Thursday: 4 x 2K / 4′ rest

January 8, 20163 Comments

Still struggling. All I could do to hold flat splits at 1:49.

This was a first outing on the erg at with with a newly upgraded PM5!

The upgrade was a bit of struggle because the monitor was setup for model D/E, and I needed to a bit of googling to find the way to change it to Model C. By the way, if you ever want to do that, here is the help page.

After I got that sorted out, it hooked up to my Wahoo Tickr HR belt with no drama. And hooked up to my iphone via bluetooth seamlessly. On the iphone, I tried it with the concept2 application ergdata. I worked without any trouble. After that, I started up my beta copy of the Painsled app.

The app hooked up automatically and showed a live dashboard. The way the app works is you basically pretend that the phone is there at all and set up your workouts on the PM5. When you finish a workout, the app is supposed to write your workout log file when you press the menu button. This crashed the app. But the coolest thing happened. Overnight between wednesday and thursday the developer pushed a new version which fixed the bug. What a delightful experience.

So, it worked great on Thursday morning. I captured the whole workout in a big messy csv file. Now I am trying to figure out how to massage that into my graphical tools. A project for this weekend perhaps.

Here’s a primitive HR plot from the file.

Today I took a rest day. Going to go for a hard 5K tomorrow.

Wed AM: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest L4 – Very Tired

January 6, 2016Leave a comment

I struggle on the morning after a day when I do an afternoon session, apparently even when the session is short and easy like last nights 30′ L4.

I started with a plan to do repeats of a fun 20′ “mountain”.

3′ @ 18 (180W)
3′ @ 19 (190W)
3′ @ 20 (200W)
2′ @ 21 (210W)
3′ @ 20
3′ @ 19
3′ @ 18

This is a lower intensity than the sessions that I did on Sunday and Monday, but today it was too much for me and I could see it my HR and RPE at the end of the first mountain.

I pushed on and tried to stick to the plan through the second 20′ mountain, and it was pretty miserable. I started the third mountain, and after a few minutes, I decided to ease up. I just shifted to a steady state 180W at 20 spm, which is a lighter, easier stroke. This brought my HR down to about 70% HRR and I felt a lot more comfortable. At the end of this 20 minute piece, I measured lactates and it was 1.3 mmol/l. So, I could push a bit harder.

For the last 20 minutes, I did just that. I brought up the wattage to 190W and the rate down to r19. It was pretty hard work, and I was curious how hard. By the end of 20′, my HR had gone up to around 155 (80% HRR) and my lactate was up to 4.0mmol/l.

So the take away for me is that even though there is no firm correlation between HR and lactate, if my HR is high and my RPE is high, I should dial back the watts, in most cases 10W dial back should be enough.

Tomorrow: 4 x 2K / 5′ rest. Pace target 1:48.0 (same as the avg for last time)

Tuesday PM: 30′ L4

January 6, 2016Leave a comment

Easy L4 to work out the kinks from the tough morning session.

I enjoyed it.

Tuesday: Waterfall – 3K / 2.5K / 2K – 5′ rest

January 5, 20164 Comments

I’m not sure what’s wrong with me right now. I feel like my highest gear has been taken away. To put it another way, I can’t seem to really dive into the pain box. I’ve felt this way in today’s workout and also in the previous 4×8′ workout. A couple weeks ago, I felt like I could push and my HR would eventually rise up to above 180. In these past two workouts, I feel like I’m hitting a wall with my HR around 170.

Today, I pushed through the first interval on target (<1:48), but I couldn’t hold the pace during the second interval, and needed to downshift about a third of the way through. I eventually pulled it back together and ended up with a 1:50.7 pace. For the third interval, I reset the target to 1:49 and just pounded it out and finished at 1:48.8. But it felt like the longest 2K of my life, and I was spent at the end.

So, I’m not all that happy with the workout. But I have noticed this kind of thing before in my training. I go through a week or two where it is really hard to work at high heart rates, and then eventually I push through. This meso-cycle is also a really tough one for me. These long interval workouts are a bitch and trying to pump myself up for 3 of them each week is challenge. But the end is already in sight. Soon, I will be shifting gears to the sprint and power mesocycle. I’m looking forward to that in a twisted and perverse way.

I think I will do a 30 minute recovery row this afternoon, and tomorrow morning will be a normal 4×20 L4.

Monday: 3 x 20′ / 1′ rest L4

January 4, 2016Leave a comment

That was a rude shock. Over the Christmas holidays, I was sleeping in to 9 or 10 every morning and lazying about most of the day. Then in the afternoon (or evening), I’d go hop on the erg for a workout. That all changed today. Back to my normal weekly schedule. Alarm went off at 5:15am, and I rolled out of bed bleary eyed. I was in the gym by 7.

Since I was rowing with less than 12 hours of recovery, I decided to keep it to an hour. My training plan called for a rest today, but I took that one early on New Year’s Eve, so I was just subbing in a low intensity session.

The schedule change was too much for me. I did two of the same 195 stroke sequences as last night for the first 20 minutes, then I dropped back to a 192 stroke sequence for the next 10. A couple of minutes into the 4th 10 minute sequence, I just stopped rowing. I wasn’t feeling that bad, but I wasn’t feeling that great either. I just sat there for a couple minutes and decided what to do. I debated just walking away, but instead decided to just dial it back a bit and finish the hour. So I rowed out the rest of that 10 minute sequence at 19spm and around 190W.

Then for the last 20 minutes I did a couple of 188 strokes sequences. These are 2 minutes each at 18/19/20/19/18. This was just about right for my mental state this morning. At the end of this, I took a lactate reading and it was 1.8 mmol/l. So, I the adjustment put me right in the correct range.

One other note. Since I am getting ready for indoor competitions, I am going to be rowing off slides for the next couple months.

In addition to lack of sleep and short recovery, I also had thermal differences to contend with. The gym is almost 10 degrees (F) higher than my erg room at home. Modesty also required me to wear a shirt, which I don’t do at home either. I think this makes a difference. Not huge, but noticeable.

Tomorrow: Back to distance based intervals. The Waterfall 3K/2.5K/2K. Last time I did it with an avg pace of 1:47.8. I’ll try to hold that for the first interval and see where I end up after that.

Sunday: 3 x 20′ / 1′ rest L4

January 4, 20164 Comments

It was 7:30 PM before I sat down on the erg. And I wasn’t really in the mood. But there was nothing to fear from this session. Just another low intensity L4 aerobic workout. I limited it to 60 minutes because it was so late and I knew I would be working out first thing in the morning as well.

I continued to push the stroke count up. I think I found the limit. Lactate at 60 minutes was 2.3mmol/l.

Workout Summary – Jan 04, 2016
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Max-_|_–Max–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_14919_|_60:00.0_|_02:00.7_|_199.3_|_19.6_|_151.0_|_ 75.9% _|_12.7_|_10.1
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_MaxHR_|_Max%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_02492_|_10:00.0_|_02:00.4_|_200.7_|_19.6_|_137.0_|_ 66.0% _|_12.7_|_10.2
02_|_02491_|_10:00.0_|_02:00.4_|_200.3_|_19.6_|_146.0_|_ 72.3% _|_12.7_|_10.2
03_|_02491_|_10:00.0_|_02:00.4_|_200.4_|_19.8_|_146.0_|_ 72.3% _|_12.6_|_10.1
04_|_02479_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.0_|_197.6_|_19.6_|_149.0_|_ 74.5% _|_12.6_|_10.1
05_|_02485_|_10:00.0_|_02:00.7_|_199.0_|_19.6_|_148.0_|_ 73.8% _|_12.7_|_10.2
06_|_02480_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.0_|_197.7_|_19.6_|_151.0_|_ 75.9% _|_12.7_|_10.1

Target_____________Actual_____________delta____________
Strokes____Meters______Strokes____Meters______Strokes__meters___EndHR
0195___|___02460___|___0196___|___02492___|___01___|___32___|___134
0195___|___02460___|___0196___|___02491___|___01___|___31___|___137
0195___|___02460___|___0198___|___02491___|___03___|___31___|___139
0195___|___02460___|___0196___|___02479___|___01___|___19___|___140
0195___|___02460___|___0196___|___02485___|___01___|___25___|___141
0195___|___02460___|___0196___|___02480___|___01___|___20___|___141
0000___|___00000___|___0000___|___00000___|___00___|___00___|___000
0000___|___00000___|___0000___|___00000___|___00___|___00___|___000
1170___|___14761___|___1178___|___14919___|___08___|___157___|___000

Getting close to the magical 200W level for steady state.

Friday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest L4

January 1, 2016Leave a comment

Thursday: Too busy getting ready for New Year’s Eve festivities to fit in my planned 4 x 8′ workout. I was due for a rest day anyway.

Last night was a long one with rich food, and lots of champagne. A delightful evening. I finally got to bed around 2 in the morning, and slept until 10:30. It’s going to be hellish getting up at 5:15 on Monday!

I headed off to row around 4pm. I figured it would be a crappy session since I was a bit hungover and still felt pretty full from last night, but the room was nice and cool and after a reasonably uncomfortable first 10 minutes, I settled in nicely and really started to enjoy the row. I am listening to a “Great Courses” course about turning points in american history. Today I listened to two lectures. The first on the birth of the american environmental movement (1968 when there was an oil spill off Santa Barbara and the Coyahoga River caught on fire in Cleveland). The second was about Watergate and Nixon’s resignation. Brilliant course. It started before the landing of the Pilgrims and continues to nearly the present. A perfect thing to listen to during steady state rowing.

HR and RPE were fine throughout and for the last 20 minutes, I spiced it up by extending the segement at 21 spm and 210 watts from 1 minute to 2 minutes and shortening the 18 spm section by a minute.

HR was fine throughout. I didn’t bother with a lactate test.

Workout Summary – Jan 01, 2016
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_19806_|_80:00.0_|_02:01.2_|_196.7_|_19.2_|_136.5_|_ 65.6% _|_12.9_|_10.2
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_02463_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.8_|_193.7_|_18.7_|_126.6_|_ 58.6% _|_13.2_|_10.4
02_|_02477_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.1_|_197.0_|_19.1_|_134.3_|_ 64.1% _|_13.0_|_10.3
03_|_02477_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.1_|_196.9_|_19.1_|_134.5_|_ 64.2% _|_13.0_|_10.3
04_|_02472_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.4_|_195.9_|_19.2_|_140.4_|_ 68.4% _|_12.9_|_10.2
05_|_02472_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.4_|_195.8_|_19.1_|_137.4_|_ 66.2% _|_12.9_|_10.3
06_|_02470_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.4_|_195.4_|_19.3_|_140.1_|_ 68.1% _|_12.8_|_10.1
07_|_02489_|_10:00.0_|_02:00.5_|_200.0_|_19.6_|_137.8_|_ 66.5% _|_12.7_|_10.2
08_|_02486_|_10:00.0_|_02:00.7_|_199.1_|_19.5_|_140.5_|_ 68.5% _|_12.7_|_10.2

I was only one stroke off after the whole workout. My pace accuracy is getting better. I am still pushing the pace too much. Better to hit that exactly and ramp up the stroke counts.

Target_____________Actual_____________delta____________
Strokes____Meters______Strokes____Meters______Strokes__meters___EndHR
0190___|___02447___|___0187___|___02463___|___-03___|___16___|___130
0192___|___02456___|___0191___|___02477___|___-01___|___21___|___130
0192___|___02456___|___0191___|___02477___|___-01___|___21___|___137
0192___|___02456___|___0192___|___02472___|___00___|___16___|___135
0192___|___02456___|___0191___|___02472___|___-01___|___16___|___136
0192___|___02456___|___0193___|___02470___|___01___|___15___|___135
0195___|___02460___|___0196___|___02489___|___01___|___29___|___135
0195___|___02460___|___0195___|___02486___|___00___|___26___|___134
1540___|___19647___|___1536___|___19806___|___-04___|___159___|___000

Tomorrow: The plan is asking for a 5 x 6′, but I might do the 4×8′ that I skipped yesterday instead.

Wednesday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest L4

December 30, 2015Leave a comment

Really liking this specific stroke sequence.

1′ @ 21spm (210W)
3′ @ 20spm (200W)
3′ @ 19spm (190W)
3′ @ 18spm (180W)

I let myself push the 21 SPM bits hard and then tried to nail the other ones exactly. HR was a bit higher, lactate was too, but still right in the sweet zone (1.8 mmol/l).

Good news was that I read online how to work around the RowPro crash problem. If you disable wifi, rowpro will not crash. Of course this meas you can’t log to concept2 automagically, or row online, but now I can make my precious graphs!

Workout Summary – Dec 30, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_19804_|_80:00.0_|_02:01.2_|_196.7_|_19.2_|_138.2_|_ 66.8% _|_12.9_|_10.2
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_02477_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.1_|_197.0_|_19.1_|_124.7_|_ 57.3% _|_13.0_|_10.3
02_|_02479_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.0_|_197.6_|_19.2_|_135.4_|_ 64.8% _|_12.9_|_10.3
03_|_02476_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.1_|_196.9_|_19.3_|_136.9_|_ 65.9% _|_12.8_|_10.2
04_|_02472_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.4_|_195.8_|_19.2_|_142.3_|_ 69.7% _|_12.9_|_10.2
05_|_02475_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.2_|_196.5_|_19.2_|_140.7_|_ 68.6% _|_12.9_|_10.2
06_|_02469_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.5_|_195.0_|_19.2_|_143.0_|_ 70.2% _|_12.9_|_10.2
07_|_02481_|_10:00.0_|_02:00.9_|_198.1_|_19.1_|_139.7_|_ 67.8% _|_13.0_|_10.4
08_|_02474_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.3_|_196.3_|_19.3_|_143.1_|_ 70.3% _|_12.8_|_10.2

Target_____________Actual_____________delta____________
Strokes____Meters______Strokes____Meters______Strokes__meters___EndHR
0192___|___02456___|___0191___|___02477___|___-01___|___21___|___128
0192___|___02456___|___0192___|___02479___|___00___|___24___|___134
0192___|___02456___|___0193___|___02476___|___01___|___21___|___139
0192___|___02456___|___0192___|___02472___|___00___|___16___|___138
0192___|___02456___|___0192___|___02475___|___00___|___19___|___140
0192___|___02456___|___0192___|___02469___|___00___|___13___|___139
0192___|___02456___|___0191___|___02481___|___-01___|___26___|___138
0192___|___02456___|___0193___|___02474___|___01___|___18___|___138
1536___|___19647___|___1536___|___19804___|___00___|___157___|___000

Tomorrow: 4 x 8′ / 5′ rest. 1:50 pace target. Not really looking forward to it.

Tuesday: 3 x 10′ / 5′ rest

December 29, 2015December 29, 20155 Comments

Tough row. I did it in the late afternoon after painting the kitchen ceiling.

I went out a bit too quick in the first rep and was in tough shape for the last 2. These 10′ intervals are awful! The seem to go on forever. And my pace today was not much faster than what I held for my magical 60′ piece, but it took a real toll on me.

I seem to have caught the rowpro crashing bug. I tried to start it up twice and both times it stopped responding within 30 seconds of startup and crashed. I have to assume that there was some kind of a toxic windows update.

So I did this with HR data on my iphone and manually transcribed data from the PM.

Tomorrow: 4 x 20′ / 1 rest (L4 Format)

Monday: 4 x 20′ / 1′

December 28, 2015Leave a comment

In L4 format. I wanted to increase the intensity just a little bit. Last workout, my lactate was at 1.1mmol after 60 minutes. I’d like to see it in the 1.6 to 2.0 range. Today, I experimented with a different stroke sequence. After starting with a normal 10 sequence, I then started fast and slowed down in each 10 minute chunk.

It was delightfully cool and dry. It was 59F after I finished. I think this kept my HR nice and low. After I took my lactate at 60 minutes (1.5mmol/l), I tried to push the wattage up to 10W above target for each segment of the last two 10′ chunks. Even with the higher output, my RPE and HR stayed nice and low.

Workout Summary – Dec 28, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_19811_|_80:00.0_|_02:01.1_|_196.8_|_19.2_|_132.3_|_ 62.6% _|_12.9_|_10.3
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_02452_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_191.1_|_18.6_|_122.1_|_ 55.4% _|_13.2_|_10.3
02_|_02472_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.4_|_195.8_|_19.3_|_131.3_|_ 61.9% _|_12.8_|_10.1
03_|_02476_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.2_|_196.7_|_19.3_|_131.7_|_ 62.2% _|_12.8_|_10.2
04_|_02473_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.3_|_196.0_|_19.3_|_137.1_|_ 66.0% _|_12.8_|_10.2
05_|_02480_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.0_|_197.8_|_19.2_|_133.5_|_ 63.4% _|_12.9_|_10.3
06_|_02474_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.3_|_196.3_|_19.2_|_134.8_|_ 64.4% _|_12.9_|_10.2
07_|_02488_|_10:00.0_|_02:00.6_|_199.7_|_19.2_|_131.5_|_ 62.1% _|_13.0_|_10.4
08_|_02496_|_10:00.0_|_02:00.2_|_201.5_|_19.1_|_135.6_|_ 65.0% _|_13.1_|_10.6

Target_____________Actual_____________delta____________
Strokes____Meters______Strokes____Meters______Strokes__meters___EndHR
0188___|___02439___|___0186___|___02452___|__-02___|___13___|___126
0192___|___02456___|___0193___|___02472___|___01___|___16___|___127
0192___|___02456___|___0193___|___02476___|___01___|___20___|___133
0192___|___02456___|___0193___|___02473___|___01___|___17___|___131
0192___|___02456___|___0192___|___02480___|___00___|___25___|___132
0192___|___02456___|___0192___|___02474___|___00___|___18___|___131
0192___|___02456___|___0192___|___02488___|___00___|___32___|___133
0192___|___02456___|___0191___|___02496___|__-01___|___40___|___132
1532___|___19630___|___1532___|___19811___|___00___|__180___|___000

Tomorrow: A tough threshold session. 3 x 10′ with 5′ rest. I think I need to back off of to about a 1:50 pace. We’ll see.

Quantified Rowing

Measure – Adjust – Improve

Tag: concept2