Sunday: Cromwell Cup

July 10, 201611 Comments

Weather: misty rain. Temp around 65F. Light winds. Flat water, except for some launch wakes.

I got to Riverside around 6am. I unloaded and parked my car close by. I was all settled in time for the 6:20 racers meeting. Then I waited around to launch. My start was at 8:43, so I launched just after 8AM, and made my way up river to the warmup area above the start. I did a version of my normal warmup with increasing rates, and then did some starts. The first couple were pretty horrid, but I settled down and eventually shook off the nervousness. Then it was pretty much OK.

Were called to the line 5 minutes before our start and lined up across the river. No bouys marking lanes or the start line. There was just a tent on the shore and a person with a megaphone calling alignment. As soon as she called it aligned, the starter on the launch behind us called out. “This is the start. Ready. Attention. Row!” I’m very glad that I setup at the catch when alignment was called, because there was no screwing around on this one.

My start was clean, but uninspired. I was in lane 2, which share the center span of the two bridges with lane 3. I was side by side with the guy in lane 3 through the first bridge and there was only about 5 m between us. It was exciting stuff, but he was faster than I was and I was flying and dying trying to stay side by side with him. After the first bridge, I settled in at about r30 and just tried to hold on to some semblance of technique. The launch was aggressively calling steering commands to all of us, and I found it a bit disruptive. I lost stroke count a couple of times because I was trying to listen, steer, watch the pace, count and row cleanly. But the main thing was that I had gone out too hard and I was paying the price now.

The second bridge is only about 300m away from the first, but I felt like time was passing in slow motion. That’s what happens to me when I don’t have a good stroke count to keep me centered. I went under the second bridge, finally, and looked at Crewnerd. Crewnerd told me I had 350m left to go. In my head, I translated that to another forty strokes. Two sets of 20. I can do that. I started pushing the pace again and got through 20 strokes. At this point, I got some more steering suggestions. I had drifted over into lane 1, by the docks of the Riverside Boathouse. I took a couple of hard port strokes, and then counted out the remaining 20 strokes to the finish, but no beep! I kept on going for a couple more strokes and the finish horn finally went off. I was massively disappointed with my time, 4:01.3. I finished 3rd in my 4 person race.

Here are the results of the other heat.

After the finish, I rowed down to the BU bridge for a cool down, and that was it for the day.

Here’s the whole row. The race was from LAP002 to LAP003.

Here’s a zoomed view of my course. You can see that my steering was way less than ideal. I started off going toward lane 1, eventually got my point on the bridge and went through it side by side with the guy in lane 3. After that bridge, I veered away from him, but it looks like my course was reasonably straight toward the second bridge. Coming out of the second bridge, I started veering toward lane3, and was pointed back by the launch following us. I guess I must have overcorrected because you can see how I drifted out into lane 1. The guy in lane 1 was well behind at this point, so there was no interference, but I added some extra distance and slowed myself down to steer at the end.

Here’s pace, spm and heart rate.

Here’s a zoomed view of the race.

I covered an extra 10-20 meters over the 1k due to my lousy steering. The slow down at the end was me steering back to lane 2 away from the dock.

00010_|_3489_|_22:34_|_3:14.0_|_381___|_16.9_|_09.2_|_142___|_warmup

03498_|_1012_|_04:00_|_1:58.6_|_126___|_31.5_|_08.0_|_173___|_race

04510_|_1416_|_09:38_|_3:24.2_|_153___|_15.9_|_09.3_|_134___|_cooldown

So, what am I to make of this race.

The pace that I managed was what I should have been expecting based on the prep work I had been doing. I was doing an all out 500m at a 1:55 pace, so a 1K should have been between 1:58 and 1:59.
My steering was bad. I think that was mainly because I have been trying to make up for a lack of good specific preparation by trying to push very close to my limits. Last year, I was very disciplined about looking every ten strokes and it was a better race.
With regard to race specific training. Between my travel schedule, my lack of a boat until a month ago, and not having a good specific training plan, I was not well prepared for this race. I did enough training on starts, but I did not do enough heavy lifting. I needed more 4x1Ks, 6x750s and 8 x 500s.
My base fitness isn’t as good as it has been either. My 2mmol power is around 185w right now on the erg. I think last year it would have been about 10 watts higher. That’s about 4 seconds on pace, and I think it made a big difference in the second half of the race.

Based on all of that, I did as well as I should have expected. And I’m fine with that. Honestly, I’m not completely fine with it, but I understand it, and I will use it to define my training from here on out.

Now I set my sights on head racing season. Here’s a preliminary race schedule.

Sept 17: CRI Fall classic (5K)
Oct 2: Textile River Regatta (6K)
Oct 9: Quinsigmond Snake Race (4K)
Oct 22: Head of the Charles (5K) (If I get in the lottery)
Nov 5: Merrimack Chase (5K)

I need to put together a more formal training plan, but for now, I will be focusing on aerobic base. Lot’s of 2mmol rowing. It’s also time for some video and RIM feedback.

Friday: 2 x 500- still tapering

July 9, 20162 Comments

Weather: cloudy, windy around 7 mph, with gusts above 15mph. A cross wind.

I slept in this morning. Late this afternoon, I went to go for a short row and pick up my boat for this weekend’s race.

Plan:

Warmup
practice starts
2 x 500
- pace target: 1:55 to 1:57
- rate target: 30-32
cool down

I felt tired and frankly a little weird. My heart rate was really high even right after I left the dock. The wind was also a bother. A pretty stiff cross wind was kicking up some chop and also at times shifted around to be a nasty headwind.

The warmup was slow and I felt sluggish throughout. I was also paranoid because there were quite a few other boaters out. Kayaks, canoes, fishing boats. All randomly puttering along blissfully unaware that the river has a traffic pattern at all.

The past few days, I’ve been doing exactly the same warmup, but today, my heartrate was a good 10 to 15 beats higher throughout for about the same effort. Maybe too much caffeine or something.

After the warmup, I paddled to the end of the basin, turned and setup Crewnerd as instructed by Sander. Sounds on, speech on, autostart off, and then I set up the workout for practice starts. This is a 15 second countdown, 15 strokes, 1 minute rest. I planned 4 reps. With the speech on, Crewnerd gives you a tone warning at 15 seconds, then it says “ready” at 2 seconds to go, “attention” at 1 second, and “go” at zero. It works well and gives it a little more realism.

I played the first start conservatively, working on stability and crisp blade work. The next three I pushed harder. Each time, the same sequence. Comfortable at the catch at about 3/4 slide. Smooth push to get the boat moving. Early finish, blades high, barely feather, half slide, get blades in, finish early. Try to get the rate up around 45 for the first 5 short strokes. Then lengthen out to full slide in strokes six and seven, keep the rate high up through stroke 10. Then settle down to 32 and let the pace drift up toward 1:55 by stroke 15. I think these starts were good and solid. I was happy with them. None were perfect, but none were botched.

The last start put me about 20m away from the bridge, and I drifted under it and got myself lined up for the first 500. Again with autostart off, a 15 second countdown and speechified starting commands. It was basically flat calm as I started, but when I got out to around stroke 15, I was hit with a pretty strong gust of head wind, and it persisted through about 10 strokes, then eased a bit, and then slammed me again. This interval was right by the watch factory and I think the wind was swirling around the building. By the fortieth stroke, I was clear of the building and the wind calmed right down. I pushed the pace back down and really hammered the last 25 strokes. I paid the price after I finished.

I then paddled through the s-turn, and setup at the end of the straight section. The wind was still blowing, and here it was a cross/head wind. It felt like it was around 6-8mph and pretty constant. There wasn’t much chop where I started, but the river opens up to the port side of the boat after about 100m and there is enough room to build up a little bit of wave action. Nothing impressive by lake standards, but enough to make it tough to get out to full compression and maintain good balance. My start was good, and I just slogged my way through the breeze. Steering in sprints is always a challenge. I try to get a good look in about every ten strokes. In this piece, when I looked around at the 10th stroke, I saw a fishing boat to my port, safely clear. At 20, I looked again, and they appeared to be puttering along on a course that was converging with mine. I then steered to starboard to give myself some room. At thirty strokes, they seemed to have adjusted their course to try to get in my way. I steered more and snuck a look in at 35 strokes. They were right off my port bow, but clear by about 20m or so. I picked it up and pushed past them and it really started to hurt. So at 50 strokes, I pulled back and tried to set a rate and pressure that I could have sustained longer. This was a good way to finish, because I didn’t feel so bad after this rep.

I paddled with square blades most of the way back to the dock.

I decided to take a full rest day today and recharge my batteries for the race tomorrow.

The race tomorrow.

I’m in lane 2. This lane shares the center arch of the bridges. Scott Hornney is the guy who beat me by a little in last year’s Cromwell cup, and by a lot in a couple of head races. He’s a good rower, and pulled a 6:27 at last year’s CRASH-Bs! I have no expectation of beating him. Thomas Beretich was in the Cromwell Cup last year and he was a bit slower than I was. I don’t think that I’ve raced against James Ball before.

This year there might be a new twist. It looks like they are using the US Rowing age based handicaps. So, I get a 2.5 second of advantage against Thomas and Scott, and 3.7 vs James. That’s an intriguing twist, and one that I plan to ignore. I like racing on raw time.

The race meeting is at 6:20, so I plan to get there around 6 to unload and park. Then it will be a couple hours of waiting for (hopefully) less than 4 minutes of rowing. I’m very excited.

Thursday: 3 x 500 taper

July 7, 20163 Comments

Weather: Cloudy, cool. A bit more wind this morning. About 4mph from E, but swinging randomly around from NE to SE.

Plan: Day 2 of the taper

warmup
practice starts
3 x 500
- pace target 1:55-1:57
- rate target: 30-32
cool down technique work

Here are zoom views:

Zoom1: 4 practice starts
Zoom2: rep #1
zoom3: rep #2
zoom4: rep #3 (headwind gust right around 6800m)

I think I must have been feeling a bit tired today. I felt sluggish in the boat and it took a ton of effort to hit paces that I was doing yesterday. My balance was also off a little bit. Maybe the light wind upset my balance and timing a bit?

My first practice start was horrific. My initial stroke was off balance, and that screwed up my next two strokes. I was working on getting the boat set right and not able to really put power into the little half slide strokes. It wasn’t until the fourth stroke that I was really laying down some power. The next 3 starts were much better.

I blew the start of the first 500, but recovered well. I took my time settling down to pace, and paid a pretty steep price. I was in real pain during the last 20 strokes, and I was a mess for a minute after I finished. The good news, a 1:56.1 pace, even with the lousy start. Even Crewnerd liked this one…1:54.8 on crewnerd.

I paddled through the s-turn, and got setup at the downstream end of the 1K straight section. Today, I remember to setup Crewnerd correctly. This start was better, but still not all that dynamic. I settled more aggressively and tried to stick to 30spm to try to save myself from the mild discomfort I had experienced in rep #1. I needed to do a bit of steering in the last 20 strokes, but all in all a pretty good rep. 1:56.9 on speedcoach, 1:59.0 on CrewNerd.

More paddling around, and then the final rep. When I spun at the uptream end of the 1K, I noticed that the wind was a bit fresher, and for this part of the river, right on my bow. Resigning myself to a slower rep, I got set for the start, and pretty much nailed this one. I settled to 30, and was even seeing some 29s. The boat felt a fair amount heavier, and the pace was hovering around 2:00. Then around the 40th stroke, I noticed the water flattened, and the pace pick up a bit. I was in a lull. But then the inevitable gust happened after that and it slowed me right back down again. At this point there were about 15 strokes left, and I really didn’t want to have the pace be over 2:00, so I pushed the rate and pressure up. On Speedcoach, the average pace was 1:59.6. On Crewnerd, it came out 2:08.6?????? I assume that I must have accidentally triggered the timer at the start before I actually went.

After all that, I rowed with square blades most of the way back to the dock.

Tomorrow: 2 x 500.

Wednesday: 4 x 500 – Race Taper

July 6, 2016July 6, 20165 Comments

Weather: Sunny and Hot 75F, 75% RH. Light breeze 1-2mph from the NW. This was basically a cross wind, although it was at it’s strongest and a bit of a head wind during the final rep.

I have used the same taper plan for racing for the past couple of years and I really like it. It’s documented here. It’s very simple. The theory is to maintain intensity, and reduce volume as you approach the race. Today, I did 4 – 500m intervals, tomorrow I’ll do 3, then 2 on Friday, one on Saturday, and race on Sunday. The approach was shown in the linked study to improve the time to exhaustion at 1500m running pace by 22% (from 250 seconds to 320 seconds) when compared to taking rest days and 14% compared to a low intensity taper. I like it because it gives me the chance to keep practicing starts and work on race pacing.

So today’s plan:

Long Rojabo style warmup finishing with 20 strokes at faster than race pace.
A few practice starts
4 x 500m intervals
- 1:55 pace
- 30-32 spm
Long rests
Cool down

Here’s a map view of the whole session. The river level is quite low and the water is getting really murky. There are a lot of floating weeds, but I didn’t have any issues with them today.

The warmup was uneventful. I was hitting some sweet paces, and I felt like I was rowing clean. I was having some intestinal troubles. These continued through the whole session. I hate that.

After the warmup, I did 4 practice starts. None of the four were disastrous, none of them were great either. The last one was the best one.

Then into the intervals. I pushed the first one really hard, and really smashed into the lactate wall at about 50 strokes, the last 15 really hurt. I had massive shivers after I finished. On CrewNerd, it was a 1:57 pace, upstream. On the speedcoach, it was a 1:54.1. That was definitely a bit too fast.

I was an idiot on the second interval. I got all set up, did my start and settle, and then looked at the iphone. That’s when I noticed that I didn’t set up a 500 interval and I didn’t know where I was. I bailed out around 250m. It was a pretty good 1:55 pace though.

I took a couple minutes to get my breath back and then setup CrewNerd for another 500m. Off I went, and I was determined to get a good start and settle aggressively to my target rate at 30 spm. This one was another 1:57 on CrewNerd, but 1:55.8 on Speedcoach (still upstream, but less current here). The lactate wave was less debilitating in this interval. In think this is a better pace target for me.

Then I paddled around, had a drink, spun and setup for interval number 3. This one was downstream, and what wind there was, was a bit of a tail wind. I had high hopes. This one was a disappointing 1:59 on CrewNerd because I stopped about a stroke too soon. On Speedcoach it was a 1:57.5. Good rate discipline.

I setup for the fourth interval, now heading up river. The breeze was a little fresher and was a headwind about 30 degrees off the bow. I got a good start, and then settled. The boat felt heavier even though the headwind was light, only about 2mph. The settle took my pace above 2:00. I tried to focus on holding the rate and taking long strokes. Around the 40 stroke point, I noticed that I was a bit off course and needed to do some steering. I counted out to 60 strokes and looked at the iphone to see how much distance I had left, expecting to see about 30 meters or so. Instead, I saw 112 meters and the display was not updating. The frigging thing had frozen! I took another 2 strokes and guessed that I had finished the 500m. Turns out I was off by about 30m. This interval was at 2:00.5 pace. Part of it was head wind. Part of it was fatigue. It was close to a maximal effort.

It looks like Crewnerd kept working in the background, despite the display being frozen. And once I brought up a Just Row and started it, the display was live again. I was pretty irked. This kind of freeze had not happened to me unless I was using the Dual GPS before. I am edging closer and closer the buying a Speedcoach GPS.

After the last interval, I pulled my feet out of the shoes and rowed back to the dock concentrating on trying to get perfect finishes.

Tomorrow: Same thing, but 3 intervals.

Finally, apropos to nothing, but while I was driving to the lake on Saturday morning, the sun was rising behind me and the shadow of my boat on my car was kind of cool.

Thursday: r20 Steady State

June 30, 20162 Comments

Weather: Perfect. warm, 70F when I started, 75F when I finished. Sunny. Light WNW wind ~ 2mph. This was a cross/tail wind going downstream and cross/head going upstream. Water was very flat. Really delightful.

Plan: I was originally thinking to do a technique session, but I changed my mind. I have been doing a lot of rate ladders and technique work, but not much pure steady state rowing. And when I do, it tends to be at r18. This has helped me work on balance and stroke mechanics, but it also has encouraged me to pull really hard at the low rate to get any kind of decent pace. Today, I decided to try upping the rate a bit, and lighten my stroke to keep it low intensity

Steady State
4 x ~3000m
1′ rests to turn the boat and grab a quick drink
Rate: 20 SPM
Pace: faster than 2:30
Heart Rate: < 155, start to ease up on pressure when HR gets above 150
Technique: Favor length over power. Get fully compressed at the catch. Finish clean and early. Get those damn blades off the water.

rowsandall.com plots of the TCX data from CrewNerd

Plots from Speedcoach impeller data

Summary data from Speedcoach

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_1115_|_07:59_|_3:34.9_|_136___|_17.0_|_08.2_|_114___|_warmup
01137_|_2697_|_13:01_|_2:24.8_|_265___|_20.4_|_10.2_|_147___|_downstream tail wind
03830_|_0061_|_00:33_|_4:29.7_|_009___|_16.4_|_06.8_|_126___|_
03900_|_2728_|_13:27_|_2:27.8_|_272___|_20.2_|_10.0_|_148___|_upstream head wind
06617_|_0171_|_01:09_|_3:22.3_|_018___|_15.6_|_09.5_|_137___|_
06800_|_2827_|_13:54_|_2:27.5_|_281___|_20.2_|_10.1_|_148___|_downstream lt tail
09615_|_0124_|_00:41_|_2:47.3_|_014___|_20.2_|_08.9_|_124___|_
09750_|_2731_|_13:33_|_2:28.9_|_274___|_20.2_|_10.0_|_151___|_upstream lt head
12480_|_1203_|_07:09_|_2:58.2_|_128___|_17.9_|_09.4_|_139___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
01115_|_07:59_|_3:34.9_|_136___|_17.0_|_08.2_|_114___|_warmup
10983_|_53:55_|_2:27.3_|_1092___|_20.3_|_10.1_|_148___|_Main set
00356_|_02:24_|_3:21.7_|_041___|_17.1_|_08.7_|_130___|_rest meters
01203_|_07:09_|_2:58.2_|_128___|_17.9_|_09.4_|_139___|_cool down
13657_|_11:26_|_2:36.9_|_1397___|_19.6_|_09.8_|_143___|_Total

Tomorrow: 1000m time trial, 10 minute rest, 4 x 750 / 4′ rest

Wednesday: Tons of Starts (28 of them)

June 29, 2016June 30, 2016Leave a comment

Weather: Cloudy, warm 70F, intermittent light rain. Wind flukey, generally from the SW about 2mph.

Plan:

Warmup: increasing stroke rate bursts over about 3000m.
Start Practice:
- Standing start (obviously)
- 15 strokes (5 to get to full length, 5 hard, settle to race rate over last 5)
- 1 minute rests, with longer pauses to turn and avoid twisty bits of the river.
- Technique: Sit comfortably at the catch. Don’t overly compress. First stroke start smooth and finish early. Quick, short strokes, barely feather, get blades off the water. Then go out to full slide at maximal pressure for 5 strokes. Crisp downshift to racing rate after 10 strokes. Keep it light and above 30 spm.
Cool down: SBR, easy steady state, then feet out.

After an uncertain start, I had a blast. My stomach wasn’t feeling all that great, and I stopped for a bathroom break on the way to the boathouse. I didn’t feel strong and powerful during the warmup either, but I noticed that my paces were actually pretty good.

The warmup took me to the Moody Street Dam, and I turned around, had a drink and set myself up for my first start. It was terrible. The first stroke was uncertain and left me unbalanced, which led to multiple weak and shaky strokes. But I hung in with it and eventually got up to speed. The next one I took more carefully and it was pretty smooth. Another 6 starts took me to the beginning of the S-turn. I paddled through the turn and took about a 4 minute rest.

Then I did 6 starts up which took me to the newton end of the river. By now, I was getting very comfortable at the catch and reliably getting my splits down into the low 1:40s.

I turned and took another 3 or 4 minute rest and had a drink. Then I took off for the next set. The light wind that was slowing me down a bit before was now behind me, and all the sudden I was seeing 1:39 or 1:38 as my peak pace. This was getting fun. I did 6 starts to the start of the s-turn. Another quick break for a drink and to paddle through the turn.

Then it was 4 starts to get to the bridge, then a quick paddle through it and then 4 more to the end of the basin. The last 4 were a blast. After I finished I noticed that my legs were vibrating. I was pretty beat. But I was happy. I achieved the highest strokes I ever have and I actually felt like I had better control than in previous sessions. I also have never routinely seen 1:39 splits. And it’s fun to go fast. The thing I need to work on is getting a good settle and getting the pace back to around 2:00 so I don’t torch myself in the first 500m of the race.

Tomorrow: Steady State Endurance. Probably technique oriented. Definitely HR capped below 155.

Workout Summary - media/20160629-183958-2016-06-29-0658.CSV
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|11195|57:28.0|01:58.0|37.8|146.2|159.1|08.4
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|04050| 21:32 |02:37.9|19.7|134.0|166.0|09.7
02|00103| 00:27 |02:12.0|33.1|130.0|148.0|06.9
03|00097| 00:23 |01:56.9|39.9|143.0|157.0|06.5
04|00114| 00:26 |01:54.7|34.3|147.0|161.0|07.6
05|00104| 00:25 |01:57.4|36.8|148.0|161.0|06.9
06|00107| 00:25 |01:57.2|36.0|154.0|162.0|07.1
07|00113| 00:26 |01:57.8|33.7|152.0|162.0|07.5
08|00113| 00:27 |01:58.9|33.4|152.0|162.0|07.5
09|00102| 00:25 |01:59.3|36.8|152.0|161.0|06.8
10|00329| 02:04 |03:07.6|18.9|140.0|157.0|08.4
11|00109| 00:27 |02:04.0|33.4|132.0|151.0|07.3
12|00097| 00:23 |01:56.6|39.6|144.0|159.0|06.5
13|00094| 00:22 |01:55.0|41.7|133.0|154.0|06.3
14|00101| 00:24 |01:56.0|38.4|146.0|159.0|06.7
15|00101| 00:23 |01:54.7|38.7|149.0|160.0|06.7
16|00098| 00:23 |01:57.0|39.4|150.0|160.0|06.5
17|00110| 00:25 |01:53.6|36.0|138.0|157.0|07.3
18|00110| 00:23 |01:48.2|37.8|148.0|160.0|07.3
19|00094| 00:21 |01:51.5|42.9|151.0|161.0|06.3
20|00103| 00:22 |01:46.2|41.0|153.0|162.0|06.9
21|00087| 00:19 |01:50.3|47.2|151.0|159.0|05.8
22|00093| 00:21 |01:49.0|44.4|151.0|161.0|06.2
23|00101| 00:23 |01:53.2|39.4|140.0|157.0|06.7
24|00092| 00:20 |01:51.0|44.0|150.0|159.0|06.1
25|00094| 00:21 |01:49.5|43.9|152.0|160.0|06.3
26|00090| 00:20 |01:52.1|44.4|151.0|159.0|06.0
27|00092| 00:20 |01:48.4|45.0|144.0|158.0|06.1
28|00095| 00:21 |01:52.9|42.1|153.0|162.0|06.3
29|00094| 00:21 |01:50.4|43.4|152.0|161.0|06.3
30|00089| 00:19 |01:50.5|45.9|152.0|161.0|05.9
31|04019| 23:10 |02:52.0|20.0|141.0|155.0|08.7

Monday: Steady State r18/r20

June 27, 2016Leave a comment

Weather: Sunny and beautiful. Light wind, around 2mph which was gusty and gained a bit of strength during the session, ending at around 5mph. It was a headwind going up river and it sure felt a lot heavier rowing that direction.

Plan:

Steady State Rate Ladders
alternate 2′ @ 18 / 2′ @ 20
1′ rests at the ends of the river (roughly every 15 minutes)
Heart Rate Cap: 155, try to stay well below the cap
Technique: Long reach, clean finishes, good balance

I enjoyed the workout. It was good to have my speedcoach back. I missed getting pace feedback on a stroke by stroke basis. My first trip down the river, I was delighted by how light the boat felt. I was also pretty happy with the pace I was seeing. When I finally turned around at the Waltham end of the river, I noticed that there was actually a light tailwind helping me along for the first 20 minutes. Rowing back into it was a very different experience. I tried to row by effort and allowed the pace to float up. It was tough to judge because the feel of the stroke was very different, much heavier.

But, it was a very nice workout. And I managed to keep my HR in the right place and work a lot on finishes and balance.

Lots of split data, now that I have my happy speedcoach back. The only interesting bit is the totals for r18 and r20. r18 pace was 2:33, r20 pace was 2:28. I’d like to see those about 3 seconds faster than that, but when you include the starting, stopping, and head wind, I’m OK with it.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00006_|_1152_|_06:49_|_2:57.6_|_121___|_17.7_|_09.5_|_115___|_warmup
01158_|_0396_|_01:58_|_2:28.7_|_036___|_18.3_|_11.0_|_131___|_18
01554_|_0436_|_02:05_|_2:23.6_|_042___|_20.1_|_10.4_|_140___|_20
01990_|_0395_|_01:58_|_2:28.9_|_036___|_18.4_|_11.0_|_140___|_18
02385_|_0408_|_01:58_|_2:24.1_|_040___|_20.4_|_10.2_|_144___|_20
02793_|_0401_|_02:00_|_2:29.3_|_036___|_18.0_|_11.1_|_141___|_18
03194_|_0432_|_02:04_|_2:24.1_|_042___|_20.2_|_10.3_|_144___|_20
03626_|_0394_|_02:01_|_2:33.2_|_035___|_17.4_|_11.3_|_142___|_18
04020_|_0399_|_01:58_|_2:28.2_|_040___|_20.3_|_10.0_|_136___|_20
04419_|_0399_|_02:02_|_2:33.1_|_038___|_18.7_|_10.5_|_145___|_18
04818_|_0401_|_01:58_|_2:26.6_|_040___|_20.4_|_10.0_|_146___|_20
05219_|_0389_|_01:59_|_2:33.0_|_036___|_18.2_|_10.8_|_146___|_18
05608_|_0396_|_01:59_|_2:30.0_|_040___|_20.2_|_09.9_|_148___|_20
06004_|_0396_|_02:04_|_2:36.1_|_038___|_18.4_|_10.4_|_149___|_18
06400_|_0378_|_01:56_|_2:33.7_|_040___|_20.7_|_09.5_|_152___|_20
06778_|_0148_|_01:02_|_3:30.8_|_011___|_10.6_|_13.5_|_117___|_r
06926_|_0392_|_01:57_|_2:29.5_|_036___|_18.4_|_10.9_|_130___|_18
07318_|_0423_|_02:01_|_2:22.6_|_040___|_19.9_|_10.6_|_146___|_20
07741_|_0403_|_02:00_|_2:29.5_|_036___|_17.9_|_11.2_|_145___|_18
08144_|_0415_|_02:00_|_2:24.6_|_040___|_20.0_|_10.4_|_148___|_20
08559_|_0399_|_02:00_|_2:30.0_|_036___|_18.0_|_11.1_|_147___|_18
08958_|_0436_|_02:04_|_2:22.2_|_042___|_20.3_|_10.4_|_149___|_20
09394_|_0374_|_01:59_|_2:38.8_|_032___|_16.2_|_11.7_|_148___|_18
09768_|_0380_|_02:00_|_2:38.6_|_040___|_19.9_|_09.5_|_139___|_20
10148_|_0376_|_01:58_|_2:37.0_|_036___|_18.3_|_10.4_|_149___|_18
10524_|_0377_|_01:58_|_2:36.2_|_040___|_20.4_|_09.4_|_150___|_20
10901_|_0389_|_02:05_|_2:40.3_|_038___|_18.3_|_10.2_|_150___|_18
11290_|_0392_|_01:59_|_2:31.3_|_040___|_20.2_|_09.8_|_150___|_20
11682_|_0383_|_01:59_|_2:35.4_|_036___|_18.2_|_10.6_|_151___|_18
12065_|_0387_|_01:57_|_2:31.8_|_040___|_20.4_|_09.7_|_154___|_20
12452_|_0399_|_02:05_|_2:36.4_|_038___|_18.3_|_10.5_|_151___|_18
12851_|_1040_|_06:09_|_2:57.3_|_119___|_19.4_|_08.7_|_140___|_c

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
01152_|_06:49_|_2:57.6_|_121___|_17.7_|_09.5_|_115___|_warmup
00148_|_01:02_|_3:30.8_|_011___|_10.6_|_13.5_|_117___|_rest meters
01040_|_06:09_|_2:57.3_|_119___|_19.4_|_08.7_|_140___|_cool down
05885_|_30:03_|_2:33.2_|_543___|_18.1_|_10.8_|_144___|_r18
05660_|_27:57_|_2:28.2_|_566___|_20.2_|_10.0_|_146___|_r20
11545_|_58:01_|_2:30.7_|_1109___|_19.1_|_10.4_|_145___|_main set

Just for fun, so you can see the difference between speedcoach and Crewnerd data. Here is the same session, both plotted on rowsandall.com.

First is Speedcoach. I was setup to log data every second stroke. One key difference is that no data is logged when I am turning, so the rests disappear. The second is from Crewnerd.

Tomorrow: A rare midweek row out on Quinsig. Another low intensity session. I think this one will be technique oriented. Probably 2′ SBR, 2′ Alternating, 2′ r20.

Friday: 20K Steady State / Technique

June 25, 20162 Comments

I got home around 11pm and got to bed around 1AM. There was no way that I was getting up at 5:15 to go rowing. I did pack my rowing stuff in case I was able to sneak out and go for a row in the afternoon. It turns that I did.

I was not in the mood for the planned 6 x 750. I still felt pretty worn down from all the plane flights and jet lag. Also, I had not been in a boat since the previous Sunday. Even that didn’t entirely count since it was my chubby boat. So, I thought it would be a good idea to work on technique. I went to my go session for working on balance and technique

2′ square blade rowing
2′ alternating square and normal
2′ normal
Rate target: 18 to 20
Pace target: none
HR cap: < 150 (hopefully a lot under 150 for most of it)

It was beautiful out today. Around 80F, but with a nice breeze from the ENE around 5mph, with gusts higher.

It was a really nice outing. Nice and easy. It’s hard to concentrate for that long, but I had stretches where I felt like my rowing was fluid and natural. I also had periods where it was just wobbly and awful.

The XGPS160 was acting up badly today. It froze and I cycled power four times. Each time, the symptoms were identical. The pace and distance would stop updating. I would power it off, power it back on, it would start talking to the iphone again and everything worked fine.

It was also navigating horribly. Here’s the map of the whole outing.

Some of the lines look a little jagged. When you zoom in it gets much more apparent that the position it is reporting has a lot of uncertainty to it.

The first map is the leftmost third. The jaggy line is the beginning of the row. Look at the sudden jumps in the position. Further over, notice that the position is just wrong. It has me rowing through the penisula.

The second picture also has navigation errors showing me rowing into the north bank of the river coming out of the s-turn. I assure you, I did not.

The third picture is the Moody street basin and you can see the weird results by the bridge. Also, the lines down the canal are wrong. The good water is very narrow and I tend to follow it quite consistently, the lines are all over the place.

At this point, I think I am going to be leaving the XGPS160 in my kit bag until I hear something back from the vendor. With this much error in the position and the impact it has on the instantaneous pace display, which is jumping all over the place, it’s worse than the much slower updates of the internal GPS of the iphone.

Tomorrow: The promised 6×750.

Crushed by the lactate wave. 750m intervals

June 16, 2016June 16, 2016Leave a comment

Weather: sunny, warm mid-70s, basically no wind. A great day for rowing.

Pity it was such a shitty workout.

Plan:

8×750 / 4′ rest
Rate: 28-32
Pace: 2:00
Standing starts
Paddle in the rests

I am feeling the effects of a big increase in Volume. I got my boat back last week and I’ve rowed everyday since last Friday. I’ve also done longer sessions this week. Last night, I got enough sleep, but I woke up feeling very sore and lethargic. I also had stomach issues which forced me stop for an unscheduled pit stop on my way to the boathouse.

By the time I got on the water, it was nearly 7am, and I had less than an hour for the workout. I did a quick warmup and then attempted to start the first interval. I got 5 strokes in and noticed that I hadn’t pushed start on CrewNerd. The second attempt at the start actually worked and off I went. I took a little too long to settle down to a realistic pace, and I felt the familiar “Lactate Wave”. Nausea, feeling like I’m drowning. This is a feeling I hate, but I need to get used to in order to well in sprint races. It’s kind of the whole point of this workout.

The problem is that I was not mentally prepared for what this workout demanded. I made it through the wave in the first interval by slowing down. The second interval, I powered through it and was happy that I hit the target pace, even while steering to the bridge. This one really hurt after I finished. I nearly puked, but by the end of the rest I thought I was better.

Twenty strokes into the next interval, I discovered that I wasn’t. I bailed out the interval approaching the bridge, and then slowly picked back up to a reasonable pace for about the last 400m. I was pretty annoyed with myself.

I paddled through the s-curve during the rest and decided to hold the rate a bit lower during the next interval. The result was a slower split and a more manageable wave.

I quit on the next interval and frankly, I’m not even sure why. It was after about 20 strokes, and this time I picked back up pretty quickly and pushed through the rest of the piece. This was not going well.

I was running out of time and so I decided to make the next one my last. No quitting allowed on this one. I managed the wave and finished reasonably well.

I rowed feet out back to the dock. I have to come back and do this workout again soon.

Workout Summary – media/20160616-173853-2016-06-16-0646.CSV–|Total|-Total-|–Avg–|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg

–|Dist-|-Time–|-Pace–|SPM-|-HR–|-HR–|-DPS

–|07319|36:50.0|02:37.1|22.6|134.1|145.2|08.5

Workout Details

01|01240| 07:56 |03:11.9|16.4|117.0|132.0|09.5

02|00000| 00:10 |0000:00|00.0|0.0|0.0|0nan

03|00750| 03:07 |02:05.1|28.1|154.0|165.0|08.5

04|00750| 03:00 |02:00.6|30.2|164.0|174.0|08.2

05|00750| 03:41 |02:27.7|23.8|146.0|161.0|08.5

06|00750| 03:09 |02:06.2|28.8|165.0|176.0|08.2

07|00750| 03:15 |02:10.4|27.0|158.0|174.0|08.5

08|00750| 03:11 |02:07.7|29.1|165.0|178.0|08.1

09|01579| 09:21 |02:57.7|20.1|138.0|147.0|08.4

Tomorrow: “rest day”. I’m flying to sandiego in the morning and back on the redeye. Some rest day.

Wednesday: Steady State Rate Ladders

June 15, 20162 Comments

Weather: Sunny, 70F, light shifty wind from the WNW about 2-4 mph. Wind was not really a factor, but slowed me down at times.

Plan:

6′ Rate Ladders
3′ @ 17 / 2′ @ 19 / 1′ @ 21
1′ rests when I turned at the ends of the river.
Technique Notes: Keep the drive smooth. Get the blades off the water.

Notice the purple box? If you look over to the right hand side at the speed scale, it indicates that I was going 4600 km/h. Pretty nice acceleration, eh?

What actually happened was the Dual XGPS160 unit and it took me a little while to notice. The interesting thing is that the pace and distance seemed to update for a while after the point where the straight line started. I thought it was only about 30 seconds or so where I saw the pace and distance frozen before I stopped and cycled power on the unit, but the data is missing for nearly 9 minutes. Some weird s**t going on here.

Cycling the power made everything happy again.

Today was a day of mishaps. On my last trip down the river, Was trying to squeeze in the end of a ladder and I pushed it too far. There is a cable across the river with big orange floats (about 18″ in diameter) strung on it. I put on the brakes, and tried to turn, but managed to get my bow and starboard oar blade under the cable between two floats, and my boat basically parallel to the float line. What ensued was an ungainly display of backing and forthing and turning and wobbling as I tried to get my bow extracted, my boat turned around and get myself clear. It was an ugly demonstration of what not to do in a boat.

After that, I finished the journey up river and was approaching the dock. There are a few challenges to deal with. First, there was a bit of cross wind. No big deal. Second, there is an underwater propeller under one side of the dock that is artificially creating a current to try to keep area by the dock clear of weeds. Also no big deal if you approach the other side of the dock. Third, is the weeds themselves. They are floating in great clumps right now. This was the cause of my downfall today. I was aiming to put my bow about a foot away from the side of the dock, so I would come in on the port side of the boat. But when I was about 6 feet from the dock, my port oar caught a great hunk of weed, and turned my bow to the port side.

With a small bump, I hit the end of the dock. No big deal, right. The bow ball is there, right? Well, on this specific dock, there is a 4″ wide gap between the board along the side of the dock and the one on the end of the dock, and my bow hit that gap with extraordinary precision, and the bow became wedged between the two bits of wood. I had to back the boat with a fair amount of pressure to get it free, and it took a couple of strokes to do it.

Between those strokes, I was processing what the hell I would do if I couldn’t get it free. I guess, jump out and swim. That would have been pretty damn humiliating! I’m glad it didn’t come to that. There was no damage to the boat. In the future, I will approach the dock with less speed and more paranoia.

Tomorrow: 8 x 750 / 4′ rest.

Quantified Rowing

Measure – Adjust – Improve

Tag: Charles River

Sunday: Cromwell Cup

Friday: 2 x 500- still tapering

Thursday: 3 x 500 taper

Wednesday: 4 x 500 – Race Taper

Thursday: r20 Steady State

Wednesday: Tons of Starts (28 of them)

Monday: Steady State r18/r20

Friday: 20K Steady State / Technique

Crushed by the lactate wave. 750m intervals

Wednesday: Steady State Rate Ladders