Doing my best

March 9, 20182 Comments

In brief, things are hectic. I last posted on Friday, February 16, 19 days ago. A lot has happened since then, but it has been tough to maintain a reasonable training schedule. I’ve been on four continents, and slept in my bed at home 5 times in the past 19 days.

Saturday, Feb 17: 4 x 20 / 3′ Dynamic

Maybe the best, most relaxed session I’ve ever had on the dynamic. It still felt sluggish and heavy, but by focusing on the HR cap and allowing the rate to be at r20 instead of r18, it was kind of OK.

          Workout Summary - media/20180217-2015360o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|19586|92:00.0|02:20.9|165.0|20.1|147.7|156.0|10.6
W-|18897|80:00.0|02:07.0|170.7|20.1|148.8|156.0|11.7
R-|00693|12:00.0|08:39.3|059.4|20.3|130.7|156.0|01.2
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04752|20:00.0|02:06.3|173.1|20.0|142.7|152.0|11.9
01|04708|20:00.0|02:07.4|169.4|20.2|150.2|155.0|11.6
02|04713|20:00.0|02:07.3|169.7|20.1|151.7|156.0|11.7
03|04724|20:00.0|02:07.0|170.8|20.2|150.7|156.0|11.7

Sunday, Feb 18: No Training.

My wife and I flew to Aruba for some fun in the sun.

Monday – Feb 19: 5km run on the beach

Barefoot, right along the water line where the sand was the firmest. It was hot, and I was going slow.

Tuesday – Feb 20: 6km run

My feet were a bit beaten up from the barefoot run, so I wore shoes and ran the foot path along the back of the beach. Lots of twists and turns and people to avoid.

Wednesday – Feb 21: No training – rest day

My legs were really sore from two days of running. I don’t run much!

Thursday – Feb 22: Fitness Center

30 minutes on stationary bike

Treadmill – max incline (15%). 6 x (4:30 walk, 0:30 sec sprint)

Friday – Feb 23: Run on the beach

About 4.4km. Not too taxing

Saturday – Feb 24: Quick run on the beach

We had to clear out of the hotel by 11, so I went for a final quick run on the beach. I pushed the pace a little quicker.

We got home around 8pm that night.

Sunday – Feb 25: 8 x (4:30 @ r20, 0:30 @ r32+)/30″ – Dynamic

I got up early to do this workout. I was departing in the early afternoon for Italy. It seems that my happy times for the Cat VI session on the dynamic do not extend to sprinting. Unlike rowing on slides, where rating up is, frankly, a blast, sprinting on the dynamic is pretty miserable. I suffered through the and came close to the targets, but this session is usually a breeze and it certainly wasn’t.

          Workout Summary - media/20180225-1610370o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|10067|44:00.0|02:11.1|169.1|20.7|156.9|177.0|11.0
W-|09602|40:00.0|02:05.0|184.2|21.3|155.8|174.0|11.5
R-|00479|04:00.0|04:10.7|018.9|15.3|168.6|174.0|20.7
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|01100|04:30.0|02:02.8|187.0|20.6|129.9|149.0|11.9
01|00143|00:30.0|01:45.0|303.9|32.6|152.4|156.0|08.8
02|01075|04:30.0|02:05.5|177.2|19.5|148.9|155.0|12.3
03|00146|00:30.0|01:42.9|319.5|34.0|157.2|160.0|08.6
04|01073|04:30.0|02:05.8|174.8|19.8|154.5|162.0|12.0
05|00146|00:30.0|01:42.4|322.2|34.0|160.5|165.0|08.6
06|01061|04:30.0|02:07.2|169.2|20.1|156.0|165.0|11.8
07|00148|00:30.0|01:41.5|331.2|36.4|162.6|167.0|08.1
08|01039|04:30.0|02:09.9|163.6|20.1|158.2|166.0|11.5
09|00150|00:30.0|01:40.1|348.5|35.0|165.7|169.0|08.6
10|01023|04:30.0|02:11.9|158.3|19.0|161.6|172.0|12.0
11|00152|00:30.0|01:38.8|358.4|36.9|166.5|170.0|08.2
12|01009|04:30.0|02:13.8|149.8|18.7|163.7|173.0|12.0
13|00149|00:30.0|01:40.8|333.9|35.2|165.0|168.0|08.5
14|01037|04:30.0|02:10.2|160.5|20.2|167.2|172.0|11.4
15|00151|00:30.0|01:39.5|351.6|35.7|171.4|174.0|08.5

Here is a comparison of the same workout

Static rower
Slides
Dynamic

The first plot shows average power. The first session on a static erg was pretty typical for this workout. The second one, on slides is 10 watts higher because I was having such a blast rating up on slides that I really kicked the sprints hard. I tried to rate up in a similar way on the dynamic, but the stroke was so heavy that I could get the rate. Even though the drag factor was only 129, it felt like the gearing was much much heavier. And I was so gassed from the short sprints that I couldn’t maintain Cat VI power in the slow sections.

Then it was off to Milan for business.

Monday – Feb 26: No Training.

I arrived in Milan at 6am, went to the hotel, napped for an hour, then started my day. We prepped in the office until mid-afternoon when we headed to our customer’s facility for meetings. These lasted until 6:30. Then we out to dinner. I wasn’t back to my hotel until around 11pm. I slept well.

Tuesday – Feb 27: No Training

I needed to be in the office by 9, and I needed to catch up on sleep, so I skipped training.

Wednesday – Feb 28: 50′ in the Fitness Center

The hotel had a tiny, claustrophobic fitness center in the basement. It had 2 treadmills and two stationary bikes, plus one of those useless combination weight machine things. I did a 30 minute max incline fast walk thing and then 20 minutes on the stationary bike on a rolling hills program. I wanted something easy, and it was.

Then I headed off to the airport to fly home. I barely made my connection in Munich, and I guess that added about 20 minutes of very brisk walking to my exercise total for the day. I arrived home around 9pm that night.

Thursday – March 1: No Training

I decided to no try to get up at 5am and I intended to try to sneak to the gym during the day, but things got hectic and I never made it. Bummer.

Friday: March 2: 3 x 20’/ 3′

Just an easy session. At work on the static rower.

Workout Summary - media/20180302-1325350o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|15083|69:00.0|02:17.2|159.7|17.6|140.1|155.0|12.4
W-|14442|60:00.0|02:04.6|180.9|18.8|142.0|155.0|12.8
R-|00643|09:00.0|06:59.6|018.2|09.4|127.2|155.0|36.8
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04823|20:00.0|02:04.4|181.2|18.8|136.2|145.0|12.9
01|04810|20:00.0|02:04.7|180.7|18.9|142.7|150.0|12.7
02|04809|20:00.0|02:04.8|180.8|18.8|147.0|155.0|12.8

Honestly, I was expecting that it was going to be a lot worse!

Saturday – March 3 – 10 x 500 @ 22 / 2′ rest

At home on the dynamic rower. Another epic battle with a supposedly easy workout.

The weird HR thing at the beginning of the last interval is a glitch. I was working my ass off and watching the HR reaing slowly drop down and the rise up again.

You can see how I gave up on trying to hold Cat VI pace during the rests in the second half of the workout.

Then I rushed around madly to get ready for my trip to Shanghai and Shenzhen. My flight took off around 2am Sunday morning.

Sunday – March 4: Effectively did not exist.

I started flying at 2am, and arrived in Hong Kong at 5am on March 5th with the time zone change.

Monday – March 5: 8 x (4:30 @ 18, 0:30 @32+)

I’m staying at Kerry Hotel in Shanghai which is a great hotel. They have a great fitness center with 2 Concept2 model D rowers. One of them has a PM5, and it linked up fine with painsled. Unfortunately, for some reason the export of the data from this specific rower does not work. I’ve put out a call for help from Rick Terrell, and he said that this particular PM5 is appending some weird stuff at the end of the workout. Anyway, I did the workout. It went pretty well, considering I was on a plane for about 20 hours prior to doing it. And I felt a lot better once I was done.

Each of the 5′ intervals are 4:30 at about 2:05, and 0:30 at about 1:35. It was fun to try to make sure that the total for 5 minutes was just above 1250m.

Tuesday – March 6: 10 x 500@r22 / 2′ rest

Another good workout, considering the road miles. The 2′ rests were just 500m intervals rowed at Cat VI pace.

Wednesday – March 7: 3 x (5 x 500 @ r24/1′)/5′

This was hard work.

500m warmup at cat vi
5 x 500 @ 24 / 1′ rest
for the 5′ rest, 1′ rest/500′ at 2:45 ish/1′ rest
repeat twice more

I felt pretty tired after the first set, but I kind of got into a groove for the rest of the workout.

The rest f the day was pretty busy. I had a lunch with a customer, and then a group of us fly from Shanghai to Shenzhen in the evening. We got to the hotel in Shenzhen around 11pm.

Thursday – March 8: 60′ Fitness Center LIT

Nice Westin hotel. Reasonably equipped fitness center, but no rowing machines.

30 minute cross trainer random program, level 16
30 minute max incline (15%) fast walk. Adjusted speed to maintain < 155HR.

Friday – March 9: Strength Session plus 30 minutes cross trainer

The hotel had kettle bells!

Strength session

PT stuff (SI joint stretch, archer stretch, med ball twists on swiss ball)
KB swings (with 20kg bell)
- 10 both arms
- 2 x 2 x 20 singe arm swings (alternating arms by set)
Chin ups: 4, 3, 3, 2
(the bar was really high, I had to jump up to it. It’s a lot harder starting from such a low position.
Dumbell Deadlifts: 30 kg. 3 x 10 deadlifts

Then I did a 30 minute random program level 14 on the cross trainer.

I wore my HR strap during the strength session just to get an idea of what was going on.

Whew. That brings us up to the present. I have checked out of my room and I’m about to take a car from here to the Hong Kong Airport, which I am told is a long drive. I catch a flight at 6pm tonight fly for 15 hours and magically arrive in Boston around 8pm Friday night.

Tomorrow: I have a new workout plan from Marlene. I can’t wait to get going. I have decided that I need some competition to get myself focused and motivated. So, I’m aiming to do the Cromwell Cup in July, a 1km sprint race. So, she has put together a plan to start me down the road for that event.

The first session….looks a lot like a pretty classic rate ladder session. Might be a bit tough on the dynamic, but that’s OK.

3 x 15’ / 4′
- 5’@ Cat VI; SR 20 –> 2:03 to 2:08
- 4’ @ Cat V; SR 22 –> 1:58 – 2:02
- 3’ @ Cat IV; SR 24 –> 1:52
- 2’ @ Cat III; SR 26 –> 1:48
- 1’@ Cat II; SR 28 –> 1:45

If you’ve made it this far, congratulations.

Friday: 10K Cat VI plus Strength

February 16, 2018Leave a comment

Full PT Suite

10K Cat VI. Target pace 2:05. Felt pretty awful.

          Workout Summary - media/20180216-1310300o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|10000|41:34.0|02:04.7|179.8|18.1|150.5|158.0|13.3
W-|10000|41:34.0|02:04.7|179.8|18.1|150.4|158.0|13.3
R-|00000|00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|158.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|02000|08:16.7|02:04.2|180.5|17.6|136.5|148.0|13.7
01|02000|08:17.0|02:04.2|182.3|18.2|151.1|154.0|13.3
02|02000|08:18.3|02:04.6|180.9|18.1|154.9|158.0|13.3
03|02000|08:20.4|02:05.1|179.0|18.3|154.6|156.0|13.1
04|02000|08:22.4|02:05.6|176.6|18.3|154.7|157.0|13.1

Then strength

KB Swings – 3 x 20 16kg
Torso rotations – 2 x 2 x 10 – position 6
Front squats – 5 x 6 – 115lbs
Pull ups – 5, 3, 3, 2

Rough patch

February 7, 2018Leave a comment

I got back from Korea late Friday night, around 11pm. And even though the flights were fine and I got some rest on the flight, I was wasted. I struggled to sleep on Friday night, and Saturday night, and Sunday night, and Monday night. Each night, I would fall asleep, but wake up at 2am and spend the rest of the night tossing and turning. I didn’t get a good night sleep until last night when I got 7 blissful hours.

Along with the sleep issues, I felt rundown and grumpy during the day. My motivation to train was low and my training sessions were abysmal. A lot of this was just being tired, but also knowing that I am in a period with a lot of travel and no immediate training objective makes it hard to push through. Maybe it’s good not to in this case.

I reached out to Marlene for advice and she was fine with backing off a bit. I decided to change things up. For the next couple weeks, I’m modifying the plan.

Faithfully do my PT exercises 5 or 6 times a week
3x mini-strength sessions a week
1. KB swings
2. pull ups
3. front squats
on non-strength days do shorter erg sessions, working on proper technique and base aerobic fitness
on strength days, do a short erg warmup and maybe a bit of cross training on the treadmill

I’ll do this through Feb 24th and then dive back into normal training. The goal then will be to get ready to get back on the water. I feel better having made the mental switch.

Recent training details….

Saturday – 2/3: In the evening, I decided to try to do what I thought would be an easy 10K push on the dynamic. I started at 2:04, and aimed to finish at 1:55. I made it 6K and then backed off to a paddle. With 1000m left, I was pretty pissed off, so I targeted 1:55 and it nearly killed me.

Workout Summary - media/20180204-0310250o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|10000|40:33.0|02:01.7|196.8|21.8|158.8|182.0|11.3
W-|10000|40:33.0|02:01.7|195.2|21.6|157.9|182.0|11.5
R-|00000|00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|182.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|01000|04:07.0|02:03.5|183.9|18.9|120.4|136.0|12.8
01|01000|04:05.3|02:02.6|189.4|20.2|145.6|150.0|12.1
02|01000|04:03.2|02:01.6|194.4|21.3|154.1|157.0|11.6
03|01000|04:01.3|02:00.7|199.4|22.2|158.9|161.0|11.2
04|01000|03:59.1|01:59.6|204.6|22.8|163.6|165.0|11.0
05|01000|03:57.6|01:58.8|208.7|23.5|168.0|170.0|10.8
06|01000|04:11.8|02:05.9|182.3|21.1|164.4|172.0|11.3
07|01000|04:09.9|02:04.9|179.2|19.9|164.0|167.0|12.1
08|01000|04:10.9|02:05.4|177.4|19.8|166.2|168.0|12.1
09|01000|03:47.8|01:53.9|237.5|26.7|175.6|182.0|09.9

Sunday: I felt pretty awful all day long and didn’t train.

Monday: Not much sleep, headed in to the gym with the intent to do the tough session that was originally planned for Saturday:

6 x (3’@28, 7’@18) / 1′
3’@28: Cat III (1:48)
7’@18: Cat VI (2:05-2:08)

I gave it my best, but I flamed out after 3. My HR never really came back down. This was kind of a low point for me. That’s when I reached out for advice.

Workout Summary - media/20180205-1240290o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|07618|33:00.0|02:10.0|205.6|21.2|154.4|174.0|10.9
W-|07469|30:00.0|02:00.5|202.5|20.5|155.5|174.0|12.3
R-|00154|03:00.0|09:45.6|014.9|12.0|152.5|174.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00828|03:00.0|01:48.7|264.6|26.1|130.0|154.0|10.6
01|01661|07:00.0|02:06.5|173.9|17.7|147.4|155.0|13.4
02|00828|03:00.0|01:48.7|268.6|26.4|156.1|169.0|10.4
03|01664|07:00.0|02:06.2|175.9|18.3|160.6|170.0|13.0
04|00820|03:00.0|01:49.7|263.6|26.3|159.2|174.0|10.4
05|01667|07:00.0|02:05.9|176.6|18.3|167.5|174.0|13.0

Tuesday – 2/6:

Another night of bad sleep. I was awake from 2am, and gave up trying around 4am. I did a couple of crossword puzzles and then headed to work early.

The plan:

PT exercises
Mini strength session (KB swings, front squats, pull ups)
40 minute erg

The PT exercises were fine. I had a blast with the strength stuff

3 sets of 20 KB swings with a 16kg kettle bell. I felt the third set. I think I need a heavier KB, this is the biggest one on the rack at work.
Front squats: I’ve always done regular back squats. Mainly because you can do heavier weights. But from what I’ve been reading, front squats are a bit more functional for rowing related strength, and because the weight is more limited, and you are forced into a more erect posture, there is less risk of injury. Today, I did a set of 10 with the bare bar, and 5 sets of 8 with 50 lbs on the bar. I felt that in the last set as well.
Pull ups. 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 with about 30 seconds between sets

Then onto the erg. Between the swings and the squats, there was nothing left in my legs. I was having trouble holding a Cat VI pace. I lasted for 20 minutes and decided that it was no fun at all.

Workout Summary - media/20180206-1640290o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|04771|20:14.0|02:07.3|171.7|17.9|149.6|156.0|13.2
W-|04777|20:14.0|02:07.1|171.4|17.9|149.7|156.0|13.2
R-|00000|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|00488|02:00.0|02:03.0|180.6|17.3|125.0|144.0|14.1
01|00481|02:00.0|02:04.7|180.4|18.4|146.5|150.0|13.1
02|00480|02:00.0|02:05.1|179.1|18.4|150.1|151.0|13.1
03|00474|02:00.0|02:06.6|172.9|18.2|151.5|153.0|13.0
04|00471|02:00.0|02:07.5|168.8|18.2|151.7|153.0|13.0
05|00470|02:00.0|02:07.6|168.8|17.4|153.9|154.0|13.5
06|00469|02:00.0|02:08.0|167.0|17.3|153.9|154.0|13.5
07|00471|02:00.0|02:07.3|169.5|18.2|154.7|156.0|13.0
08|00469|02:00.0|02:08.1|166.5|18.0|155.5|156.0|13.0
09|00470|02:00.0|02:07.8|168.0|17.9|154.1|155.0|13.1
10|00035|00:14.5|03:27.9|105.4|14.3|155.0|155.0|10.1

So, I was tired of rowing, but I felt like doing more. I decided to go do a couple of HIIT bursts on the treadmill. I cranked the incline to 15% and fast walked for 4:20. Then I cranked the speed up to 7mph and sprinted until 5:00. With the lag of the machine, I was basically at speed for 30 full seconds. At the 5 minute mark, I hopped off the belt and then turned the speed back down. I did that 4 times total. Like before, I seemed to get better at the mechanics of sprinting, essentially running more on my toes and increasing my cadence. I guess that is the running equivalent of “rating up”.

Wednesday: Ah bliss! I slept 7 hours last night without any insomnia. I got up at 5:15 and headed off to work. I was almost paralyzed by DOMS from my tiny strength session yesterday. I guess that’s a good sign that I should keep a session or two of strength work in my rotation all the time. My thighs were the sorest, but my butt, my lats and forearms all let me know that they were quite upset with me. I kinda liked it.

Today, I was short on time and wanted a light session anyway. So, after doing minimal PT exercises, I decided to just do a 10k at Cat VI (r18/2:05). That’s what I did. HR was still higher than it should have been, but that might have been because of the muscle soreness.

Pretty unremarkable, huh?

        Workout Summary - media/20180207-1345260o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|09996|41:33.0|02:04.7|180.1|18.2|146.0|157.0|13.2
W-|10000|41:34.0|02:04.7|180.1|18.2|146.0|157.0|13.2
R-|00000|00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|157.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00980|04:03.5|02:04.3|177.2|17.5|120.3|134.0|13.8
01|01009|04:11.5|02:04.6|181.2|18.3|139.7|145.0|13.1
02|00990|04:06.5|02:04.5|181.4|18.3|144.7|145.0|13.2
03|01007|04:11.0|02:04.7|180.8|18.4|144.3|147.0|13.1
04|00996|04:09.0|02:05.0|179.3|18.2|148.2|151.0|13.2
05|01009|04:12.0|02:04.9|179.7|18.2|149.3|151.0|13.2
06|00989|04:06.5|02:04.7|180.9|18.2|151.1|152.0|13.2
07|01009|04:11.5|02:04.7|180.8|18.3|152.8|154.0|13.2
08|00997|04:09.0|02:04.9|179.7|18.3|154.2|155.0|13.1
09|01014|04:13.5|02:04.9|179.8|18.0|155.0|157.0|13.3

That brings us up to the present.

Tomorrow:

Full PT Suite
Strength (KB Swings, Front Squats, Pull ups, Add push ups)
erg – 8 x 5′ (4:30 cat VI, 0:30 Cat II) / 30″

Farewell Korea: 8 x (4:30@18, 0:30@30+)/30″

February 2, 2018Leave a comment

I had a pretty easy day yesterday. I had a lunch meeting, some internal meetings in the afternoon, and then a dinner with a customer. I was back at the hotel around 10.

I slept pretty fitfully and I was up around 5:30. I had a conference call from 6 to 8 and then I headed for the gym.

The plan:

8×5’/30″ rest
4:30 – Cat VI (r18, 2:05)
0:30 – Cat II (r30+, 1:45-)
The focus was to try to keep my stroke short and snappy when I rated up. Try to keep the sequence right on recovery, even when I am pounding it out at high rate.

I love this workout. It’s short, but the 30 second sprints add a bit of sting. The Cat VI rowing is slow enough so that I recover well in the first half, but the fatigue starts to pile up in the second and even the slow bits feel like a lot more work.

          Workout Summary - media/20180202-0000330o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|10639|44:03.0|02:04.2|208.3|20.7|155.5|176.0|11.6
W-|09917|40:00.0|02:01.0|200.7|19.5|154.1|173.0|13.0
R-|00736|04:03.0|02:45.1|152.8|23.5|166.9|173.0|06.5
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|01098|04:30.0|02:03.0|184.5|17.8|123.9|138.0|13.7
01|00154|00:30.0|01:37.3|378.4|32.9|142.4|150.0|09.4
02|01085|04:30.0|02:04.4|181.1|17.8|145.2|152.0|13.5
03|00160|00:30.0|01:33.9|406.9|34.0|152.5|159.0|09.4
04|01084|04:30.0|02:04.5|178.8|17.4|152.1|162.0|13.8
05|00157|00:30.0|01:35.7|386.3|33.1|154.4|159.0|09.5
06|01085|04:30.0|02:04.4|180.5|18.0|155.1|165.0|13.4
07|00155|00:30.0|01:36.9|380.7|32.6|158.1|162.0|09.5
08|01080|04:30.0|02:05.1|178.4|18.0|159.1|168.0|13.4
09|00159|00:30.0|01:34.2|400.2|34.2|161.4|165.0|09.3
10|01079|04:30.0|02:05.1|178.2|17.7|162.5|171.0|13.5
11|00156|00:30.0|01:36.1|387.3|33.5|163.6|167.0|09.3
12|01076|04:30.0|02:05.5|178.8|18.1|164.2|173.0|13.2
13|00153|00:30.0|01:38.1|363.5|32.2|166.4|170.0|09.5
14|01080|04:30.0|02:05.0|178.7|18.5|166.7|173.0|13.0
15|00158|00:30.0|01:35.2|403.1|35.4|167.7|171.0|08.9

That works out to this summary

Cat VI: 2:04.6, r17.9, 181W
Cat II: 1:35.8, r33.5, 397W

The fast bits felt great today. I have been struggling to get the rate up previously, but today something clicked and I was able to really snap back on the recovery and take light strokes. Now, I don’t know how long I could hold that kind of rate and pace, but it was a blast for 15 to 20 strokes.

I’m waiting to board my first flight to Hong Kong, then change planes for the rest of the ride back to Boston. I get in around 8:55pm local time. All together from hotel in Korea to home, it’s about 26 hours of travel time. Blechh.

The training schedule has my hardest session of the week on Saturday. I think I will probably swap it around and do Sunday’s Cat VI row then. That will let me the kinks out before I dig deep on Sunday.

Still in Korea…Wed: 3 x (5×500@24), Thurs: 3 x 20′

February 1, 2018Leave a comment

Wednesday: Was massively tired on Tuesday night and fell asleep by 10. I woke up for good around 4am. I got up around 5:30 and did some work and called home. Finally, around 6:30, I headed down to the gym.

The plan:

3 x (5 x 500 @ 24/1′)/5′
Cat IV: r24/1:52

Started with a 500 at cat VI, started plugging away at the reps. I felt a bit tired. Jetlag presumably.

          Workout Summary - media/20180130-2245350o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|12446|59:45.0|02:24.1|182.0|20.7|145.7|175.0|10.1
W-|10000|39:41.0|01:59.1|217.7|21.1|142.3|174.0|12.1
R-|02455|20:05.0|04:05.6|050.0|16.6|150.1|174.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00500|02:03.6|02:03.6|176.0|17.3|108.2|130.0|14.0
01|00500|01:52.4|01:52.4|255.6|24.2|127.8|148.0|11.0
02|00500|01:50.5|01:50.5|262.2|23.6|140.5|154.0|11.5
03|00500|01:49.6|01:49.6|266.3|24.2|144.1|158.0|11.3
04|00500|01:50.0|01:50.0|261.0|23.2|147.8|159.0|11.8
05|00500|01:50.3|01:50.3|258.1|23.1|151.3|161.0|11.8
06|00500|02:47.0|02:47.0|074.5|13.6|123.3|143.0|13.2
07|00500|01:51.0|01:51.0|252.5|23.0|135.6|156.0|11.8
08|00500|01:51.5|01:51.5|259.4|24.4|147.9|160.0|11.0
09|00500|01:50.4|01:50.4|259.9|23.5|150.3|163.0|11.5
10|00500|01:50.0|01:50.0|261.3|23.1|152.5|164.0|11.8
11|00500|01:49.9|01:49.9|258.1|23.7|154.9|165.0|11.5
12|00500|02:50.4|02:50.4|070.1|15.1|129.0|152.0|11.7
13|00500|01:50.5|01:50.5|256.3|23.0|139.6|161.0|11.8
14|00500|01:51.4|01:51.4|259.2|23.2|151.9|163.0|11.6
15|00500|01:50.4|01:50.4|257.2|23.0|154.4|167.0|11.8
16|00500|01:50.5|01:50.5|263.5|24.2|157.6|167.0|11.2
17|00500|01:46.5|01:46.5|284.4|24.0|159.4|174.0|11.7
18|00500|02:10.2|02:10.2|160.0|16.0|150.8|158.0|14.4
19|00500|02:15.2|02:15.2|144.8|15.4|139.4|148.0|14.4

Comparing to previous attempts.

It was pretty close in the first set, but higher in the second two sets. I really pushed the last rep, so that one shouldn’t really count. A bit disappointed that I’m not improving more.

Thursday: Back to the gym around 7:30. Today was just a 4 x20′ / 3′ at Cat VI (r18/2:05)

I felt good to start, but quickly started to feel like it was hard work. My hr climbed quickly. I decided to bail out after 3 reps. And having a little issue with graphs today.

Tomorrow: 8 x (4:30@CatVI, 0:30@CatII)/30″rest. I like this workout.

Rowing in Seoul: 10x(500@22,500@18)

January 30, 20181 Comment

I left Boston at 1:30AM on Monday morning. Flew east over Europe and Asia, landed in Hong Kong, changed planes and continued on to Seoul. I was on the ground at about 12:30PM Tuesday afternoon, and at my hotel around 2:00PM.

I unpacked and since I didn’t have any commitments until dinner time, I suited up and headed down to the gym. As is typical for hotels in Korea, the fitness center was pretty amazing. Even more amazing was the sight of two, brand new Model D rowers with PM5s.

I was not expecting that. So, I can stick to the training plan. Today’s mission

10x500m/2′ paddle
Cat V: r22, 1:58
To make it easy to program, I did it as 500m with no rest and alternated each piece between Cat V (1:58/r22) and Cat VI (2:05/r18)
To make it a bit more fun, I did it strapless.

I was a bit jetlagged and the gym was hot, but I had a good time. I started with one rep at Cat VI, then into the 10 alternating reps. Then I finished with a 500 at r16 as a quick cool down.

My HR was a bit higher today than previously, but not by a lot.

Tomorrow: 3 x (5 x 500/1′)/5′ Cat IV: 1:52/r24

Sunday: 3 x 20′ / 3′ Cat VI – Dynamic, plus video

January 28, 2018Leave a comment

Since I didn’t feel particularly bad yesterday, just really tired, I wasn’t sure if I was better today. I went to bed at 11 and slept until 9. When I woke up, I certainly didn’t feel like erging. So, I hung out, wrote up my journal, did some grocery shopping and some chores around the house. Finally, around 2, I decided that I should get it done.

The workout on the agenda for today is a regular old 3 or 4 x 20′ / 3′ at Cat VI. That means rate at 18 and pace between 2:03 and 2:08. I have been thinking about getting back on the dynamic erg for a while. Since I am making changes in my stroke, I was wondering if it would be a less unpleasant experience with better technique.

I decided today was a good day to try it out.

Most folks rate up a bit on the dynamic, so I decided r20 was the target instead of r18. And since I have had such struggles with it, I decided that a target above 2:05, maybe 2:07 might be a good idea. In any case, I would go by a HR limit. Keep it at or below 155.

And that’s what I did. It seems that deleting and reloading painsled fixed my issues, it worked fine today.

          Workout Summary - media/20180128-2010330o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|15008|69:00.0|02:17.9|167.8|20.0|147.9|157.0|10.9
W-|14229|60:00.0|02:06.5|173.1|19.9|148.6|157.0|11.9
R-|00782|09:00.0|05:45.3|083.5|19.9|135.5|157.0|05.5
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04784|20:00.0|02:05.4|176.6|20.0|143.5|151.0|12.0
01|04734|20:00.0|02:06.7|171.8|19.9|149.5|155.0|11.9
02|04712|20:00.0|02:07.3|170.9|20.0|152.9|157.0|11.8

It was a lot more work than on the static, but it felt a bit better better than before. It was certainly easier to maintain proper form, at least I thought so. After I finished, I set up to take a short video so I could see I was actually doing the right things.

I watched the video and yes, it looks like I was doing a pretty good job on recovery. I was a bit more slumped than I should have been, but not so bad.

Here’s the video, judge for your self.

I was interested to compare doing steady state on the dynamic to the static.

Power: About 5 watts lower
Rate: 2 beats higher. Also note how much less consistent my rate is.
HR: About 5 beats higher
Drive length: 10 cm shorter on the dynamic. I will have to do a video compare to figure out what’s going on there, but I suspect that I am compressing less at the catch on the dynamic and that’s probably a good thing.
Peak force: just about the same
Average force: lower, which makes sense since I am doing less power at a higher rate
Peak/avg ratio: follows logically.

Tonight: I am flying to Korea via Hong Kong. My flight leaves at about 1:30 am. I get to Korea Tuesday morning. I’ll be there through Friday. More crosstraining!

Thurs: Travel, Friday: 8x(4:30@18,30″@30)/30″ (good) , Sat: 4x(3’@28,7’@18)1′ (bad)

January 28, 2018January 28, 2018Leave a comment

Thursday: Up at 5:15am to head to the airport. Direct flight from LAX to BOS. I managed to score an upgrade to business class. I arrived around 4:45PM and was home by 6:30. A reasonably civilized way to travel.

Friday: Back to the routine. Up at 5:15, and into work. I had an 8:30AM meeting so I had to be aware of the time, but the planned workout was pretty short.

I did my full set of PT exercises. Then the erg session.

8 x 5′ / 30″ rest
first 4:30 of each interval is Cat VI (r18, 2:05)
last 30″ of each interval is Cat II (r30+, 1:45 or faster)
The important thing to me was to try to maintain good sequential recovery in the high rate bursts.

The first annoyance was that I could not get Painsled to link up with the PM. I tried a bunch of stuff and then gave up. I ended up using ergdata which linked up right away.

The workout itself went great. I had a blast. It was pretty close in feel to the HIIT sessions I did while I was on the road. I was not pushing the fast bits as hard as I could go though, and the paddling I did in between bursts was harder than the rests for the HIIT stuff.

Because it was captured with ergdata, it is almost impossible to get a good set of summary stats. Luckily, rowsandall has a way around that, using the flex plot. I can look at a plot of all the strokes I took at above r25. And get an average stroke rate and power.

So, 324.28 watts is 1:42.6. I was closer to 1:40 in the bursts after I got up to speed.

Saturday: I slept a lot on Friday night, and since we had a busy day planned, I went to workout as soon as I got up. I didn’t feel so great. And today was a tough workout.

I did my PT exercises.

Then

10 minute warmup
4 x (3′ @ r28, 7′ @ r18)/1′ rest
target pace for r28: 1:48
target pace for r18: 2:05

I felt pretty nasty in the warmup. It seemed like it was taking a lot of work to get to my regular Cat VI pace and the bursts were hard too.

Then into the workout. I was destroyed by the first 3′ section. I usually bring down the rate in a controlled way. Yesterday, I just started paddling and tried to bring the pace back to the target. I made it about 5 of the 7 minutes in the first rep and I was having trouble catching my breath, so I paddled out the rest of it. The second 3′ section was even worse. I stopped completely after it and then rowed to the target off and on through the Cat VI section. Same thing in the last two intervals. In the last Cat VI section I started getting awful stomach cramps and I barely made it to the toilet after I finished. Not really the cool down I was planning.

Workout Summary - media/Import_32270454.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|12943|52:44.0|02:02.2|195.7|22.2|151.3|178.0|11.1
W-|12085|50:00.0|02:04.1|192.5|21.7|151.8|178.0|11.2
R-|00864|02:44.0|01:35.2|053.5|19.4|140.4|178.0|46.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|02504|10:00.0|01:59.8|208.1|21.4|138.9|156.0|11.7
01|00838|03:00.0|01:47.4|278.0|26.7|151.5|167.0|10.4
02|01535|07:00.0|02:16.8|148.0|19.8|148.5|167.0|11.1
03|00828|03:00.0|01:48.7|278.1|27.8|152.5|169.0|09.9
04|01547|07:00.0|02:15.8|143.6|19.7|150.2|170.0|11.2
05|00839|03:00.0|01:47.3|275.2|26.9|158.9|173.0|10.4
06|01589|07:00.0|02:12.1|153.9|18.4|157.1|173.0|12.4
07|00840|03:00.0|01:47.1|276.5|27.8|164.0|178.0|10.1
08|01565|07:00.0|02:14.2|157.6|19.9|161.3|178.0|11.3

The only positive note was that I actually hit the target for the 3 minute sections.

I was drained the rest of the day. We took a quick ride down to the cape. I needed to replace some shingles on the roof and do a few other chores. I fell asleep in the car going down for about 30 minutes, and while we were there I slept for another half hour or so on the couch. I didn’t have any other symptoms, but I suspect that I am trying to fight off a bug of some kind.

Thurs: 3 x 20′, Fri: Rest, Sat: 4 x (3’@28,7’@18)/1′, Sun: 4 x 20′

January 22, 2018Leave a comment

Tough week last week. Quarterly business reviews and lots of issues at work. I had time to train (mostly), but no time to write it all down. So, now I try to catch up.

Thursday: 3 x 20′ / 1′ Cat VI

I had meetings starting at 8 am, so I didn’t have time for 4 pieces. I settled for 3. Not much to report. It was a fine workout. Rock solid HR with basically no drift in the last 40 minutes.

          Workout Summary - media/20180118-1245320o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|14654|63:00.0|02:09.0|179.1|17.5|141.1|149.0|13.3
W-|14480|60:00.0|02:04.3|181.6|17.6|141.1|149.0|13.7
R-|00176|03:00.0|08:32.5|064.8|12.2|137.8|149.0|02.3
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04827|20:00.0|02:04.3|181.1|17.3|136.2|144.0|14.0
01|04817|20:00.0|02:04.6|181.4|17.7|143.0|147.0|13.6
02|04835|20:00.0|02:04.1|182.4|17.7|144.3|149.0|13.6

Friday: rest day

I was intending to workout. But I had to meet someone fixing my furnace in the morning, go to the dentist at noon, then get to work, and after work, meet a candidate for a quick drink. I had no time to train.

Saturday: 4-6 x (3′ @ 28, 7′ @ 18) / 1′

By all rights, I should have been fresh as a daisy, but I didn’t feel that way. My target paces were 1:48 for the r28 (Cat III) and 2:05 for the r18 (Cat VI).

I did the full set of PT exercises include the core work.

I started with a 2k-ish warmup, with bumps to Cat III pace.

          Workout Summary - media/20180120-2006130o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|02060|08:05.0|01:57.9|224.6|22.1|145.4|163.0|11.5
W-|02060|08:06.0|01:58.0|217.6|21.5|144.4|163.0|12.1
R-|00000|00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|163.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00400|01:34.2|01:57.8|185.3|17.6|111.8|136.0|14.5
01|00100|00:22.2|01:51.1|246.9|23.1|139.0|141.0|11.7
02|00300|01:13.1|02:01.8|198.1|19.1|144.6|146.0|12.9
03|00200|00:42.9|01:47.3|277.8|27.0|147.9|152.0|10.4
04|00300|01:13.8|02:03.1|197.7|19.6|154.3|156.0|12.4
05|00200|00:43.1|01:47.8|270.8|26.3|153.8|155.0|10.6
06|00300|01:13.1|02:01.8|197.7|19.4|157.8|159.0|12.7
07|00200|00:42.7|01:46.6|281.5|27.6|157.9|160.0|10.2
08|00060|00:20.8|02:53.6|177.2|25.2|161.2|163.0|06.9

The main set was brutal.

         Workout Summary - media/20180120-2005350o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|12926|54:57.0|02:07.5|201.7|20.8|161.3|179.0|11.3
W-|12544|50:57.0|02:01.9|197.3|19.9|161.6|179.0|12.6
R-|00388|04:00.0|05:09.3|046.7|18.0|157.0|179.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00845|03:00.0|01:46.5|282.7|28.3|147.0|167.0|10.0
01|01696|07:00.0|02:03.8|184.8|18.1|159.0|168.0|13.4
02|00840|03:00.0|01:47.2|279.6|27.5|160.8|175.0|10.2
03|01684|07:00.0|02:04.7|181.2|18.2|164.5|175.0|13.2
04|00825|03:00.0|01:49.1|276.9|26.8|164.7|177.0|10.3
05|01681|07:00.0|02:04.9|180.6|18.2|168.4|177.0|13.2
06|00835|03:00.0|01:47.7|275.6|27.2|167.0|179.0|10.2
07|01692|07:00.0|02:04.1|185.4|18.2|171.3|179.0|13.3
08|02444|10:57.4|02:14.5|144.8|16.2|152.7|159.0|13.8

I wish I could say that these were getting easier, but they aren’t.

Sunday: 4 x 20′ / 3′

Again, I did the full set of PT exercises.

I decided to try out Zwift with painsled. It worked fine, but I managed to hang it up during my second 20′ piece. In terms of a workout, my HR was a bit higher than normal, but stabilized below 155.

First 20 minutes.

Second 20 minutes is missing. Here are the third and fourth.

I also did sets of 10 kettlebell swings during the breaks. I think I like the idea of adding a little bit of strength work to these easy days. As for Zwift, it was kind of cool, but I don’t see it being something that I do regularly.

Monday: Arother rest day. I got up at 3:30AM eastern to catch a 6:00AM flight to San Francisco. From there, it was straight into meetings and will finish up with a business dinner tonight. I’ll try to do a quick workout in the morning before my first meeting.

As for the featured image. I read yesterday that Antisocial Marmets live longer than socially adept Marmets. So, there’s a vote for being antisocial!

Mon: Rest, Tues: 10x(500@22,500@18), Wed 3x(5×500@24/1′)/5’5′

January 17, 2018Leave a comment

Monday: Scheduled rest day. I think this might be the first scheduled rest day on my scheduled rest day after a full week of training in the last 6 months. It feels good to be in a routine, while it lasts. I start travelling again next week.

Tuesday: Full set of PT exercises.

The workout plan calls for 10 x 500m at r22 with 2 minute rests. I have been making a bit more work by replacing the 2 minute rests with a Cat VI 500m (r18, 2:05).

The workout isn’t hard, but I tried to work continuously on recovery sequence. Tense the glutes, hold the quads, fast hands away, wait until body is over before starting up the slide.

Comparing this to the past couple of weeks shows about the same HR response. A bit higher at the start and lower at the end.

Wednesday: 3 x (5 x 500 @ 24 / 1′ ) / 5′

target: 1:52

Another fun workout. Again, I did the 5′ rests between sets as one minute paddle, 500m of pause drill, which ended up around 2:40, and then another minute of paddle. This makes the pm setup easier.

I started with a 2K warmup, with bumps working up to the r24. Again I was trying to find the rhythm of the stroke while concentrating on recovery sequence.

The main set.

          Workout Summary - media/20180117-1355320o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|11489|52:34.0|02:17.3|190.6|21.4|142.7|166.0|10.2
W-|07500|27:40.0|01:50.7|258.0|23.5|142.3|164.0|11.5
R-|03999|20:55.0|02:37.0|082.4|18.2|144.2|164.0|11.8
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00500|01:50.1|01:50.1|251.4|24.2|130.0|153.0|11.3
01|00500|01:52.4|01:52.4|253.4|23.9|143.0|155.0|11.2
02|00500|01:51.8|01:51.8|250.4|23.6|142.5|157.0|11.3
03|00500|01:50.9|01:50.9|250.9|23.9|142.6|158.0|11.3
04|00500|01:51.4|01:51.4|258.6|22.8|147.5|159.0|11.8
05|00500|01:52.1|01:52.1|246.1|23.4|131.8|152.0|11.4
06|00500|01:51.6|01:51.6|251.7|23.1|141.7|155.0|11.6
07|00500|01:52.1|01:52.1|254.5|23.4|144.2|157.0|11.4
08|00500|01:51.3|01:51.3|253.6|23.1|145.1|157.0|11.7
09|00500|01:50.3|01:50.3|258.8|23.5|146.5|158.0|11.6
10|00500|01:49.4|01:49.4|262.0|24.0|133.9|155.0|11.4
11|00500|01:50.5|01:50.5|261.6|24.1|145.0|156.0|11.3
12|00500|01:50.7|01:50.7|263.9|23.1|145.1|159.0|11.7
13|00500|01:49.9|01:49.9|263.6|23.2|147.7|160.0|11.8
14|00500|01:45.5|01:45.5|291.6|23.1|148.1|164.0|12.3

Compare today to the two past weeks. HR response was better today, peak HRs were lower and recovery in the rests was faster.

Tomorrow: 4 x 20’/3′ if I have time. I have a 8am meeting which might cut things short.

Quantified Rowing

Measure – Adjust – Improve

Tag: concept2

Doing my best

Friday: 10K Cat VI plus Strength

Rough patch

Farewell Korea: 8 x (4:30@18, 0:30@30+)/30″

Still in Korea…Wed: 3 x (5×500@24), Thurs: 3 x 20′

Rowing in Seoul: 10x(500@22,500@18)

Sunday: 3 x 20′ / 3′ Cat VI – Dynamic, plus video

Thurs: Travel, Friday: 8x(4:30@18,30″@30)/30″ (good) , Sat: 4x(3’@28,7’@18)1′ (bad)

Thurs: 3 x 20′, Fri: Rest, Sat: 4 x (3’@28,7’@18)/1′, Sun: 4 x 20′

Mon: Rest, Tues: 10x(500@22,500@18), Wed 3x(5×500@24/1′)/5’5′