Excuse of the day: Sleep is important! – 60 minutes on the erg

August 20, 20151 Comment

I had a work dinner last night, and got home after 10pm. I finally got to bed after midnight. I tried to get up at 5:15, but I felt awful and went back to bed and slept until after 8.

That meant that I didn’t have enough time for my planned sprinty session on the water. I finally found a bit of time around 5pm and used the erg on slides down in the gy at work.

I started off with the plan to do a 60 minute L4. I was going to do

10 x 6 minute sequences of (3′ @ 18, 2′ @ 20, 1′ @ 22) I was aiming at 180W, 200W and 220W respectively.

I did 4 of them and then I felt bored and a bit too worn out. So, I stopped after the fifth, changed my music to something a bit more upbeat, and decided to row out the rest of the session free rate and at 200W.

To pass the time, I tried to visualize progress through the Head of the Charles course. I tried to remember the distances between specific bridges and landmarks and translate that into numbers of strokes. I think this is a good way to memorize the sequence of landmarks and start to get into my head the proper way to steer between them.

I’ll try to go row the course tomorrow. It depends on the weather. There’s a chance of thunderstorms, so I might end up on the erg again.

splits from today.

Tomorrow: Steady State ~ 15km including rowing the HOCR course in both directions.

Tuesday: August CTC – 3 x 9′ / 3′

August 11, 2015Leave a comment

This week, it has been tough to get into any kind of a routine. My two sons are in the final stages of moving out into apartments in Cambridge, and so the house is in a state of chaos. They also keep radically different hours than I do, going to bed around the time I usually get up. At any rate, I stayed up way too late again last night. I’m glad I did because it was good to spend a bit more time with them before they disappear into grad school.

But it meant that I faced a choice. Get up at my normal time and try to do a tough workout on too little sleep, or sleep in and try to grab a similar workout on the erg at work. I opted for the latter.

I was scheduled for a waterfall workout on the water (3K/2.5K/2K on 5′ rest), and my first thought was to just do that on the erg. That flowed pretty naturally into the idea of changing it to the time that it would take me to do those distances on the water (roughly 13.5′, 11.25′, 9′). When I did that and realized that this months Cross Team Challenge is 3 x 9′ on 3′ rest, I opted for that. It’s been tough enough to find a time to do the CTC, and to have a CTC that looks like a great threshold workout fall on threshold workout day when I’m stuck on an erg anyway. It seemed like an opportunity too good to pass up.

I started with a 9 minute warmup. Basically rowed at 2:00 pace with 4 power bursts.

As always, the challenge is pacing. I’m not doing enough erg sessions to know where I am, but my default for these long interval sessions is about 1:50, so I went with that. It felt pretty good in interval number 1, and I ended up a second faster than target. Then the shorter rests started to catch up with me. Second interval was tough and I ended up around 1:49.7, and I was pretty much toast at the end of it. I knew that I wasn’t going to be able to hold onto the pace in the third interval, so I started out aiming at 1:51, then had to slow down to 1:52, then 1:53. In the 7th minute, I was looking at 1:55s, which honestly wasn’t that much faster than my warmup! I sped up a bit in the last minute and finished with a 1:53.3 avg. Overall, this gave me a 1:50.6 avg for the whole workout, a total of 7323 meters for the challenge and (for now) a seat in Free Spirits Boat 1.

I think that I should be able to improve on this if I do it again. I might be able to sneak below 1:50 if I am not on slides, not erging in socks, and more careful in the first rep.

Looking at the heart rates, I pushed it pretty hard. I finished the third interval with my HR at my maximum, 185. I haven’t seen that in a workout for a while. Nice to know I can still go there. I just wish I was going faster when I did!

It was a pretty taxing workout. Over 9 minutes “in the red” and another 14 minutes above my Anaerobic Threshold. I think tomorrow I will have to careful to keep it below 155.

In terms of results, here are the stats. You can see the huge drop off in the third interval.

Now I am off to the airport for a quick trip to San Diego. I will be in the fitness center for the next 2 mornings. Then hopefully on Friday, I will do a long row exploring the HOCR course.

Monday: 4 x 20′ /1′ rest on slides

August 10, 2015August 10, 2015Leave a comment

I slept in. Long day yesterday and got to bed too late. Went to the gym at work around 3:00 in the afternoon.

Plan for today was supposed to be rate ladders OTW, instead I just did a bread and butter steady state session on slides. Trying to see how long I could go at 195W until I had to slow down to stay under the top of my UT1 HR band. I hit the cap about halfway through my last 20′ piece. I’m pretty happy with that.

Tomorrow: On the water waterfall workout. 3K / 2.5K / 2K on 5′ rest. Rate r26. Pace Target ~ 2:15

Thursday: 8×4′ / 1′ rest on the erg

August 6, 20153 Comments

I didn’t get to bed until late, and then decided to sleep in instead of getting up at 5:15. I think it was a good call.

My schedule freed up around 3 so I snuck down to the gym to try to do a version of my planned workout.

The original OTW plan was:

8 x 1000 / 2′ rest
rate: 24,24,26,26,28,28,30,30
pace: start around 2:20 and get faster.

The new plan for the erg (on slides) was

8 x 4′ / 1′ rest (It takes me 4:00 to 4:30 to row 1K on the water, so this was a bit more like what I would have done. The 1′ rest is preferred for the training effect, but I can’t turn my boat that fast on the water and get set for the next ones. On the erg, that’s not an issue.)
rate: Same as above
Pace: start around 1:54 for r24, and get about 2 sec faster for each rate change.

That was HARD!

I was pressed for time, so I did a very quick 1K warm up. I found that I could hold 1:52 for the r24s. This turned out to be a mistake because I was unable to push the last 2 intervals as hard as I wanted. I ended up doing 24,24,26,26,28,28 (a little slower), then I did 26 and then 24 for more of a soft landing than a big finish. You can see from the HR data that I couldn’t have really pushed the last two much harder. I was very happy to be finished.

So, good training effect, good job slowing down, but not breaking form. Marks off for going too hard in the first couple intervals.

Most important news of the day. I just heard that I won the lottery! My bid for a entry in the 2015 Head of the Charles was selected! I will be joining 59 other “Grand Masters” racing down the Charles in October.

Now I have a real reason to execute my training plan perfectly!

Tomorrow: Low Intensity steady state and technique work.

Saturday: 4 x 20′ / 1’r L4 “180s”

August 2, 2015Leave a comment

We are running around this weekend getting ready to move our sons into their apartments for the coming school year. So, I decided to skip the “real” rowing, and do an erg session on Saturday. Done at home on a a static erg.

I wanted to ease back into it, so the plan was:

4 x 20′
1′ rests
L4 format. 180 strokes per 10′ (4′ @ 16, 3′ @18, 2’@20, 1’@22)
Target power 16 –> 160W, 18 –> 180W, 20 –> 200W, 22 –> 220W
Target Heart Rate: Less than 157, hopefully but no real cap though.

It was hot (mid-80s) and humid.

With the power target, a “perfect 180” would be 180 strokes, 180W, which is 2:05.1 avg pace.

Output
Workout Summary – Aug 01, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_19327_|_80:00.0_|_02:04.2_|_182.8_|_18.1_|_142.9_|_ 70.1% _|_13.4_|_10.1
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_02420_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.0_|_183.7_|_18.2_|_111.9_|_ 48.2% _|_13.3_|_10.1
02_|_02416_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.1_|_182.9_|_18.2_|_138.2_|_ 66.8% _|_13.3_|_10.1
03_|_02415_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.2_|_182.6_|_18.0_|_139.1_|_ 67.4% _|_13.4_|_10.1
04_|_02415_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.2_|_182.6_|_18.0_|_146.4_|_ 72.6% _|_13.4_|_10.1
05_|_02417_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.1_|_183.1_|_18.2_|_145.6_|_ 72.1% _|_13.3_|_10.1
06_|_02415_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.2_|_182.6_|_18.0_|_152.9_|_ 77.2% _|_13.4_|_10.1
07_|_02413_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.3_|_182.2_|_18.0_|_151.7_|_ 76.4% _|_13.4_|_10.1
08_|_02414_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.3_|_182.4_|_18.1_|_157.6_|_ 80.6% _|_13.3_|_10.1

I was 7 strokes over for the whole workout. And 137m over. That’s about 0.9 seconds faster than target.
Target_____________Actual_____________delta____________
Strokes____Meters______Strokes____Meters______Strokes__meters___EndHR
0180___|___02399___|___0182___|___02420___|___02___|___21___|___144
0180___|___02399___|___0182___|___02416___|___02___|___18___|___146
0180___|___02399___|___0180___|___02415___|___00___|___16___|___153
0180___|___02399___|___0180___|___02415___|___00___|___16___|___155
0180___|___02399___|___0182___|___02417___|___02___|___19___|___157
0180___|___02399___|___0180___|___02415___|___00___|___17___|___161
0180___|___02399___|___0180___|___02413___|___00___|___14___|___163
0180___|___02399___|___0181___|___02414___|___01___|___16___|___164
1440___|___19190___|___1447___|___19327___|___07___|___137

I would have been happier if I had managed to keep my HR lower, especially in the last 20 minutes. I think the heat and humidity caused enough dehydration to cause that, even though I took on a liter of water across the 3 drink breaks.

Today, we are doing a lot of moving, so I doubt I’ll have time for a session.

Tomorrow: Back on the water for the first time in 9 days. Plan is for a low intensity aerobic r18 session.

Saturday: 60′ L4

July 26, 2015July 26, 2015Leave a comment

We were leaving for the the cape today, so I just did a quick L4 on the erg.

6 x 10′

Each 10′ piece was

4′ @ 16 spm, 160W
3′ @ 18 spm, 180W
2′ @ 20 spm, 200W
1′ @ 22 spm, 220W

Output
Workout Summary – Jul 25, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_14485_|_60:00.0_|_02:04.3_|_182.4_|_18.0_|_141.7_|_ 69.3% _|_13.4_|_10.1
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_02411_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.4_|_181.7_|_18.0_|_125.3_|_ 57.7% _|_13.4_|_10.1
02_|_02420_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.0_|_183.7_|_18.1_|_136.3_|_ 65.5% _|_13.4_|_10.2
03_|_02415_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.2_|_182.6_|_17.9_|_141.6_|_ 69.2% _|_13.5_|_10.2
04_|_02415_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.2_|_182.5_|_18.1_|_146.6_|_ 72.8% _|_13.3_|_10.1
05_|_02409_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.5_|_181.3_|_18.1_|_148.6_|_ 74.2% _|_13.3_|_10.0
06_|_02415_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.2_|_182.6_|_18.0_|_151.9_|_ 76.5% _|_13.4_|_10.1

Target_____________Actual_____________delta____________
Strokes____Meters______Strokes____Meters______Strokes__meters___EndHR
0180___|___02399___|___0180___|___02411___|___00___|___12___|___142
0180___|___02399___|___0181___|___02420___|___01___|___21___|___145
0180___|___02399___|___0179___|___02415___|___-01___|___16___|___152
0180___|___02399___|___0181___|___02415___|___01___|___16___|___155
0180___|___02399___|___0181___|___02409___|___01___|___10___|___156
0180___|___02399___|___0180___|___02415___|___00___|___16___|___160
1080___|___14392___|___1082___|___14485___|___02___|___93___|___000

Pretty accurate on the stroke counts. A bit high on the meters.

Tomorrow: A nice bike ride, I think.

Sunday: 4 x 20′ L4 on the erg – tired

July 20, 2015July 20, 20154 Comments

I was going to row this morning. But we went to the airport last night to pick up my son around midnight and I didn’t get to sleep until about 1AM. I decided that sleep was a better choice, so I took my name off the signup list, turned off the alarm, and slept until 9:15 this morning.

After I got up, I decided to just do an easy session on the erg. At least I thought it would be easy, and it was easy for the first half. Then the heat, humidity and boredom got to me.

I started the third 20′. After about a minute, I just kind of wanted to stop, so I did. I had another drink of water, and toweled off my face and hands. Then I got back to work and finished the 10′ stroke sequence. After the last minute at 22spm and 220W, I felt like stopping again, so I grabbed a quick drink of water, and the I just paddled for a while. Over the next 7 minutes, I slowly increased the stroke power and decreased the stroke rate until the last 3 minutes when I pulled 16spm on target at 160W.

For the last 20′, I turned down the intensity and just alternated 2′ at 16 and 2′ at 18 for the rest of the piece. Even so, with the heat, my HR kept creeping up and I felt like I was really fading. There was a huge puddle under the erg afterwards, so I must have been working.

Output
Workout Summary – Jul 19, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_18771_|_80:00.0_|_02:07.9_|_167.5_|_17.5_|_136.3_|_ 65.4% _|_13.4_|_09.6
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_02413_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.3_|_182.2_|_18.1_|_121.2_|_ 54.8% _|_13.3_|_10.1
02_|_02419_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.0_|_183.6_|_17.9_|_132.8_|_ 63.0% _|_13.5_|_10.3
04_|_02402_|_09:57.0_|_02:04.2_|_182.5_|_18.2_|_132.2_|_ 62.5% _|_13.3_|_10.0
05_|_02416_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.2_|_182.7_|_18.2_|_143.6_|_ 70.7% _|_13.3_|_10.0
07_|_02174_|_09:57.0_|_02:17.3_|_135.2_|_16.5_|_137.9_|_ 66.6% _|_13.3_|_08.2
08_|_02182_|_10:00.0_|_02:17.5_|_134.6_|_16.8_|_131.1_|_ 61.8% _|_13.0_|_08.0
10_|_02346_|_09:57.0_|_02:07.2_|_170.0_|_17.0_|_140.3_|_ 68.3% _|_13.9_|_10.0
11_|_02381_|_10:00.0_|_02:06.0_|_175.0_|_17.2_|_151.7_|_ 76.4% _|_13.8_|_10.2
Target_____________Actual_____________delta____________
Strokes____Meters______Strokes____Meters______Strokes__meters___EndHR
0180___|___02399___|___0181___|___02413___|___01___|___15___|___137
0180___|___02399___|___0179___|___02419___|__-01___|___21___|___143
0180___|___02399___|___0181___|___02402___|___01___|___04___|___148
0180___|___02399___|___0182___|___02416___|___02___|___17___|___153
0180___|___02399___|___0164___|___02174___|__-16___|_-225___|___150
0180___|___02399___|___0168___|___02182___|__-12___|_-217___|___138
0168___|___02349___|___0169___|___02346___|___01___|__-02___|___146
0172___|___02367___|___0172___|___02381___|___00___|___14___|___155
1420___|___19108___|___1396___|___18734___|__-24___|_-374

Tomorrow: Head Race Training begins! Monday is steady state rate ladders

Rate Ladders: 4 x (1000 @ 18, 1000 @ 20, 500 @ 22, 250 @ 24) / 2′ rest

Wednesday – Short Intervals – On the water and on the erg!

July 1, 2015July 1, 2015Leave a comment

I had an unintended rest day yesterday. On Monday, I heard on the radio that there were still tickets available for a concert Monday night (Bare Naked Ladies, Violent Femmes, and Colin Hay (Of Men at Work fame). Now this line up was well aligned to this fifty something music fan and my wife is a BNL fan, so we decided to go. We had a blast, but got home around 11:30 and I made an executive decision that 8 hours of sleep and no workout would be more beneficial than 5 hours of sleep and a workout. I entertained the notion that I might sneak off and do the June CTC on the erg sometime during the day, but I never had a window. So, I set my sights on Wednesday morning.

This morning, the weather report was for showers, turning into rain, then around 9AM there was a 50% chance of a thunderstorm. So, I felt like I was OK launching around 6:30. It wasn’t raining at all when I pulled into the parking lot. But by the time I launched, it had started to sprinkle. I still figured that I would just get a bit wet and be off the water before any pyrotechnics started.

Wrong. I was half way through my workout when I heard the first serious rumbles of thunder. At that point I was about 3K away from the dock, so I squeezed in one more interval and cooled down the rest of the way back home.

Plan:

8 x 500m
500m rest
rate: >30
pace: ~ 2:00 (more important to hit the rate and work on technique than hit the pace)
Technique: Work on smoothing myself out at higher rates. Good reach, clean catch, smooth application of power, crisp finish, blades off the water on recovery.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_3975_|_20:47_|_2:36.9_|_408___|_19.6_|_09.7_|_142___|_warmup
03995_|_0511_|_02:00_|_1:57.6_|_061___|_30.4_|_08.4_|_164___|_int #1
04506_|_0242_|_01:58_|_4:04.2_|_031___|_15.7_|_07.8_|_141___|_rest
04748_|_0502_|_02:00_|_1:59.0_|_062___|_31.1_|_08.1_|_167___|_int #2
05250_|_0403_|_02:49_|_3:30.3_|_047___|_16.6_|_08.6_|_144___|_rest
05653_|_0497_|_01:58_|_1:58.9_|_061___|_31.0_|_08.1_|_165___|_int #3
06150_|_0342_|_02:22_|_3:28.2_|_041___|_17.3_|_08.3_|_141___|_rest
06492_|_0504_|_02:00_|_1:59.4_|_062___|_30.9_|_08.1_|_168___|_int #4
06996_|_0202_|_01:21_|_3:19.8_|_026___|_19.3_|_07.8_|_152___|_rest
07198_|_0504_|_02:05_|_2:03.7_|_062___|_29.8_|_08.1_|_169___|_Int #5
07702_|_1397_|_08:14_|_2:56.8_|_163___|_19.8_|_08.6_|_139___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
03975_|_20:47_|_2:36.9_|_408___|_19.6_|_09.7_|_142___|_warmup
02518_|_10:03_|_1:59.7_|_308___|_30.6_|_08.2_|_167___|_Main set
01189_|_08:31_|_3:34.8_|_145___|_17.0_|_08.2_|_144___|_rest meters
01397_|_08:14_|_2:56.8_|_163___|_19.8_|_08.6_|_139___|_cool down
09079_|_47:35_|_2:37.2_|_1024___|_21.5_|_08.9_|_147___|_Total

For a warmup today, I decided to do something a little bit different. I did 10 strokes ON / 10 strokes off, increasing the rate starting at r18 all the way up r34. This was less taxing that the rojabo style warmup I’d been doing and a I enjoyed the change.

I then rowed (with firm pressure) to the dam and turned around to start my first interval. It was uneventful and I felt comfortable at r30 and 1:58. I finished this interval about 150m before the prospect street bridge, so I paddled through it and started the second interval right in front of the watch factory. This one felt pretty good too.

Then it was a paddle around the s-turn, and I started the 3rd interval on the straight 1K section. Now they were starting to bite pretty good and I also had to do a bit of steering toward the end of this one that impacted the pace. As I was gasping for breath, I noticed that the sky was looking a bit more ominous and the rain was now somewhere between “steady” and “hard”. I paddled to the point at the beginning of the cove and turned for interval #4.

Interval #4 was tough work, but I nailed it. I steered well and I maintained the rate. I was disrupted for a stroke or two by a wind gust near the end, but I got right back in the groove.

As I coasted to a stop after the fourth interval, I heard a loud, low rumble. Thunder. I’m not a genius, but I know enough to get off the water during a thunder storm. So, I cut the rest a bit short and did one last interval in the direction of the dock. This one was more effected by the breeze that was building. I worked harder and went slower in this rep than in the other reps.

I got back to the dock as quick as my fried legs would carry me and got my boat put away. I’m pretty happy with the way the intervals went. I was in control and rowing reasonably well. I am starting to be able to modulate pace at r30 a bit better. Hopefully, I am also getting a bit more efficient at it.

Session #2

I got to work and had a couple meetings. I saw that I had hole in my schedule for about an hour at mid-day. I decided to do a bonus session to get in the intervals that I missed. Since these were on the erg, I did them a 2 minute pieces, not 500m, so that they would more closely resemble what I was doing on the water. I also had the erg on slides, and did them strapless to try to keep the focus on technique at higher rates.

I ended up duplicating my morning workout.

5 x 2′ / 3’30” rest

I was happy with how this went. I originally targeted 1:45, but the first rep was not too bad at 1:43.1 pace, so I thought I would try to negative split from there. I brought it down to 1:40.0 for the last rep and averaged 1:41.9 for the set of 5. I’m really happy with that. I think that means that I am probably ~6:50 for a 2K on the erg currently.

One interesting side note: Since I did essentially the same session OTW and OTE, I have an interesting benchmark to compare my erg speed to my OTW speed. My pace difference today was

1:59.7 – 1:41.9 = 17.8 seconds

According to the biorow rowing speed calculator, my erg to boat pace delta should be 13.6 seconds. This calculator uses height, weight, age and erg score to come up with a “prognostic 2K time” for OTW. So, if my erg score is a 6:48, the Biorow calculator predicts a OTW 2K for me of 7:42.3. I am actually much closer to 8:00. The way I look at it, I have about 4 seconds or so of technique improvement to do in the boat to take advantage of what I can do on the erg. The number could be even bigger, since I did the boat session first and the erg session second. Improvements beyond those 4 seconds will have to come along with a faster erg score.

Now my legs are really trashed. Tomorrow is steady state.

Tomorrow

Friday: 4×20′ L4 on the erg

June 26, 2015Leave a comment

I decided give myself a bit of a break today. I slept in, worked from home and decided to do a purposely easy, UT2 session on the erg.

To keep it interesting I decided to do a Wolverine plan “L4” workout.

4 x 20′
1′ rests
in each 20′ piece 2 x (4’@16, 3’@18, 2’@20, 1’@22)
Power
- r16: 160W
- r18: 180W
- r20: 200W
- r22: 220W
Try to work on stroke sequence. Stay forward during the initial drive. keep hands moving through the finish and get arms and body over before bending knees.

Output
Workout Summary – Jun 26, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_19853_|_84:00.0_|_02:06.9_|_171.1_|_17.8_|_137.6_|_ 66.4% _|_13.3_|_09.6
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_02419_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.0_|_183.5_|_18.1_|_122.9_|_ 56.0% _|_13.4_|_10.1
02_|_02429_|_10:00.0_|_02:03.5_|_185.7_|_18.1_|_136.1_|_ 65.3% _|_13.4_|_10.3
03_|_00052_|_01:00.0_|_09:39.2_|_001.8_|_04.0_|_137.8_|_ 66.5% _|_12.9_|_00.5
04_|_02425_|_10:00.0_|_02:03.7_|_184.9_|_18.1_|_137.1_|_ 66.0% _|_13.4_|_10.2
05_|_02433_|_10:00.0_|_02:03.3_|_186.6_|_18.1_|_142.8_|_ 70.0% _|_13.4_|_10.3
06_|_00072_|_01:00.0_|_06:57.7_|_004.8_|_07.0_|_135.9_|_ 65.1% _|_10.3_|_00.7
07_|_02417_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.1_|_183.1_|_18.2_|_137.9_|_ 66.6% _|_13.3_|_10.1
08_|_02423_|_10:00.0_|_02:03.8_|_184.4_|_18.3_|_141.8_|_ 69.4% _|_13.2_|_10.1
09_|_00072_|_01:00.0_|_06:57.3_|_004.8_|_07.0_|_136.1_|_ 65.3% _|_10.3_|_00.7
10_|_02421_|_10:00.0_|_02:03.9_|_184.0_|_18.2_|_138.0_|_ 66.6% _|_13.3_|_10.1
11_|_02421_|_10:00.0_|_02:03.9_|_184.0_|_18.3_|_142.2_|_ 69.6% _|_13.2_|_10.1
12_|_00269_|_01:00.0_|_01:51.6_|_251.6_|_24.0_|_152.7_|_ 77.1% _|_11.2_|_10.5

What a delightful session. HR was nice and low. It was a very sweaty, but the weather wasn’t too hot, and I had the fan running.

Tomorrow: 4x2K on Quinsig.

Sunday: Race Prep on the erg

June 14, 20152 Comments

A couple of days ago, Sander posted some 1K race prep workouts over on his blog. I was intending to try one yesterday, but the water was so nasty, I was lucky just to get back to the dock without flipping. So thoughts of a nice hard workout were postponed to today.

I decided to give the second workout he suggested a try on the erg. It’s basically a 6x2K session, but the rates in each part of each interval are carefully prescribed. The idea of the workout is to load up your legs with lactate and then give you the opportunity to row hard to build you tolerance for misery. I have to say, it seemed to work.

It was a bit warm, but not too bad, maybe in the mid-80s and I had a fan blowing on me. If I was doing a long steady state session, it would have been miserable, but for a short and sharp workout, it wasn’t a problem.

Output
Workout Summary – Jun 14, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_12000_|_47:05.9_|_01:57.7_|_214.4_|_20.4_|_156.6_|_ 79.8% _|_12.5_|_10.5

Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI
2K #1 – Warmup 20 stroke bursts every 500m
01_|_02000_|_07:44.4_|_01:56.1_|_223.7_|_19.5_|_136.7_|_ 65.7% _|_13.2_|_11.5

2K #2 – 4 x (200 @ 17 / 300 @ 21)
02_|_00200_|_00:49.7_|_02:04.3_|_182.2_|_16.9_|_135.8_|_ 65.1% _|_14.3_|_10.8
03_|_00300_|_01:07.0_|_01:51.7_|_251.2_|_20.6_|_144.7_|_ 71.4% _|_13.0_|_12.2
04_|_00200_|_00:48.0_|_02:00.1_|_202.3_|_17.5_|_150.2_|_ 75.3% _|_14.3_|_11.6
05_|_00300_|_01:05.7_|_01:49.4_|_267.2_|_21.0_|_155.0_|_ 78.8% _|_13.0_|_12.7
06_|_00200_|_00:48.4_|_02:01.1_|_197.2_|_17.3_|_156.7_|_ 79.9% _|_14.3_|_11.4
07_|_00300_|_01:05.5_|_01:49.1_|_269.4_|_21.1_|_157.3_|_ 80.3% _|_13.0_|_12.8
08_|_00200_|_00:47.9_|_01:59.8_|_203.5_|_17.5_|_158.0_|_ 80.9% _|_14.3_|_11.6
09_|_00300_|_01:05.6_|_01:49.4_|_267.5_|_21.0_|_159.7_|_ 82.1% _|_13.0_|_12.7

2K #3 – 500 @ 17, 1000 @ 23, 500 @ 17
10_|_00500_|_02:05.8_|_02:05.8_|_175.6_|_17.2_|_143.2_|_ 70.3% _|_13.9_|_10.2
11_|_01000_|_03:35.4_|_01:47.7_|_280.2_|_23.1_|_162.7_|_ 84.2% _|_12.0_|_12.1
12_|_00500_|_02:05.5_|_02:05.5_|_177.2_|_17.2_|_161.9_|_ 83.6% _|_13.9_|_10.3

2K #4 – 500 @ 17, 1000 @ 27, 500 @ 17
13_|_00500_|_02:12.0_|_02:12.0_|_152.2_|_17.3_|_139.5_|_ 67.7% _|_13.2_|_08.8
14_|_01000_|_03:26.9_|_01:43.4_|_316.2_|_27.3_|_169.8_|_ 89.2% _|_10.6_|_11.6
15_|_00500_|_02:10.9_|_02:10.9_|_156.2_|_17.4_|_165.6_|_ 86.2% _|_13.2_|_09.0

2K #5 – 500 @ 17, 500 @ 29, 500 @ 17, 500 @ 29
16_|_00500_|_02:14.0_|_02:14.0_|_145.3_|_17.5_|_142.8_|_ 70.1% _|_12.8_|_08.3
17_|_00500_|_01:40.0_|_01:40.0_|_349.8_|_29.4_|_166.9_|_ 87.2% _|_10.2_|_11.9
18_|_00500_|_02:17.2_|_02:17.2_|_135.4_|_17.5_|_166.8_|_ 87.1% _|_12.5_|_07.7
19_|_00500_|_01:39.7_|_01:39.7_|_353.7_|_29.5_|_170.7_|_ 89.9% _|_10.2_|_12.0

2K #6 – 1000 @ 21, 1000 @ 17
20_|_01000_|_03:51.2_|_01:55.6_|_226.4_|_21.3_|_167.5_|_ 87.6% _|_12.2_|_10.6
21_|_01000_|_04:25.1_|_02:12.5_|_150.3_|_17.2_|_162.5_|_ 84.0% _|_13.2_|_08.7

This workout was a nice change of pace. Not too long but challenging. The 4 fastest pieces were all somewhat hellish, but short enough that I could just count strokes through them. Funny thing happened in the second 1K piece. I again managed to miscount and got 10 ahead of where I was, but I caught myself quickly enough. I had skipped the 70s, basically counting 68,69,70,81 or something like.

I’m not sure if it was the intent, but the last 1K at 21 was really hard! My legs were like jelly after the 500m at 29 and I had a lot of trouble holding a 1:55 split. During the second 2K, I had no trouble holding a 1:50 at r21, but at that point in time, my legs were actually fully functional.

One thing I wasn’t sure about was how hard to row the r17 sections. I decided to try to keep them around a “cool down” pace (2:10 to 2:15) and not as slow as my usual “paddle” pace. I’m not sure what best served the intent of the workout. I decided that cool down pace at that rate was a lot closer to a “real” stroke with a bit of power in the drive and long recovery.

Tomorrow: Back on the water in Newton. I think I will take on two more of the Sander challenges. The first workout is called (and this is not a lie) “Lactate is the killer”. There is also a pyramid workout to try to work on form at higher rates. I think I might do both. The focus will be on the first one, but I need to get as much high rate rowing in as I can for practice.

Quantified Rowing

Measure – Adjust – Improve

Tag: erg