Tag: drills

Skills and Drills

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I was back at Newport Sea Base at 5:30am again today.  The chance to row Newport Harbor was too tempting to pass up.

I was back in the quad again.  One of the same guys from yesterday, Barney, was there again.  And the other two guys, Tom and Ryan I just met this morning.  All of these folks seem to be very good rowers.  Ryan was at stroke.  He is a young, tall (6′-8″) and obviously a very talented rower.  It was an incredible treat to row directly behind him and try to match up with what he was doing.  It was also a challenge since he could obviously swing through a much wider arc than I every could dream of.  I only hope that I didn’t screw him or the other guys in the boat up too much as I tried to work on fixing stuff.

Today’s session was all about fixing stuff.  The workout plan was:

  • Standard pick drill by pairs.
  • Wide grip rowing by pairs
  • “Piano Fingers” on recovery by pairs
  • 6′ at r24
  • Leapfrog.  A game played with two boats.  One boat rows at full pressure while the other rows at r20.  When the racing boat clears the bowball of the r20 boat, you swap.  So it turns into a 30 second on 30 second off kind of exercise, but the faster you race, the more rest you get.

How did it go?  Ummmm, mixed, but really useful.  During the pick drill the coach (Kristine), picked up on exactly the same flaw in my rowing that Marlene has asked to focus on fixing as my highest priority.  Specifically, my habit of dropping my shoulders as I approach the catch in an attempt to get more length.  It was awesome to have someone catch me doing it live and offer real time corrections.  In the wide grip rowing, she coached my finish position a bit.  During the steady r24 chunk, there were times that the boat seemed to move really well, and other times where we had trouble with set and synchronization, but it certainly felt better as we went along.  We misunderstood the coaches instructions and we thought we were suppose to do a lap of Lido.  So, we were barreling into the turn when she asked us to stop and head back to the dock because we were out of time.

The leapfrog thing was the highlight of the row.  It was fantastic to really drive the boat, and just like the r24 chunk, things were really shaggy in the first couple of full power sets.  My catches and finishes were sloppy and my posture was terrible.  I managed to get a bit better control of myself for the last couple and the boat felt a lot better to me.  I would have loved to play that game for a much longer time.  It was a great way to focus on taking good strokes at race pressure within really burying yourself.

 

The view from the map actually gives you a good idea about what rowing in Newport is like.  The shore line is slips and beaches.  And on the outside of Lido Island, There are boats in slips along the shore and boats moored in the channel as well.  And most of these boats, or should I say “yachts” are immense!  Huge, fancy, beautiful, expensive boats.  I was certainly glad that I didn’t have to steer.

Screen Shot 2018-05-23 at 6.12.28 PM

In terms of a workout, it was a very light session.

Now I am on my way back home.  I will get back to my regularly scheduled sessions tomorrow with 60 to 80 minutes of speedplay in my single.

 

Tuesday: 4 x 20′ / 1′

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You might be noticing a trend by now.  I’m looking at it as a rebuilding period.  In this period I have a few goals

  • Get competent medical advice about lower back pain and fix any issues with flexibility or imbalances.  This includes stretches and exercises
  • Get competent coaching to improve my rowing form for better efficiency and injury prevention.  This includes drills.
  • Rebuild my base aerobic fitness by doing lots of easy rowing

Today, I got to work on all three.

I started by doing my normal pre-rowing routine.

  • 10 SI exercises on  my left leg
  • foam roll my quads
  • use a lacrosse ball to get after trigger points around the front of my hips and pelvis
  • 2 x 40 sec glute bridges on an exercise ball
  • 4 x 10sec torso twists

After that, I did a couple of drills that were recommended to try to improve my posture at the finish.  Here are links to the drills.

Since I wanted to review it after, I taped my attempt at doing it and took a few easy strokes afterward trying to maintain the posture.

I found the drill to be very useful.  I was able to remember what the position felt like and try to hold it during the row.  By sitting the erg next to a mirror and looking at the hands back position, and then a proper finish position, I was get that picture in my mind and then look every once in a while during the row.

After that, I did my 4 x 20.  Today, I started off aiming at 175W, but HR was really high, so I backed off slightly to try to keep it under 150.  Remarkably, just a few watts was enough to do that.  I did a lactate test at the end, and it read 5.3, which I thought had to be a mistake.  I retook it and it was 3.0.  Still much higher than I would have expected, but at least plausible. Rowing while focusing so much on posture was a lot harder and felt very unnatural.  I imagine it will take weeks to start feeling natural.  I think next time I will stick at this 170W-175W range.

         Workout Summary - media/20171114-2005300o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|19314|84:00.0|02:10.5|169.2|18.2|145.2|153.0|12.6
W-|18926|80:00.0|02:06.8|171.8|18.2|145.2|153.0|13.0
R-|00392|04:00.0|05:05.7|096.1|19.6|144.4|153.0|02.3
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04753|20:00.0|02:06.2|174.3|17.8|141.2|148.0|13.3
01|04725|20:00.0|02:07.0|171.3|18.1|145.2|148.0|13.0
02|04730|20:00.0|02:06.8|171.7|18.2|145.7|151.0|13.0
03|04718|20:00.0|02:07.2|169.7|18.6|148.7|153.0|12.7 - 3.0

Lactate Log

Tomorrow:  I’m getting tired of all this base building, I need a little bit of intensity, so I think I will return to an old classic, 8×500.  Pace target around 1:45.

 

Monday: 16K Steady State OTW

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Up at 5:15am, having gotten very little sleep.  Gotta get back into this timezone somehow.

Off to Newton for my first OTW session since July 20th!  I decided that a steady state session to just get some meters in the boat.

Plan:

  • row for about 80 minutes
  • short <1′ breaks at the turn arounds for a quick drink.
  • r20
  • pace target ~2:30
  • HR cap: 155

Weather was cloudy, 70F and 90% RH.  Another recipe for copious perspiration.  There was a light wind 2-4mph from the east.  This was roughly a head wind heading down river and tail wind going up river.

Screen Shot 2016-08-01 at 1.15.09 PM

I used RIM today to see what’s happening with my stroke.  Here are plots of a few strokes with a light headwind (purple) and tailwind (yellow)

Screen Shot 2016-08-01 at 5.26.47 PM

Not much to see at these rates really.  At least it doesn’t look like I am lurging at the catch, like I used to do.

Heart rate was high and speed was slow, as I would expect after so long out of a boat.  I tried to easy up when my HR got above 155, but it got harder and harder as I went along to row that slowly.  Finally after about 12.5K, I decided to transition over to some form drills, so I finsihed with a few 500m sets of SBR and alternating SBR and feathered rowing.  This felt pretty good and I was happy that my balance seemed no worse for the layoff.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_1072_|_05:32_|_2:34.6_|_108___|_19.5_|_09.9_|_133___|_warmup
01087_|_2765_|_13:42_|_2:28.7_|_274___|_20.0_|_10.1_|_153___|_head wind
03852_|_3091_|_15:17_|_2:28.4_|_298___|_19.5_|_10.4_|_152___|_tail wind
06943_|_2698_|_13:48_|_2:33.4_|_273___|_19.8_|_09.9_|_154___|_head wind
09641_|_2890_|_14:33_|_2:31.1_|_282___|_19.4_|_10.2_|_152___|_tail wind
12531_|_3407_|_18:21_|_2:41.6_|_330___|_18.0_|_10.3_|_148___|_drills

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
01072_|_05:32_|_2:34.6_|_108___|_19.5_|_09.9_|_133___|_warmup
11444_|_57:21_|_2:30.3_|_1127___|_19.7_|_10.2_|_153___|_Main set
03407_|_18:21_|_2:41.6_|_330___|_18.0_|_10.3_|_148___|_cool down
15923_|_21:13_|_2:33.0_|_1565___|_19.3_|_10.2_|_150___|_Total

So, not a bad return to the water.  Still working on endurance base.

Tomorrow:  4 x 2700’/4′ rest @ 24-26spm  (threshold)

 

Side Video of Rowing Drills

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Square Blade rowing

Flaws to fix:

  • Touching water
  • Slightly feathered from square

Square at pause:  Feather at the finish normally, then pause at half slide, then square the blades, then continue to catch.

Flaws to fix:

  • Pausing too early.  I am pausing at 1/4 slide, right when my hands go over my knees.
  • Touching water.  This is mainly caused by a sloppy finish leaving me slightly off balance

Alternating Strokes:  This video starts with a few strokes of slow roll ups, then goes into a 3 stroke alternating sequence.  First is a stroke on the square, then a stroke with a slow roll up, then a normal stroke.  The idea is to extract the blades the same way for each, and then change what is done on the recovery.  I find that the norma strokes feel so good when I do this drill

Monday: 14K steady state + drills

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It was cold this morning.  There was frost on the dock when I launched and it was still there when I got back.  There was a light, shifty breeze, but not much of it and the water was deliciously flat.

I started out fully outfitted for the cold.  long tights, 3 layers on top, hat and pogies.  I took off the pogies after the first 4K, otherwise I needed to keep all the layers on.

There is a long thread going over on Rowing Illustrated about the “Scullers Catch”.  Basically, it has devolved into a somewhat pedantic argument over squaring early, versus late, and how quickly one can bury the blades.  I dipped a toe into the conversation and was ultimately rewarded with a couple of interesting drills.

Row , pause every other stroke at half slide, square the blade and go take the catch at full slide . Once you have a hang of that you will have a good feel for placing the blade. Then try it at 3/4

Row half slide for a min, then 3/4 slide for a min, then full slide for a min, then go to alternating half , 3/4 and full slide. Works timing of the front end.

Work on placing the blade at zero pressure and then just accelerate to half pressure , then to 3/4 , then full. Let the speed of the boat dictate your rhythm.

I tried the first one today.  I started each piece with about 20 strokes or so doing a pause/square drill.  It was very challenging.  I needed to finish very cleanly and get the blades off the water.  Then I needed to square the blades with enough clearance to miss the water with the bottom edge of the blade, and smoothly continue to the catch.  I would guess that I did it cleanly about 1/5 of the strokes.  About 3/5 of the strokes, I touched water lightly on one or both side after I squared.  The remaining 1/5, I would catch serious water on one side upon squaring and really screw up the catch.  It certainly helped to reinforce balance and oar control.

Other than that, it was just a nice row, with good heart rate discipline, and reasonably fast pace too.

Screen Shot 2015-10-26 at 4.54.32 PM Screen Shot 2015-10-26 at 4.54.09 PM

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:34_|_2:50.2_|_099___|_17.8_|_09.9_|_116___|_w
01000_|_1460_|_07:21_|_2:31.0_|_135___|_18.4_|_10.8_|_129___|_drills
02460_|_1480_|_07:02_|_2:22.5_|_137___|_19.5_|_10.8_|_142___|_m
03940_|_0900_|_04:51_|_2:41.7_|_080___|_16.5_|_11.3_|_128___|_drills
04840_|_2120_|_10:20_|_2:26.3_|_206___|_19.9_|_10.3_|_143___|_m
06960_|_0820_|_04:21_|_2:39.2_|_075___|_17.2_|_10.9_|_129___|_drills
07780_|_2180_|_10:32_|_2:24.9_|_213___|_20.2_|_10.2_|_143___|_m
09960_|_0760_|_04:17_|_2:49.0_|_071___|_16.6_|_10.7_|_125___|_drills
10720_|_3260_|_15:51_|_2:25.9_|_331___|_20.9_|_09.8_|_144___|_m

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:34_|_2:50.2_|_099___|_17.8_|_09.9_|_116___|_warmup
09040_|_43:45_|_2:25.2_|_887___|_20.3_|_10.2_|_143___|_Main set
03940_|_20:50_|_2:38.6_|_361___|_17.3_|_10.9_|_128___|_drills
13960_|_10:09_|_2:30.7_|_1347___|_19.2_|_10.4_|_137___|_Total

Techno-Thursday – 14K of technical rowing

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Yesterday was a rest day.  When I woke up this morning, I was still stiff and sore from my run on Tuesday.

After all the good feedback that I got after I posted the side view videos, it seemed like a good idea to do a session focused on technique.  I also wanted to keep the intensity low.  The data indicates that many of my steady state sessions are pushing toward “black hole” type sessions.  I need to dial it back so I can train the right stuff on the right days.

Conditions:  Sunny, Temps started in the mid fifties and were up into the sixties by the time I finished.  There was a light breeze that was generally a tail wind going down river and a head wind heading up river.

Plan:

  1. Workout divided into 4 sections.  Each one takes me the length of the river.
  2. To start,
    • Start at the finish with blades buried.  With no pressure go through the whole recovery with blades buried to the catch position.  Feel the pressure on the blades and allow it to pull you further into the catch.  Feel the pressure go down as the boat coast to a full stop.  Then with no pressure, go through all the phases of the drive in slow motion, properly sequencing legs, then body, then arms.  Keep blades buried at the finish.  Repeat.
    • 10 to 20 reps of “King of the Mountain”, trying to focus on keeping my shoulders relaxed and isolating the arm movement.  Maintain balance at the catch without getting all tense.
    • Go straight into “Top Quarter”.  Try to get 10 strokes using only 6″ of slide without getting all caught up at the finish.  Try to extend to 12″ of slide (this is really hard)
  3. 500m of rowing with square blades.  Watch the boat acceleration on RIM.  Try to work on clean finishes by looking at the “bump” in the boat acceleration that happens at the finish if I gets caught up.
  4. 500m of rowing with a slow roll up.  Finish into a feather and immediately start to slowly roll the blades to fully square by the time arms and body are in the catch position.  Work on balance and firm control of the blade position.
  5. 500m of normal rowing 18-22 spm.  Try to translate what was going on with the SBR and the roll ups into normal rowing.  Work on getting blades clear of the water on recovery.  Work on smoothly squaring the blades in the last quarter of the recovery.  Work on smoothly accelerating from the catch.  Work on finishing early and crisply.
  6. repeat to the end of each length
  7. For the last leg home, do the whole thing at 18-22spm steady state rowing.

It was a nice morning.  I forgot my HR strap, so the plot looks a bit different.  The drills went quite well.

King of the mountain:  I was getting so I could really get the blades high above the water and hold for a beat before dropping again.  I pushed it too far one time and nearly flipped, but good progress on balance

Top quarter:  I had a couple of good strings where I was cleanly popping the blades out and getting back to the catch, but I was definitely hanging up on the finish as soon as I was using more that 6″ of slide.  I think I had trouble with the additional boat speed.

SBR:  Sometime messy, sometimes clean.  I was definitely getting hung up at the finish.  I may need to give my self some more room by moving my feet another notch into the bow.

Slow roll up:  This was the first time I really tried to do this in a single.  It was hair raising for the first 10 strokes or so, but then I got the hang of it.  I really liked it when I got a perfectly clean recovery, without touching any water and slowly rolling to square.  I felt like a “real rower”.  Of course I only felt that way on about 5 strokes out of the 200 that I took that way.

Steady state:  The big thing here was trying to work on the connection through the whole drive.  Looking at the RIM display I could see the instantaneous acceleration display had a real hook in it during the first phase of the drive.  I was trying different ways to try to smooth it out.  If I did a softer catch and accelerated through the leg drive a bit more slowly, I could smooth it out.  Interestingly, I also went faster.  Depressingly, it felt very foreign.  I was also trying to keep in mind to keep my shoulders and hands nice and low during the catch to try to avoid the “over the barrel” effect.  During the last leg of the river, I was seeing some really nice boat speed for the rate I was rowing.  I suspect I was working a bit hard, but things felt silky smooth.

Perhaps there is a light at the end of this very long tunnel.

2015-05-07_11-17-40

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0340_|_01:56_|_2:50.9_|_030___|_15.5_|_11.3_|_000___|_arms & body
00360_|_2960_|_14:48_|_2:30.0_|_268___|_18.1_|_11.0_|_000___|_2x(500 of SBR, roll ups, SS)
03320_|_3220_|_19:50_|_3:04.7_|_300___|_15.1_|_10.7_|_000___|_2x(500 of SBR, roll ups, SS)
06540_|_0480_|_02:12_|_2:17.1_|_041___|_18.7_|_11.7_|_000___|_500m ss @ 18
07020_|_1000_|_05:14_|_2:37.1_|_094___|_18.0_|_10.6_|_000___|_1x(SBR, Roll ups)
08020_|_0500_|_02:15_|_2:14.7_|_048___|_21.4_|_10.4_|_000___|_500m ss @ 22
08520_|_0800_|_04:05_|_2:33.1_|_077___|_18.9_|_10.4_|_000___|_1x(500 of SBR, roll ups)
09320_|_0900_|_05:29_|_3:02.7_|_094___|_17.1_|_09.6_|_000___|_Legs only
10220_|_2260_|_10:29_|_2:19.1_|_217___|_20.7_|_10.4_|_000___|_SS @ 20
12480_|_0160_|_00:57_|_2:58.4_|_019___|_20.0_|_08.4_|_000___|_”the Cut”
12640_|_0240_|_01:03_|_2:11.5_|_024___|_22.8_|_10.0_|_000___|_Little burst at 22
12880_|_0440_|_02:02_|_2:18.6_|_045___|_22.1_|_09.8_|_000___|_big curve
13320_|_0160_|_00:40_|_2:04.4_|_018___|_27.1_|_08.9_|_000___|_finish at 24

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00340_|_01:56_|_2:50.9_|_030___|_15.5_|_11.3_|_000___|_warmup
13120_|_09:03_|_2:37.9_|_1245___|_18.0_|_10.5_|_000___|_Main set
13460_|_10:59_|_2:38.2_|_1275___|_18.0_|_10.6_|_000___|_Total

Tomorrow:  I’m thinking a steady state rate ladder session 3′ @ 18, 2′ @ 20, 1′ @ 22.  Repeat ad nauseum.

Note:  Good videos of some of these drills are on Rowing Related

Saturday: 20K of drills, stroke metrics and beautiful water

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Friday was NOT a training day.  Up at 3:45 to catch a 5:15 flight out of Austin, then straight to work for afternoon meetings.  I finally finished up in the office around 7pm and headed home

Saturday was looking good though.  You can see the conditions.  Sunny, Cool (in the 40s) and basically no wind.  Absolutely beautiful.

Plan:

  1. Steady state, want to be on the water for at least 90 minutes.
  2. Some 1 minute intervals at different rates to capture side video
  3. Use Rowing in Motion so I can see boat acceleration with the video
  4. Keep working on the top quarter drill during all turn arounds

So, here’s an overall picture of the workout.  At first the HR sensor was acting up.  It settled down after 20 minutes or so.  The first 3500m was downriver to the dam, just warming up and enjoying myself.  Then I turned around, did my second top quarter drill and rowed back to the bridge.

Then I started my 1 minute pieces.  Starting at r18, I would row with full pressure for a minute then take a minute or more if I needed to get around a curve or turn.  I built all the way up to r32.  I turned around between the r24 and r26 pieces and did another top quarter drill.

The last r32 piece took me almost back to the dam, so I paddled to the end and saw a couple of guys in a reallt nice empacher double.  They are regulars on this stretch of river.  One of them own a house right on the cove.  Wouldn’t it be great to be able to keep your boat in your own back yard and row whenever you feel the whim!

Any way, I chatted we them for a few minutes and then did my top quarter drill.  It was nervous making doing in front of other people!  I’m glad I didn’t flip or anything.  They invited me to depart before them and I did.  They started to chase me.  Well, we all know what happens when some one comes after you, right.  Yep.  I tried to hold my rate between 20 and 22 so that it would look nonchalant from a distance, but I put everything I had into each stroke and I slowly put more and more distance between me and them.  I basically rowed all the way to the guys house.  By the time I got there, about 10 minutes later, I had put a couple of minutes of distance on them.  But the heart shows how much work it was!

By then I was pretty cooked, so I relaxed a bit and rowed back to the dam, trying to slow down when my HR got above 160.  Then a long row home.  I started at r16 trying to do some slow motion practice, and let the rate creep up to r18.  The last 1K I rowed with square blades.

2015-05-02_19-58-28 2015-05-02_19-57-48

4 x ( 6 x 1′ on / 1′ off ) / 5′ rest (With some video analysis)

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Conditions: cloudy, 45F, Wind: N 4-6mph (not a factor)

Plan:

  1. 4x(6 x 1’on/1’off)  5′ rest.  This was motivated by Sander’s 20×1′ workout.  but since 6 intervals fits pretty well for the length or river I am working on, and I didn’t relish the thought of doing 20 reps in one block, I decided to increase the total number of reps, but divide it into 4 blocks.
  2. Target pace: 2:00
  3. Target rate: >28
  4. Work on tap downs, getting good reach at higher rates and sitting up straight

Started with a couple of drills.

King of the Mountain.  Sit at the catch with blades buried.  Lift blades clear of water, and then drop for the catch.  Repeat.

Top quarter.  Sit at the catch with blades buried.  Take the first 6 inches of the stroke, then lift blades from water and return to catch.  Repeat.

Pick drill.  Starting with arms only, progress to arms and body, then quarter slide, then half slide.  Work on good finishes and getting blades clear of the water on recovery.

From there I rowed a warmup for the next 4 minutes or so, and dove into the first set of the intervals.  I found it was very easy to push them too hard,  I would get out to about 20 strokes and feel really burnt out.  I eventually learned to go out a bit more conservatively and push the last part of the rep more.  Overall I hit the pace target, and a few of the reps were slowed down by having to do them through the s-turn, or under the bridge.

Screen Shot 2015-04-27 at 10.52.33 AM Screen Shot 2015-04-27 at 10.52.54 AM

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
01000_|_0260_|_01:04_|_2:02.7_|_029___|_27.3_|_09.0_|_154___|_
01420_|_0260_|_01:02_|_1:58.8_|_032___|_31.1_|_08.1_|_160___|_
01840_|_0240_|_00:58_|_2:00.6_|_029___|_30.1_|_08.3_|_159___|_
02240_|_0240_|_00:58_|_2:00.0_|_028___|_29.2_|_08.6_|_162___|_
02640_|_0260_|_01:00_|_1:55.0_|_032___|_32.1_|_08.1_|_166___|_
03040_|_0260_|_01:00_|_1:55.6_|_032___|_31.9_|_08.1_|_165___|_

03760_|_0240_|_01:00_|_2:04.8_|_027___|_27.0_|_08.9_|_157___|_
04180_|_0240_|_00:59_|_2:02.1_|_027___|_27.6_|_08.9_|_166___|_
04580_|_0260_|_01:01_|_1:57.5_|_030___|_29.5_|_08.7_|_166___|_
04980_|_0260_|_01:02_|_1:59.6_|_031___|_29.9_|_08.4_|_169___|_
05360_|_0240_|_00:58_|_1:59.8_|_029___|_30.3_|_08.3_|_168___|_
05760_|_0240_|_00:58_|_2:00.2_|_027___|_28.1_|_08.9_|_164___|_
06160_|_0240_|_00:57_|_1:58.3_|_028___|_29.6_|_08.6_|_169___|_

06840_|_0240_|_00:59_|_2:02.9_|_028___|_28.5_|_08.6_|_157___|_
07240_|_0260_|_01:03_|_2:01.0_|_030___|_28.6_|_08.7_|_169___|_
07640_|_0260_|_01:03_|_2:00.8_|_031___|_29.6_|_08.4_|_169___|_
08060_|_0240_|_00:58_|_2:01.5_|_028___|_28.8_|_08.6_|_170___|_
08440_|_0260_|_01:04_|_2:02.3_|_029___|_27.4_|_09.0_|_170___|_
08840_|_0240_|_00:57_|_1:59.8_|_028___|_29.2_|_08.6_|_168___|_

09560_|_0240_|_00:59_|_2:03.3_|_028___|_28.4_|_08.6_|_160___|_
09960_|_0240_|_00:58_|_2:01.2_|_029___|_29.9_|_08.3_|_167___|_
10340_|_0260_|_01:02_|_1:59.4_|_030___|_29.0_|_08.7_|_168___|_
10740_|_0240_|_00:57_|_1:58.1_|_028___|_29.6_|_08.6_|_168___|_
11120_|_0240_|_00:59_|_2:02.3_|_029___|_29.6_|_08.3_|_168___|_
11500_|_0260_|_01:03_|_2:00.6_|_030___|_28.7_|_08.7_|_168___|_
Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:30_|_2:48.1_|_098___|_17.8_|_10.0_|_128___|_warmup
06220_|_24:56_|_2:00.3_|_729___|_29.2_|_08.5_|_165___|_Main set
06460_|_40:49_|_3:09.5_|_754___|_18.5_|_08.6_|_154___|_rest meters
13660_|_11:15_|_2:36.5_|_1581___|_22.2_|_08.6_|_156___|_Total

My best two intervals were at the end of the first set.  Here are videos of those reps, along with the Crewnerd pace, rate and HR data.

Tomorrow:  Something a bit tamer.  Steady state, r20, HR cap at 150

Sunday PM: Bonus Session 3×20′ steady state -ish

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I have to fly out early tomorrow morning to California, and I doubt I will have any time to fit in a workout.  So, I thought it would be a good idea to do a second session today.

Nothing to taxing, but some more meters in the bank.

As usual, I started with a 20 minute lactate test.  As usual for a Sunday, it felt easier than on any other day.  Target was 193W, but I was having trouble getting it down below 195W.  And my HR was nicely controlled and stayed below 140 throughout the piece.

Power: 195.1W, Rate: 19.4spm, AvgHR: 137.4bpm, Lactate: 1.4mmol/l

2015-04-12_14-29-36

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 12, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_04938_|_20:00.0_|_02:01.5_|_195.1_|_19.4_|_132.8_|_ 62.9% _|_12.8_|_10.1
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01236_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.4_|_195.7_|_19.4_|_123.0_|_ 56.0% _|_12.7_|_10.1
02_|_01235_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.5_|_195.3_|_19.4_|_133.9_|_ 63.8% _|_12.7_|_10.1
03_|_01235_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.4_|_195.4_|_19.4_|_136.7_|_ 65.8% _|_12.7_|_10.1
04_|_01232_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.8_|_193.9_|_19.2_|_137.4_|_ 66.3% _|_12.8_|_10.1

So, then I setup for 2 more 20 minute pieces.  I row these using rowpro, and I have gotten in the habit of just setting them up as a single continuous row.  I started doing it that way because it is the way you have to do it for online rows, but it just works better for the spreadsheet to do it this way.  For a 2×20’/1’rest, I set up a continuous row of 42′ and then set up the splits to be 21 minutes long.  That way, the avg power for the split is accurate throughout.  I row down from 42′ to 22′, then I grab a drink of water and a quick wipe of the towel.  I start paddling with a few seconds to go before the 21 minute mark, and then I’m into the second piece.  I row that down from 21′ down to 1′, and then I have to decide what I want to do with that last minute.  Sometimes I just row it out at the target pace.  Other times, I paddle it as a quick cool down.  Most often, I do a quick 1′ at higher rate and pressure for a bit of fun at the end of the row.

You can do the same thing for 3×20′ (63′) or 4×20′ (84′).

Today, I dutifully did my next 20 minutes at 195W target power.  My HR monitor was dropping in and out, but I had enough readings to see that my HR was staying nice and low.  I also felt terrific.  So, during the 1 minute break, I decided to row the last 21′ harder.  I did the first 5′ at r22 and 220W, then 5′ at r21/210W, then 5′ at r20/200W, then 5′ at r19/190W.  That left 1 minute to go.  I bumped it up to r24 and tried to take long hard strokes.  I was able to hold about 275W (1:48) at r24 comfortably.

This was a great way to make the time pass quickly and to get a bit more intensity.  Through the whole thing, my HR never went above UT1.  There is something magic about Sundays.

2015-04-12_14-31-09 2015-04-12_14-31-27

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 12, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_10339_|_42:00.0_|_02:01.9_|_193.4_|_19.6_|_138.2_|_ 66.8% _|_12.5_|_09.8
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_04952_|_20:00.0_|_02:01.2_|_196.7_|_19.3_|_131.1_|_ 61.8% _|_12.9_|_10.2
02_|_00060_|_01:00.0_|_08:22.1_|_002.8_|_05.0_|_128.2_|_ 59.7% _|_12.0_|_00.6
03_|_01297_|_05:00.0_|_01:55.7_|_226.1_|_22.0_|_137.7_|_ 66.5% _|_11.8_|_10.3
04_|_01273_|_05:00.0_|_01:57.9_|_213.8_|_21.2_|_147.5_|_ 73.4% _|_12.0_|_10.1
05_|_01250_|_05:00.0_|_02:00.0_|_202.5_|_20.0_|_146.9_|_ 73.0% _|_12.5_|_10.1
06_|_01231_|_05:00.0_|_02:01.8_|_193.6_|_19.0_|_145.3_|_ 71.8% _|_13.0_|_10.2
07_|_00277_|_01:00.0_|_01:48.1_|_276.9_|_24.0_|_150.7_|_ 75.7% _|_11.6_|_11.5

Tomorrow:  7am flight to LAX.  Probably no training.

If I can master this drill, I can rule the world!!!

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I just saw this post over on rowing related.

It was Megan Kalmoe’s contribution to the Best Rowing Drills series on the web site.

There was one drill called Top Quarter, where you go from catch to quarter slide and repeat.  It looks like it stresses balance and timing in a very challenging way.

I have a lot of trouble confidently maintaining balance going into the catch.  If I can get this drill mastered, I think I’ll be a lot cleaner at the catch.