4′ rest

March 3, 2017March 4, 20175 Comments

My friend Sander is in the process of adding new features on rowsandall.com that are designed to help rowing teams use data analysis to get faster. These features let you do things like share workout results, comment on each other’s workouts and even compare your workouts graphically.

So, we even though we are following different training plans, we are trying to find some workouts which we can do as a group to try out these features. Today, he suggested the workout from his club’s Masters training plan. It looked like a monster.

Rowing 15km (75′) consisting of

1. 2500m warming up

2. 2x(10x500m/80″)/4min @ 26spm (Zone 3-4)

3. Stretching 20 minutes

We talked a little about how to set it up so that the comparisons were meaningful. You could set it up just using regular distance intervals, but the issue with that is since everyone will paddle different distances during the rests, the comparison plots will get all misaligned by the end.

We decided to change it slightly, so that it was

2 x ( 10 x (500m on / 200m paddle) / 4′ @ 26 spm

This could be set up on the PM either as a 7000m row (like Sander did), or as a 10 x 700/no rest interval session like I did. This kept the graphs all pretty.

If I were planning group workouts and I wanted to do comparison plots, I would definitely recommend time based intervals and time based rests. It makes it much easier to compare rowers of different abilities.

Different abilities did not turn out to be a factor for this workout. It turned out our avg power for the session was matched to less than a percent!

First the warmup, 2500m which I did with 4 20 stroke bursts at my target power for the intervals.

Workout Summary - media/20170303-1835200o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|02500|09:58.0|01:59.7|206.3|22.3|143.3|160.0|11.2
W-|02500|09:58.0|01:59.8|203.7|22.1|142.9|160.0|11.4
R-|00000|00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|160.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00500|02:00.7|02:00.7|190.8|19.5|117.7|133.0|12.8
01|00200|00:45.2|01:53.0|239.5|25.6|138.0|141.0|10.3
02|00300|01:13.9|02:03.1|189.5|21.2|141.2|142.0|11.5
03|00200|00:45.0|01:52.4|242.4|26.0|146.1|150.0|10.3
04|00300|01:14.7|02:04.5|183.3|20.7|149.0|152.0|11.6
05|00200|00:45.2|01:52.9|237.9|24.9|151.2|154.0|10.7
06|00300|01:15.0|02:05.0|182.9|21.1|153.8|157.0|11.4
07|00200|00:44.7|01:51.8|248.5|25.3|153.3|158.0|10.6
08|00300|01:14.5|02:04.1|187.3|21.4|157.8|160.0|11.3

Then into the first set.

Workout Summary - media/20170303-1835220o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|07000|31:36.0|02:15.4|177.4|24.9|156.1|173.0|08.9
W-|05000|18:29.0|01:51.0|251.1|26.1|156.4|173.0|10.4
R-|02000|13:07.0|03:16.9|061.7|22.8|155.5|173.0|06.2
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00500|01:50.7|01:50.7|245.5|24.8|146.4|163.0|10.9
01|00500|01:51.4|01:51.4|246.4|24.9|154.4|166.0|10.8
02|00500|01:50.9|01:50.9|254.1|26.1|156.2|168.0|10.4
03|00500|01:51.8|01:51.8|249.3|24.9|155.9|168.0|10.8
04|00500|01:51.8|01:51.8|245.3|24.9|155.8|168.0|10.8
05|00500|01:50.6|01:50.6|252.2|26.6|157.5|169.0|10.2
06|00500|01:50.3|01:50.3|251.4|26.4|158.7|170.0|10.3
07|00500|01:51.6|01:51.6|251.7|26.9|159.4|171.0|10.0
08|00500|01:50.3|01:50.3|253.1|27.8|158.9|171.0|09.8
09|00500|01:50.1|01:50.1|262.1|28.0|161.0|173.0|09.7

Wow. That was tough. And now I have to do another whole set of that! I let the rate pop up a 1 or 2 spm. This was the first fast-ish session that I’ve done on the dynamic and it really wanted me to rate up!

Workout Summary - media/20170303-1835240o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|06969|31:44.0|02:16.6|173.4|27.2|159.2|182.0|08.1
W-|05000|18:30.0|01:51.1|253.5|27.9|160.4|182.0|09.7
R-|01970|13:14.0|03:21.7|054.2|26.0|157.1|182.0|04.7
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00500|01:50.4|01:50.4|247.4|26.9|148.4|165.0|10.1
01|00500|01:52.0|01:52.0|245.5|28.4|157.0|169.0|09.4
02|00500|01:49.8|01:49.8|253.6|27.7|159.2|172.0|09.9
03|00500|01:49.9|01:49.9|251.5|27.4|159.7|172.0|10.0
04|00500|01:51.2|01:51.2|252.6|27.2|160.8|174.0|09.9
05|00500|01:51.5|01:51.5|253.1|27.6|159.8|172.0|09.7
06|00500|01:51.8|01:51.8|249.5|27.5|161.9|174.0|09.7
07|00500|01:53.7|01:53.7|248.6|26.9|162.6|174.0|09.8
08|00500|01:53.6|01:53.6|240.2|27.6|164.6|175.0|09.6
09|00500|01:46.7|01:46.7|294.8|31.7|170.1|182.0|08.9

Here is a comparison of my first and second sets. (using the cool compare feature on rowsandall)

And here is a comparison of my two sets and Sander’s two sets using the beta features for teams on rowsandall.

You can see so much from these plots. You can see how we both went for a fast last. You can see how I rated up more in the second set to try to hold the training power. You can see the similarity in the HR response showing the similar effort levels. I think that this could be an incredible tool for a tech savvy coach to get more out of their athletes and for teammates to push each other.

Tomorrow: Group workout at the lake on ergs. I offered to lead a workout from the Marathon Training Plan.

4 x 15′ / 4′

6′ @ 5KP, 9′ @ MP

92.5%

(172)

I’ve done two hard sessions in a row, so I think I will be aiming at the bottom of my power bands (255W and 180W)

Edit: I just went through and looked at some of the additional parameters that painsled captures to compare the rows. It’s very clear from this that I was struggling more in the second set than Sander was. You can see me experimenting with higher stroke rates, and his WPS was higher throughout.

Friday: 3 x 20′ / 4′ (8′ @ 5kp, 12′ @ mp)

March 3, 2017Leave a comment

The plan for today was the monumental

3 x 25′ / 5′

8′ @ 5KP, 17′ @ MP

92.5%

(172)

Unfortunately, I didn’t have 100 minutes, I decided to shorten the 17′ to 12′ and the rests from 5′ to 4′.

3 x 20′ / 4′

8′ @ 5KP, 12′ @ MP

92.5%

(172)

For power, I decided to push the top end of each range. 240W for 5kp and 195W for mp

I felt good. My HR pushed up through the cap in the last piece, but I wasn’t in distress. I’m pretty happy about that after all the sessions I’ve missed.

I compared this to my most recent 4×15, which was at the end of a good run of workouts. The power was bit higher today and the reps were more consistent. HR was higher too.

Then I compared it to the 3×25′ workout that I did on Feb 5, about a month ago. The extra 5 minutes at mp should accumulate more fatigue, but also provides a longer time between the hard bits. I did the one in February at about 10w lower power, and the HR was generally lower.

Today: I will do a workout from Sander’s club.

Rowing 15km (75′) consisting of

1. 2500m warming up

2. 2x(10x500m/80″)/4min @ 26spm (Zone 3-4)

3. Stretching 20 minutes

Wednesday: 2 x 40′ / 4′ rest (HR capped at 150)

March 1, 2017Leave a comment

Back to the routine. I’ve missed a couple weeks in the marathon training schedule, but I’ve got plenty of time before the race in july. I’ll pick up from where I left off.

I was scheduled for a rest day today, but I wanted to do monday’s long and slow session. This was supposed to be 2 x 45′ / 4’30” rest, but I didn’t have 2 hours. Instead I did.

W6-B

2 x 40′ / 4′

MP or slower

80.0%

(149)

Before I started, I updated the PM5 firmware to try to fix my Painsled hangups. It worked fine for the first 70 minutes, but hung up in the last 10 minutes. That kind of made me a bit mad. I think I am going to stick to ergdata unless I specifically trying to fix this issue.

The session was nothing too exciting. I was happy that my HR took as long as it did to rise during the first 40 minutes and I was happy that it plateaued around 150. I guess for now 175 is a good training power for these long pieces.

Here’s the portion that I got on painsled

Workout Summary - media/20170301-1705200o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|17893|76:39.0|02:08.5|169.5|19.2|138.1|153.0|12.2
W-|17322|72:39.0|02:05.8|175.6|19.1|139.5|153.0|12.5
R-|00573|04:00.0|03:29.5|049.7|20.3|109.7|153.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|09533|40:00.0|02:05.9|175.3|19.0|134.7|146.0|12.6
01|07790|32:39.2|02:05.8|176.0|19.3|145.4|153.0|12.4

Tomorrow:

3 x 25′ / 5′

8′ @ 5KP, 17′ @ MP

92.5%

(172)

Tuesday: Another shot at the February CTC

February 28, 2017March 1, 2017Leave a comment

Sunday: Flew home from Korea via Detriot. 21 hours door to door. Didn’t sleep at all and was wedged into a coach seat the whole way. Arrived home at 3pm. No training.

Monday: Slept in to try to make up for the lost night of sleep. No training

Tuesday: Woke up at 5:15am and felt pretty tired. Dragged myself to work and after an hour of email, went down to the gym. The goal for the day was to make another attempt at the February Cross Team Challenge and get all the rowing data onto rowsandall so we could try out some cool new team functionality.

But, I have to admit that I was not feeling too good about doing a hard workout.

I set up a 10 minute warmup. I rowed a minute nice and gently, then I worked as 30 seconds on / 30 seconds off. For the Ons, I did a rate ladder starting at 20spm, and going up by 2 spm in each one until I got up to 30 spm. I’m sure the data would have looked really cool. But, we’ll never know because painsled hung again about 6 minutes into the row and stopped storing data. 😦

I felt a bit better as I went along, but I was still not optimistic about the session. I bailed on using painsled and reverted to using ergdata, and got myself setup.

Last time I did the CTC, I did it at 24 spm. This time I figured somewhere between 26 and 28. As for splits, I was thinking I wanted to improve on the 1:49.1 pace in Taiwan, so maybe around 1:47.

As soon as I started the first interval, I settled into a much faster pace. I was worried that I would flame out in the later reps, but I just went with it anyway.

Workout Summary - media/Import_28998017.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|05080|20:00.0|01:58.1|262.3|26.6|165.2|178.0|09.5
W-|04336|15:30.0|01:47.2|305.7|27.5|165.3|178.0|10.2
R-|00754|04:30.0|02:59.1|093.8|23.5|166.3|178.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00444|01:30.0|01:41.3|317.1|27.2|142.9|158.0|10.9
01|00438|01:30.0|01:42.8|307.8|26.9|160.0|164.0|10.9
02|00442|01:30.0|01:41.8|304.8|27.5|161.8|166.0|10.7
03|00428|01:30.0|01:45.2|302.0|26.4|164.2|169.0|10.8
04|00431|01:30.0|01:44.4|298.4|27.9|166.2|171.0|10.3
05|00425|01:30.0|01:45.9|301.7|27.2|168.7|173.0|10.4
06|00430|01:30.0|01:44.7|299.5|27.5|168.1|173.0|10.4
07|00433|01:30.0|01:44.0|300.8|27.7|170.8|175.0|10.4
08|00435|01:30.0|01:43.3|301.1|27.7|173.0|177.0|10.5
09|00431|01:30.1|01:44.5|319.1|28.4|174.6|178.0|10.1

After the second rep, I decided to try to aim at 1:45. I managed to stay under it except for the 7th rep, where I struggled a bit. Not a full blown crisis, but I coasted in the last few strokes to give myself a bit of a longer rest.

This was a big improvement and I’m very pleased with it.

Tomorrow: 2 x 40′ / 4′ rest

Friday: February CTC (@ r24)

February 24, 2017Leave a comment

I was pressed for time this morning, but I wanted to get a workout in. I mean realy, how often do I get to stay at a hotel with a real erg? It’s too good to pass up.

So, I thought I would try out the February CTC, but do it with a rate restriction. The rests are so short that I wasn’t sure how to pace it.

I decided to try to target 1:50 at r24.

It worked out OK.

Pretty tough workout. I can probably shave a couple seconds by rating up. Next shot, I’ll do at r26.

Tonight I fly off to Korea for a day. I will hopefully get a workout in tomorrow morning. Something tame and endurance oriented.

Thursday: 2 x 30′ / 2′ rest (HR Capped)

February 23, 2017February 23, 20171 Comment

In Taiwan at the Ambassador Hotel in Hsinchu. I arrived this morning at 6am, and was at the hotel by 7:15. I unpacked, called home, and the got into my gym clothes. I was planning another fitness center snooze-fest.

I made a delightful discovery. In the fitness center, there was an old Model D with PM2.

On top of that rower, there was a person. The person was rowing. Slowly. Underhand. I got on the treadmill closest to the erg and started to do some inclined marching. I figured he couldn’t go on too long like that. He didn’t I hopped off the treadmill at the six minute mark and jumped on the erg.

New plan: 2 x 30′ / 2′ with a HR cap at 155.

This turned out to be a challenge. Between jet lag, fatigue, immobility, and dehydration, my HR climbed steadily and even when I slowed way down, it stayed high.

Despite that I enjoyed the session thoroughly.

Tomorrow morning: First crack at the CTC, at R24, just to get the hang of it.

Thursday: 4 x 15′ / 4′ rest (6′ @ 5kp, 9′ @ mp)

February 16, 2017February 22, 20175 Comments

Replay of Monday’s workout. Sticking to the same power targets.

4 x 15′ / 4′

6′ @ 5KP, 9′ @ MP

92.5%

(172)

5kp target: 235W

mp target: 190W

Lot’s of technology troubles today. Painsled kept hanging up the PM5. It froze during my first 15′ section requiring me to remove the batteries in the PM5 to reset everything, then it happened again in the second interval, requiring the same process to get going again. I finally gave up and used ergdata for the last 2 intervals, and it worked fine. No fun metrics though.

Warmup (4 minutes) and the first interval. It froze at 17 minutes, about 11 minutes into the 1st interval.

Workout Summary - media/20170217-0100220o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|04298|17:36.0|02:02.9|206.0|22.5|149.0|162.0|10.8
W-|03990|15:36.0|01:57.4|218.1|22.6|151.0|162.0|11.3
R-|00310|02:00.0|03:13.4|072.6|21.0|127.5|162.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|01025|04:00.0|01:57.1|219.0|22.2|136.2|151.0|11.6
01|01582|06:00.0|01:53.8|239.6|24.1|156.1|162.0|10.9
02|01383|05:36.5|02:01.7|194.5|21.3|156.0|162.0|11.6

The the second interval. This one packed up around 9 minutes in.

Workout Summary - media/20170217-0100250o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|02391|09:11.0|01:55.3|229.4|23.4|159.5|169.0|11.1
W-|02391|09:11.0|01:55.3|228.0|23.3|159.6|169.0|11.2
R-|00000|00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|169.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|01603|06:00.0|01:52.3|245.1|24.2|157.7|168.0|11.0
01|00788|03:11.3|02:01.4|195.9|21.6|163.3|169.0|11.4

Then I gave up and used ergdata. This got the last two intervals. I noticed that I was not approaching the HR cap in the third interval, so I pushed the fourth harder and I managed to push up to the 172 cap.

Workout Summary - media/Import_28881412.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|08494|38:00.0|02:14.2|194.3|22.9|159.5|173.0|09.8
W-|07663|30:00.0|01:57.4|212.2|23.1|163.6|173.0|11.1
R-|00834|08:00.0|04:47.8|064.6|21.4|136.8|173.0|01.8
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|01610|06:00.0|01:51.8|242.6|24.7|160.3|171.0|10.9
01|02222|09:00.0|02:01.5|194.0|21.6|164.6|171.0|11.4
02|01601|06:00.0|01:52.5|244.1|25.1|164.7|173.0|10.6
03|02230|09:00.0|02:01.1|189.0|22.1|164.2|172.0|11.2

Of course, I had my backup systems working, so I at least got HR data for the whole row in Wahoo on my iphone.

I was really pleased with the workout (despite the technical difficulties). I worked hard, but I felt much stronger than on Tuesday. About 6 or 7 watts better with the same HR.

I bet I could have gotten into a groove, if I didn’t disappear on travel on Friday.

Wednesday: 2 x 30′ / 2′ rest (HR capped)

February 15, 2017February 21, 2017Leave a comment

Plan called for a rest day, but I knew that training would be spotty after Thursday, so I did a easy endurance session.

2 x 30′ / 2′ rest (HR Capped at 155)

Should have been very easy, but it was not.

Heart rate climbed fast and didn’t settle. Comparing it to similar workouts. Here it is versus a 2 x 30 before I travelled last week.

Here it is versus the 3 x 20 I did on the dynamic. Pretty Similar.

Tuesday: 3 x 20′ / 2′ rest (MP / 10KP / H

February 14, 2017February 21, 2017Leave a comment

I’ve missed quite a few entries. Last week was quite crazy at work, and I left on Friday for a quick vacation. Now, it’s Tuesday and I’m on my way from Aruba to Taiwan for work.

But the one thing I was able to do last week was do some rowing. My fitness is not where I wanted it to be because of last week’s travel, but at least I am getting the sessions in.

Tuesday’s plan called for:

3 x 20′ / 2′

MP, 10KP, HMP

90.0%

(167)

Power ranges for MP, 10KP, and HMP are:

And I did so well before my trip that I decided to aim for 5W higher, so:

MP target : 190W

10KP target: 220W

HMP target: 205W

This, and the time spent cross training last week made the workout a bit more challenging.

Comparing this to the last time I did this workout shows how much harder I was working for the 5 watts

Monday: 4 x 15′ / 4′ rest (6′ @ 5kp, 9′ @ mp)

February 13, 2017February 13, 20172 Comments

It was snowing during the day on Sunday and the forecast was that the storm was going to last all night long and into the morning. So, I figured that I would be stuck in the house. But by 11:30PM, it was pretty clear that the storm was clearing out sooner and the snow totals were going to be smaller than predicted earlier. So, I set my alarm for 6:15 and headed to work.

I did this session in the deserted fitness center at work.

Plan: