning. I feel like I am making some progress with the cleaning up part of my rowing and I’m enjoying the challenge. So, I decided to do another morning of technique.
Plan:
500m legs only. Focus on staying forward with a straight back. Finish clean with arms straight.
500m slow roll ups. Focus on straight back at the catch, with shoulders relaxed. Clean finish, and then immediately start to slowly square the oars. Try to avoid touching water and get all the way to full compression.
500m on the square. Focus on trying to finish without checking the boat (visible as a bump in the acceleration curve on the RIM app). Try to avoid touching water and get all the way to full compression with a straight back.
500m of steady state at r18. Straight back, clean finishes, don’t touch water, full compression, smooth square, not too deep on the catch, smooth acceleration.
Do that for 3 lengths of the river.
Last 4K row as steady state, trying to integrate all the drill work.
Keep in aerobic, HR cap of 157
Conditions: Hot, 65F when I launched and around 75F when I landed. Sunny, glad I brought sunglasses today. Wind NW at 5mph, which was a head wind heading up river.
It was a good session. I was able to maintain concentration pretty well throughout because I was always changing what I was doing. The hardest thing to keep in mind is posture. I have millions of meters on the erg and in the boat done wrong. Now I have to retrain doing it right.
Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00560_|_02:58_|_2:38.8_|_057___|_19.2_|_09.8_|_119___|_warmup
12220_|_01:24_|_2:30.8_|_1167__|_19.0_|_10.5_|_147___|_Main set
01000_|_05:23_|_2:41.4_|_104___|_19.3_|_09.6_|_150___|_cool down
13780_|_09:45_|_2:31.8_|_1328__|_19.0_|_10.4_|_146___|_Total
Tomorrow: 10×500 / 500m rest. rates from r24 to r32, and back down again.
Conditions: cloudy, upper 50s, light variable wind generally a tail wind down river and head wind upriver. Got sunny towards the end.
The original plan was for a hard 4×2500. But honestly, I just wasn’t in the mood. I’ve gotten so much good feedback on technique that I wanted to do another session at lower intensity trying to work on the things I’m doing wrong. I also had time for a nie long row, so I changed my plan.
New Improved Plan:
Steady State, R18
Work on improving my form
row with good posture. Stop slumping
clean finishes. Get a good tap down, then feather
clean recoveries. work on balance and not touching water
slower and more deliberate squaring of the oars
accelerate more smoothly from the catch, delay opening my back, maintain posture
Heart rate cap at 157 (the upper end of my aerobic band)
It’s a lot to keep in mind. What I did today was sort of like a technique fartlek. I would row along and notice that my finishes were messy, so I would do 500m of rowing on the square. Or I would notice that my posture was bad, so I would do 500m concentrating on rowing with my back ramrod straight. Or I would notice that I snapped my oars square at the last second, so I would do 500m focusing just on slow roll ups. I also did a couple of sections of legs only rowing.
All together, I rowed the length of the river 6 times, about 22km. My ass was quite sore by the time I finished, but I felt very satisfied with the session. Good aerobic workout and a “mindful” practice session.
Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0680_|_03:37_|_2:39.6_|_070___|_19.3_|_09.7_|_128___|_pick drill
00700_|_3040_|_14:51_|_2:26.5_|_265___|_17.8_|_11.5_|_150___|_down river
03740_|_3080_|_15:20_|_2:29.4_|_272___|_17.7_|_11.3_|_154___|_up river
06860_|_2900_|_14:38_|_2:31.4_|_257___|_17.6_|_11.3_|_153___|_down river
09760_|_3000_|_15:23_|_2:33.9_|_277___|_18.0_|_10.8_|_150___|_up river
12760_|_2920_|_14:32_|_2:29.3_|_269___|_18.5_|_10.9_|_149___|_down river
15680_|_2980_|_15:15_|_2:33.5_|_290___|_19.0_|_10.3_|_151___|_up river
18660_|_1180_|_06:43_|_2:50.7_|_125___|_18.6_|_09.4_|_139___|_feet out
Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00680_|_03:37_|_2:39.6_|_070___|_19.3_|_09.7_|_128___|_warmup
17920_|_29:59_|_2:30.6_|_1630___|_18.1_|_11.0_|_151___|_Main set
01180_|_06:43_|_2:50.7_|_125___|_18.6_|_09.4_|_139___|_cool down
19780_|_40:19_|_2:32.1_|_1825___|_18.2_|_10.8_|_149___|_Total
Then n the afternoon, I did about 3 hours of weeding, edging and spreading mulch in the garden. I’m beat an I want a beer.
Conditions: Perfect. 60F, sunny, wind 1-3 mph from the North. Water flat and lovely.
Plan:
Rate ladders (3′ @18, 2’@20, 1@22) repeat again and again. Stop whe I runout of river to turn and grab a drink and then right back into it.
Pace: no real target
HR: generally aerobic, but no cap
technique: work on cleaning up finishes and improving posture. Main feedback from prior videos is that my finishes suck. You can see the water pouring off the top of my blades as I pull them out of the water. I need to learn to release-then feather, not do them both at the same time. I have also gotten feedback that I am slumping. My hips stay in in the bow as I recover. I need to sit up straight and swivel through the hips.
To try to make finishes a bit easier, I decided to move my feet 1cm toward the bow to give myself a bit more room. I think it helped a bit.
I was pretty happy with the paces that I was hitting at these rates. There were some stretches where I was really relaxed at 18, and the boat was really moving well. It was a struggle to keep all of the things I was working on in mind at the same time.
Yesterday was a rest day. When I woke up this morning, I was still stiff and sore from my run on Tuesday.
After all the good feedback that I got after I posted the side view videos, it seemed like a good idea to do a session focused on technique. I also wanted to keep the intensity low. The data indicates that many of my steady state sessions are pushing toward “black hole” type sessions. I need to dial it back so I can train the right stuff on the right days.
Conditions: Sunny, Temps started in the mid fifties and were up into the sixties by the time I finished. There was a light breeze that was generally a tail wind going down river and a head wind heading up river.
Plan:
Workout divided into 4 sections. Each one takes me the length of the river.
To start,
Start at the finish with blades buried. With no pressure go through the whole recovery with blades buried to the catch position. Feel the pressure on the blades and allow it to pull you further into the catch. Feel the pressure go down as the boat coast to a full stop. Then with no pressure, go through all the phases of the drive in slow motion, properly sequencing legs, then body, then arms. Keep blades buried at the finish. Repeat.
10 to 20 reps of “King of the Mountain”, trying to focus on keeping my shoulders relaxed and isolating the arm movement. Maintain balance at the catch without getting all tense.
Go straight into “Top Quarter”. Try to get 10 strokes using only 6″ of slide without getting all caught up at the finish. Try to extend to 12″ of slide (this is really hard)
500m of rowing with square blades. Watch the boat acceleration on RIM. Try to work on clean finishes by looking at the “bump” in the boat acceleration that happens at the finish if I gets caught up.
500m of rowing with a slow roll up. Finish into a feather and immediately start to slowly roll the blades to fully square by the time arms and body are in the catch position. Work on balance and firm control of the blade position.
500m of normal rowing 18-22 spm. Try to translate what was going on with the SBR and the roll ups into normal rowing. Work on getting blades clear of the water on recovery. Work on smoothly squaring the blades in the last quarter of the recovery. Work on smoothly accelerating from the catch. Work on finishing early and crisply.
repeat to the end of each length
For the last leg home, do the whole thing at 18-22spm steady state rowing.
It was a nice morning. I forgot my HR strap, so the plot looks a bit different. The drills went quite well.
King of the mountain: I was getting so I could really get the blades high above the water and hold for a beat before dropping again. I pushed it too far one time and nearly flipped, but good progress on balance
Top quarter: I had a couple of good strings where I was cleanly popping the blades out and getting back to the catch, but I was definitely hanging up on the finish as soon as I was using more that 6″ of slide. I think I had trouble with the additional boat speed.
SBR: Sometime messy, sometimes clean. I was definitely getting hung up at the finish. I may need to give my self some more room by moving my feet another notch into the bow.
Slow roll up: This was the first time I really tried to do this in a single. It was hair raising for the first 10 strokes or so, but then I got the hang of it. I really liked it when I got a perfectly clean recovery, without touching any water and slowly rolling to square. I felt like a “real rower”. Of course I only felt that way on about 5 strokes out of the 200 that I took that way.
Steady state: The big thing here was trying to work on the connection through the whole drive. Looking at the RIM display I could see the instantaneous acceleration display had a real hook in it during the first phase of the drive. I was trying different ways to try to smooth it out. If I did a softer catch and accelerated through the leg drive a bit more slowly, I could smooth it out. Interestingly, I also went faster. Depressingly, it felt very foreign. I was also trying to keep in mind to keep my shoulders and hands nice and low during the catch to try to avoid the “over the barrel” effect. During the last leg of the river, I was seeing some really nice boat speed for the rate I was rowing. I suspect I was working a bit hard, but things felt silky smooth.
Perhaps there is a light at the end of this very long tunnel.
Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0340_|_01:56_|_2:50.9_|_030___|_15.5_|_11.3_|_000___|_arms & body
00360_|_2960_|_14:48_|_2:30.0_|_268___|_18.1_|_11.0_|_000___|_2x(500 of SBR, roll ups, SS)
03320_|_3220_|_19:50_|_3:04.7_|_300___|_15.1_|_10.7_|_000___|_2x(500 of SBR, roll ups, SS)
06540_|_0480_|_02:12_|_2:17.1_|_041___|_18.7_|_11.7_|_000___|_500m ss @ 18
07020_|_1000_|_05:14_|_2:37.1_|_094___|_18.0_|_10.6_|_000___|_1x(SBR, Roll ups)
08020_|_0500_|_02:15_|_2:14.7_|_048___|_21.4_|_10.4_|_000___|_500m ss @ 22
08520_|_0800_|_04:05_|_2:33.1_|_077___|_18.9_|_10.4_|_000___|_1x(500 of SBR, roll ups)
09320_|_0900_|_05:29_|_3:02.7_|_094___|_17.1_|_09.6_|_000___|_Legs only
10220_|_2260_|_10:29_|_2:19.1_|_217___|_20.7_|_10.4_|_000___|_SS @ 20
12480_|_0160_|_00:57_|_2:58.4_|_019___|_20.0_|_08.4_|_000___|_”the Cut”
12640_|_0240_|_01:03_|_2:11.5_|_024___|_22.8_|_10.0_|_000___|_Little burst at 22
12880_|_0440_|_02:02_|_2:18.6_|_045___|_22.1_|_09.8_|_000___|_big curve
13320_|_0160_|_00:40_|_2:04.4_|_018___|_27.1_|_08.9_|_000___|_finish at 24
Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00340_|_01:56_|_2:50.9_|_030___|_15.5_|_11.3_|_000___|_warmup
13120_|_09:03_|_2:37.9_|_1245___|_18.0_|_10.5_|_000___|_Main set
13460_|_10:59_|_2:38.2_|_1275___|_18.0_|_10.6_|_000___|_Total
Tomorrow: I’m thinking a steady state rate ladder session 3′ @ 18, 2′ @ 20, 1′ @ 22. Repeat ad nauseum.
Note: Good videos of some of these drills are on Rowing Related
I’m in Orlando at a Conference. We are at the Loew’s Royal Pacific Resort which is part of the universal studios theme park complex. Around 4 in the afternoon, I snuck out for a run. The objective was to do some sightseeing, and get some exercise. The loop around the outside perimeter of the park was 5km, so I did that first. When I finished that I walked some of the paths and then did some more chunks of jogging around the grounds.
All together it was about 11km. I ran about 8km of it at about a 6min per km pace. I walked the other 3 km.
Tomorrow: I fly home at 9:45AM. I will most likely take it as a rest day.
Conditions: Sunny, warm (55 to 60F), wind ssw at 5-8mph. This was a tail wind going down river and a head wind coming back.
Plan:
4×2500
500m rest
Pace: better than 2:15
rate: 26 or higher
Well, it didn’t quite work out as planned. There was a light but consistent headwind heading up river which made the boat feel quite heavy. That combined with a pair of sore legs from 21K in the boat on Saturday and 21K on the erg on Sunday provided a bit of a challenge to hitting my plan. I was having a bit of trouble keeping my rate up, especially into the headwind.
However, I was pretty happy with the rowing. I was working on rowing with less layback and that seemed to be working. I also focused on relaxing my shoulders during the last 500m of each piece. This was based on some feedback from Tom (“Stelph”) about me looking a bit hunched. I was feeling pretty fatigued by the time I was 2000m into each of the intervals, and concentrating on something different for the last section really helped me power through to the end. I found when I relaxed my shoulders during the drive that I was burying my oars less at the catch.
At the downwind end of the two straight parts, I was having a bit trouble staying clear of the minuscule bit of chop that was forming. When I rowed my cooldown with feet out, I really tried to get better press down and stay completely clear of the water. I don’t think it’s an issue of balance. I think carrying my oars close to the water is just a bad habit at this point.
Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:18_|_2:42.1_|_095___|_17.9_|_10.3_|_127___|_warmup
10000_|_44:41_|_2:14.1_|_1137__|_25.4_|_08.8_|_168___|_Main set
01500_|_10:05_|_3:21.6_|_170___|_16.9_|_08.8_|_137___|_rest meters
01640_|_09:10_|_2:47.7_|_182___|_19.8_|_09.0_|_141___|_cool down
14120_|_09:14_|_2:27.1_|_1584__|_22.9_|_08.9_|_157___|_Total
I used RIM again today. Here are example strokes from the last 30 seconds or so of each of the intervals.
First Interval, tail wind. Feeling fresh.
Second Interval, Headwind. Feeling significantly less fresh. Pushing really hard
Third Interval, Downwind again. Shows some reasonable consistency with Interval #1, even though my legs were pretty much jelly by this point.
Last Interval. Headwind. Lower and flatter peak in the acceleration curve.
This afternoon, I am taking off for Orlando. So, it will be some crosstraining in the hotel fitness center for me tomorrow, or maybe a run.
To make Boris happy, I’m going to try to work up to some longer slower sessions on weekends.
Today was a Half Marathon for the Concept2 challenge this month. I’m somewhere between planning, hoping and dreading doing a full marathon in the next couple weeks.
Nothing to exciting to report. Wanted to keep it a low impact, aerobic row, so i set a hard HR limit at 157. I started at about a 2:03 pace and held that nearly an hour. I slowed down to stay under the cap until I got bored with a thousand meters to go.
I’ve done a lot of 4×20′ sessions, which is basically the same thing, but it seems a lot easier with the breaks.
I decide to make this a separate post so I can find it a bit easier later.
I did a sequence of 8 – 1 minute pieces with a minute or longer rests between. I was rowing at full pressure in each of them.
Video was recorded by gopro camera mounted on a rigger bow stay that was bolted to the tube at the port end of my rigger. It was about 6 feet from the side of the boat.
The HR, rate, time, pace and distance data, along with the little indicator map are driven by TCX data exported from the RIM website. It is merged into the video using software called Dashware (which is now free and the most amazing way to waste huge amounts of time). As far as I can tell the rate data is accurate to what I see on my speedcoach. The pace looks like it is a bit faster than it was on the speedcoach. I only wish I was that fast.
If you look at the video, just look at that water! It was the most beautiful rowing conditions!
18 spm
Well, I aimed for 18 spm, but I got 19. I was really pretty happy with how this looked. Nice flat plateau during the boat run and recovery. Need to get rid of the hook in thee drive.
20 SPM
22 SPM
Now I’m starting to see a bit of a hump at the end of the recovery. That means that I am rushing into the catch a bit now. The bump in the drive is less, but that is more due to stroke to stroke variation averaging out than an improvement.
24 Spm
You can’t tell from the graphs, but this was the rate that felt the most natural and fluid. The bump late in recovery is getting a bit bigger, though.
The water is so glassy smooth you can see the shoreline perfectly reflected.
26 spm
This is right after my turn and doing the top quarter drill. I’m rested and full of beans!
Notice now that the acceleration down the slide is actually causing the boat speed to increase during the recovery. I have to work on not doing that.
28 SPM
Now the rate is getting high enough that my form, such as it is, is starting to fall apart.
30 SPM
I’m embarrassed to even post this one and the next one. So much rushing to the catch. Such awful drive mechanics. So much work to do.
32 spm
The best thing I can say about this piece is that it started under a bridge, which is fun to look at. It is clear that I need to do a lot of work on the basic mechanics of my stroke, because anything good that was happening at the lower rates has largely disappeared.
And just because I like abuse. Here is my rendition of king of the mountain, and the top quarter drill. It ain’t pretty, but I stayed dry!
So, what do I get from all of this? I compared this to some of the rows that I captured in RIM last season and there are some reasons to be happy. Last season, I was showing that ugly hump in the acceleration curve going into the catch, even at low rates. The metrics also showed a long catch duration and lower peak accleration. Comparing video, I think I look a bit better, but that is more than likely just self delusion.
What’s the prescription to get better. I welcome all ideas, here are mine:
Keep doing the top quarter drill. I feel much more confident at the catch this season and that’s part of the reason why
Keep doing SBR and feet out to work on getting my finishes better
I thought I was not laying back very much, but in fact I am and I don’t think it is helping things. I need to finish with a more erect posture
I need a lot more practice at high rates. I think I will put a few 1′ reps or maybe even 30 second reps at the end of steady state sessions to try to get to the point where I can hold 36 spm reasonably cleanly.
Friday was NOT a training day. Up at 3:45 to catch a 5:15 flight out of Austin, then straight to work for afternoon meetings. I finally finished up in the office around 7pm and headed home
Saturday was looking good though. You can see the conditions. Sunny, Cool (in the 40s) and basically no wind. Absolutely beautiful.
Plan:
Steady state, want to be on the water for at least 90 minutes.
Some 1 minute intervals at different rates to capture side video
Use Rowing in Motion so I can see boat acceleration with the video
Keep working on the top quarter drill during all turn arounds
So, here’s an overall picture of the workout. At first the HR sensor was acting up. It settled down after 20 minutes or so. The first 3500m was downriver to the dam, just warming up and enjoying myself. Then I turned around, did my second top quarter drill and rowed back to the bridge.
Then I started my 1 minute pieces. Starting at r18, I would row with full pressure for a minute then take a minute or more if I needed to get around a curve or turn. I built all the way up to r32. I turned around between the r24 and r26 pieces and did another top quarter drill.
The last r32 piece took me almost back to the dam, so I paddled to the end and saw a couple of guys in a reallt nice empacher double. They are regulars on this stretch of river. One of them own a house right on the cove. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to keep your boat in your own back yard and row whenever you feel the whim!
Any way, I chatted we them for a few minutes and then did my top quarter drill. It was nervous making doing in front of other people! I’m glad I didn’t flip or anything. They invited me to depart before them and I did. They started to chase me. Well, we all know what happens when some one comes after you, right. Yep. I tried to hold my rate between 20 and 22 so that it would look nonchalant from a distance, but I put everything I had into each stroke and I slowly put more and more distance between me and them. I basically rowed all the way to the guys house. By the time I got there, about 10 minutes later, I had put a couple of minutes of distance on them. But the heart shows how much work it was!
By then I was pretty cooked, so I relaxed a bit and rowed back to the dam, trying to slow down when my HR got above 160. Then a long row home. I started at r16 trying to do some slow motion practice, and let the rate creep up to r18. The last 1K I rowed with square blades.
Quantified Rowing 