Catching Up: Thursday to Tuesday

Things remain a bit hectic.  I’ve been focused on trying to squeeze in what I can.

Thursday:  I was down in Austin for a customer meeting, a big “Supplier Day” where a company invites in their largest suppliers and tells them where their business is going and what they need from suppliers.  A useful way to meet a lot of key people, but the whole time I keep thinking about other things that I need to get done.

In the morning, I popped down to the fitness center and did 30 minutes on the treadmill (max incline – 15% and around 3.5mph), aiming to upper end UT1 heart rate.  Then 30 minutes on the stationary bike, aiming at UT2.Screen Shot 2016-05-24 at 10.11.20 AM

It was kind of interesting.  There was a huge thunderstorm going on while I was working out.  Lot’s of thunder and lightning and it was raining like crazy!

Friday:  Up at 4:15 to get to the airport to catch an early flight.  Then straight into meetings on the phone once I got home.  No time to work out.

Saturday:  Busy day, rushing around.  shopping.  Painting a ceiling.  I managed to squeeze in an erg session.  I wanted a bit of intensity, but I wasn’t in the mood to go really deep.  So I decided to do a 10K push, but start off slower (at 2:04), and end at 1:55.

It was harder than it should have been, but I actually enjoyed it.  I started with a 2K warmup.

The main event.  Starting target was 2:04 for 1K, then 2:03 for 1K, and so on until I got down to 1:55 target for the last 1K.  Of course, I just went for broke in the last bit.

It stung a bit.

The cool down.  2K slowing down from 2:00 to 2:15 in 500 chunks

Sunday:  I caught a plane at 9AM out to Las Vegas.  We are having an internal team meeting here for a few days.  I arrived around 3PM and headed to to gym, hoping for some fun workout options.  There were none.  I was consigned to the usual treadmills, bikes, ellipticals, etc.  I did 30 minutes on the treadmill at a 2% incline, and a slow trot, maybe 4.5 mph.  I slowed a bit in the last 5 minutes of that to try to stick to a HR cap around 150.  Then I grabbed a drink, and did another 30 minutes on the treadmill on the max incline (15%, around 3.5 mph).

Screen Shot 2016-05-24 at 3.30.46 PM

Monday:  We got back to the hotel around 10 and I escaped the bar by around 11.  I headed straight up to bed, pounded down a liter of water and collapsed into bed.  I woke up with the alarm at 5:30, and then headed down down to  the depressing little fitness center to workout.  This morning the menu was 30 minutes on the treadmill at maximum incline (15%) and about 3.5 mph.  Then 30 minutes on the one of those new, improved elliptical machines that have more independent leg motions

Screen Shot 2016-05-24 at 11.43.18 PM

Tuesday:  On Monday night, I crawled into bed around midnight having had a bit too much to drink and feeling a bit worse for wear.  But I felt pretty alert at 5:30 in the morning when my alarm went off.  This morning, I was certain that I had no interest in returning to the sad little fitness center, so I decided to run the strip.  This was a great decision.  I ran along in front of all the fancy casinos and hotels for about 4 km down and 4 km back.  One thing that made it a bit more interesting and tiring was all of the pedestrian overpasses.  Each of the pace decreases below is me climbing a couple of flight of stairs, and the coming back down.

Screen Shot 2016-05-24 at 11.50.26 PM

Now, I am sitting here at the airport   My flight has been delayed almost 2 hours and I am getting very tired and sleepy.  This could be a pretty rough wait.

Tomorrow:  First priority, enough sleep.  Second priority is a quick erg session.

 

 

Monday: 10K reasonably hard

I was short on time this morning so I did a 10K.  I was in the mood for a bit of intensity, so I started off targeting 1:57.  Then pushed the pace down to around 1:54 as I went along.  It was about a 80-90% effort.

Doing it strapless was a bit of challenge.

I won’t have time for the strength session tonight.  I will push that to tomorrow night instead.  Tomorrow morning, 3 x 20’/1’rest.

 

Sunday: 10K Threshold / 500m blast

I was hoping for a 10K PB today, but it didn’t work out to plan.

I rowed this in the afternoon.   I did a quick 1K warmup, at home, not on slides.

Screen Shot 2015-12-20 at 3.11.59 PM

Workout Summary – Dec 20, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_01000_|_04:02.5_|_02:01.2_|_196.4_|_19.8_|_122.7_|_ 55.8% _|_12.5_|_09.9

Rowing at pace felt tough.  I did not go into the row with a ton of confidence.  But, off I went. I set up one pace boat at 1:49.6 and another at 1:49.5.  I held them off through almost 7K, but then I blew up.  I paddled for a few seconds, and then brought the pace back down to bout a 1:53 or so and just pushed through the rest of the way.  I wish I had just slowed down to that pace and continued versus breaking form, but I got a bit bummed out when I saw the PB slipping away.

Screen Shot 2015-12-20 at 3.13.42 PMScreen Shot 2015-12-20 at 3.13.31 PM

Workout Summary – Dec 20, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_10000_|_36:49.3_|_01:50.5_|_259.6_|_25.9_|_167.3_|_ 87.4% _|_10.5_|_10.0
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01000_|_03:38.0_|_01:49.0_|_270.2_|_25.3_|_145.7_|_ 72.1% _|_10.9_|_10.7
02_|_01000_|_03:38.1_|_01:49.1_|_269.9_|_25.9_|_160.7_|_ 82.7% _|_10.6_|_10.4
03_|_01000_|_03:39.0_|_01:49.5_|_266.4_|_26.3_|_164.9_|_ 85.7% _|_10.4_|_10.1
04_|_01000_|_03:39.5_|_01:49.8_|_264.6_|_26.2_|_167.9_|_ 87.9% _|_10.4_|_10.1
05_|_01000_|_03:38.6_|_01:49.3_|_268.1_|_26.1_|_170.7_|_ 89.9% _|_10.5_|_10.3
06_|_01000_|_03:39.5_|_01:49.7_|_264.9_|_26.2_|_173.3_|_ 91.7% _|_10.4_|_10.1
07_|_01000_|_03:40.7_|_01:50.3_|_260.6_|_26.4_|_174.2_|_ 92.4% _|_10.3_|_09.9
08_|_01000_|_03:51.0_|_01:55.5_|_227.1_|_24.9_|_170.1_|_ 89.5% _|_10.4_|_09.1
09_|_01000_|_03:44.1_|_01:52.1_|_248.7_|_25.4_|_171.1_|_ 90.1% _|_10.5_|_09.8
10_|_01000_|_03:40.8_|_01:50.4_|_260.2_|_26.1_|_173.3_|_ 91.7% _|_10.4_|_10.0

So, not the time I was hoping for, but still a rankable performance.

Then I did a 2K happy ending cooldown.

Screen Shot 2015-12-20 at 3.14.13 PM

Workout Summary – Dec 20, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_02000_|_08:29.5_|_02:07.4_|_169.3_|_19.8_|_146.9_|_ 73.0% _|_11.9_|_08.6

I logged my score into the Nonathlon site, and noticed that this left me 2 points behind a team mate of mine on Free Spirits.  All the frustration from the time trial kind built up in me and I dial up a 500m piece on RowPro.  Now, I have not done ANY sprinting for the past while, I just wanted to row away the anger.  It did the trick.  My legs were heavy and my lungs were shot, but for 55 strokes or so, I didn’t really care.

Screen Shot 2015-12-20 at 3.15.26 PMScreen Shot 2015-12-20 at 3.15.05 PM

The HR plot looks weird because the connection between strap and PM was a little intermittent.

Workout Summary – Dec 20, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_00500_|_01:32.4_|_01:32.4_|_443.3_|_34.4_|_157.7_|_ 80.6% _|_09.4_|_12.9
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_00100_|_00:18.5_|_01:32.6_|_440.2_|_32.4_|_120.3_|_ 54.1% _|_10.0_|_13.6
02_|_00100_|_00:18.4_|_01:31.9_|_451.4_|_32.7_|_154.1_|_ 78.1% _|_10.0_|_13.8
03_|_00100_|_00:18.4_|_01:32.0_|_449.9_|_35.9_|_167.5_|_ 87.6% _|_09.1_|_12.5
04_|_00100_|_00:18.5_|_01:32.5_|_442.1_|_35.7_|_171.3_|_ 90.3% _|_09.1_|_12.4
05_|_00100_|_00:18.6_|_01:33.1_|_433.0_|_35.4_|_172.9_|_ 91.4% _|_09.1_|_12.2

Definitely something I will have to come back to after I do my power and sprinting mesocycle.

 

 

Monday AM: 10K steady

I had to get a little car work done this morning so I was pressed for time.  I cut my morning workout down to a 10K.  I was feeling pretty good, so I pushed the power a bit more than I should have (196W vs 190W)

11-23Screen Shot 2015-11-23 at 2.16.09 PM

I didn’t do a lactate test, but based on the HR drift, I think it was probably above 3.0mmol/l by the time I finished.  I’m going to try to hold back a bit more this afternoon in a second session.

Today PM: another 10K at 193W

Tomorrow AM:  60′ hard.  Target pace: 1:53.  If I am feeling good at halfway, I might try for the mythical 16K hour.

 

10k Threshold – Season Best

Between dealing with getting my car serviced and having a customer in visiting at work, I didn’t have time for a workout yesterday.

Today is my weekly threshold workout.  I’ve been working the ranking distances the past few Saturday’s and today, the 10K was on the menu.  My all time best was a 36:33 set last winter when I was in tip top shape.  I’m close to that now, but I based on the 5K time last weekend, I thought I would be a bit slower.  I was still hoping for something a faster than 37:00 though, so I set 1:51 as my target pace.

I did a 20′ steady state piece as a warmup.

193.8W, 138.1bpm, 19.1 spm, 1.9mmol/l.  Nothing to complain about there.

2015-04-11_18-22-44

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 11, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_04927_|_20:00.0_|_02:01.8_|_193.8_|_19.1_|_134.3_|_ 64.0% _|_12.9_|_10.2
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01231_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.9_|_193.2_|_19.2_|_125.5_|_ 57.8% _|_12.8_|_10.1
02_|_01233_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.6_|_194.5_|_19.4_|_135.5_|_ 64.9% _|_12.7_|_10.0
03_|_01233_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.6_|_194.4_|_18.8_|_138.1_|_ 66.8% _|_13.1_|_10.3
04_|_01230_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.0_|_192.9_|_18.8_|_138.3_|_ 66.9% _|_13.1_|_10.3

The main thing I have been working on in these threshold rows is trying to get my cruising rate up higher.  Today for the 10K, I really wanted to hold 26spm.

I took off a bit fast, but quickly got into a groove around 1:50.5 and 26 spm.  Then it was just a matter of counting to 26 over and over again.  If I saw the rate drop down to 25, I would try to lighten up and focus on getting my hands away quickly.  I was happy when I passed through the 30 minute mark and saw that I was further than my ranked 30 minute (8147 today vs 8128 ranking).  I let my pace drift up to 1:51.5 or so because I was starting to feel pretty tired.  I noticed just a little bit of a slow down got me back feeling like I was in control again.  When I finally got down to 1000m left, I tried to inch the rate up a bit and get the pace down below 1:50.  Then when I passed the 500m to go mark, I counted out 20 stroke for length, then 10 strokes, and then sprinted a 5-10-5 to the end.  It was a good row.  I was consistent and pushed close to, but not beyond my limits.

2015-04-11_18-24-28 2015-04-11_18-24-09

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 11, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_10000_|_36:46.5_|_01:50.3_|_260.7_|_25.9_|_170.4_|_ 89.7% _|_10.5_|_10.1
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01000_|_03:40.9_|_01:50.4_|_259.8_|_24.7_|_145.6_|_ 72.1% _|_11.0_|_10.5
02_|_01000_|_03:39.7_|_01:49.9_|_263.9_|_25.9_|_163.8_|_ 85.0% _|_10.5_|_10.2
03_|_01000_|_03:39.7_|_01:49.8_|_264.2_|_25.7_|_168.3_|_ 88.1% _|_10.6_|_10.3
04_|_01000_|_03:40.4_|_01:50.2_|_261.6_|_25.9_|_170.0_|_ 89.3% _|_10.5_|_10.1
05_|_01000_|_03:41.0_|_01:50.5_|_259.5_|_26.1_|_172.3_|_ 91.0% _|_10.4_|_10.0
06_|_01000_|_03:41.4_|_01:50.7_|_258.2_|_25.8_|_173.9_|_ 92.1% _|_10.5_|_10.0
07_|_01000_|_03:41.8_|_01:50.9_|_256.6_|_26.0_|_175.3_|_ 93.1% _|_10.4_|_09.9
08_|_01000_|_03:42.5_|_01:51.3_|_254.1_|_25.6_|_176.2_|_ 93.8% _|_10.5_|_09.9
09_|_01000_|_03:42.2_|_01:51.1_|_255.1_|_25.9_|_177.9_|_ 95.0% _|_10.4_|_09.8
10_|_01000_|_03:36.9_|_01:48.5_|_274.4_|_27.1_|_179.4_|_ 96.0% _|_10.2_|_10.1

After a couple minutes to catch my breath, I setup and did a long 5K happy ending cooldown.  Starting at 2:05, then slowing by 0:05 every 1000m.  Amazing how well that works to flush out the muscles.  I feel great now.

2015-04-11_18-25-33

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 11, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_05000_|_22:29.8_|_02:15.0_|_142.3_|_17.0_|_140.1_|_ 68.2% _|_13.1_|_08.4
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01000_|_04:09.8_|_02:04.9_|_179.6_|_19.9_|_143.9_|_ 70.8% _|_12.0_|_09.0
02_|_01000_|_04:20.0_|_02:10.0_|_159.3_|_18.0_|_147.7_|_ 73.6% _|_12.8_|_08.9
03_|_01000_|_04:29.9_|_02:15.0_|_142.4_|_16.0_|_143.6_|_ 70.6% _|_13.9_|_08.9
04_|_01000_|_04:40.0_|_02:20.0_|_127.5_|_15.4_|_136.3_|_ 65.5% _|_13.9_|_08.3
05_|_01000_|_04:50.1_|_02:25.0_|_114.7_|_15.9_|_128.5_|_ 59.9% _|_13.0_|_07.2

Tomorrow:  I’m going to head off to Quinsigmond for my first row out there of the season.

Another 10K Threshold Workout

Pressed for time today and in the mood for something a bit spicier than the normal steady state.  So, I thought doing another 10K at about a 200W pace and working on keeping the stroke rate up around 25 and using half decent form.

As it turned out, I felt more comfortable up at about 220W and I decided to just go with it.  Rowing up at 25 on slides felt nice and smooth and I was able to maintain pretty good posture.  My HR got pretty high at the end, but I didn’t feel like I was in trouble at any point.

2015-03-16_9-45-28 2015-03-16_9-39-42

A very satisfying row.  Based on the high heart rate at the end, it appears I am not yet as efficient on slides for longer rows.

Tomorrow:  Tonight I am heading out toe Phoenix.  I’ll see if I can find myself a nice crossfit box to row in tomorrow morning.  4×20 would be the plan.