July 5 to Aug 14

August 15, 2020Leave a comment

Looks like July was the just about the most training that I have done in a month. 31 and 1/2 hours of training in 22 sessions. I did a fair amount of cycling in July, culminating in a hard 3 hour effort on July 31st. I also really nailed a head race piece.

Since the end of July, I have backed off, and shifted back into more of a base building question. At the end of July, it looks like I have reached a fitness peak in Strava at 95.

Since that time, I’ve shifted gears to ease up and focus on base building. I read a little bit of Maffetone, and although I am not convinced of his whole low carb, lifestyle thing, and the 180-age formula seems like chicanery, I definitely see merit in the idea of specifically training to increase one’s aerobic threshold. It is basically the same idea of lactate based training. If you stay below 2.0 mmol, then you can be pretty sure that you are not crossing over to burning more CHO at the expense of fat metabolism.

My challenge in doing this type of base training has always been that I push it too hard. So, the maffetone book convinced me to back way off on intensity and way up on duration. I don’t know what will happen with it, but I’ve got nothing but time and it sure is an easy way to train. And when it comes to OTW, focusing on technique has to be a good thing too.

So, I have been trying to keep all sessions above an hour and stay below UT2 heart rates (137). Additionally, I’ve been trying to extend my warmups as well.

Here’s a quick recap of the past 5 weeks.

July 5 – 50′ Stationary bike, Avg HR 131

July 6 – 70′ Coastal row up to Wellfleet harbor.

July 7 – Bike ride to rock harbor, 1:18:00, 34km, Avg HR 133

July 8 – Bike Ride – Wellfleet coast loop, 34km, 1:22, Avg HR 139

July 9 – Rest day

July 10 – 90′ steady state on Lake Quinsigamond

The last bit was tough!

July 11 – 60′ BikeErg – Hardish

July 12 – 90′ BikeErg – a little slower

July 13 – Rate Ladders on Quinsig

July 14 – rest day

July 15 – 60′ steady state on slides

July 16 – 60′ steady state on slides

July 17 – Wormtown Chase GPS Challenge

What a great day! I laid down a beautiful row. I steered well. Paced myself well and dug deep at the end. And I was fast!

The conditions were great. flat water and a very slight breeze from the south, which was a tail wind for the last two thirds of the challenge.

Here’s my course. Nice and tight around the islands. I went a bit to far west coming up to the narrows, but not bad.

Then from the Narrows to the finish was two nice straight lines.

I was unexpectedly fast, I think the fastest I have ever done a head race in a boat.

Workout Summary - media/d6476edfd2-20200717-120557o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|09969|00:53:00.9|02:39.5|143.3|22.9|148.0|179.0|08.2
W-|05201|00:23:07.7|02:13.4|189.5|25.8|167.9|179.0|08.7
R-|04769|00:29:53.3|03:08.0|107.5|20.7|132.6|179.0|07.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|05201|23:07.7|02:13.4|189.5|25.8|167.9|179.0|08.7

July 18 – Drills

Back on Quinsig, but just taking it easy and doing drills on the 5s

July 19 – Randall Foil Test

You can read all about it here: https://analytics.rowsandall.com/2020/07/19/randall-foils-vs-smoothies/

It was a hard day rowing.

July 20 – 60′ BikeErg

July 21 – Just a walk

July 22 – 65km bike ride

Avg HR 136. 28.8 km/h. Tiring ride.

July 23 – rest day

July 24 – Coastal row – almost to Rock Harbor

The row back was into the wind and waves and a pretty tough slog.

July 25 – Exploring the marshes – 60′ coastal row

July 26 – bike ride on the rail trail, 32km, 80′

July 27 – rest day

July 28 – rest day

July 29 – bike ride – Wellfleet coastal loop

40km, 96 minutes, avg speed 28.1 kph, avg hr 147! (hard work)

July 30 – More exploration of the marsh

Headed out for a row up to Wellfleet Harbor, but the wind and waves were unpleasant, so I turned back and explored the swamp again.

July 31 – Mammoth bike ride

All the way to the end of the rail trail, and I pushed hard too.

77km, 3 hours

I was destroyed for the rest of the day.

Aug 1 – Rest day

Aug 2 – Fun in the swamp – 80′

Still windy, so it’s a lot more fun to scoot around sheltered water.

Aug 3 – 60′ MAF test on slides

So the MAF test is basically a cardiac drift test. You row up to a HR limit (130), and then bleed off power to stay at the limit.

Over time, you can repeat the test and see both the avg power and the % drop off. A key part is a lengthy warmup.

Today’s results: 150W. 26W drop off.

       Workout Summary - media/31860ffd50-20200803-142318o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|18062|01:23:20.0|02:18.4|143.5|17.7|122.9|131.0|12.2
W-|13531|00:59:50.0|02:12.7|149.9|17.9|127.4|131.0|12.6
R-|04536|00:23:30.0|02:35.4|127.4|17.3|111.6|131.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|01173|05:00.0|02:07.9|168.3|18.7|119.0|125.0|12.5
02|01159|05:00.0|02:09.5|160.7|18.1|125.8|127.0|12.8
03|01151|05:00.0|02:10.3|158.9|18.3|126.7|128.0|12.6
04|01145|05:00.0|02:11.0|155.7|18.3|126.9|129.0|12.5
05|01143|05:00.0|02:11.3|151.9|18.1|128.3|131.0|12.6
06|01126|05:00.0|02:13.2|147.9|18.0|128.5|130.0|12.5
07|01119|05:00.0|02:14.0|144.7|17.7|128.5|130.0|12.6
08|01117|05:00.0|02:14.3|144.1|17.8|128.5|131.0|12.6
09|01115|05:00.0|02:14.5|142.8|17.3|128.9|131.0|12.9
10|01108|05:00.0|02:15.4|140.9|17.2|129.2|130.0|12.9
11|01106|05:00.0|02:15.6|140.2|17.3|129.0|130.0|12.8
12|01069|04:50.0|02:15.7|141.7|18.0|129.2|131.0|12.3

Aug 4 – rest day – Crazy Work schedule

Aug 5 – rest day – more crazy work schedule

Aug 6 – 45′ BikeErg MAF Test

Same plan, but now on a bike. I had less time, so a 15 minute warmup and a 45 minute test.

Workout Summary - media/df_20200806-113556.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|27672|01:00:03.2|01:05.1|158.2|68.2|122.5|138.0|06.8
W-|21232|00:45:03.2|01:03.7|168.1|69.7|127.4|138.0|06.8
R-|06443|00:15:00.0|01:09.8|128.3|63.5|107.7|138.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|02378|05:00.0|01:03.1|171.9|70.3|126.0|129.0|06.8
02|02376|05:00.0|01:03.1|173.1|70.4|128.0|138.0|06.8
03|02382|05:00.0|01:03.0|173.0|70.4|126.3|128.0|06.8
04|02323|05:00.0|01:04.6|161.6|68.9|128.3|130.0|06.7
05|02329|05:00.0|01:04.4|161.9|68.9|128.7|133.0|06.8
06|02333|05:00.0|01:04.3|163.5|69.1|126.5|130.0|06.8
07|02358|05:00.0|01:03.6|168.1|69.7|127.0|131.0|06.8
08|02356|05:00.0|01:03.7|168.1|69.7|127.8|129.0|06.8
09|02395|05:03.2|01:03.3|171.8|70.2|127.8|132.0|06.8

Average 172W, drop off 0W.

Aug 7 – 90′ Bike Erg – Sub UT2

Aug 8 – 4×20′ Sub-UT2 on slides

BoatCoach failed me today.

Aug 9 – Long Steady State (too hard)

As I launched, a friend from the club launched too. We rowed together and peer pressure pushed me faster than it should have. I was very worn out by the last 15 minutes.

Workout Summary - media/96a610e7d1-20200809-131602o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|17489|01:44:37.5|02:59.5|123.2|20.4|137.7|169.0|08.2
W-|15783|01:19:21.3|02:30.8|136.8|20.4|147.8|169.0|09.8
R-|01711|00:25:17.0|07:23.3|080.5|20.5|106.1|169.0|02.9
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|01676|08:35.6|02:33.8|132.5|17.7|131.6|138.0|11.0
02|01513|07:32.1|02:29.4|145.4|20.0|142.6|151.0|10.0
03|05688|27:41.1|02:26.0|144.8|20.7|151.5|169.0|09.9
04|03606|18:51.9|02:37.0|130.1|19.7|150.4|156.0|09.7
05|00105|00:34.4|02:43.5|109.2|21.0|141.2|143.0|08.7
06|01667|08:28.2|02:32.4|122.8|21.7|151.2|161.0|09.1
07|00224|01:13.1|02:43.4|115.2|21.7|143.5|144.0|08.5
08|01305|06:24.9|02:27.5|143.0|22.7|148.7|169.0|08.9

Aug 10 – Drills on the fives

Definitely trying to taker the intensity down a notch.

Aug 11 – 70′ sub-ut2 BikeErg

Hot and Humid. Very slow.

Aug 12 – 90′ sub-ut2 BikeErg

Even hotter, humider and slower.

Aug 13 – Rest day

Aug 14 – 2 hours steady state on Quinsig

Just a wonderful morning to be rowing. Tried to keep it below ut2. Did OK until the last bit which was into a building head wind.

115 Days

July 5, 2020Leave a comment

I never thought it would last this long. But it has. Another week in the books. Most of it spent down on the cape. The weather has been mixed.

Sunday – June 28 – 100′ Coastal Row

The last bit from Wellfleet harbor to home was into a headwind and a bit of a chore

Monday – June 29 – 6 Darts Games

I woke up and it was foggy. No coastal today. Down to the dungeon for some Darts Games. No high scores, but good consistency.

14435,14485,14385,14700,14550,14600

Tuesday – 30 June – No Training

Stayed up too late, and felt like crap when I woke up. I went back to bed. And I just looked and I had worked out 15 straight days prior.

Wednesday – 1 July – 9 x (4′ @ r18, 1′ @ r30)

I like these bumps sessions. Get a bit of intensity in without killing myself or chasing splits. This session was made a bit interesting by the slides breaking in the middle of the session. In the slide, the rollers run on a plastic spline that goes over the metal frame. This spline split on what I guess would be the starboard bow side.

I had to pull the erg off the slides during one of the r18 sections.

Replacement parts are being ordered.

Other than the slide problem, the workout went well. I was happy to average 305W for the quick bits. It was very weird going from slides to static in the middle of this workout. It took a couple of minutes before it felt like the erg stopped moving.

        Workout Summary - media/d4adf504c9-20200701-144818o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|10016|00:45:01.2|02:14.8|179.5|22.4|151.7|172.0|09.9
W-|10027|00:45:01.2|02:14.7|179.5|22.4|151.7|172.0|10.7
R-|00000|00:00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|172.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00944|04:00.0|02:07.1|166.6|18.1|121.4|137.0|13.0
01|00284|01:00.0|01:45.6|294.9|28.7|144.2|151.0|09.9
02|00941|04:00.0|02:07.6|169.4|18.4|147.7|153.0|12.8
03|00288|01:00.0|01:44.0|311.8|31.4|152.9|161.0|09.2
04|00937|04:00.0|02:08.1|168.3|18.4|152.5|162.0|12.7
05|00290|01:00.0|01:43.3|312.6|31.9|153.4|164.0|09.1
06|00935|04:00.0|02:08.4|167.8|18.3|158.3|167.0|12.8
07|00290|01:00.0|01:43.6|312.0|31.9|157.6|165.0|09.1
08|00207|04:00.0|09:41.0|024.8|32.7|136.8|167.0|01.6
09|00274|01:00.0|01:49.5|297.1|34.0|128.6|151.0|08.1
10|00674|04:00.0|02:58.1|127.1|23.3|149.6|161.0|07.2
11|00293|01:00.0|01:42.5|321.2|29.9|156.7|166.0|09.8
12|00938|04:00.0|02:07.9|169.7|18.0|162.7|170.0|13.0
13|00288|01:00.0|01:44.3|307.9|28.7|160.0|168.0|10.0
14|00937|04:00.0|02:08.0|168.5|17.9|165.3|171.0|13.1
15|00288|01:00.0|01:44.1|300.6|29.4|162.8|170.0|09.8
16|00934|04:00.0|02:08.5|166.8|18.1|166.5|172.0|12.9
17|00287|01:01.2|01:46.6|300.9|30.2|165.5|172.0|09.3

Thursday – July 2 – 60 minute BikeErg

We drive back to Hopkinton on Wednesday afternoon. We needed to pick up mail, and take care of a few things around the house. Our plan was to head back to the cape on Thursday morning.

I wasn’t ambitious enough to head out to the lake, so I settled for a 60 minute BikeErg session, while watching the end of Ford v. Ferrari.

I guess the movie was a bit to exciting, I pushed my HR too high for the intended session.

        Workout Summary - media/df_20200702-142440.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|28737|01:00:27.0|01:03.1|175.1|71.1|155.2|169.1|06.7
W-|28740|01:00:27.0|01:03.1|175.1|71.1|155.2|169.1|06.7
R-|00000|00:00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|169.1|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04745|10:00.0|01:03.2|170.5|70.4|153.4|157.7|06.7
01|04795|10:00.0|01:02.6|177.0|71.4|141.3|150.8|06.7
02|04841|10:00.0|01:02.0|181.9|72.1|151.6|157.8|06.7
03|04826|10:00.0|01:02.2|180.4|72.0|161.0|165.1|06.7
04|04801|10:00.0|01:02.5|177.9|71.7|165.2|169.1|06.7
05|04732|10:27.0|01:06.2|163.2|69.3|158.7|164.6|06.5

Friday – July 3 – 4 x 20′ / 2′ Steady State

Not a great session. Started with the intention of alternating r18/r20, but my HR started to go too high, so I settled at r18. Then it kept creeping up, so I upped the rate a bit. It was my first steady state session on a static erg in a looong time, so maybe that was it. It was also insanely humid.

        Workout Summary - media/bbfcc899e2-20200703-211114o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|19525|01:28:00.0|02:15.2|156.2|18.1|143.5|154.0|12.3
W-|18774|01:20:00.0|02:07.8|167.6|19.0|144.3|154.0|12.4
R-|00755|00:08:00.0|05:17.9|042.6|09.1|135.9|154.0|10.2
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04772|20:00.0|02:05.7|175.5|19.0|135.8|148.0|12.6
01|04696|20:00.0|02:07.8|167.9|18.4|144.8|151.0|12.7
02|04656|20:00.0|02:08.9|163.5|18.8|147.9|152.0|12.4
03|04650|20:00.0|02:09.0|163.3|19.7|148.7|154.0|11.8

Saturday – July 4 – 100′ Coastal Row

Fun row today! It was grey, and there was about a 5-10mph wind blowing from the NNE. The wind peaked while I was rowing into it (as it always does). I launched at about 11:30 and I turned north at 12:20

I launched at close to high tide and I hugged the coast of the island around to south. I had never really explored the tidal marsh on the south side of the island. Today, I rowed nearly as far as could and then back out along the south edge of the bay. Then I rowed down along the beach into Eastham. As I went, the chop was building and I was getting a bit of surfing them with the wind behind me.

I turned around at 50 minutes on the clock. I was heading just west of North and the wind was NNE. It felt much stronger now that I was heading into it. There were also a fair number of motor boats out. The seas were big and lumpy. The bigger ones were probably a bit bigger than 12 inches.

I am learning how to manage this a bit better. Stay patient. Lighten up on the pressure in each stroke. Rate up, and work on keeping the oars clear on recovery. You have to accept the fact that bigger waves will grab your blades, and unpredictable movements will mean that you take some bad strokes. The first 15 minutes of it were the toughest. After that, it seemed to get easier.

I turned at my favorite red buoy and headed for home. This was a new challenge with the seas on the beam. Finding the right rate was important.

The final turn, I was out of the chop and I rated up. It was really interesting, I could feel the depth of the water. When the water got shallow, I could feel the boat get heavy and watch the split slow down. Then when it got deep again, I could feel the boat get lighter and speed right up.

     Workout Summary - media/8bba9f9965-20200704-183555o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|16742|01:42:35.0|03:03.8|000.0|21.7|143.3|156.0|07.5
W-|16744|01:42:35.0|03:03.8|000.0|21.7|143.3|156.0|07.6
R-|00000|00:00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|156.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04232|25:00.0|02:57.2|000.0|20.8|138.3|149.0|08.1
01|04545|25:00.0|02:45.0|000.0|19.6|143.9|149.0|09.3
02|05526|37:00.0|03:20.9|000.0|22.8|145.3|151.0|06.5
03|01338|09:00.0|03:21.8|000.0|23.1|144.2|149.0|06.4
04|01104|06:35.0|02:58.9|000.0|24.3|147.9|156.0|06.9

Tomorrow: More Coastal. Maybe the 4km out and back challenge.

Living my best pandemic

June 28, 20201 Comment

Maybe this sounds hokey, but I’ve been feeling very, very fortunate lately. Thank goodness, my job has not been affected by the downturn, and no on in my family has caught COVID-19. At this point, I have gotten used to working from home and improved my ability to use remote work tools, and I am enjoying the temporary respite from both commuting and business travel. For sure, I miss seeing my friends at work, and I worry about losing touch with my customers and business colleagues, but the change has meant that I get more sleep, get more exercise and spend more time with people I care about.

So, it’s been a good month for training.

In the past 27 days:

3 rest days, sessions for the last 12 days in a row (I’ve been doing easy bike rides instead of taking full rest days lately)
24 workouts
- 13 days flat water rowing
- 3 days coastal rowing
- 3 runs
- 2 erg sessions
- 3 rides on my new BikeErg

Training Diary

Sunday – June 7 – No Training

I worked on the stairs down on the cape and didn’t have time for a workout. Nice day in the sun though.

Monday – June 8 – 15K on Lake Quinsigamond.

I am cartopping to the lake. I get up around 6, launch around 6:45 and row until 8:00 or 8:30 depending on whether or not I have a meeting at 9.

The club I row with is being good and safe. Masks on the dock, social distancing, time slots for launching to keep the docks from getting crowded. And the lake is just wonderful to row on.

Today was just some steady state. Down to the south end, all the way up to the north end, then back past the boathouse to the narrows, then finally back to the boathouse. Working with a HR cap of about 150. There was a bit of a headwind going North.

       Workout Summary - media/0407a4c8a1-20200608-125553o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|15033|01:22:42.3|02:45.0|132.6|20.4|133.6|151.0|08.9
W-|14070|01:12:11.8|02:33.9|142.4|20.5|136.7|151.0|09.5
R-|00967|00:10:30.9|05:26.2|065.3|19.8|112.3|151.0|07.2
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|03268|16:26.5|02:31.0|133.4|19.3|126.8|141.0|10.3
02|05758|30:04.8|02:36.7|148.5|20.8|140.1|151.0|09.2
03|03579|17:58.9|02:30.7|136.7|20.3|138.8|146.0|09.8
04|01466|07:41.6|02:37.4|151.0|22.1|139.9|147.0|08.6

Tuesday – June 9 – 15km steady state

Just beautiful. Flat water. A few waterskiers, but I didn’t mind the brief stops for that.

       Workout Summary - media/ee32ce273d-20200609-123554o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|15020|01:21:27.1|02:42.7|133.4|21.0|135.9|154.0|08.8
W-|13893|01:09:05.2|02:29.2|150.0|20.3|140.5|154.0|09.9
R-|01131|00:12:22.2|05:28.2|041.2|24.9|109.7|154.0|06.3
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|03194|15:48.1|02:28.4|147.4|19.5|132.8|143.0|10.3
02|05731|28:43.6|02:30.4|150.9|20.7|141.0|150.0|09.7
03|03562|17:39.1|02:28.7|148.9|20.0|145.3|154.0|10.1
04|01406|06:54.4|02:27.4|154.5|21.2|144.2|152.0|09.6

Wednesday – 10 June – Descent to Hell

This is a Push it / Don’t Pull it workout. It is decreasing length pieces from 6′ down to 30″ with 90″ rests. so, 6′, 5’30”, 5′, 4’30″…

It was brutal. I did pretty well through the first four, but then when I turned into the wind, I blew up in the fifth interval. From there, I hung in there OK.

This workout is a keeper. Definitely doing it again later.

        Workout Summary - media/658d149feb-20200610-123056o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|13546|01:14:30.4|02:45.0|137.4|22.8|152.4|175.0|08.0
W-|07995|00:36:26.4|02:16.7|189.7|25.6|159.4|175.0|08.6
R-|05561|00:38:05.1|03:25.4|087.4|20.3|145.7|175.0|04.6
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|01328|06:02.5|02:16.5|178.8|23.5|151.3|160.0|09.4
02|01200|05:33.2|02:18.9|171.6|24.0|156.7|166.0|09.0
03|01110|05:00.0|02:15.1|188.0|25.0|163.1|173.0|08.9
04|00989|04:26.3|02:14.6|192.4|25.4|165.2|175.0|08.8
05|00212|00:59.8|02:20.7|186.8|25.1|151.1|161.0|08.5
06|00346|01:37.8|02:21.2|190.1|25.8|162.7|167.0|08.2
07|00736|03:22.8|02:17.7|194.5|26.0|165.9|174.0|08.4
08|00516|02:20.9|02:16.5|201.7|26.8|162.1|174.0|08.2
09|00499|02:20.6|02:20.8|189.7|26.9|162.4|172.0|07.9
10|00410|01:51.6|02:15.9|211.0|28.5|162.7|174.0|07.8
11|00294|01:21.8|02:19.2|201.7|28.6|155.1|167.0|07.5
12|00216|00:55.5|02:08.3|221.1|30.1|154.2|164.0|07.8
13|00137|00:33.6|02:02.6|255.2|31.9|148.8|158.0|07.7

Thursday – June 11 – No Training

I earned a day off.

Friday – June 12 – Charles River GPS Speed Order

Another go at the speed order. My goal this time was to steer a better line. I ended up going out too hard and blowing up in the middle.

But my line was beautiful! Here it is compared to Carlo Zezza, who rowed a really tight and short line. (I’m the brown line)

From the start around magazine beach, I’m looking really good. I drifted out just a hair too much at the end (I was worried about cutting too close to the Riverside docks). I decided to use the cambridge arches, vs the center arches going up the powerhouse stretch.

I took a good line into weeks and made the turn from there to Anderson really well. This is where I ran out of energy and really slowed down. After Anderson, it looks like I took a good straight line to the apex of the eliot turn. And I did a good job hugging the curve for last turn as well.

I shaved 190m off the distance rowed from the prior attempt. And even though I rowed more slowly, I cut 30 seconds off my time.

4773m / 22:38 / 2:22.3
4583m / 22:08 / 2:23.9

Maybe for the July challenge, I can put steering and fitness together for a good row!

Saturday – June 13 – 12k on Lake Quinsigamond with Randall Foils

I’ve embarked on an experiment to see if Randall Foils help me row faster. I’ll be writing up some impressions of the Randall Foils eventually on https://analytics.rowsandall.com/

But in order to give them a fair test, I need to learn how to row with them and make sure that I understand how they feel. This row was the first step to try do that. Just a steady state row in choppy conditions to try to figure out how they work.

       Workout Summary - media/7f555d2212-20200613-133055o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|12026|01:08:10.4|02:50.1|123.3|21.0|140.4|170.0|08.4
W-|11008|00:57:02.3|02:35.5|138.6|20.5|143.7|170.0|09.5
R-|01023|00:11:08.5|05:26.8|044.7|23.7|123.7|170.0|04.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|01415|07:34.1|02:40.5|116.9|18.0|125.1|138.0|10.4
02|01925|09:53.4|02:34.1|130.9|19.1|137.7|145.0|10.2
03|05784|30:40.9|02:39.2|140.4|20.7|147.5|165.0|09.1
04|01884|08:53.9|02:21.7|159.7|23.4|153.0|170.0|09.1

Overall, I did not enjoy my first experience with the foils. They sure feel solid at the catch, but they increase the wind resistance of the oars, and smacking a wavetop with the foils was a pretty violent feeling. Also, they were a pain when coasting, and maneuvering. More to come.

Sunday – June 14 – No Training

We drove down to the cape on Saturday afternoon, and I slept in. I spent most of the day finishing up the stairs to the beach.

Monday – June 15 – 6 Darts Games

Just a nice easy base builder in the basement.

Tuesday - June 16 - Easy Coastal Row

Just a nice day for a row.

Wednesday – June 17 – Another longer coastal row

In this one, I went over into where the Herring River comes out into Wellfleet Harbor. Beautiful area over there.

No real useful data fro the row, because both crewnerd and the speedcoach managed to get mucked up. My phone was splashed seriously enough to think that I had swiped away from crewnerd. And I ran out of memory on the speedcoach during the row.

Thursday – June 18 – 7km run

I crossed the bridge and ran a loop around a woodsy neighborhood.

Friday – June 19 – Experimenting with foils

Pushed hard for about 2km, then took a break for about 1km, then finished hard.

        Workout Summary - media/c535caef77-20200619-120554o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|10712|00:58:38.1|02:44.2|133.3|21.7|147.2|182.0|08.4
W-|09723|00:47:31.7|02:26.6|154.4|21.9|152.7|182.0|09.4
R-|00994|00:11:06.7|05:35.2|043.0|20.8|123.5|182.0|06.3
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|00185|00:58.4|02:37.9|128.4|18.7|112.1|123.0|10.2
02|03159|15:50.8|02:30.5|145.3|19.7|143.9|156.0|10.1
03|02114|10:01.0|02:22.1|171.2|23.9|157.4|168.0|08.8
04|02857|13:08.5|02:18.0|175.3|24.3|168.6|182.0|08.9 - Nice!
05|01408|07:33.0|02:40.9|118.1|20.4|142.6|153.0|09.2

Saturday – June 20 – Rate Ladders with Foils

Trying to work specific stroke rates with the foils. I think it works a bit better to try to row lighter and rate up.

Sunday – June 21 – 40 minute BikeErg

Unfortunately Boatcoach quit after 20 minutes. But it was lovely. Nice easy cross training session.

Monday – June 22 – Steady State

Still rowing with foils. This was supposed to be a nice easy steady state session, but as luck would have it, a sculler ended up right next to me as I pulled out from the dock, and his steady state pace was a bit quicker than mine. I just refused to let him go and pushed too hard.

I got to talk to him at the south end of the lake. Nice guy, student at University of Delaware. Getting back in shape in case there is rowing this fall.

       Workout Summary - media/f2e1dce094-20200622-122554o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|11848|01:08:44.6|02:54.1|121.9|20.1|143.7|166.0|08.6
W-|11293|00:56:39.9|02:30.5|141.2|19.5|150.3|166.0|10.2
R-|00559|00:12:05.0|10:48.9|031.5|23.0|112.3|166.0|03.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|03533|17:10.2|02:25.8|144.5|19.0|148.0|163.0|10.8
02|05723|29:16.4|02:33.5|142.7|19.7|155.9|166.0|09.9
03|02037|10:13.3|02:30.5|131.4|19.8|138.3|162.0|10.0

There was a bit of wind blowing from North to South.

Tuesday – June 23 – Lake Quinsigamond Speed Order

When I rowed on Saturday, I met a nice guy from Western Mass who came to row the GPS Speed Order on the lake. He handily beat my team and my course standard score. I found that highly motivating. I decided to give the course another go.

I started with a nice long warmup to the south end of the lake, and then set off. There was a very light tail wind (about 2mph) and I was seeing splits between 2:15 and 2:20, which was encouraging. My HR was high, but I didn’t feel distressed. The last 2k was kind of difficult, but I would fiddle around with rate and pressure a little bit to try to distract myself.

I was very happy with the end result. No where near my competitor on raw time, but I edged him out on course standard score.

I also shaved nearly 30 seconds off my previous time. (22:37). Boom.

Wednesday – June 24 – 40 minute BikeErg

I like the bike erg! It’s a great change of pace and a good way to get some low intensity aerobic minutes in. I started watching Ford v. Ferrari, which was highly entertaining.

Thursday – June 25 – Steady State (without Foils)

It felt so good to row without foils! Still not sure if they make me faster. They certainly do not slow me down, but I do not like rowing with them.

Nice, reasonable speedy steady state session. I was able to keep on the fast side of 2:30 for most of it.

       Workout Summary - media/7a3eb7d12d-20200625-202055o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|11945|01:03:09.1|02:38.6|134.6|20.6|139.8|159.0|09.2
W-|10644|00:52:28.8|02:27.9|146.4|20.4|143.4|159.0|09.9
R-|01309|00:10:41.0|04:04.7|076.8|21.1|122.2|159.0|06.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|00278|01:24.8|02:32.8|127.8|19.0|116.4|121.0|10.3
02|01974|09:34.9|02:25.7|149.8|20.4|136.4|147.0|10.1
03|00534|02:35.4|02:25.6|158.6|20.9|137.7|149.0|09.9
04|01306|06:27.5|02:28.3|145.2|20.5|138.5|147.0|09.9
05|04446|22:00.1|02:28.5|148.8|20.5|148.4|159.0|09.9
06|01891|09:21.6|02:28.5|137.6|20.3|147.8|153.0|10.0
07|00216|01:04.5|02:29.1|143.8|22.3|144.3|146.0|09.0

Friday – June 26 – 45 minute BikeErg

I had an 8 am meeting, so not enough time to go to the lake and get in a row. I slept in an extra half hour, and did a short session on the Bike. Watched more of Ford v Ferrari. Still really fun.

Saturday – June 27 – 80′ Coastal Row

It was warm and windy today. I thought it would be fun to go bash into some waves. I was right!

I launched at 12:15, so right as the wind was building up past 15mph. It peaked around 1pm when I was up near Wellfleet inner harbor, and moderated back down to 15 on the way back.

You can tell that the water is rough when the speedcoach starts having all those spikes on the stroke rate.

It was just past low tide when I launched, so I had to take a short leg to the northwest to stay clear of the shoals, then I turned SW and headed to the red buoy. The wind was blowing from the SSW, so on my port bow. The waves were very steep over the shallow water as I got close to the buoy, and I was filling the footwell every ten or so strokes. I opened the bailer and left it that way the rest of the row.

I turned at the buoy and had a downwind ride with the tide all the way to the harbor. The waves hissing and sizzling under the boat as I went. I turned into the harbor and grabbed a quick drink. I knew the next bit was going to be the tough part.

I headed back out, and as soon as I cleared the breakwater, I started getting slammed by 12 to 18 waves. They seem pretty big when your boat sits 3 inches above the water line. I pounded my way out and picked a point on the shore to focus on. I concentrated on just controlling my oars and reacting to the waves. I paid a lot of attention to my heart rate. With the waves and headwind, it was easy to push too hard.

The footwell was filled most of the time. By the time the bailer reduced the water level, another wave would run the length of the boat and fill it again.

Finally, I came into the lee of the Island and the water flattened out. The last bit of rowing on flat water was a nice change to adventure through the waves.

Great fun!

First Coastal Row of the Season

June 7, 2020Leave a comment

Last post was on May 24th. Things have been pretty hectic since then.

Monday – May 25 – 6 Darts games

I love the dart game. It’s a great way to get good meters in at a low intensity and focus on something other than the measly watts I need to stick to in these workouts.

I also am always trying to beat the impossibly high scores that Sander manages to post. No luck yet. Todays scores were:

14510,14575,14525,14400,14375,14675

That last on was an all time high score for me. I was pretty pumped to keep all my scores above 14000.

I was also really happy with the Heart Rate drift, only 2.28%

Tuesday – May 26 – 2 x 30′ / 5′ with bumps (Coastal)

The weather report for Tuesday was looking really great, so I loaded up my boat the night before. The tide was a bit dicey. I needed to row before work and the tide was falling. Low tide was right around when I wanted to get back to the beach. I was hoping I would get stranded on my way back. (I didn’t)

To make things even more interesting, I decided to do the sprint workout from the Stuck At Home Rowing Club. I love this workout. Two 30 minute pieces at a nice lazy pace, but even 5 minutes, you do a hard minute at a higher rate. On the erg, I would aim for r30. In a coastal boat, I was going to play it by ear.

You can see the effect of the tidal currents in the pace map. The first three bumps were done on the way out to my favorite buoy. Then I turned north and rowed against the ebbing tide toward the inner harbor. Then I turned back south and rode the tide back toward the red buoy. Finally I turned and did 2 bumps going northeast, and then the last one heading back toward the beach.

That was really fun! Great conditions.

Wednesday – May 27 – Rest day

Busy work day, and I was due for a break. I had trained 10 days prior.

13km Coastal Row

September 2, 2019Leave a comment

Another really beautiful, sunny, late summer day. On Sunday the breeze was blowing from the East, which meant generally flat water, as long as I hung out close to the eastern shore.

As usual, I picked the windiest time of day to go rowing. I swear that Zeus watches for me to walk out of my house in my rowing shorts, and turns up the wind dial. The highest gust of the day was at 12:19. I launched at 12:12.

So, I was slow going into the wind, and fast going away from the wind, but because of the direction, I was rarely dealing with much chop. There was a fair amount of power boat traffic and that was definitely a factor up near the inner harbor.

I launched 90 minutes before high tide (1:38pm), and when I launched there was still a noticeable current flowing into Loagy Bay. By the time I got up to the inner harbor, there was no noticeable current.

As soon as I launched, I headed up into the wind and then turned at a floating oyster shack to head up into Loagy Bay. I rowed up to the bridge and did a quick turn around. I rowed back north until I was almost to the beach on Indian Neck. I turned and skirted the shore. This turned out to be a bit stressful because there were a bunch of boats moored along the beach, some swamped and barely visible above the water.

As I rowed along the shore, I noticed my splits getting faster. I was coming out of the current into Loagy Bay and into the main stream heading up to the harbor. But at the same time, it was getting closer to high tide.

As always, I was waked mercilessly as I rounded the breakwater to the inner harbor, and that continued until I was almost to the pier. As you get into the inner harbor, there are speed limits that make it much better. This detail map shows a bit more. I was on the southerly track on the way in and you can see the jogs in the path as I worked my way through the wakes.

I really enjoyed the last bit behind the jetty. Flat water, tail wind and the end in sight.

For whatever reason, the trip out of the harbor was less eventful. I swung wide around the breakwater because there was a bunch of traffic. I got hit by a monumental interference pattern of wakes between two power boats going in opposite directions on either side of me. I took on a boat full of water, which I drained through the bailer.

One thing about the Aero. Even when this happened, I felt completely stable.

The row home was enjoyable, but felt a bit heavier than the outbound leg. The wind was on my port bow. The headwind and the flat water made it easy to focus on blade work. It was a bit like bungee rowing. After I got free of the wake zone, I just started counting strokes and three hundred strokes later, I was just off the beach.

The long break around the 47 minute mark was when I turned around behind the jetty. I got into a conversation with a couple of guys in motor boat. One their sons rowed for Penn, and they were asking about the boat and where I row and stuff like that.

Now it’s Monday and a holiday here. I have some errands and some prep work for the coming week. I think I will try to do an erg session later today. Probably something a bit more intense, but I’m not sure I have the motivation to dig really deep.

5 beds in 5 nights

September 1, 2019September 1, 2019Leave a comment

Monday – 8/26: 30′ Stationary cycle

I hadn’t planned on a workout on Monday, but I arrived at my hotel and had a appropriate gap in my schedule to squeeze in a quick workout. I headed down to the gym and hopped on a stationary bike.

Why the bike? Well, when I was packing on Sunday night I managed to give myself a nasty scratch on the top of my foot and it hurt to walk or run. The bike pedals were OK though.

I programmed a 1 minute on / 1 minute off interval workout.

Good fun. I slept in Orange County on Monday night.

Tuesday – 8/27: 50 minute steady state stationary bike

First thing in the morning when I woke up.

After this, I showered, hopped in the car and drove to San Diego, about 90 minutes away. I had breakfast with our team there, and had a couple of meetings. Then I drove to Agoura Hills which is north of LA. It was a very pleasant 3 hour drive.

Once I got to Agoura Hills, I had a meeting with some of our engineering team there. I had dinner alone and fell asleep around 9, in the hotel in Agoura Hills.

Wednesday – 8/28: 40 minute stationary bike

Again, first thing in the morning. Today was a medium intensity rolling hills workout.

Then back to our facility for more meetings. I headed out to the airport around noon and flew to Chicago, arriving at 9pm. I got to the hotel around 10pm and promptly fell asleep.

Thursday – 8/29: 30′ Stationary bike

Tired this morning. Took it easy. HR was high nonetheless.

After that, I headed to our office north of Chicago and had a few meetings. I headed out to the airport around 4pm. I caught a 7pm flight home and arrived back at my house around 11pm. I slept in Hopkinton that night.

Friday – 8/30 : No training

I slept hard until 9am, when my wife helpfully woke me up so I could dash off and get onto my first call of the day.. The morning was a blur of calls. Then we got our stuff packed and around 1:30 we headed off to the cape, arriving around 4:00pm. I had another work call, and the we chilled out, had some dinner and crashed around 10:30.

That was my fifth bed of the week.

Saturday – 8/31: 11k coastal row

A glorious beautiful day! I relaxed all morning. In the early after noon, I loaded up the boat, and headed off for a row. There was a brisk 10-15mph breeze from the north, so I decided to row the marshes where I would be protected from the chop. It was a good call. At the very end, I came out into the bay a little bit and I was bashed around. That bit was not fun, but it only lasted a few minutes and I was back on the beach.

The tide was flowing out during the whole row, and the stream was quite strong at times.

        Workout Summary - media/20190831-2041020o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|11661|01:11:55.0|03:05.0|000.0|20.5|146.2|163.0|07.9
W-|11138|01:05:24.4|02:56.2|000.0|20.0|146.7|163.0|08.5
R-|00530|00:06:31.2|06:09.0|000.0|25.1|140.5|163.0|04.1
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|02673|16:15.2|03:02.4|000.0|18.9|136.4|156.0|08.7 against tide
02|01404|08:02.8|02:51.9|000.0|20.4|149.3|155.0|08.5 with tide
03|01915|12:12.5|03:11.2|000.0|19.7|148.0|158.0|07.9 against tide
04|03345|19:28.5|02:54.7|000.0|20.4|150.8|163.0|08.4 bit of both
05|00070|00:27.4|03:16.8|000.0|19.7|159.6|161.0|07.7 against tide
06|01671|08:33.4|02:33.6|000.0|21.2|152.1|161.0|09.2 with tide
07|00060|00:24.6|03:25.0|000.0|19.5|149.6|154.0|07.5 last little bit

Man, I love rowing! The time just flew by, sun was shining, the water was nice and flat (mostly), and was able to focus on trying to row clean.

Tomorrow: I hope I can do it all over again.

90′ Hot and Tired Coastal Row

August 19, 2019Leave a comment

Sunday was the last day of my vacation, and I have to say that the weather has been pretty amazing. I was able to train outdoors 7 of the past 8 days.

On Sunday, there wasn’t too much wind, but it was really hot and humid. I launched around 12:30.

I really enjoyed rowing around the salt marsh on Saturday, so I started off doing the same thing today, but explored a new nook and cranny behind Indian Neck. The chart is a bit deceiving. The part that is shown as blue behind indian neck is actually pretty heavily channeled salt marsh. I turned around when the channel got a bit narrow to easily turn around.

When I rowed out from behind Feld Pt, the rowing actually got pretty annoying. The westerly wind was building up a bit of chop, but there were also a ton of criss crossing boat wakes. Rowing with this mess on the beam was really challenging. Trying to take clean strokes and get my blades consistently buried was a constant struggle.

I was pretty miserable by the time I got up the inner harbor and I wasn’t looking forward to the long slog home. Because of the angle of the wind, the row home was a bit harder, but a lot less annoying. I was really tired, my legs were empty and my heart rate was abnormally high. I think the humidity and the total training load of the past few days just got to me.

As I came into the Lee of the island, the water flattened out and I decided to push the last bit harder. I kept the rate reasonably low and pushed the pressure.

        Workout Summary - media/20190818-1826050o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|15655|01:47:52.0|03:26.7|000.0|19.7|144.6|177.0|07.4
W-|14215|01:23:09.0|02:55.5|000.0|20.4|148.1|177.0|08.5
R-|01449|00:24:43.0|08:31.8|000.0|17.5|133.2|177.0|02.4
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|01616|08:19.0|02:34.4|000.0|18.3|131.4|147.0|10.6 to bridge
02|02813|15:57.0|02:50.1|000.0|18.4|144.5|155.0|09.6 behind indian neck
03|01809|11:28.0|03:10.2|000.0|18.9|149.7|155.0|08.3 halfway to harbor, got waked
04|00540|03:20.0|03:05.4|000.0|21.0|149.0|155.0|07.7 waked again
05|02636|15:21.0|02:54.7|000.0|21.3|151.9|162.0|08.1 rest of the in harbor
06|00283|01:39.0|02:54.7|000.0|20.8|144.1|149.0|08.3 
07|01464|09:18.0|03:10.6|000.0|21.8|146.6|155.0|07.2
08|00134|00:51.0|03:09.9|000.0|21.5|137.3|140.0|07.4 
09|02920|16:56.0|02:54.0|000.0|22.3|156.5|177.0|07.7 back to beach

By the time I got back to the beach, I was feeling a little woozy and it was a challenge to get everything loaded on the car. I drove back to the house and got the boat put away, and took a shower. I laid down for about 30 minutes and started to feel much better.

I decided to take a rest day on Monday.

90′ Easy Coastal Row

August 17, 2019Leave a comment

Nice sunny day with a light breeze from the ESE. I launched around 2:15. High Tide was at 1:40, so the tide was going out during the row.

I wanted to get about 90 minutes of nice endurance building low intensity rowing in today. Since I was rowing at high tide, I decided to go do a little exploring. First, I rowed through the marsh to bridge, then I rowed back up into blackfish creek. On the way out, I did a loop through drummer cove. Finally, I rowed up along the outside of Indian Neck to the harbor entrance. After the nice smooth water of the first part of the row, the wakes and chop of this part was a not entirely welcome. The slog back to the beach was right into the wind, chop and for the last part, right into the tide as well. I had to keep reminding myself to just take it easy. But I get frustrated when the split drops slower than 3:00/500.

Tomorrow: Probably more endurance rowing. I think it’s supposed to be a nice day. Then it will be back to the grind.

Friday: 2 x 400 strokes @ 25 – Coastal

August 17, 2019Leave a comment

Time for another hard session. More head race prep. Generally I want to do a single hard distance piece for the third hard workout of the week, but since I was rowing close to low tide, my course selections were a bit restricted. I also didn’t feel particularly ambitious today.

I decided to row out to my favorite buoy to warmup. Then row from there up to the entrance of Wellfleet harbor. Take a bit of a breather and then row back to the buoy.

I figured it would be roughly 2 x 20′ pieces.

As it turned out, I pushed myself way too hard in the first piece and I called it quits after about 400 strokes. I was still about 500m short of the harbor entrance, but I was gassed and my form was falling apart. I stopped had a drink, caught my breath, got the boat turned around and then went for interval number two.

In this interval, I made a concerted effort to lighten up my stroke and just work on maintain good form, getting my oars off the waves on recovery and staying forward during the initial part of the drive. You can see from the HR plot that I was going a lot easier in the second rep. My intent was row back to the red buoy, but I got to 400 strokes and I was having trouble spotting it while I was rowing. I decided to call it finished at that point. Once I had stopped, I looked around and I still couldn’t find it. I started rowing for home, and after a hundred meters or so, I saw the buoy off my starboard bow. My course setting from the harbor was pretty terrible, I was way west of the buoy.

I had a long row home to cool down, and experiment with good form with the wind on my beam, and then on my bow. There wasn’t much chop because the wind was from the SE and I was in the lee of the island. I tried to be careful rowing back to the beach because of the low tide, but I misjudged the channel slightly and I ended up having to get out to drag my boat for about thirty feet back to the deeper water. You can see that as a little jog on the map right near the beach.

       Workout Summary - media/20190817-0031030o.csv
--|Total|-Total----|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time-----|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|11744|01:12:42.0|03:05.7|000.0|21.0|153.5|180.0|07.7
W-|09915|00:53:07.0|02:40.7|000.0|22.9|158.2|180.0|08.2
R-|01836|00:19:35.0|05:20.0|000.0|16.0|140.9|180.0|05.2
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|02366|12:03.0|02:32.8|000.0|19.5|141.5|152.0|10.1 - out to the buoy
02|02937|15:54.0|02:42.4|000.0|25.0|168.7|180.0|07.4 - into tide, with wind
03|02907|14:31.0|02:29.8|000.0|25.3|168.0|177.0|07.9 - into wind, with tide
04|01617|10:05.0|03:07.1|000.0|20.4|147.7|154.0|07.9
05|00088|00:34.0|03:13.0|000.0|18.9|152.1|153.0|08.2

I’m pretty happy with the session. I’d be happier if I had taken each interval out to 20 minutes, but I’ve gotten 3 good hard sessions in this week. It’s a good setup for fall training.

14 x 3′ coastal

August 15, 2019Leave a comment

It was cloudy and misty. There was a breeze from the NE at 10 mph with gusts to 15. I had hoped that this would have given me smoother waters, but it was still quite choppy.

I was electronically challenged. My Speedcoach GPS died a sad death, a couple of days ago. The first symptom was it producing impeller data when it wasn’t connected to impeller. Then it stopped listening to the on/off button. Finally, when I plugged it in to charge, a strange, random pattern appeared on the screen and flashed ominously.

The diagnosis from NK was “water ingress”, and a replacement is on the way. (Fantastic customer service!) But all I had to work with was my iphone in its waterproof case. I planned to use CrewNerd, which has a good screen lock feature. It worked perfectly on older models of the iphone which had a real home button. But on the newer iphone, you really don’t seem to be able fully lock the screen, since swiping up from the bottom is the replacement gesture for pressing the now non-existent home button. So, anyway, CrewNerd lasted about 4 thousand meters and multiple splashy dousings. Then I took a big wave over the side of boat and the phone decided to flip over to Safari, then Spotify, then the lock screen. All of which are pretty useless to get your pace and rate.

I spent a few minutes trying get back to CrewNerd, but getting the phone to unlock with a very wet touch screen was not going very well and I gave up on it. I did the rest of the workout in the 20th century, with no feedback. It was somewhat refreshing.

I was doing three minute intervals with one minute rests. I was doing them at 25 strokes per minute. So when I rowed into the stone age, I worked off of stroke count. I did 77 strokes for each interval, and then I would catch my breath and do it again.

If I needed to turn around, the rest would last a little longer. The intervals going north were really hard work. The tide was going out, and the wind was right on the bow. The water got a lot flatter as I got closer to the north end of the harbor, so I went back and forth there a bit. The intervals going south were easier and more fun.

The last two intervals were quite messy. I was rowing with the wind and the waves on my beam. I experimented with rates to try to get in rhythm with the waves, and I worked really hard to get the blades way high on recovery to avoid clipping the waves.

I was rowing as it was approaching low tide, and on the last interval, the water got shallow enough that my oar blades were hitting bottom for about 10 strokes of the interval as I passed over a sand bar.

With all the adventures with electronics, I totally lost count of the number of reps.

My last backup system is my apple watch. It did nor record gps data, but it captured heart rate. Looking at the data, I was pleased to see that I had done 15 reps, and they were basically the right length, with appropriate rests.

After I finished and drove home, I realized how tired I was. This was a pretty epic workout. I ended up falling asleep at 10:30 and slept until 8:30 this morning.

Today, I am looking to do a nice gentle endurance session. Either coastal, or erg or bike. We’ll see how it works out.

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Tag: coastal