Monday: 4 x 1000 / 5′ rest

February 1, 2016Leave a comment

Plan:

Fletcher warmup
4 x 1000
- 5′ rest
- pace target: 1:40
- rate: 30 spm
2K cool down

I felt like crap today. The fletcher warmup was really hard, especially at first. Within about 20 pulls, I knew I wasn’t going to be able to hit my targets. It really just turned into a game of survival. I had terrible post rep shivers after the first interval and slowed in the second. I had a mini-HD in the third rep while I was experimenting with using high rates. The fourth rep, I hatched a plan to do the first 250m at 1:44, the second at 1:43, the third at 1:42, the fourth at 1:41. I stuck to the plan through the first 500m, and accelerated from there. The last 250m was very difficult.

My heart rates were lower than in past sessions, but the RPE was higher. I was knocked out after each rep. The session average was 1:42.3, which is way off the 1:40.4 from last week, but a touch better than the 1:42.7 from two weeks ago.

The warmup.

The main set

The cool down

Tonight I fly to Munich. Training this week will be problematic. I spend Tuesday night in Munich, then drive to Stuttgart. Fly to Milan on Wednesday evening and sleep there Wednesday night. Then I fly from Milan to Amsterdam and sleep there on Thursday night. Finally, I return to the US on Friday night. So, 4 nights, 3 different hotels and a coach seat. I’m thinking that I will focus on maintenance of my aerobic base with 60 minute low intensity sessions where I can squeeze them in.

Tuesday: 4 x 1K / 5′ rest – Progress

January 26, 2016January 26, 20167 Comments

Plan:

Fletcher Warmup
4x1K / 5′ rest
- Pace: <1:42
- Rate: 30
2K cool down

This morning I paid a visit to the good folks at Crossfit Del Mar. $20 for a day pass and I had my choice of any of the well used and nicely maintained Model Ds to choose from. The people were nice and the crashing of weights certainly provided a good distraction. I could tell this place was well run by just how good the form was on all the folks in the class doing a cool power clean/jerk combo. They must be serious about coaching proper form on these lifts.

The workout was tough. I was out last night for dinner with a customer. It ended early, but still a gigantic steak and couple of glasses of wine probably didn’t help.

The warm up felt sluggish and hard.

The main event was interesting. I felt awful in the first rep. I went out hard an I was looking at sub 1:40 pace about halfway through, but I felt like I needed to ease up. I bled off a bit of pace and cruised to the finish. I was still more than a second ahead of target for the rep, but I felt significantly more damaged than I did last week after rep number 1.

For rep 2, I chatted with myself and reminded me that the target was 1:42, and that’s OK. I big improvement over a week. So, this time I settled more quickly and played around a bit with rate keeping the pace dancing between 1:40 and 1:41. I was looking at 1:41 with about 20 strokes to go, and I pushed the finish a bit. Aww crap, I finished it faster than rep #1. I felt honor bound to try for a negative split session. Actually, I felt a little better after rep #2 than rep #1. And 5 minute rests are luxuriously long.

So, into rep 3. I knew I wanted something faster than 1:40.7, but I was reluctant to push it too hard. I basically cruised along around 1:41 and goosed the last 20 strokes. 1:40.4

Now the finale. I busted out of the gate pushing 1:38s. That lasted about 10 strokes. I drifted to 1:39s. By the time I was 30 strokes in, I was in survival mode. I was not going to let the rep go, but I was in deep trouble, I dropped back to 1:41s for nearly 500m and the avg pace climbed up to 1:40.5 or so. With about 30 strokes left, I started pushing really hard and I saw the avg start dropping. With 10 left, I saw the avg dip below 1:40, and kept pushing. I finished with 2 strokes at 1:35.

So, a 1:40.4 avg pace for the workout. That’s 0.6 faster than when I did this workout before the 2014 crash-bs and with a lot less drama, and that year I went 6:37.6.

I did a 2K cool down and headed back to my hotel walking a bit taller.

Here is the HR profile for the workout. Lower HR than I expected to see.

Tomorrow: 3×20 plus peak power at anaerobic crossfit in Newport Beach.

Tuesday: 4 x 1K / 5′ rest

January 20, 2016January 20, 20161 Comment

First short interval session of the mesocycle, and I was pretty excited. I guess the proper term in a fitness related blog post is something along the lines of “ready to get after it!!!”

Plan:

Fletcher warmup – 20′ (slightly modified)
4 x 1K
- 5 minute active rest
- pace target: 1:44 (conservative with faster last, if possible)
- rate: ~30
2K “Happy Ending” cool down

Gotta say, it was nice rating up and taking some strokes around 2K race pace. 1:44 turned out to be a conservative choice. The intervals started to bite, after the halfway point. And as I got further into the intervals, I was digging a bit deeper, but it wasn’t a big struggle. I decided to throw caution to the wind, and try to really nail the last rep. I managed to do this one faster than a 1:40 pace, which was good to see. With 3 reps in my legs, I could hold a split that would deliver a 6:40 2K. I have a lot of work to do on sharpening, but I feel pretty good about this workout.

Then, I put started to injected high energy music into my ears, setup the interval session, and off I went. It looks like the tcx file cut off a bit before the end of the last interval.

The last interval was hard enough that I finally felt that lactic rush. I’d almost forgotten how intensely bad it feels. Put it all together and the session average is 1:42.7. A good target for the next time this rolls around. I will also use it for the 6×750 coming on Thursday.

I just went and looked back at February of 2014, when I was getting ready for the CRASH-Bs. I did the 4×1000 twice. Once on January 28th, and again on February 3rd. Here are the times.

So, these were obviously faster, but less disciplined than today. I was also digging deeper. Look at the HRs in each rep. This was also in the midst of a long term plan that included short sprints weekly, so my performance had begun to plateau. I think it is heartening to be less than 2 seconds off these times, with better CV data in my first sprint session.

After that, I did a 2K cool down, starting at 2:00 splits and slowing down every 500m.

Tomorrow: 3 x 20 / 1′ rest

Tuesday: 2-speed test

November 10, 2015November 10, 20154 Comments

Test Protocol documented in yesterday’s post here

Done on my erg at home (static) with RowPro.

The 2-speed test is a 2 x 1000m with 15 minutes of rest between intervals. The first interval is to be done roughly at LT pace, basically a 6K kind of pace. For me right now, around 1:50 or so. The second at V02Max pacing, basically 2K pace. That would be around 1:42, but faster is better. It’s supposed to be close to all out over the 1K distance.

I started with a 20 minute warmup. I’ve been starting off more slowly lately and I like the change. I used to do a Fletcher warmup, at the prescribed paces, but that starts at something like a 2:05 for me and then gets quite fast and frankly takes a lot of effort. Now I start at 2:15, and then gradually pick up the pace and then do a few bursts at target pace or faster. Then finish slowly.

–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_04853_|_20:00.0_|_02:03.6_|_185.2_|_19.9_|_138.9_|_ 67.3% _|_12.2_|_09.3
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_00895_|_04:00.0_|_02:14.1_|_145.3_|_17.0_|_111.9_|_ 48.1% _|_13.2_|_08.5
02_|_00930_|_04:00.0_|_02:09.0_|_163.0_|_18.5_|_124.6_|_ 57.2% _|_12.6_|_08.8
03_|_00988_|_04:00.0_|_02:01.4_|_195.6_|_19.8_|_137.1_|_ 66.0% _|_12.5_|_09.9
04_|_01584_|_06:00.0_|_01:53.7_|_238.4_|_23.7_|_159.0_|_ 81.6% _|_11.2_|_10.1
05_|_00232_|_01:00.0_|_02:09.2_|_162.1_|_17.0_|_150.4_|_ 75.4% _|_13.7_|_09.5
06_|_00224_|_01:00.0_|_02:14.2_|_144.8_|_18.0_|_138.4_|_ 66.9% _|_12.4_|_08.0

Then into the main event. I set up Rowpro for variable intervals so that I wouldn’t have an extra 15 minute rest after my last interval. I it up as follows

Variable Intervals (Distance, no rest)
1000m Hard
900s stop (you put the time in the distance box, don’t ask me why, but it works)
1000m V. Hard

Workout Summary – Nov 10, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_02000_|_06:58.4_|_01:44.6_|_305.8_|_27.4_|_157.2_|_ 80.3% _|_10.5_|_11.2
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01000_|_03:38.7_|_01:49.3_|_267.8_|_25.0_|_152.2_|_ 76.8% _|_11.0_|_10.7
02_|_01000_|_03:19.7_|_01:39.9_|_351.4_|_30.0_|_161.9_|_ 83.6% _|_10.0_|_11.7

Lactate readings were taken at 1′ and 3′ after each interval. The readings were:

Post LT Interval: 1′ – 5.6mmol/l, 3′ – 4.5mmol/l
Post VO2Max Interval: 1′ – 10.7mmol/l, 3′ – 10.7mmol/l

This results in the following chart:

Future tests will show changes in aerobic fitness through displacement in the x-axis. Changes in anaerobic fitness will show in changes in the slope of the line.

After that, I did a 2K happy ending, starting at 1:50 and slowing down by 5 seconds each 250m.

So, that’s that. I was happy that I could hold sub-1:40 for the second 1K. I think that bodes well for being able to do something around 1:43 or better for the 2K test.

The rest of the test week is as follows

Wednesday: easy day: 40′ steady state
Thursday: 1 minute power test, then probably the November CTC
Friday: easy day: 40′ steady state
Saturday: 2K Test
Sunday: Easy day: 40′ steady state
Monday: 6K Test

Thursday: 8×4′ / 1′ rest on the erg

August 6, 20153 Comments

I didn’t get to bed until late, and then decided to sleep in instead of getting up at 5:15. I think it was a good call.

My schedule freed up around 3 so I snuck down to the gym to try to do a version of my planned workout.

The original OTW plan was:

8 x 1000 / 2′ rest
rate: 24,24,26,26,28,28,30,30
pace: start around 2:20 and get faster.

The new plan for the erg (on slides) was

8 x 4′ / 1′ rest (It takes me 4:00 to 4:30 to row 1K on the water, so this was a bit more like what I would have done. The 1′ rest is preferred for the training effect, but I can’t turn my boat that fast on the water and get set for the next ones. On the erg, that’s not an issue.)
rate: Same as above
Pace: start around 1:54 for r24, and get about 2 sec faster for each rate change.

That was HARD!

I was pressed for time, so I did a very quick 1K warm up. I found that I could hold 1:52 for the r24s. This turned out to be a mistake because I was unable to push the last 2 intervals as hard as I wanted. I ended up doing 24,24,26,26,28,28 (a little slower), then I did 26 and then 24 for more of a soft landing than a big finish. You can see from the HR data that I couldn’t have really pushed the last two much harder. I was very happy to be finished.

So, good training effect, good job slowing down, but not breaking form. Marks off for going too hard in the first couple intervals.

Most important news of the day. I just heard that I won the lottery! My bid for a entry in the 2015 Head of the Charles was selected! I will be joining 59 other “Grand Masters” racing down the Charles in October.

Now I have a real reason to execute my training plan perfectly!

Tomorrow: Low Intensity steady state and technique work.

Sunday: Cromwell Cup

July 13, 2015July 13, 201512 Comments

Weather: Sunny and Hot! 85F Cross wind, about 7mph.

I got to Riverside Boat Club at about 6AM and unloaded my stuff. Luckily I found a parking spot close to the action. (I was worried that I wouldn’t)

I checked in and went to the Coxes and Coaches meeting at 6:20. Then I found a few folks from Lake Quinsigamond and hung out until it was time to launch. I was in race # 13. Scheduled for 8:08. I launched around 7:20 and started to head up river.

I was nervous. Very jittery. The boathouse is at the finish, and you have to make your way upriver through the same bridge spans that lane 1 uses coming down river. So they post referees on each bridge to give you the all clear to go through. I rowed nearly the whole way up to the start doing drills. Arms only. Arms and Body. Legs Only. Legs and Body. Once I was past the Weeks Footbridge, there is enough room to do a proper warmup. So I started to my ten stroke on / ten stroke off rate ladder. I found there was too much turning required, so I just did sets of twenty up and down this short section. After I went through that, I did a few practice starts. The first was horrible. After that I calmed down a bit. Around 8:00, I paddled back down through Weeks and drifted toward the start.

After a bit of backing and forthing they had us set up for the start. In Lane 1 was a guy from Maine (Hornney). He pulled a 6:30 erg at last years Crash-Bs, and did well in the Cromwell last year. I figured he’d beat me by 5 to 10 seconds. Maybe a boat length or two. Lane 2 was another guy from Maine (Beretich). I couldn’t find as much info about him, but I figured I would be competitive with him. In Lane 3 was another rower from Lake Quinsigamond. I beat him by a little in last year’s textile regatta, but I’d never matched up with him in a sprint race before. I thought we’d be side by side as well.

We eventually got aligned and they called the start. Which was helpfully captured by row2Ks cameras. I’m in blue.

I was slow off the line, but accelerated well and seemed to be even with everyone after about 10 strokes. I didn’t settle my pace down after 10 strokes because I didn’t want to let these guys get away. But around the 20th stroke, I did pull my rating down to 30 and focused on trying to get way out over my feet for the catch. At stroke 20 was the point to check my steering and I saw that I needed to make a little adjustment away from the center of the river to get lined up with the Boston side arch of the first bridge. I did that while counting out my next twenty and I was through the bridge. At this point I looked across the other lanes and I saw that I was about half a length up on lane 3, lane 2 was a couple lengths behind me, and it looked like lane 1 was maybe half a length ahead of me. I settled into this next set of 20 trying to focus on taking long strokes. I was a bit distratced between the two bridges because there was a wakeless launch trailing with a photographer, who I swear had the longest telephoto lens ever. I think this is the result of that.

At the end of this twenty (60 strokes into the race), I checked for my line and discovered that I was drifting over toward the boston bank of the river. So, I corrected as I went into my next 20 strokes. This set I tried to focus on legs. Really staying forward during the leg drive and getting my arms out an body over before I broke my knees on recovery. I checked my line after 5 strokes and saw I was still off line and corrected more strongly. This was about the slowest I got in race and I saw the pace drop below 2:00/500.

I remembered what Sander had wrote about focusing on technique and I lightened up a bit and tried to take good smooth strokes the rest of the way through the second bridge. This happened on schedule around 80 strokes. Coming out of the bridge, I noticed that I was still only about a length down on lane 1, and a couple lengths up on lane 3. Lane 2 had not yet emerged from the bridge. This was highly motivating. I counted out another 20 strokes, allowing the rate to start creeping up and apparently lane 1 did the same thing because he actually started to pull a bit further ahead. You can see this at 3:00 of the video, his bow just becomes visible as he puts in a push. He continues to get further ahead until about 3:25 when I look over again.

It was time to decide. Either I could just row the rest of the race out and settle for second, or I could try to take this guy. I decided to give it a go. I had about 30 strokes left, so I threw everything I had at it. I started to overtake him and I pushed the rate up even higher, it looked like we were right on line together. I was rating up at 35 and rowing very sloppily. I could hear a great “pock” noise at the catch because I was starting to drive to soon, but I just wanted to get more rate and get more strokes in before the end. I totally ignored the markings of the course and just rowed until I heard the beep. There were two beeps right together, and neither me or lane 1 really knew who won the race. I went for a nice cool down row and then came back to the dock. I wandered over to the finish line officials and asked. They told me I had come in second by 0.78 seconds. My final time was 3:53.1. Although I would have loved to win a medal, I was delighted with the race. I stuck to my plan. The course was a blast to row. The conditions were beautiful. The race officials were friendly and helpful. I rowed the fastest 1K I have ever rowed by probably about 6 seconds. I am already looking forward to coming back next year. Here are the full Cromwell Cup results.

Looking at the results. I was 0.3% off winning time. The guy who won the second heat (Loucks) beat me by 7 seconds at the Festival Sprints. Today, my time was 5.5 seconds faster than his although he was not pushed at all in his race. So, it’s all good.

Here’s the HR plot for the whole row. Warm up, Race and cool down.

Here is stroke rate and pace from the speedcoach for the race:

Here is the GPS data showing how I got off line before the first and second bridges.

Finally, here is the video of the race:

Now I am off to Austria on business. I’ll try to do some cross training and start thinking about a specific Head Race Training plan.

Monday: Race week taper – 2 x 1000 / 10′ rest

July 6, 20158 Comments

Oh my God, it was beautiful this morning! Sunny, temp around 65F, no wind…at all, water glassy smooth. A no excuses kind of morning.

Plan:

2 x 1000m
Race pace and rate –> 2:00/500 and 30 spm
Work on clean start, getting to race pace crisply, managing through the lactate rush, staying long, keeping the rate up, and finishing with a kick
As much rest between pieces as necessary.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_3973_|_21:00_|_2:38.5_|_419___|_20.0_|_09.5_|_128___|_warmup
03993_|_1000_|_03:59_|_1:59.4_|_121___|_30.4_|_08.3_|_088___|_1K #1
04993_|_1475_|_09:21_|_3:10.3_|_180___|_19.2_|_08.2_|_124___|_rest
06468_|_1000_|_04:03_|_2:01.6_|_125___|_30.9_|_08.0_|_168___|_1K #2
07468_|_2601_|_14:38_|_2:48.7_|_301___|_20.6_|_08.6_|_138___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
03973_|_21:00_|_2:38.5_|_419___|_20.0_|_09.5_|_128___|_warmup
02000_|_08:02_|_2:00.5_|_246___|_30.6_|_08.1_|_129___|_Main set
01475_|_09:21_|_3:10.3_|_180___|_19.2_|_08.2_|_124___|_rest meters
02601_|_14:38_|_2:48.7_|_301___|_20.6_|_08.6_|_138___|_cool down
10049_|_53:01_|_2:38.3_|_1146___|_21.6_|_08.8_|_130___|_Total

Tried a small variation on the warmup. I did 10 on / 10 off for all the stroke rates up to 28. At 28, 30 and 32, I did 20 on / 20 off. This brought my HR up a bit more and gave me more strokes to get acclimated with the higher stroke rates. I think I will keep it that way.

Then I paddled back to the down river end of the 1K straight section. I set up for the start. Based on looking at Ben’s excellent starts, I decided to try to take my first stroke from a position a bit less compressed. Essentially with my heels down vs up. This seemed to work great. I was able to pull through that first stroke and be more balaned at the finish. I settled at 10 strokes and continued to count. At 20, I felt great. At 30, the drowning feeling started. At 50, I was hurting and needed to do a bit of steering, and my splits slowed down. By 60, I consciously dropped the rate a bit and smoothed out my stroke. This took me out to 80 and by then, I felt like I had it in the bag. I gradually brought up the rate and and pace over the next 40 strokes to the end. End result 3:59. I’m happy with that.

During the start, my water bottle started rolling around in the bottom of my boat and knocked off the HR pickup for the speedcoach. Here’s the data from the RIM app.

My HR was relatively low.

I paddled back to downstream end of the 1K course mostly doing slow roll ups. I had a drink and psyched myself up for another one of those. The second one was basically like the first. The start was better than the first rep. Again I did the first stroke with feet fully planted. I settled faster and played it a bit more conservatively than the first and the lactate rush was much less pronounced. Around the 60th stroke, I must have caught a weed on the impeller because the speed reading shot up to a 3:30 pace for a couple of strokes and then popped back down. You can see the transient on the Speedcoach data, but not on the RIM plot. From there it was just grinding out another 60 strokes. I needed to do a bit of steering right around the 100th stroke and I slowed a bit. The end was near so I started to force the pace more. Unfortunately, when I got to stroke number 120, I saw that I had another 100 meters to go! I counted off another 10 strokes right on the ragged edge.

This rep timed out to 4:03, but this included the weed glitch. Based on the GPS data from RIM, it was closer to 4:00, and this is upstream against the current.

Tomorrow: 4 x 500 / 5min rest, race start, race pace / rate, no sprint.

Tuesday: 7x1K / 500m rest (rates: 24,26,28,30,28,26,24)

June 23, 20156 Comments

Weather: Started sunny, but clouded up while I was rowing. Warm, around 70F. Wind S to SE building from 3 to 6 mph during the session.

Plan:

Drills, short warmup
7 x 1000 intervals
Rate: r24 –> r26 –> r28 –> r30 –> r28 –> r26 –> r24
Pace: No real target.
Technique: I wanted to hit the rates as closely as possible and if possible increase pace with increased rate, but the focus was on trying to maintain form at higher rates, especially getting further out to the catch and maintaining clean finishes. Standing start for each, but not a full racing start. Essentially half pressure, but the same stroke rate and sequence.
~500m rests, plus a quick drink.

Pace:

Rate:

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:12_|_2:39.0_|_103___|_19.8_|_09.5_|_129___|_warmup
01000_|_1000_|_04:22_|_2:11.1_|_106___|_24.3_|_09.4_|_159___|_r24 tail wind
02000_|_0500_|_03:19_|_3:18.7_|_054___|_16.3_|_09.3_|_132___|_rest
02500_|_1000_|_04:16_|_2:08.0_|_114___|_26.7_|_08.8_|_166___|_r26 head wind
03500_|_0400_|_02:52_|_3:35.5_|_050___|_17.4_|_08.0_|_137___|_rest
03900_|_1000_|_04:10_|_2:04.9_|_118___|_28.4_|_08.5_|_171___|_r28 tail wind
04900_|_0600_|_04:02_|_3:21.5_|_071___|_17.6_|_08.5_|_144___|_rest
05500_|_1000_|_04:15_|_2:07.7_|_129___|_30.3_|_07.8_|_175___|_r30 head wind
06500_|_0400_|_03:07_|_3:54.2_|_052___|_16.6_|_07.7_|_136___|_rest
06900_|_1000_|_04:14_|_2:06.9_|_120___|_28.4_|_08.3_|_172___|_r28 tail wind
07900_|_0600_|_03:50_|_3:11.7_|_073___|_19.0_|_08.2_|_142___|_rest
08500_|_1000_|_04:26_|_2:13.2_|_119___|_26.8_|_08.4_|_173___|_r26 head wind
09500_|_0400_|_02:47_|_3:28.6_|_050___|_18.0_|_08.0_|_143___|_rest
09900_|_1000_|_04:24_|_2:12.2_|_111___|_25.2_|_09.0_|_172___|_r24 tail wind
10900_|_2420_|_13:49_|_2:51.3_|_280___|_20.3_|_08.6_|_147___|_feet out

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:12_|_2:39.0_|_103___|_19.8_|_09.5_|_129___|_warmup
07000_|_30:08_|_2:09.1_|_817___|_27.1_|_08.6_|_170___|_Main set
02900_|_19:57_|_3:26.4_|_350___|_17.5_|_08.3_|_139___|_rest meters
02420_|_13:49_|_2:51.3_|_280___|_20.3_|_08.6_|_147___|_cool down
13300_|_09:06_|_2:35.9_|_1550___|_22.4_|_08.6_|_153___|_Total

This was a good workout. I worked very hard in the 28,30,and 28 reps but kept it together technique wise. My HR responded very differently today compared to Sunday. Today, it just glided upwards during each rep and I never felt that awful drowning feeling, even though I was pushing quite hard in the middle reps.

I quite enjoyed the first two reps and focused very closely on technique.

The first r28 was proportionately harder but still I was able to hold it together. The last 250m of that rep felt very good. I lightened up at the catch, but kept the strokes long. You can see the pace increase by couple seconds at that point with the rate staying right on. I think this is similar to what Ben commented on from my race videos. This was the point where I started to count down strokes to the end and really worked on keeping my form together.

The r30 was hard. The wind was slowly building and I really noticed it in this rep. The boat felt very heavy and the paces were slow. I focused on sticking to the rate and keeping my reach at the catch, and let the pace do whatever it was going to do. In the last 200m or so, I came into the wind shadow of a headland and I sped up a little, but this rep was very taxing, even though it was slow.

The next r28 was with the wind and with the damage that I had done to my legs with the prior rep, I stuck to the plan of working on hitting the rate and not worrying about the pace. The rep started poorly. I started right after one of the huge weed harvesters went by in the opposite direction and I hit the wake on my 3rd stroke after the start. It took me a couple of stroke to get myself back into the groove, but after that it was just a matter of keeping my eye on the rate and the river and making sure that I kept getting forward for the catch.

Now the fatigue was really setting in, and I knew that the r26 rep was going to be going into the wind. Again, I stuck to the plan. Focus on rate. Don’t fret the pace. It was over reasonably quickly. The r24 with the tail wind was just the period on the end of the sentence. It was difficult to get my rate down to 24. It wanted to creep up and I ended up averaging r25 for this one.

Having finished the reps, I now noticed how sore my legs were and my butt was really hurting. I took my feet out of the shoes and rowed with feet out back to the dock, and literally crawled out of the boat.

This was a good session. I can build on this.

Tomorrow: Steady State

Tuesday: 1K TT

June 17, 2015June 18, 20153 Comments

Weather: Cool, upper 50s. Wind very light 0-4mph from the north. Head wind heading down river, but almost non-existent.

Plan: Now tapering down for this weekend”s races. The theory of the taper is to maintain intensity, but reduce the total durations during the week.

Warmup: Standard Rojabo
Practice some starts
1K TT
Cool down

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_3736_|_18:35_|_2:29.3_|_391___|_21.0_|_09.6_|_142___|_warmup
03756_|_0512_|_03:08_|_3:03.6_|_060___|_19.1_|_08.5_|_139___|_starts
04268_|_1325_|_07:36_|_2:52.0_|_151___|_19.9_|_08.8_|_133___|_technique
05593_|_1007_|_03:59_|_1:58.8_|_128___|_32.1_|_07.9_|_164___|_1K TT
06600_|_3930_|_21:22_|_2:43.1_|_440___|_20.6_|_08.9_|_139___|_Technique & cool down

I started with drills: King of the Mountain, Top Quarter, arms only, arms and back, half slide. Then just some steady state out to and through the cut. Then I was going to go into my warm up. I looked over my shoulder and about 200m ahead there were three weed harvesters heading down river. Weed harvesters are BIG and my river is narrow, so I elected to paddle out until I could maneuver around them and then I started to do the power bursts for the warmup.

The warmup went great. I was hitting nice paces and I felt nice and relaxed. Here’s a plot of the paces and rates for the last 4 20 stroke bursts.

Here are the RIM analytics for the couple strokes in each of the bursts.

So, as expected, I haven’t fixed the double hump overnight, and the 37spm stroke looks mighty ragged, but heck, its 37spm. And look at the boat speed, I was going faster than 1:45 pace for about 10 strokes. 8)

After that, I spun the boat and setup to try a few starts. The first one was OK, the second was abysmal, so was the third. I tried to refocus and take it a bit easier on the first stroke and then the next 2 were OK.

After that, I rowed the 1300m back to the start point of the 1K with square blades.

Then it was time to do the 1K. I was really nervous. I was determined to not bail out, but just slow down if I needed to.

The start was OK. I was conservative on the first couple strokes, and managed to get the split down below 1:50 by the fourth stroke. I pushed very hard through the 10 strokes and was still rowing at a 1:50 split. Then it was time to settle, and in retrospect, I don’t think I shifted gears crisply enough. My rate dropped from 36 to 31 over 5 strokes, and my pace drifted down to about 2:00 over 10 strokes.

Anyway, from strokes 20 to 40, things were fine. Around stroke 40, I started to really feel the effects from the surge of lactate. It started as a strange sort of tingle all over, then a wave of nausea, then the feeling that I might lose control of my bowels (sorry for that). Fantastic! That’s what this training is for. To recognize these feelings and learn strategies to manage them. I eased up on the pressure and tried to bring the stroke rate further down. It only took a couple strokes before the feelings started to subside and I started to really focus on breathing. Hard exhales at both the catch and finish. And I kept on counting through the 60th stroke. Now I have finally learned that to get through 1K takes more than 120 strokes, so I didn’t celebrate the halfway point yet, but it was definitely time for some steering. So a couple of quick glances over my shoulder and then I lined up a new point to stay in the best part of the lane. That got me to 70, which was definitely over the hump. I was in some definite distress. For some reason, my heart rate was unnaturally low today, and it felt like I didn’t have another gear to shift into, but I just sort of kept plugging away through sets of 20 strokes.

At 100 strokes, it was time to line up another point to get into the narrow cut for the finish of the 1K. This cost me a bit of speed because I needed to turn a bit more sharply than the ideal line. I tried to up the stroke rate and bring down the split for the last 30 strokes and managed a feeble sprint that brought the split back down below 1:55 for the last few strokes.

End result was 3:59 for 1007m, a 1:58.8 pace. Basically the same pace I held for 950m with a tail wind in the sprints last year. I’m OK with that, especially looking at the HR plot. Normally a much steeper rise and higher plateau than today.

Here is a comparison of 8 strokes in that magic section from 20 to 30 strokes before all hell broke loose, and then another set of 7 strokes as I cranked up the rate for the last 20 of so strokes.

There is a remarkable level of consistency. The purple is at a higher rate, so the initial peak in the drive is a bit higher, and the finish blivet is a bit bigger, but I was expecting it to look much worse since I was really tired at that point.

After that, I did a long cool down with some 10 and 20 stroke bursts to flush out my legs and headed back to the dock.

Friday: Hard 3K, Hard 1K, Square Blade Rowing and Steady State

June 12, 20152 Comments

Weather: Sunny, warm, mid 60s. Light WNW wind, 4mph, mainly a cross/head wind going down river.

Plan: Drills, then Steady State, plus a few starts and a hard 1K. Work on finishes and balance.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0920_|_04:38_|_2:31.2_|_098___|_21.1_|_09.4_|_139___|_warmup
00940_|_2900_|_13:04_|_2:15.2_|_288___|_22.0_|_10.1_|_164___|_Hard 22
03840_|_0060_|_00:34_|_4:40.0_|_005___|_08.9_|_12.0_|_120___|_rest
03900_|_2900_|_14:21_|_2:28.4_|_298___|_20.8_|_09.7_|_157___|_Slow roll ups
06800_|_0160_|_01:27_|_4:32.5_|_027___|_18.6_|_05.9_|_133___|_rest
06960_|_0900_|_03:39_|_2:01.8_|_112___|_30.6_|_08.0_|_172___|_1K Hard
07860_|_0740_|_04:20_|_2:55.7_|_092___|_21.2_|_08.0_|_140___|_paddle
08600_|_1080_|_05:31_|_2:33.1_|_119___|_21.6_|_09.1_|_150___|_500SQ / 500SS
09680_|_0500_|_02:52_|_2:52.4_|_054___|_18.8_|_09.3_|_150___|_Starts
10180_|_3000_|_15:55_|_2:39.1_|_344___|_21.6_|_08.7_|_147___|_500SQ/500SS
13180_|_0540_|_03:41_|_3:24.7_|_072___|_19.5_|_07.5_|_135___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00920_|_04:38_|_2:31.2_|_098___|_21.1_|_09.4_|_139___|_warmup
00900_|_03:39_|_2:01.8_|_112___|_30.6_|_08.0_|_172___|_Main set
10380_|_51:42_|_2:29.4_|_1103___|_21.3_|_09.4_|_155___|_Steady State
00960_|_06:21_|_3:18.4_|_124___|_19.5_|_07.7_|_137___|_rest meters
00540_|_03:41_|_3:24.7_|_072___|_19.5_|_07.5_|_135___|_cool down
13700_|_10:02_|_2:33.4_|_1509___|_21.5_|_09.1_|_152___|_Total

That was the plan, but it didn’t quite work out that way. I was going to stick to r20 and steady state going down river and come halfway back and then do my 1K. But as I came out of the small section of river that intersects with the cove, I saw another single sculler up ahead. I felt a familiar feeling and I knew that there would be no HR cap on the trip down river. I started about 100m behind him and over the first 500m or so, I caught up and passed him. From that point, I just concentrated on putting a much distance between me and him as possible and to keep my rate lower than his. It looked like he was rowing about a r24. By end of the 2900m piece, I was about 800m ahead. I was pleased with the pace for r22, right about 2:15.

I turned and did a few more drills and had a drink and we set off in the other direction at about the same time. I was rowing with slow roll ups and focusing on technique, but I also put enough energy into it to put a little distance between us. I basically did this all the way back to the beginning of the 1K course. Beautiful flat water today, so I had no excuses for rowing badly.

I turned at the start of the 1K course, took a few deep breaths and then did my start.

The graph looks different because I was logging every 20 meters instead of every stroke like yesterday. My objective was to keep the pace between 2:00 and 2:05, which I guessed would be about 95% intensity. I now think it was a bit closer to 98%, looking at the HR. I really felt the bite at the 500m mark and pushed through it. I started to feel like I might puke or lose control of other bodily functions. At that point, I tried my “take 10 for length” idea, and dropped the rate just a little bit. It seemed to do the trick. I got through the crisis and continued to count up the strokes. But something went wrong with my counting somewhere in the piece.

My 1K is basically 120 strokes. This splits up into the first 30 which is the start and the settle and then 10 strokes. Then the next 30 strokes are where you start to feel the bite. By the 60th stroke, I’m in distress, so the next 30 is 10 for length and then either rate up or stay long for the next 20. I know that if I can get to 90 strokes, that I can make it. Somehow today, between the 60 and 90 mark, I managed to lose track of 10 strokes. That meant that I thought I was on the 90th stroke, but I was actually on the 80th stroke. I started pushing for the finish hard. I also though that I had enough room before a headland so I didn’t need to cut back to the main channel. When I got to what I thought was 10 strokes to go, I looked at the elapsed distance and it said 7700m. In the fog of lactate, I seemed to remember that I had started at 6950m. What the hell? I was now too far over to fit in another 20 strokes without crashing into the headland, and I had started my push to the end too soon. I decided quickly to just push hard through 7850 and then jam on the brakes to stop my boat. So, I had to settle for 900m today. Here is the map view. The 1K starts at the bottom and there is a broad gentle curve to get onto the line between a point (with submerged log sticking out from it) and the island. Past the island, you need to pick a new aim point to start to turn towards the entry of the s-turn. Today, I got lazy and didn’t transition to this new aim point quickly enough after the island, so I ended up aiming at the headland.

I’m not all that happy with the pace, 2:01.8, and I’d like to see the rate a bit higher. But I battled the demons and won this round in the middle of the piece. I am now a confirmed convert to Sander’s philosophy of 1K racing. Which I take the liberty of paraphrasing here: You need to do a lot of 1K time trials to get used to awful you feel in the middle of the race. Especially true because conditions vary enough that you can’t really use pace as a guide.

After that, the rest of the workout was an anticlimax. I basically just did 500m of square blade rowing and then 500m of steady state alternating the rest of the way down to the dam. When I was rowing square, I tried to work on getting my elbows out at the finish and extracting the blades as quickly and quietly as I could. Then transitioning to steady state, I tried to use exactly the same tap down, and then feather. I was working on trying to separate the two actions to clean up my finishes. I had a magical stretch where I got ten full strokes where I didn’t touch water from finish to catch at all. In general I would be able to go one or two strokes and then I would lightly skim one side or the other. But I have to say, that my hands are working better at the finish now.

After the dam, I turned and did 6 practice starts. I took each one out to 10 strokes. Then I continued with my 500 square / 500 steady all the way back to the dock.

Tomorrow: Probably out on Lake Quinsigamond, but I may face transportation challenges. In any case, I think a reasonable easy session might be in order.

Then next week, I taper for the race on next Sunday, the 21st. Unfortunately I have a business trip mid week, so I am already starting to plan my excuses based on that.

Quantified Rowing

Measure – Adjust – Improve

Tag: 1000s

Monday: 4 x 1000 / 5′ rest

Tuesday: 4 x 1K / 5′ rest – Progress

Tuesday: 4 x 1K / 5′ rest

Tuesday: 2-speed test

Thursday: 8×4′ / 1′ rest on the erg

Sunday: Cromwell Cup

Monday: Race week taper – 2 x 1000 / 10′ rest

Tuesday: 7x1K / 500m rest (rates: 24,26,28,30,28,26,24)

Tuesday: 1K TT

Friday: Hard 3K, Hard 1K, Square Blade Rowing and Steady State