Plan:

1. 5×1000
2. 500m paddle
3. rate 26,28,30,32,30
4. No pace target, but I wanted to be fast.

It wasn’t to be.  I did my warmup and decided to do the first rep at 24, because I was feeling a bit sluggish.  I made it through that rep OK, and then did the next rep at 26.  That also went OK.  But when I turned and started the 3rd rep, at r28, I only made it about 100m when I just decided that I was up for the pain that was coming and bailed out.

I’m having trouble getting into the right mindset for the sprint racing.  My first race is in less than 3 weeks and I either need to get my shit together or decide to bail out on sprints for this season.  I don’t really want to do that, but I’m not sure how to improve my attitude about them.

Anyway, I paddle away from my failure and after about 800m, I saw a guy in one of those surfski type kayaks paddling furiously ahead of me.  That was enough to get me refocused in the moment, so I started to ramp up the ramp and pressure and did the rest of the way to the dam pretty hard.  By coincidence, it was about 1000m, so there was rep number 3 done.

Then I turned around, caught my breath and decided to do another one at r24.  That went fine and the pace got better and better as I went along.  Then I was almost done, so I decided to try to do the r28 rep that I had bailed on before as a final rep.  This was my best rep of the day, 2:04 pace and good rate throughout.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_3780_|_18:54_|_2:30.0_|_411___|_21.7_|_09.2_|_141___|_warmup
03800_|_1000_|_04:17_|_2:08.3_|_107___|_25.0_|_09.3_|_146___|_m
04800_|_0700_|_04:21_|_3:06.1_|_077___|_17.7_|_09.1_|_123___|_r
05500_|_1000_|_04:11_|_2:05.7_|_113___|_27.0_|_08.8_|_166___|_m
06500_|_1920_|_09:44_|_2:32.0_|_208___|_21.4_|_09.2_|_150___|_r
08420_|_1000_|_04:29_|_2:14.7_|_109___|_24.3_|_09.2_|_167___|_m
09420_|_0040_|_00:20_|_4:06.3_|_003___|_09.1_|_13.3_|_118___|_r
09460_|_1000_|_04:17_|_2:08.4_|_115___|_26.9_|_08.7_|_168___|_m
10460_|_0640_|_03:53_|_3:02.3_|_075___|_19.3_|_08.5_|_140___|_r
11100_|_1000_|_04:08_|_2:04.1_|_118___|_28.5_|_08.5_|_169___|_m
12100_|_1960_|_10:57_|_2:47.7_|_227___|_20.7_|_08.6_|_141___|_c

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
03780_|_18:54_|_2:30.0_|_411___|_21.7_|_09.2_|_141___|_warmup
05000_|_21:22_|_2:08.2_|_562___|_26.3_|_08.9_|_163___|_Main set
03300_|_18:17_|_2:46.3_|_363___|_19.8_|_09.1_|_141___|_rest meters
01960_|_10:57_|_2:47.7_|_227___|_20.7_|_08.6_|_141___|_cool down
14040_|_09:31_|_2:28.5_|_1563___|_22.5_|_09.0_|_148___|_Total

Tomorrow:  Steady State and some practice starts, maybe 20 or so.

The wind from yesterday was gone.  The water was perfect.  It was a bit cold (around 40F), but it warmed up as I was rowing.  Another beautiful morning to be on the river.

Today’s mission was to mimic the workout that Sander had done yesterday.  He did a 4x1K.  Since mine would no doubt be slower, I decided to add a punishment rep.  Actually, the way things worked out, the end of my fourth rep put me at the far end of the 1K course, so I decided that another rep would be a good idea.

The objectives:

1. Pace faster than 2:15
2. Stroke rate 26 to 28
3. Try to row clean, blades off the water, etc

I did a superlative 6×1000 last August and finished with an average pace of 2:07.0.  That was my best ever 1K interval session.  This was my third session of the season, so I had pretty modest expectations.

Side note:  Water temp this morning was probably around 2C.  In August water tem is around 20C.  From Biorow Vol 9, No 105, the impact of the water temp would be 1.5%.  In other words, a 2:05 split today would be a 2:03 split in 20C water.  I like this side note, it makes me feel faster!

Back to the story.  I started with a long warmup.  I did the OTW warmup that I got to like last season all the way to the dam, and then turned and did reasonable pressure steady state back to the start of the 1K course, another 2.5K or so.

Then into the intervals.  I tried to keep myself under control.  I tend to push so hard that I blow up in OTW interval sessions, so I purposely aimed a bit low.  Nevertheless, I was really working hard in the last third of each interval and even had to ease up a bit in the last couple.  In terms of technique, I found that a winter of erging on slides had had two effects, one positive, one negative.

The positive effect was on the recovery.  I was much better maintaining my balance and fully extending my arms and swing my back before breaking my knees.  This allowed me to maintain balance and control as I went back up the slide to the catch.  I need to take some video, but I didn’t feel like I was bouncing into the catch like last year.

The negative effect was on layback.  On the erg, putting a bit more layback and really pulling the handle all the way to your chest helps your splits a fair amount.  Basically anything that gets more chain out of the machine helps increase your power per stroke.  In the boat, the 2.5M meters that I did on the erg were causing me to wait to long to tap down.  This meant that I had too much layback, my hands would bump my ribs, and that made my finishes sloppy.  I figured this out somewhere in interval number 2, and from there I consciously worked on less layback, earlier tapdown and crisper finishes.  When I got it right, it gave me 2 seconds on my split.  It was hard to consistently get right.  I want to get this on tape too.

So, at the end of the day, I ended up with a 2:08.1 avg, so a second slower than last august.  If I grade it on the tempurature curve, I did better!   I see this as a positive sign for the season.  My fitness is getting better, and my technique needs work.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_5680_|_28:44_|_2:31.8_|_552___|_19.2_|_10.3_|_149___|_warmup
05700_|_1000_|_04:17_|_2:08.7_|_111___|_25.9_|_09.0_|_168___|_Interval #1
06700_|_0300_|_02:11_|_3:39.0_|_030___|_13.7_|_10.0_|_138___|_rest
07000_|_1000_|_04:15_|_2:07.3_|_114___|_26.9_|_08.8_|_167___|_Interval #2
08000_|_0500_|_03:14_|_3:14.5_|_055___|_17.0_|_09.1_|_136___|_rest
08500_|_1000_|_04:15_|_2:07.6_|_119___|_28.0_|_08.4_|_168___|_Interval #3
09500_|_0500_|_03:44_|_3:44.2_|_055___|_14.7_|_09.1_|_132___|_rest
10000_|_1000_|_04:17_|_2:08.7_|_118___|_27.5_|_08.5_|_168___|_Interval #4
11000_|_0500_|_03:13_|_3:13.3_|_056___|_17.4_|_08.9_|_138___|_rest
11500_|_1000_|_04:16_|_2:08.1_|_117___|_27.4_|_08.5_|_169___|_Interval #5
12500_|_1360_|_07:37_|_2:48.0_|_147___|_19.3_|_09.3_|_147___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
05680_|_28:44_|_2:31.8_|_552___|_19.2_|_10.3_|_149___|_warmup
05000_|_21:21_|_2:08.1_|_579___|_27.1_|_08.6_|_168___|_Main set
01800_|_12:23_|_3:26.5_|_196___|_15.8_|_09.2_|_136___|_rest meters
01360_|_07:37_|_2:48.0_|_147___|_19.3_|_09.3_|_147___|_cool down
13840_|_10:06_|_2:31.9_|_1474___|_21.0_|_09.4_|_152___|_Total

Tomorrow:  15K steady state OTW, HR limit 155.