Tag: 1x

Friday: Groggy 10K of technique

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The red eye was pretty miserable.  I was in a seat with extra leg room, but because it was in front an exit row, the seat didn’t recline.  I got some sleep, maybe 2 to 3 hours in fits and starts, but I eventually gave up and just read.

Boston was cloudy, drizzly and about 45F when I landed.  I wasn’t sure if rowing was the best idea, but it seemed to be clearing up a bit, so I went for it.  I’m very glad that I did.  It was glorious out there.  I wasn’t working terribly hard, and I wasn’t out for very long, but I felt a thousand times better when I finished.

The plan for the day was to just do 2 minute intervals of SBR, then 2 minutes of alternating SBR and feathered and then 2 minutes of r20.  It’s sort of become my go to low intensity workout.

5-12a.png

I finished 1 lap of the river and had a little bit more time, so I did 6 minutes down river in the 2 minute chunks.  Then I turned around and rowed at r22 back to the cut.  It was about 6 minutes of high UT1 rowing, and it felt nice and clean.  I tried to row it to 190W or so.  I think I’m about 10w different between erg and boat (erg higher for the same HR repsonse).  When I got back to the lagoon when I launch, I did a 30 stroke set at r26.  It sure felt hard.  I was doing that for 30 minutes in head races not that long ago.

Tomorrow:  My big adventure row.

Friday: 90 minutes of near-bliss

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I felt like crap all day Thursday.  My stomach was a little upset, and just felt lethargic and slow.  We went to bed early again and I got a good 8 hours of sleep.  I woke up this morning feeling a whole lot better.

The weather was gray and it rained off and on.  The temperature was in the mid-40s.  But there was very little wind and I was looking forward to just taking it easy and working on technique.  My morning schedule was pretty open, so I didn’t have to rush to much either.

I launched and got going.  My plan was:

  • 2′ SBR
  • 2′ alternating square / feathered
  • 2′ r20
  • repeat over and over again.

As I rowed out to the useful part of the river, I decided that today would be a good day to get the impeller mode of the speedcoach calibrated.  Right now there is enough current that my upstream and downstream speeds are different by 10 or 15 second per 500, and since the impeller is already mounted on the boat, I might as well use it.

I had never done the calibration with the speedcoach GPS, so I fumbled through the menus a bit until I found it under the advanced setup menu.  Once I found it, it was easy and intuitive to use.  Just start it up, it tells you to start rowing, and once you are up to speed, it uses the GPS to measure 500m of true distance.  Then it tells you to turn around and press start when you are ready to do the same thing in the other direction.  After all that, it tells you what the cal factor is.

So, I did 2 moderately hard 500m pieces to setup the cal.  I was suspicious that it might not be a good cal because my boat speed looked a bit too good.  :-/

After that, I just rowed.  I went all the way down river, back up to the cove, then back down to the dam.  The basin down by the dam is pretty broad and the I can do 500m without much of a turn, so I did the cal again.  The cal factor came out close to the first time (1.069 vs 1.061), but I did pull one massively bad stroke in the first 500, so I am wondering if I could get it better.  Maybe I’ll do it again on Quinsig this weekend over 1000m.

After I finished the second cal, I decided to row steady state the whole way back.  I was pulling really hard in the 2 minute chunks of r20, and I wanted to try to practice at a feathered at a lower stroke pressure.  This was very pleasant rowing.

The whole outing was about 17km on RIM, and I was on the water for 96 minutes.  It was glorious.

This is the GPS data from RIM.  You can see the extra loops at each end of the river where I did the cal pieces.  You can also see a place in the middle where the was some kind of glitch with the data.  I did not, in fact, row through the headland, not even close.

Screen Shot 2017-05-05 at 2.30.38 PM

Here is the same thing using the GPS coordinates from the speedcoach.  In this one, the cal pieces are missing, but look at how much smoother the path is.

Screen Shot 2017-05-05 at 2.40.14 PM.png

Here’s the summary plot from the speedcoach.  Still suspicious about the impeller based pace, but it sure is less noisy!  It is also missing the cal pieces.

5-5a

Here is the summary plot from RIM.

5-5d

In this plot, I have smoothed the pace data twice, and it is still a lot noisier than the speedcoach data.

I am trying to figure out the best set of parameters to have live in the boat.  Today, I setup the speedcoach to have pace, HR, effective length and wash.  On RIM, I had stroke rate and elapsed time.  This worked out OK, but I think I like using the RIM for HR.  For example, today I don’t have any HR data for the cal pieces.  In a similar way, if I setup the speedcoach for an interval workout, I would miss the rest data.  If I use RIM essentially as a logger, and the speedcoach more interactively, I think that would work out.

I think I will always want to see pace, stroke rate, heart rate and elapsed time.  And I would like to have two fields for empower related stuff.  Right now I am working on finishes, so it makes sense to have wash.  But eventually, I think I will mainly have work and effective length as the main screens.

Feeling so bad yesterday and so good today has gotten me thinking.

I have never really figured how much business travel interferes with training.  I used to just think of travel days as enforced rest days and tried to just hit my training goals working around the travel.  From that perspective, the only impact was essentially from reduced training hours when I couldn’t squeeze in the sessions.

Now I think it’s worse than that.  Spending 6 hours squeezed into a plane (or 15 hours) and shifting multiple time zones is nothing like a real rest day.  But it does nothing to improve my fitness level.  Right now, I am thinking that it puts the same stress on my body that training does, but without the beneficial training effect.

So the question is…what to do about it?  The answer is…I don’t know.  It seems pretty clear to me that maintaining a very regular training schedule helps me manage jet lag and stress.  It’s also clear that my performance in training sessions after travel is compromised.  So, I think I keep doing what I’m doing.  I will try to rearrange my schedule to put low intensity sessions after trips and I will focus on base endurance cross training or strength while I travel.

The other thing that is really clear to me is that the best thing I can do to improve performance right now is to lose weight.  Losing weight requires no extra time, it can be done while I’m at home or on travel, and every 10 pounds is worth a full second off my 500m split in the boat.  The problem with losing weight is will power.  It takes a lot of effort for me to lose weight and it’s easy to lose motivation.  But, I need to give it a try.  It will help my fitness, performance and health.

Tomorrow:  yardwork all day.  Time to mulch.

Wednesday: 15km OTW

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Weather:  Cold and misty.  Around 37F.  Wind 3-5 mph from the North.  This was a head wind heading down river and a bit of a tail wind going up river.

Plan for the workout was the same as Monday.  Focus on technique and learn how to incorporate feedback from the EmPower oarlock into really focused practice.

I also  wanted to experiment with the idea of using my phone with RIM to complement the speedcoach display.  So, I hooked up my HR monitor to my phone instead of the speedcoach.

I spent the whole workout looking at the work per stroke screen and trying to keep my drive length greater than 100 degrees.

It was another really joyful row.  Up and down the river a couple of times focusing on form versus pace.  By having my HR on the RIM display, I was able to watch and try to keep the intensity in the aerobic zone.  I let it go a bit higher if I was comfortable and working on technique.

So, now I had one set of data on the phone and one set of data on the speedcoach.  How do I put them together.  Well, it turns out that rowsandall.com has a feature called “Sensor Fusion”.  This feature let’s you take specific fields from two different data sources, align the start points manually, and create a workout entry that combines the two.  In the plot below, the SPM comes from RIM, and so it goes to the very beginning.  The pace and power comes from the speedcoach, and I started that about 6 minutes into the row.

4-5a.png

There are some interesting features in the power part of the summary plot.  The blue bars showing the higher power levels are when I needed to apply a lot of port pressure to go around a turn in the river.

The pace shows the effect of the current.  Today is was a good 10 seconds difference on pace.  Notice how consistent the power is, even though the pace is very different.

4-5b

It’s going to take a while to really know how to use all the data I’m getting.  Here’s a sampler.  A few thoughts..

  • Power is lower than I was expecting at 154W avg.
  • Finish angle was consistent, but Wash got progressively worse
  • Catch and slip were remarkably consistent
  • Effectively drive length is a short 80 degrees.  This is probably driven mostly by critical body dimensions (like my stubby legs), but it will pay dividends if I can figure out how to get a longer drive angle and less wash at the end.

I finished up and put away my boat.  When I looked in the car window at my reflection, I could see that a nice layer of dew had formed on my hat because it was so misty.

2017-04-05 08.03.49

Today (Thursday), I didn’t have a chance to workout.  I caught the morning flight from Boston to San Diego, had a few customer meetings, and now I’m on  the red eye heading home.  I’m going to pick up my boat on my way home from the airport and I might be able to go for a row in the afternoon.  Otherwise, it’ll be another easy hour on the erg.

 

Monday: Back On The Water!!!! 15km

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Weather:  Cold and Sunny.  About 35F.  Basically no wind.  A beautiful morning.

Today was all about just getting back in the boat and trying out my new toys.

New iPhone, case and mount –> running RIM

New Speedcoach GPS (Model 2)

New EmPower Oarlock

The iphone case and mount worked great.  Much more rigid than the mount that I was using last year (and considerably cheaper).   I got them from Quad Lock.

The empower oarlock and HR monitor paired with the Speedcoach very easily.  I had done the angle calibration on Sunday.  The force calibration was easy and quick.

I was off the dock within 20 minutes of getting there.  The river is really high right now.  Right up to the top of the dock, and the current is visibly faster than normal.  I was the only person out on Monday morning.  I had a beautiful morning all to myself.

Our population of swans seems bigger this year.  There was a pretty good number of cygnets last summer.  I think they’ve grown up and returned.  Pretty to look at, but additional obstacles to row around.

I did my normal row, about 15km.  Starting at the docks, I row 4km downstream.  The first km is winding and slow.  After that, it’s lovely flat water and mostly straight for 2km.  Then I go under a narrow bridge and the last km is out across a small basin before the Moody Street Dam.  It’s a beautiful row and I was so happy to be back outside, enjoying the morning.

After I turn at the dam, I row back upstream.  This time of year, I row up into a long cove instead of completely retracing my steps.  There are some nice houses along the cove, and I get a little more distance.  It’s about 3km from the dam to the end of the cove.  Then I spin, and head back down river to the dam.  Finally, I turn back up river and row the 4km back to the dock.

The first and last km where it’s winding I think of as the warmup and cool down.

Now, for the toys.  I loved rowing with the EmPower Oarlock.  I tried out all the skill screens.  There are screen to show catch and with slip, finish angle with wash, power, and work per stroke.  I used one screen for each of the 3km sections.  Unfortunately, I was enjoying the row so much that I didn’t notice that I had forgotten to start the speedcoach.  The way the speedcoach works, it gives you a live screen, but just doesn’t accumulate data if it isn’t started.  Of course it does say “stop” right in the middle of the screen, but I just didn’t notice that.  I hope I don’t make the mistake again, I’m sure I will.

Of course, since I am obsessive enough about data that I run redundant systems, I had the whole row recorded with the Rowing in Motion app on my phone.

The skill screens on the Speedcoach are great, but I was bothered that I wasn’t able to keep an eye on my Heart Rate while I had those displays up.  I know from reading the NK materials that this was a concious choice to limit the chances of information overload, but I find it pretty easy to focus in on on number in a display and only look at other ones every few strokes.  I wish that HR and SPM were visible on the skill screens.

But, I have a solution to my problem.  Since I am running RIM anyway, I can get that info from my phone while I use the speedcoach for technique feedback.  The great part about that is rowsandall provides a cool feature to let me smoosh the data from RIM and Speecoach together before I analyze it.  (More about that in my next post).

Based on that conclusion, I will most likely pair my HR monitor to my phone and use the RIM display to show pace, HR, SPM and time.  I’ll stick to skill screens on the speed coach, unless I’m doing a workout where I want faster pace feedback, like short sprints.

4-3a

You can see effect of the current on pace.  It was about 10 second delta

Here’s a view of just the speedcoach data for the last 30 minutes of the row.4-3c.png

And here’s a stroke profile for the section from 2000m to 2600m

4-3b

I need to double check the angle calibration before I draw any conclusions from this.

I did a quick very of effective drive length and work per stroke to get a baseline.

4-3d

The effective drive length has got me worried, so I wanted to compare it to total length.

4-3e.png

I think I have some work to do to get a longer drive.

I also just looked a power for this chunk.

4-3f.png

It’s lower than I would have expected. I guess I have some work to do on strength and fitness too!

So.  Much.  Data.  🙂

Saturday: Last row of the season?

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It was beautiful out today.  Clear skies and sunny.  Upper 30s at the start, rising to around 45F by the time we finished.  A light wind from the north was a gentle tail wind heading downlake and a head wind heading up lake.  Enough to effect the pace a bit, but not enough to stir up any chop.  I can’t imagine a better day for rowing.

I was in my single and Joe, Heri, Leanne and Pam were in the quad.  I had a simple training plan.

  • Stay with the quad.

All I really wanted to do was row, and I was enjoying the company.  They were going easy sometimes and then doing some power pieces. I just try to match pace with them.  We headed downlake first, at a reasonably hard steady state pace for me.  Then a bit easier heading up lake, although with the head wind, it felt almost as hard.

After the narrows, I could hear when Joe would call for a 10 or a 20 and I would increase the pressure to stay even with them.  We took a brief break just north of the Route 9 bridge, and then continued to the north end of the lake.  From the QRA boathouse, the quad picked up the rate and I matched to them.

We took another break and started to head home.  Joe said that they were going to take it easy until 2/3 of the way home, and then do a hard 500m piece.  Rowing downlake, I got a bit ahead of them and then slowed to a paddle around the start of the 500.  I saw them take up the rate and I waited until they were about a length behind me and I did the same.  Because they were at speed and I was still accelerating, they pulled a little bit ahead of me by the time I was about 20 strokes into it.  I pushed up the rate and I started to claw them back so we were even at 40 strokes.  We finished around stroke 55 for me, and I was maybe a quarter length up on them.  It was fun doing it side by side like that.

Then an easy paddle back to the dock.  After we landed, I took off my rigger and packed my boat into the back of the boathouse for the winter.  😦

Screen Shot 2016-11-19 at 10.42.21 AM.png

 

Workout Summary - media/20161119-152227-79032o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|11996|68:58.0|02:52.5|000.0|20.0|145.4|171.0|08.7
W-|10100|48:19.0|02:23.6|000.0|20.5|151.6|171.0|10.2
R-|01896|20:39.0|05:26.7|000.0|18.0|125.8|171.0|06.1
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
02|03300|15:18.7|02:19.2|000.0|20.4|153.2|167.0|10.6
03|03300|16:26.5|02:29.5|000.0|19.4|151.4|163.0|10.3
04|02000|09:29.1|02:22.3|000.0|21.7|155.2|170.0|09.7
05|01000|05:01.1|02:30.6|000.0|18.7|137.7|142.0|10.6
06|00500|02:04.6|02:04.6|000.0|28.1|159.4|171.0|08.6

I did some quick analysis of the row. Looking at pace versus stroke rate.  These two plots show tail wind and head wind difference.  Tail wind is on the left.  Head wind is on the right.

Finally, here is a view of the last 500m piece.  You can see my rate and pace increasing at the beginning.

bokeh_plot-51

Tomorrow:  L3 half marathon.  Aiming to do a bit better than the 1:23:33 from last week.

Monday: 4 x 2800m Threshold OTW

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In Newton in my Fluid

Weather:  36F, Clear, light wind from the NNW 3-5mph.  This was a head wind heading down river.  It was only a factor in the straight section in front of the watch factory.

Plan:

  • 4 x 2800m
  • 3-5min rest
  • Rate: 24-26
  • Pace: ~2:15
  • HR Cap: None –> Target TR zone
  • Technique:  Clean Finishes.

Screen Shot 2016-11-07 at 9.55.57 AM.png

Workout Summary - media/20161107-143843-78581o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|13608|71:23.0|02:37.4|23.1|150.5|170.0|08.2
W-|11198|51:40.0|02:18.4|24.8|160.0|170.0|08.7
R-|03680|27:30.0|03:44.3|19.1|123.4|170.0|07.9
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
02|02820|12:55.7|02:17.5|25.1|158.4|164.0|08.7
03|02804|12:46.9|02:16.8|24.7|160.1|166.0|08.9
04|02753|13:05.1|02:22.6|24.5|160.9|166.0|08.6
05|02821|12:52.3|02:16.9|24.9|160.4|170.0|08.8

A very good workout.  I pushed hard, but tried to stick to r24, and that kept the HR in a reasonable place.  I wanted to focus more on rowing clean than driving for the best possible pace.

The one interesting thing from the workout is the sharp deceleration at 6000m.  I was going through the s-turn and a goose did not get out of my way quickly enough.  I hit it hard with my oar during recovery, and lost my grip on the handle.  Luckily, the force of the “bird strike” pushed the handle toward my torso.  It was trapped between my leg and chest and I could grab it again quickly.  Good thing too, because the blade was flipping from feathered to square and starting to really catch water.  I think I avoided a flip by a fraction of a second.  Usually the geese are smart enough to get out of my way.  I think this specific goose will probably do so in the future.

Here’s a quick look at stroke metrics.

bokeh_plot-31The loop down to 20 spm at the bottom is my “bird strike”.

I did a plot of each interval to see if I could see the effect of the light headwind.  The left column is against the headwind, the right column is with the wind.

Now I am off to San Jose and LA for the week.  I will probably stick to cross training at hotel gyms for this trip.  Maybe try to do a couple of strength sessions.

Thursday: 4 x (5 x 2′ / 30″ paddle) / 3′ rest

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On the Upper Charles.  In my fluid.

Weather:  Cold, calm, clear and dark!  30F when I launched, 31F when I finished.  The water was glassy smooth.  It was so calm that I noticed the tiny wake that a goose made when he paddled by in the opposite direction (and I resented the goose for spoiling my perfect water!)

Plan:

  • 4 sets of 5 x 2′ on / 30″ paddle
  • 3 or 4 minutes of rest between sets
  • rate: 26-28
  • pace: better than 2:15
  • HR: No cap.  Threshold workout
  • Technique:  full compression, level draw, crisp tap down, smooth recovery

The number of reps in each set is designed to cover the distance down the river so that I get my long rest when I need to turn at the end.  The intent of this workout is to work  at head race pace and stroke rates with enough rests so that it is more focused on technique than survival.  It worked out as planned.

| Tstart_ | Dist_ | Time_ | _Pace_ | SPM_ | avgHR | _DPS___ | Remarks
 | 00:00.0 | 01166 | 08:00 | 3:25.8 | 15.2 | 119.3 | 09.6 | warming up
 | 08:00.0 | 00451 | 01:59 | 2:11.9 | 25.9 | 151.5 | 08.8 | 
 | 09:59.0 | 00090 | 00:30 | 2:46.7 | 20.7 | 155.1 | 08.7 | 
 | 10:29.0 | 00462 | 02:00 | 2:09.9 | 26.9 | 158.1 | 08.6 | 
 | 12:29.0 | 00079 | 00:30 | 3:09.9 | 19.6 | 159.8 | 08.1 | 
 | 12:59.0 | 00452 | 02:00 | 2:12.7 | 26.8 | 158.3 | 08.4 | 
 | 14:59.0 | 00075 | 00:30 | 3:20.0 | 19.7 | 160.9 | 07.6 | 
 | 15:29.0 | 00473 | 02:01 | 2:07.9 | 27.1 | 160.6 | 08.7 | 
 | 17:30.0 | 00078 | 00:29 | 3:05.9 | 21.4 | 165.2 | 07.5 | 
 | 17:59.0 | 00470 | 02:00 | 2:07.7 | 27.9 | 165.0 | 08.4 | 
 | 19:59.0 | 00323 | 03:00 | 4:38.6 | 20.2 | 135.8 | 05.3 | 
 | 22:59.0 | 00454 | 02:00 | 2:12.2 | 26.9 | 152.0 | 08.4 | 
 | 24:59.0 | 00084 | 00:30 | 2:58.6 | 21.6 | 164.3 | 07.8 | 
 | 25:29.0 | 00447 | 02:00 | 2:14.2 | 27.5 | 164.8 | 08.1 | 
 | 27:29.0 | 00078 | 00:30 | 3:12.3 | 21.7 | 167.5 | 07.2 | 
 | 27:59.0 | 00444 | 02:00 | 2:15.1 | 26.8 | 166.5 | 08.3 | 
 | 29:59.0 | 00082 | 00:31 | 3:09.0 | 25.2 | 170.0 | 06.3 | 
 | 30:30.0 | 00437 | 01:59 | 2:16.2 | 27.2 | 167.6 | 08.1 | 
 | 32:29.0 | 00069 | 00:30 | 3:37.4 | 21.0 | 170.3 | 06.6 | 
 | 32:59.0 | 00445 | 02:00 | 2:14.8 | 26.3 | 167.2 | 08.5 | 
 | 34:59.0 | 00415 | 04:00 | 4:49.2 | 18.9 | 136.7 | 05.5 | 
 | 38:59.0 | 00460 | 02:00 | 2:10.4 | 26.8 | 153.5 | 08.6 | 
 | 40:59.0 | 00084 | 00:30 | 2:58.6 | 21.3 | 163.6 | 07.9 | 
 | 41:29.0 | 00447 | 02:00 | 2:14.2 | 27.4 | 163.3 | 08.2 | 
 | 43:29.0 | 00084 | 00:30 | 2:58.6 | 22.0 | 166.7 | 07.6 | 
 | 43:59.0 | 00447 | 02:00 | 2:14.2 | 26.2 | 165.3 | 08.5 | 
 | 45:59.0 | 00093 | 00:31 | 2:46.7 | 21.5 | 166.6 | 08.4 | 
 | 46:30.0 | 00445 | 01:59 | 2:13.7 | 27.0 | 164.9 | 08.3 | 
 | 48:29.0 | 00078 | 00:30 | 3:12.3 | 21.3 | 167.2 | 07.3 | 
 | 48:59.0 | 00454 | 02:00 | 2:12.2 | 27.4 | 167.2 | 08.3 | 
 | 50:59.0 | 00215 | 03:00 | 6:58.6 | 18.2 | 134.5 | 03.9 | 
 | 53:59.0 | 00455 | 02:00 | 2:11.9 | 26.8 | 153.4 | 08.5 | 
 | 55:59.0 | 00081 | 00:30 | 3:05.2 | 21.2 | 163.2 | 07.7 | 
 | 56:29.0 | 00440 | 02:00 | 2:16.4 | 25.8 | 163.6 | 08.5 | 
 | 58:29.0 | 00082 | 00:30 | 3:02.9 | 21.3 | 165.1 | 07.7 | 
 | 58:59.0 | 00437 | 02:01 | 2:18.4 | 26.1 | 164.8 | 08.3 | 
 | 01:00.0 | 00076 | 00:29 | 3:10.8 | 21.7 | 166.6 | 07.2 | 
 | 01:29.0 | 00437 | 02:00 | 2:17.3 | 26.2 | 165.7 | 08.3 | 
 | 03:29.0 | 00079 | 00:30 | 3:09.9 | 20.4 | 167.7 | 07.7 | 
 | 03:59.0 | 00449 | 02:00 | 2:13.6 | 26.7 | 167.7 | 08.4 | 
 | 05:59.0 | 01455 | 10:20 | 3:33.1 | 18.1 | 127.8 | 07.8 |

| Tstart_ | Dist_ | Time_ | _Pace_ | SPM_ | avgHR | _DPS___ | Remarks
 | 00:00.0 | 01166 | 08:00 | 3:25.8 | 15.2 | 119.3 | 09.6 | warmup
 | 00:00.0 | 02245 | 18:00 | 4:00.5 | 20.1 | 148.8 | 06.2 | rests
 | 00:00.0 | 01455 | 10:20 | 3:33.1 | 18.1 | 127.8 | 07.8 | cool down
 | 00:00.0 | 09006 | 39:59 | 2:13.2 | 26.8 | 162.1 | 08.4 | main set

I was hoping to be a bit faster, but it wasn’t gonna happen for me today.  I suspect that the hard workout from Tuesday, plus 90 minutes yesterday has built up a little fatigue.

I also was not pushing this to the edge.  In each interval, when it started to bite, I tried to refocus on technique.  Try to get my finishes so clean that I wouldn’t touch the water, and really get out for the catch.  With water this smooth, it was hard to row badly!

I was curious what my stroke dynamics look like.  Here are a few strokes from the begining and end of the workout.

screen-shot-2016-10-27-at-10-00-33-am

You can compare that to last year.

screen-shot-2015-11-01-at-10-09-29-am

It looks like some subtle changes.

  • This year, it looks like I am getting a bit more impulse from my leg drive.  The acceleration curve is peaking more at 0.4 sec.
  • It looks like my finishes were a bit cleaner last year.
  • See how the boat speed is peaking right before the catch last year?  That means that I am accelerating up the slide.  This year in two out of three strokes, the boat speed is nice and flat through the recovery, so a smoother, more even recovery.  You can also see this in terms of the minimum instantaneous boat speed.  Last year, it troughed well below 2.5m/s.  This year, all strokes troughed above 2.5m/s.  That’s good.

Tomorrow:  The weather is supposed to be terrible.  I might do an erg session.  I should probably do a 4 x 20′ endurance session, but I might do a rate limited 10K to post a CTC number.

Cold Enough for Pogies! 90′ of steady state

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On the upper charles in my fluid.

Weather:  Cold and clear,  35F.  Light wind from the ESE.  This was a bit of a head wind coming up river.  Another absolutely stunning day.

Plan:

  • As much steady state as I had time for.  ( turned out to be nearly 90 minutes)
  • rate: 20
  • pace: ~2:30
  • HR: Capped at 155
  • Technique:  good compression, level drive, crisp finishes

screen-shot-2016-10-26-at-10-35-09-am

I got to the dock about 20 minutes earlier today than yesterday and the difference was dramatic.  It was really dark!  I could see a few lights out in the lagoon heading down river when I got my boat, but I could see the boats that they were on.

By the time I got in my boat, my eyes had adjusted enough that I could see a little bit, but I was still pretty tentative.  The river is narrow enough at the beginning that it is shaded by trees on both sides, so it is really dark in places.  As I started the turn out of the lagoon, I saw lights ahead.  One was on a four that had steering off into the weeds on the inside of the turn.  The other was a launch.  I couldn’t tell which way the launch was heading so I stopped and inspected the situation closely, then paddled through the whole situation.  After I passed those two boats, there was one more four a bit further down  the river.  I saw no more of them after that.

For today, my objectives were pretty simple.  Work on building my aerobic base by getting in lots of minutes or rowing.  And more importantly, try to work on correcting the flaws in my stroke.  In the double, I was rowing way to deep (over the barrel), and my finishes were very sloppy.  Today, I was trying to maintain an internal monologue during every stroke.  It went something like this.

(starting right after the finish)

  • Get those blades off the water, don’t be lazy, you don’t need training wheels
  • Easy up the slide.  keep it smooth
  • Don’t hunch, keep your shoulders high in to the catch
  • Reach way out there, don’t be a chicken
  • drop the blades first, then accelerate
  • keep the handles nice and low, don’t go deep
  • push hands down and away crisply.  Don’t let your hands brush your torso
  • Get those blades up.

Over and over.  Sometimes I would get focused on one part of it, especially the finishes and I would start to hunch or drag my blades, but this was some of the hardest concentration that I have done in a steady state session.

After I finished my usual 2 full laps of the river, I had time to add in another 2k or so rowing.  This part I did with slow roll ups.  I would finish, feather, and then roll to square slowly through the whole recovery.  This was a good change because it still required a lot of concentration, but was a bit of change.

Sometimes I just want to row, but right now, I really want to try to break some habits and start some new ones.  It ain’t easy.

Data from RIM.

| Tstart_ | Dist_ | Time_ | _Pace_ | SPM_ | avgHR | _DPS___ | Remarks
 | 00:00.0 | 00705 | 05:32 | 3:55.5 | 12.5 | 112.8 | 10.2 | warming up
 | 05:32.0 | 03357 | 16:19 | 2:25.8 | 19.4 | 141.1 | 10.6 | 
 | 21:51.0 | 00111 | 01:08 | 5:06.3 | 18.6 | 133.3 | 05.3 | 
 | 22:59.0 | 02803 | 13:49 | 2:27.9 | 19.9 | 149.5 | 10.2 | 
 | 36:48.0 | 00053 | 02:01 | 19:01.5| 15.7 | 120.8 | 01.7 | 
 | 38:49.0 | 02846 | 13:38 | 2:23.7 | 20.1 | 147.8 | 10.4 | 
 | 52:27.0 | 00088 | 00:59 | 5:35.2 | 18.7 | 142.3 | 04.8 | 
 | 53:26.0 | 02809 | 14:02 | 2:29.9 | 20.1 | 151.0 | 10.0 | 
 | 07:28.0 | 00103 | 01:17 | 6:13.8 | 14.9 | 134.5 | 05.4 | 
 | 08:45.0 | 01090 | 05:21 | 2:27.2 | 20.0 | 144.9 | 10.2 | 
 | 14:06.0 | 00099 | 01:18 | 6:33.9 | 20.3 | 133.2 | 03.7 | 
 | 15:24.0 | 01186 | 05:58 | 2:30.9 | 20.6 | 146.1 | 09.6 | 
 | 21:22.0 | 01120 | 05:51 | 2:36.7 | 20.8 | 146.7 | 09.2 |

| Tstart_ | Dist_ | Time_ | _Pace_ | SPM_ | avgHR | _DPS___ | Remarks
 | 00:00.0 | 00705 | 05:32 | 3:55.5 | 12.5 | 112.8 | 10.2 | warmup
 | 00:00.0 | 00454 | 06:43 | 7:23.8 | 17.4 | 131.1 | 03.9 | rests
 | 00:00.0 | 01120 | 05:51 | 2:36.7 | 20.8 | 146.7 | 09.2 | cool down
 | 00:00.0 | 14091 | 09:07 | 2:27.2 | 19.9 | 146.8 | 10.2 | main set

I always feel a little bit better when I can stick with a HR cap and still do a steady state session with the avg pace faster than 2:30.

Tuesday: 5 x 1500

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On the Upper Charles in Newton in my single

Weather:  Cold and stunningly beautiful.  There was frost on the dock, and the air temp was around 36F.  There was no wind at all at first.  Over the course of the session, a little bit of wind from the east started, but it was barely noticeable.

The river level was high because of all the rain we got over the weekend.  From the GPS data, it looks like the flow was a bit higher than usual (my calculation about 0.02 m/s)  This is about a second plus or minus on pace depending on whether you are heading up of down river.

Plan:

  • Short warmup
  • 5 x 1500m / 5′ rest
    • rate: 26-28
    • pace: faster than 2:15
    • No HR cap.  Threshold intensity
  • Square blade rowing for cool down

Screen Shot 2016-10-25 at 11.15.22 AM.png

TCX data from RIM

Workout Summary - media/20161025-133204-77854o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|12728|71:56.0|02:49.6|22.6|145.0|174.0|07.8
W-|07501|32:51.0|02:11.4|27.0|162.2|174.0|08.5
R-|06530|46:46.0|03:34.9|16.5|113.6|174.0|08.1
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
02|01501|06:31.8|02:10.5|25.8|155.5|163.0|08.9
03|01501|06:34.7|02:11.5|27.6|161.6|168.0|08.3
04|01499|06:32.3|02:10.9|26.6|161.8|171.0|08.6
05|01502|06:40.9|02:13.5|27.6|166.6|173.0|08.1
06|01499|06:31.3|02:10.6|27.5|165.2|174.0|08.3

Speedcoach Data.  I sure do like the lower noise you get from the impeller.  I think the cal factor is still a little stingy.  The avg pace from GPS was 2:11.4.  From the Speedcoach it’s 2:12.3.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_1230_|_07:16_|_2:57.2_|_124___|_17.1_|_09.9_|_117___|_warmup
01235_|_1490_|_06:36_|_2:13.0_|_170___|_25.7_|_08.8_|_155___|_rep #1
02735_|_0546_|_03:39_|_3:20.3_|_063___|_17.3_|_08.7_|_125___|_rest
03271_|_1491_|_06:32_|_2:11.3_|_180___|_27.6_|_08.3_|_162___|_rep #2
04771_|_0604_|_04:15_|_3:31.0_|_071___|_16.7_|_08.5_|_128___|_rest
05366_|_1495_|_06:39_|_2:13.3_|_175___|_26.3_|_08.5_|_164___|_rep #3
06866_|_0421_|_03:07_|_3:42.0_|_052___|_16.7_|_08.1_|_133___|_rest
07282_|_1487_|_06:33_|_2:12.1_|_180___|_27.5_|_08.3_|_166___|_rep #4
08782_|_0473_|_03:15_|_3:26.4_|_056___|_17.2_|_08.4_|_139___|_rest
09242_|_1491_|_06:33_|_2:11.9_|_180___|_27.5_|_08.3_|_165___|_rep #5
10742_|_2876_|_17:04_|_2:58.0_|_310___|_18.2_|_09.3_|_132___|_sbr, cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
01230_|_07:16_|_2:57.2_|_124___|_17.1_|_09.9_|_117___|_warmup
07454_|_32:53_|_2:12.3_|_885___|_26.9_|_08.4_|_162___|_Main set
02044_|_14:16_|_3:29.3_|_242___|_17.0_|_08.4_|_131___|_rest meters
02876_|_17:04_|_2:58.0_|_310___|_18.2_|_09.3_|_132___|_cool down
13604_|_11:28_|_2:37.6_|_1561___|_21.8_|_08.7_|_144___|_Total

I was delighted with this workout.  I was working hard, but I was never on the edge of failure.  I sifted through my journal and found that I did this workout on November 3rd of last year.  (Link)

That session last year was a bit of a miracle.  Everything went perfectly and I pushed it to the limit.  I managed an average split of 2:09.7.  Avg heart rate was 168.  Today, my avg pace was 2:11.4 (1.5 sec slower), but my avg heart rate was 162.  Taking into account the lack of threshold work that I have done in my single this year, I find it very encouraging that I am that close on pace, and in a better place in terms of aerobic fitness.

Tomorrow:  75′ steady state.  It’s gonna be cold again.  Predicted low around 32F.

Thursday: 2×500 taper.

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On the charles in my fluid.

Last taper day.

2×500

Workout Summary - media/20161020-152810-77630o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|04143|24:30.0|02:57.5|21.1|141.4|175.0|08.0
W-|01000|03:55.0|01:57.5|29.5|161.7|174.0|08.6
R-|07344|46:00.0|03:08.0|02.4|016.4|174.0|08.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
02|00500|01:55.2|01:55.2|30.2|161.5|174.0|08.6
03|00500|01:59.9|01:59.9|28.9|161.8|174.0|08.7