Tag: head race

Training Review – August

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It’s been a wild ride since the end of July.  Here’s a summary of the past 4 weeks, compared to the plan.

Executive Summary:

  • 87% of target for LIT minutes over the four weeks.
    • Excluding week 6, I was right on target.
  • Only 36% of planned HIT minutes.  So, way below plan.
    • I was at 60% of plan for the first 2 weeks, which basically meant that I was hitting 2 out of three planned sessions.
    • In the last two weeks, I was under 10% of plan.  The cause was just not doing high intensity sessions much.  During the first week in the house at the cape, I had other priorities beyond training.  I was trying to get the house set up, and have a vacation with my family.
  • Take aways:
    • Planning regular 2 hour sessions on the water is not practical.  I can;t devote that time, plus the time to launch and recover to training.  I might be able to do it once a week or so.
    • I need to be more flexible about open water rowing.  The conditions did not permit much in the way of HIT, and some days were not rowable at all for someone with as little open water experience as I have.  I need to freely substitute bike training when I’m on the cape.
  • Conclusion:  I think I did enough to maintain the level of fitness I had at the beginning of August.  I have probably lost some lactate tolerance and top end speed.  But all in all, I had a blast this month.
Date Day Work-out Type mode Planned Workout Actual Workout
Meso Cycle #1 – Endurance (From beginning of July)
8/1/16 Mon Rest  rest  OTW: 80′ Steady State (LIT)
8/2/16 Tue Hard Distance otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r24 (HR limit 170)
50′ HIT, 20′ LIT		  OTW: 4×2700 Threshold
50′ HIT, 20′ LIT
8/3/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
75′ LIT		  OTW: Technique
75′ LIT
8/4/16 Thu Hard Distance otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r24 (HR limit 170)
50′ HIT, 20′ LIT		  OTW: technique
50′ LIT
8/5/16 Fri Technique UT2/UT1 otw Square Blades / Slow Roll Up / r20 2 minutes each, repeated
75′ LIT		 OTW: Steady State r20
100′ LIT
8/6/16 Sat Hard Distance otw 2 x 5.5K r26
50′ HIT, 30′ LIT		 OTW: 2 x 5.5K
45′ HIT, 30′ LIT
8/7/16 Sun long and easy erg 4 x 30′ / 1.5′ rest (lactate)
120′ LIT		  rest day
Week 4 summary       150′ HIT
340′ LIT		  95′ HIT
355′ LIT
8/8/16 Mon Technique UT2/UT1  otw Bungee Row first half, Steady state r20 second half
75′ LIT		 OTW: steady state r20
75′ LIT
8/9/16 Tue Hard Distance otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r24 (HR limit 170)
50′ HIT, 30′ LIT		 OTW: 4 x 2700
45′ HIT, 40′ LIT
8/10/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
75′ LIT		 OTW: steady state r20
71′ LIT
8/11/16 Thu Hard Distance otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r24 (HR limit 170)
50′ HIT, 30′ LIT		  OTW: Aborted session
12′ HIT, 25′ LIT
8/12/16 Fri rest  rest  rest (bought a house!)
8/13/16 Sat long and easy owr 120′ open water (HR Cap at 150)
120′ LIT		 rest (moved into a house)
8/14/16 Sun Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177)

40′ HIT, 20′ LIT

 erg: 10K push
20′ HIT, 20′ LIT
Week 5 summary        140′ HIT
350′ LIT		  77′ HIT
226′ LIT
8/15/16 Mon long and easy owr 120′ open water (HR Cap at 150)
120′ LIT		 rest
8/16/16 Tue Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177)
40′ HIT, 20′ LIT		 rest
8/17/16 Wed long and easy owr 120′ open water (HR Cap at 150)
120′ LIT		 rest
8/18/16 Thu Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177)
40′ HIT, 20′ LIT		 OWR: 90′ steady state
90′ LIT
8/19/16 Fri long and easy owr 120′ open water (HR Cap at 150)
120′ LIT		 OWR: 90′ Steady State
90′ LIT
8/20/16 Sat Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177)
40′ HIT, 20′ LIT		 rest
8/21/16 Sun rest  rest rest
Week 6 summary        120′ HIT
420′ LIT		  0′ HIT
180′ LIT
8/22/16 Mon Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177)
40′ HIT, 20′ LIT		 Bike: 40km
100′ LIT
8/23/16 Tue long and easy owr 120′ open water (HR Cap at 150)
120′ LIT		 OTW: 2 x 1K plus 15K SS
8′ HIT, 80′ LIT
8/24/16 Wed Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177)
40′ HIT, 20′ LIT		 erg: August CTC
14′ HIT, 25′ LIT
8/25/16 Thu long and easy owr 120′ open water (HR Cap at 150)
120′ LIT		 OTW: r20 SS
75′ LIT
8/26/16 Fri Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177)
40′ HIT, 20′ LIT		 rest
8/27/16 Sat long and easy owr 120′ open water (HR Cap at 150)
120′ LIT		 OWR: 14K SS
90′ LIT
8/28/16 Sun Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177)
40′ HIT, 20′ LIT		 erg: 60′ easy rate push
60′ LIT
Week 7 summary        120′ HIT
420′ LIT		  22′ HIT
430′ LIT

Head Race Training: Week #3 review

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Date Day Workout Type mode Planned Workout Actual
7/25/16 Mon Cross Training (UT) xt 4 x 20′ fitness center Rest Day
7/26/16 Tue Cross Training (TR) xt 10K run 45′ Thresh run on treadmill HIT
7/27/16 Wed Cross Training (UT) xt 4 x 20′ fitness center 3 x 30′ fitness center LIT
7/28/16 Thu Cross Training (TR) xt 10K run 10K run 30′ HIT, 30′ LIT
7/29/16 Fri Cross Training (UT) xt 4 x 20′ fitness center rest
7/30/16 Sat Technique UT2/UT1 otw 80′ LIT  4 x 20′ on erg LIT
7/31/16 Sun long and easy erg 4 x 30′ / 1.5′ rest (lactate) 4 x 20′ on erg LIT
Summary LIT: 440′ HIT: 120′ LIT: 280′ HIT: 75′

So, significantly under on both LIT and HIT minutes.  That’s two weeks in a row.  We’ll see if I can get back on track this week.

Head Racing Training Plan – 2016

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Edit: Updated with some reflections on current fitness

With the Cromwell Cup behind me, it’s time to take stock and figure out how to best prepare for head racing season.  So here goes.

  • I did not have a good training plan for the spring.  With work demands, and the damaged boat, I ended up winging it.  This took away my ability to measure and adjust.  Even with my travel schedule, I need a plan.  I will have to be flexible, but try to hit the basic quantity of sessions.
  • It’s obvious from the pictures of the race that I am heavier this year than last, probably at least 10 pounds.  I need to start weighing myself and managing my calorie intake again.  I would like to be doing head races at 185 pounds.  This is a challenge with restaurant meals and work related social events, but I think with a weight target in mind, I should be able to get this done.
  • I have seen over and over again that I make good progress when my endurance sessions are longer than 60 minutes and I do not when they are shorter.  I go backward if I try to substitute higher intensity shorter sessions for long ones in the right HR zone.
  • My heart was not really in it for sprint racing.  I was dreading the intense sessions and opting for shorter intervals, and lower stroke rates.  I am not sure if I really want to do much sprint racing in the future, but that is not a decision for now.  What I do need to do is to make sure that I am enjoying what I am doing.  If things are going well, then you face hard sessions with determination and feel a lot of satisfaction when you hit your goals.  Not having enough consistency in training makes it harder to set good goals and makes it much more likely to over-reach and fail in these sessions.

So putting that together in a plan for the fall.  First, I am motivated.  I am excited for head racing and excited to do some long ocean rows.  That’s the most important thing.  I am going to be facing familiar competitors in these races, so I will be able to measure my progress compared to last season.  That should provide a ton of motivation.  Second, I think I can allocate time to do the longer sessions, but I’ll adjust as necessary.  I think the idea of getting good long sessions in on Sundays will be beneficial.  As for diet, it’s all about having a concrete goal and holding myself to it.  As soon as I get home from this trip, I’ll start weigh ins.  So, with an improved attitude, here’s the plan for the fall.

Last year, I defined my first training plan focused on head races.  You can see it here.  It was a progressive plan, like The Pete Plan, or the Wolverine Plan, but focused on improving performance for head race length events.  Overall, the plan worked great.  With the exception of the Textile River Regatta, which was marred by awful weather and lousy water, it was a really good racing season.  No injuries, no over training, and my best performances.

After last year’s head racing season, I embarked on my first experiment with periodization.  I set up 3 mesocycles.  First was a block of endurance training, then into long intervals, then finally into short intervals.  This went great through the first 2 mesocycles, and I was able to set some PRs at long distance events.  But it kind of fell apart in the short interval section due to work related travel and life just generally getting in the way.

I’m thinking of combining these two plans for this fall season. I have a bunch of races that I would like to do.  The first event is on 17 September.  The last in 5 November.  I would like peak around the beginning of October and hold that peak through October.  So, between now and the beginning of October, I have 12 weeks.   I think I will break it up into two blocks.  The first block will be 7 weeks long and focus on endurance training.

Endurance Block

  • 6 sessions weekly
    • 2 steady state or technique sessions HR capped at 150, or <2.0 mmol/l lactate
    • 1 long and easy erg session at least 2 hours.
    • 3 hard distance sessions (30 to 60 min continuous or >10′ intervals with very short rests)

This will be followed by a block that will last through the rest of the season that irrors what I did last year.  This will keep the long steady state sessions, but change the high intensity sessions.

Head Race Prep Block

  • 6 Sessions weekly
    • 2 steady state or technique sessions HR capped at 150, or <2.0 mmol/l lactate
    • 1 long and easy erg session at least 2 hours.
    • 1 short rest interval session.  This is high rep, short duration intervals with short rests.  Designed to be executed at head race pace or slightly faster, these will work on technique and lactate tolerance
    • 1 long interval session.  Basically WP L2 sessions.  These are to be done at head race pace and include distances from 1500m to 3000m and usually 5 minute rests.
    • 1 head race simulation per week.  5 to 6K as fast as possible, and rate between 28 and 30.  These work on aerobic fitness, lactate tolerance and mental toughness.

I am not planning any big tapers in this plan, just a short one before the HOCR (if I get in through the lottery).

The plan is subject to change based mainly on work travel and work load.  Depending on my schedule in the fall, I might decide to skip one or more of the races.  The main thing I want to do is to have a basic plan down so I’m not inventing it as I go along.

Date Day Workout Type mode Planned Workout Notes
Meso Cycle #1 – Endurance
7/11/16 Mon Rest  rest Travel
7/12/16 Tue Hard Distance erg 60′ @ 1:57 Travel
7/13/16 Wed Steady State erg 4 x 20′ / 1′ (hr cap at 150) Travel
7/14/16 Thu Hard Distance erg 60′ @ 1:57 Travel
7/15/16 Fri Technique UT2/UT1 otw Bungee Row first half, Steady state r20 second half
7/16/16 Sat Hard Distance otw 2 x 5.5K r26
7/17/16 Sun Technique UT2/UT1 otw Square Blades / Slow Roll Up / r20 2 minutes each, repeated
7/18/16 Mon Rest  rest
7/19/16 Tue Hard Distance otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r24 (HR limit 170)
7/20/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
7/21/16 Thu Hard Distance otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r24 (HR limit 170)
7/22/16 Fri Technique UT2/UT1 otw Bungee Row first half, Steady state r20 second half
7/23/16 Sat Hard Distance otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r24 (HR limit 170) Travel
7/24/16 Sun Rest  rest Travel
7/25/16 Mon Cross Training (UT) xt 4 x 20′ fitness center Travel
7/26/16 Tue Cross Training (TR) xt 10K run Travel
7/27/16 Wed Cross Training (UT) xt 4 x 20′ fitness center Travel
7/28/16 Thu Cross Training (TR) xt 10K run Travel
7/29/16 Fri Cross Training (UT) xt 4 x 20′ fitness center Travel
7/30/16 Sat Technique UT2/UT1 otw 2 x 5.5K r26
7/31/16 Sun long and easy erg 4 x 30′ / 1.5′ rest (lactate)
8/1/16 Mon Rest  rest
8/2/16 Tue Hard Distance otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r24 (HR limit 170)
8/3/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
8/4/16 Thu Hard Distance otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r24 (HR limit 170)
8/5/16 Fri Technique UT2/UT1 otw Square Blades / Slow Roll Up / r20 2 minutes each, repeated
8/6/16 Sat Hard Distance otw 2 x 5.5K r26
8/7/16 Sun long and easy erg 4 x 30′ / 1.5′ rest (lactate)
8/8/16 Mon Technique UT2/UT1  otw Bungee Row first half, Steady state r20 second half
8/9/16 Tue Hard Distance otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r24 (HR limit 170)
8/10/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
8/11/16 Thu Hard Distance otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r24 (HR limit 170)
8/12/16 Fri rest  rest
8/13/16 Sat long and easy owr 120′ open water (HR Cap at 150) cape
8/14/16 Sun Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177) cape
8/15/16 Mon long and easy owr 120′ open water (HR Cap at 150) cape
8/16/16 Tue Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177) cape
8/17/16 Wed long and easy owr 120′ open water (HR Cap at 150) cape
8/18/16 Thu Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177) cape
8/19/16 Fri long and easy owr 120′ open water (HR Cap at 150) cape
8/20/16 Sat Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177) cape
8/21/16 Sun rest  rest cape
8/22/16 Mon Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177) cape
8/23/16 Tue long and easy owr 120′ open water (HR Cap at 150) cape
8/24/16 Wed Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177) cape
8/25/16 Thu long and easy owr 120′ open water (HR Cap at 150) cape
8/26/16 Fri Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177) cape
8/27/16 Sat long and easy owr 120′ open water (HR Cap at 150) cape
8/28/16 Sun Hard Distance owr 60′ open water (HR cap 177) cape
8/29/16 Mon Rest  rest
Meso Cycle #2 – Long Intervals
8/30/16 Tue Long Intervals otw 3000 / 2500 / 2000 5′ rest
8/31/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
9/1/16 Thu Short Rest Intervals otw 4 x (5 x 2′ on / 30″ paddle) / 2′ rest
9/2/16 Fri Technique UT2/UT1 otw Square Blades / Slow Roll Up / r20 2 minutes each, repeated
9/3/16 Sat Hard Distance otw 5.5K r30
9/4/16 Sun long and easy erg 4 x 30′ / 1.5′ rest (lactate)
9/5/16 Mon Rest
9/6/16 Tue Long Intervals otw 5 x 2000 / 5′ rest r28
9/7/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
9/8/16 Thu Short Rest Intervals otw 5 x 20@32/10 off / 5 x 20@34/15 off / 5 x 20@36/20 off, 8′ between sets
9/9/16 Fri Technique UT2/UT1 otw Bungee Row first half, Steady state r20 second half
9/10/16 Sat Hard Distance otw 5.5K r30
9/11/16 Sun long and easy erg 4 x 30′ / 1.5′ rest (lactate)
9/12/16 Mon Rest
9/13/16 Tue Long Intervals otw 4 x 2500 / 5′ rest r24
9/14/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
9/15/16 Thu Short Rest Intervals otw 4 x (3 x 3′ on / 1′ paddle) / 2′ rest
9/16/16 Fri warmup only erg warm up only
9/17/16 Sat CRI Fall Classic race
9/18/16 Sun long and easy erg 4 x 30′ / 1.5′ rest (lactate)
9/19/16 Mon Rest
9/20/16 Tue Long Intervals otw 5 x 1500 / 5′ rest r26
9/21/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
9/22/16 Thu Short Rest Intervals otw 4 x (5 x 2′ on / 30″ paddle) / 2′ rest
9/23/16 Fri Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
9/24/16 Sat Hard Distance otw 5.5K r30
9/25/16 Sun long and easy erg 4 x 30′ / 1.5′ rest (lactate)
9/26/16 Mon Rest
9/27/16 Tue Long Intervals otw 3000 / 2500 / 2000 5′ rest
9/28/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
9/29/16 Thu Short Rest Intervals otw 5 x 20@32/10 off / 5 x 20@34/15 off / 5 x 20@36/20 off, 8′ between sets
9/30/16 Fri Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
10/1/16 Sat warmup only erg warm up only
10/2/16 Sun Textile  race
10/3/16 Mon rest
10/4/16 Tue Long Intervals otw 5 x 2000 / 5′ rest r28
10/5/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 3000 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit at 80% HRR)
10/6/16 Thu Short Rest Intervals otw 12 x 500 / 1’30” rest (sr 22,24,26,28,30,32,32,30,28,26,24,22)
10/7/16 Fri Technique UT2/UT1 otw Bungee Row first half, Steady state r20 second half
10/8/16 Sat warmup only  erg warm up only
10/9/16 Sun Snake Race  race
10/10/16 Mon rest  rest
10/11/16 Tue Long Intervals otw 4 x 2500 / 5′ rest r24
10/12/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 3000 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit at 80% HRR)
10/13/16 Thu Short Rest Intervals otw 4 x (3 x 3′ on / 1′ paddle) / 2′ rest
10/14/16 Fri Steady State otw Square Blades / Slow Roll Up / r20 2 minutes each, repeated
10/15/16 Sat Hard Distance otw 5.5K r30
10/16/16 Sun long and easy erg 4 x 30′ / 1.5′ rest (lactate)
10/17/16 Mon Rest  rest
10/18/16 Tue taper otw 4 x 500
10/19/16 Wed taper otw 3 x 500
10/20/16 Thu taper otw 2 x 500
10/21/16 Fri taper otw row the course
10/22/16 Sat HOCR otw race
10/23/16 Sun HOCR otw race
10/24/16 Mon Rest  rest
10/25/16 Tue Long Intervals otw 5 x 1500 / 5′ rest r26
10/26/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
10/27/16 Thu Short Rest Intervals otw 4 x (5 x 2′ on / 30″ paddle) / 2′ rest
10/28/16 Fri Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
10/29/16 Sat Hard Distance otw 5.5K r30
10/30/16 Sun long and easy erg 4 x 30′ / 1.5′ rest (lactate)
10/31/16 Mon rest  rest
11/1/16 Tue Long Intervals otw 3000 / 2500 / 2000 5′ rest
11/2/16 Wed Steady State otw 4 x 2900 / 1′ rest r20 (HR limit 150)
11/3/16 Thu Short Rest Intervals otw 5 x 20@32/10 off / 5 x 20@34/15 off / 5 x 20@36/20 off, 8′ between sets
11/4/16 Fri Short Technique UT2 otw Bungee Row first half, Steady state r20 second half
11/5/16 Sat Merrimack Chase otw

How it is supposed to look…Mahe Drysdale at the Head of the Charles

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I came across this over on Reddit.  I guess Mahe had a GoPro mounted on his boat during the head of the Charles.  Basically the same perspective as mine, but mounted a lot further away from the stern so you can’t see the finishes, which I am sure would have been even more impressive.

His row was at the end of the day on Saturday, when the winds had died down a bit from earlier in the day, but was still a factor.  The video shows him passing Andrew Campbell between the Western Avenue Bridge and the Weeks Footbridge.  Campbell is a lightweight and was effected by the headwind a lot more than the gigantic Drysdale.

Part 1:  Including a bit of his warm up, the start and the race through the Anderson Bridge

Part 2: Through the big turn, under the Eliot Street Bridge and to the finish.

Oh, what I’d give to be able to row like that.  It is interesting to have a video of the same race, under similar conditions, from the same perspective but with one of the finest scullers in the world doing the rowing.  It was particularly humanizing to see him take a lousy stroke now and then.

Merrimack Chase Videos

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Sorry about the shaky video.  I had to improvise a mount and it had a bit of wiggle to it. I decided that the videos would look better using the youtube stabilization.  I’m not entirely sure.  Also, for some reason, the heart rate sensor decided to not talk to my iphone yesterday.  It worked fine to the speedcoach, but that was using a polar receiver.  I suspect that the bluetooth connectivity is a bit squirrely.

Truth be told, it’s not all that exciting a video.  I go under a bridge at about 5 minutes into the first part.  And the water is nasty and rough, but since I had the first bow number for the event, I had no one to pass.  I had a close call with a buoy at 1:55 in the last part.  I almost got the last guy of the Master “C” group at the end of the race, but not quite.  I think the sprint from 2:00 into that video to the end was pretty good.

The pre-start and about the first 8 minutes or so of the race:

The middle of the race, from after the bridge around the big bend and into the flatter water.

The last few minutes of the race.

Not the prettiest rowing I have ever done, but for the state of the water, I’m OK with it.  Lots to work on for next season!

Merrimack Chase – I won.

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Weather:  Broken clouds.  Warm, nearly 60 degrees.  Windy.  It looks like some kind of a front went through during my race.  It was a WNW wind at about 10mph, with gusts up to 23mph.  This is a pure head wind through the first 2 km of the course.  The water as nasty.

Here is the weather underground almanac for today from a station right on the Andover side of the river in the middle of the course.  The cursor is about 5 minutes after my start.

Screen Shot 2015-11-07 at 4.33.21 PM

I was pleased with the race result.

results

I finished first among the Master D/E group.  And finished close to top guys in the Masters C group.  I know those guys and they are good scullers.

Looking at the map of my course, I am not all that happy with my line.  I messed up my approach to the bridge and it added about 30 meters to my course, or nearly 10 seconds to my time.  And I did not hug the big turn nearly close enough, that probably added another 30 to 50 meters of length to my course.  Having said that, I steered it bette rthan the guy behind me.  I think he could have beat me if he followed my line, but he went way wide around the turn.

Screen Shot 2015-11-07 at 3.12.29 PM

Since the wind was from the WNW, the first half of the course until you were completely through the turn was straight into it, and the chop was pretty nasty, so the pace was really slow.  Once around the corner, it was a lot smoother and much less wind.  Still a few gusts to contend with, but much nicer water.  The splits reflect that

In the last 1000m I was coming up behind one of the boats from the Master C group.  I wanted to take the line along the buoys on the western shore, but he didn’t really give me a good line and I ended up nearly hitting one of the course buoys.  That pissed me off enough that I cut across his stern and spinted my guts out to the finish.  I nearly caught him at the line.  I can thank him for probably a 10 second better thime than I would have other wise had.  🙂

Screen Shot 2015-11-07 at 3.03.42 PM Screen Shot 2015-11-07 at 3.03.23 PM

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_4320_|_24:38_|_2:51.1_|_456___|_18.5_|_09.5_|_141___|_warmup
Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0340_|_03:17_|_4:49.3_|_038___|_11.6_|_08.9_|_126___|_in the chute
00360_|_4700_|_21:34_|_2:17.7_|_594___|_27.5_|_07.9_|_175___|_Race!
05060_|_1480_|_09:36_|_3:14.6_|_160___|_16.7_|_09.3_|_124___|_back to the dock

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00340_|_03:17_|_4:49.3_|_038___|_11.6_|_08.9_|_126___|_warmup
04700_|_21:34_|_2:17.7_|_594___|_27.5_|_07.9_|_175___|_Main set
01480_|_09:36_|_3:14.6_|_160___|_16.7_|_09.3_|_124___|_rest meters
06520_|_34:27_|_2:38.5_|_792___|_23.0_|_08.2_|_156___|_Total

Video will be coming a bit later.

Side View Video – R24, r26, r28

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Yesterday, I did a hard 5k on Lake Quinsigamond.  I mounted a gpro camera on a backstay attached the end of to my starboard rigger, just forward of the oarlock.

In the 5K piece, I did the first 2K at r24, the second 2k at r26, and the final 1200 meters at r28.

r24 on fresh legs.

Looking at the video, I am having trouble finding a lot to criticize.  The things that I notice are:

  • More blade clearance off the water
  • Extract blades a bit more square before feathering
  • Try to bury the blades a bit sooner.  Some strokes, I am missing a little water at the catch.
  • Sit up a bit taller

The other thing I am wondering is if it would be a good idea to lower my shoes a little bit, I might be able to get a little more reach.

Last thing that I noticed was how absolutely beautiful it was yesterday morning.  Isn’t it a pretty lake!

And here is the boat acceleration from RIM.

Screen Shot 2015-11-01 at 9.49.29 AM

Comparing this to “world class” curves, the obvious difference is in the height of the positive acceleration peak.  There is also a bit of trash at the finish.  The catch seems to have a little double hump thing going on, which I have to assume is me bouncing a bit at the forestop.

Just to follow up on the discussion from Sander’s blog post.  I decided to look at the same set of strokes, but over a single stroke, 4 strokes, and 8 strokes to see how the curves and numbers change.

Screen Shot 2015-11-01 at 9.52.23 AM

There is a remarkable change in the curve from 4 strokes to 8 strokes, and the numbers change too.  I think that if you are using RIM to provide feedback, that you might do best to either stick to single strokes, or at least make sure that you are always looking at the same number of strokes averaged.

r26 – This was after 2K of hard rowing, so I am feeling a bit more fatigued.

On this one, the primary flaw that I see is that my blades are getting shallower as the drive moves from catch to finish.  By the time I extract the blades, about the top 1/3 of the blade is above the surface of the water.  I need to work on keeping my hands level through the drive and finish a bit higher on my torso.   The other thing that could be causing this is allowing myself to lay back too much at the end of the stroke.  I would probably be faster if I finish a bit earlier with less layback.

Here are the RIM curves for r26Screen Shot 2015-11-01 at 10.09.29 AM

The negative acceleration at the catch is larger, which probably means that I am now rushing the slide a bit.  You can see a little positive acceleration on the last third of the recovery.  Some strokes show a pronounced double hump, some do not.  There is still a bit of noise at the finish.

r28

This video is the last 4 minutes of r26 and then about 5 minutes at r28.  From 1:30 to about 2:00 into the video, I am going underneath the brand new bridge across our lake.  Isn’t it beautiful?  Now we have two broad arches, on for up lake traffic and one for down lake traffic.

The r28 stuff starts at about 4:30 into the video.

The stroke mechanics, unsurpisingly look a lot like r26 mechanics.  Same basic strengths and weaknesses.

Here is one r28 stroke and one r30 stroke.  Basically the same shape.  A bit less of the double hump on the r30 stroke.  One change this year is that I have a smaller positive acceleration during the recovery, which I think is basically a good thing since it means that my speed on the slide is more constant and I am not rushing into the catch.  But I am not expert enough to be sure.

Screen Shot 2015-11-01 at 10.22.37 AM

Later today, I will post some video of the drills that I did yesterday.  Someone may find them useful, or if nothing else, you can smirk about how bad they look.

I am very fortunate to have had Sander give me some feedback by marking up my video.  He was illustrating two flaws in my rowing.  The first is not having relaxed and straight arms at the catch.

greg1

The other flaw was not maintaining constant handle height through the drive.

greg2

Thanks Sander!

Head of the Charles Videos

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Complete with telemetry.  Data collected by RIM.  Exported as TCX.  Imported into Dashware and merged with the GoPro video.

First part from before the start, through the BU bridge, around the magazine beach turn and into the powerhouse stretch

Second part through the powerhouse stretch around the weeks turn, through the anderson bridge and into the big turn.

Third part, through the rest of the big turn, through the Eliot Bridge and around the turn to the finish.

Head of the Charles !!!!!

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Holy Shit!  Nothing compares to this regatta!  The organization is amazing.  The competition incredible.  The course challenging.  The scenery beautiful.  The people friendly.  It absolutely should be on every rowers bucket list!

The weather was challenging.  It was sunny and 47F, but windy as hell.  The wind was from the West blowing 15mph gusting to 25.  The course curves all over, but that is generally a head wind.

Screen Shot 2015-10-17 at 7.03.34 PM

Before the race, the water in the basin was terrible.  Lots of waves, and great gust of wind.  It made warming up basically impossible.  We all just huddled in a clump as close to the Cambridge shore as they would let us until the called us to the start chute.

Over a period of about 10 minutes I listened to them start all the Grand Master (50+) singles, and they eventually called me up.  “Mr. Smith, on the paddle please”. “Firm it up Mr. Smith”.  Mr. Smith, ROW!” and I was on the course.  And greeted with huge gusts of wind right away.  The wind funneled through the BU bridge and tried to toss my oars around.  I felt like I was not making much progress, but I noticed that my gap to the guys behind me was actually getting a bit bigger.  That calmed me down a bit and I emerged from the bridge and began battling around the Magazine Beach turn.

With the waves and the wind, I didn’t feel to comfortable hugging the buoy line, so I hung off of it, probably a bit too far, maybe 60 feet or so.

I passed boat number 34 about 5 minutes into the race, in front of Riverside Boat Club. Then I was into the Powerhouse stretch.  By the sixth minute I had passed another boat, and I was chasing down a third.  He was to my starboard and it looked like he was going to the Cambridge side arch of the bridge.  I was lined up to the cambridge side of the center arch.  Then the guy turned pretty sharply to use the center arch and cut across my bow, maybe about 2 boat lengths ahead of me and settled in along the boston side buoy line.

This turn of events motivated a higher level of effort.  I think he was bow number 33, but I can’t quite make out the number  in the video.  Coming out the cambridge side arch was another sculler, but I was much more focused on #33.  We were barely oars length apart as we cruised up the straight bit between the two bridges, and I crawled up on him.  I drifted away from him, and then realized that I couldn’t do that and make the center arch, so I turned back to my line.  Hell, I was the overtaking boat.  I deserve the line I want.  So I went straight for the arch.  We were side by side going under the bridge and we clashed oars twice.  Not badly, just a couple of clicks and then I put a bit more distance on him and pulled away.

Then we approached the “Weeks turn” (dramatic music plays in background).  The Weeks turn is a 90 degree turn under a foot bridge.  The tricky part is keeping a straight line for about 2/3 of the distance from the Western Street Bridge to Weeks, and then turn for the center arch.  I thought I did it just right, but looking at the GpS data, I drifted a bit toward the cambridge side during my 40 strokes, and so my turn was sharper than it needed to be, and I did it about 5 strokes too soon.  So, I hit the arch in the right place, but my line was not pointed right at the Anderson bridge, and I needed to do a bit more steering through the Weeks to Anderson stretch, and I swung way wider through this bit than I should have.  It probably cost 5 seconds or so compared to a course along the red buoy line.

As I approached the Anderson Bridge, there was a sculler crawling up on me.  It was obvious that he was faster than I was, and so I did my best to figure out what line he wanted and let him have it.  This bit of the course is quite broad and you want to take a straight line from Anderson to the apex of the big curve around to the CBC boathouse and the Eliot Street bridge.  Looking at the map, I think I steered this part right and managed to stay clear of the fast guy as he passed me.  (He ended up finishing 7th!)

Around the big turn, I stayed a bit too far away from the buoy line because of the wind and my lack of confidence steering a tight line.  This probably cost me another 5 or 10 seconds.  But I ended up on the right place for the Eliot street bridge and managed the cross over to the other side of the river for the final turn with no real drama.  I might point out that my heart rate was going a mile a minute, and I was feeling pretty awful, but I knew that the end was just a kilometer away and nothing was stopping me now.

Even better, when I came out from under the bridge, I spotted a sculler a few boat lengths ahead of me, and as we went around the turn, I heard an announce call out his name and number.  It was Heri from Quinsigamond, who I’ve rowed with a few times before.  I decided to see if I could catch him at the finish.  I nudged the rate up a little and concentrated on trying to keep my rowing clean and I could see that I was pulling up to him.  Strange to say, but I was wishing that the finish line was further away.  Over the last 50m or so we were stroke for stroke, side by side.  I think I ran out of race course before I caught him, but it was an awesome way to finish the race.

Here is the line that I steered.

First part of the race, through the first mile and a bit.

Screen Shot 2015-10-18 at 10.36.38 AM

Ideally, a little closer to the cambridge shore through te big turn, and a bit straighter from RBC to the bridge.

Second part, last 2 miles

Screen Shot 2015-10-18 at 10.35.30 AM

Steering error through the Weeks bridge.  Drifted to far to cambridge side and started turn too soon.  Should have kept turning under the bridge, but drifted again toward cambridge side and rowed a big arc to the anderson bridge, vs straight line.  These two errors probably cost about 5 to 10 seconds.  Out of Anderson a good line, but too wide through the big turn, costs another 10 seconds or so.  Then a good line through Eliot and around the final turn.

Split data:  Keep in mind that there was a 15 mph head wind with gusts to 25.  So the splits were slow.  The winner of my event both last year and this year was Greg Benning.  Last year his time was 18:15.  This year 19:25.  Same guy came in second both years and his times were similarly slower.  As I figure it, the head wind was about a 7 to 8 second tax on pace on average over the whole course, and a lot of the time it was a cross wind.  During gusts when I was pointing to the west, I was way slower than 2:30.

Screen Shot 2015-10-17 at 6.48.33 PM Screen Shot 2015-10-17 at 6.48.20 PM

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0120_|_01:24_|_5:50.0_|_019___|_13.6_|_06.3_|_121___|_w
00140_|_4760_|_22:18_|_2:20.5_|_602___|_27.0_|_07.9_|_176___|_Race!
04900_|_4620_|_29:15_|_3:09.9_|_497___|_17.0_|_09.3_|_133___|_c

So, the pace was slow.  I was happy with my stroke rate for the amount of wind.  I managed to hold a 27 in rougher conditions.  I still need to work on efficiency so I can get that up closer to 30.  The HR is crazy high!  The closest thing that I’ve seen to this was a 5km piece on Quinsigamond when it was really hot.  I’ve never had my HR this high for that long in a race.  Part of it might have been race nerves, but I think I just pushed it really hard.  Right to the edge of what I could do, and I’m happy with that.  I feel like I gave it my best possible effort for where my fitness is now.  I also think the taper worked well.

Results:  I finished 24th of 59.  14.59% off the winners time.  I would have finished 26th, but two guys with raw times faster than mine were penalized, dropping the behind me, so good for me rowing clean!  My official splits are right in line with my overall results.  My first split was 28th fastest, second was 27th, third was 27th, and fourth was 24th.  So, a reasonably strong finish.  My broad objective was to finish in the middle third, and I was around the 40th percentile.  Throw in the fact that I rowed with no penalties, and I didn’t run into anything, I think I have to consider it a brilliant outing.

So, I’m still mulling over the conclusions to draw from this.  First, I can’t wait to do it again, and I’m a bit bummed that I will have to wait through the lottery for multiple years to get another crack at it. Second, I am sure that I can do better.  The improvement comes in three areas.

  1.  Fitness:  Based on the lactate testing that I have been doing over the past few weeks, my aerobic base is no where as good as it was in the winter of 2013-2014.  If I can design a training plan that includes more base work and be very diligent about getting my work in at 2.0mmol/l, I am certain that I can get 2 or 3 seconds per 500 faster.  That will be the goal for next summer.
  2. Steering:  The key to this is learning the art of steering with one of those ridiculous mirrors.  I will start with it next spring and make it a project.  The other part is to continue to practice the course.  I think I will continue to make weekly trips to the Charles next summer, even if I don’t make the draw.  If I can master the Weeks bridge, I’ll get another 5 to 10 seconds.  If I can run the buoy line on Magazine beach and the big turn, another 10.
  3. Technique:  Always needs attention.  Improving my finishes and trying to miss less water at the catch.  I think I should seek out some coaching in the spring to work on the mechanics of my stroke.  Not sure how much this will yield.

Put this together, I think it could be 30 seconds off my time, which would get me in the top 20.  I don’t see a practical way to get fast enough to earn a guaranteed entry.  I’d need to get more than a minute off my time to do that.  I guess I am consigned to the lottery.

I’ll post some videos after they finish rendering and uploading.

Saturday: Lake Quinsigamond Snake Regatta

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Weather:  mid 50s, before I launched there was a 5 to 10 mph breeze from the north.  This moderated and by the time I finished it was more like 3-5mph with a few stronger gusts.  Very Sunny.  The water as sparking.  A perfect day for a row.

I was really looking forward to this race.  My first race on “my lake”.  The Snake Regatta is an even that is held every fall as a Collegiate head race.  It is run over 4200m from south to north on the lake.  This year, our club, Lake Quinsigamond Community Rowing (LQCR), and the other masters club on the lake, Quinsigamond Rowing Club (QRC) got together to sponsor a masters division in the race.

Screen Shot 2015-10-11 at 10.09.43 AM

Since it was it’s first year, and we really only started to publicize it late this summer, it was small.  There were 22 boats in all and 12 singles, most from our two clubs.  But it is a great place to row and beautiful day for the event.

I am not sure how they picked bow numbers, but I was given bow number 179, which was the eighth boat to start.  I knew some of the guys who started in front of me, and I decided to consider it a “target rich environment”.  With the width of the course, and how straight it is, overtaking boats was straightforward.

Me and Bob launched from the regatta point docks, just north of the route 9 bridge and we joined the parade of boats heading down lake to the start.  I worked on getting used to being back in the boat.  I had not rowed since Monday, so I just focused on balance and reach and trying to clean up my finishes.  Toward the bottom of the lake I did 2 sets of 20 strokes at faster than race pace to get the blood flowing.

Then I took off my overshirt, and revealed, for the very first time, an actual LQCR uniform shirt!  The coach of the high school kids gave it to me before I launched so I could war club colors at the Head of Charles next week.  I was so delighted, I can’t even describe it.  I haven’t worn a sports uniform since I was in high school.

We just hung out in a clump chatting until they called us to get organized into bow number order.  With this few boats, it was pretty simple.  They started with bow 170, a 32 year old rower from community rowing in Brighton.  He looked like a rower.  Then 171 and 172 were scratches.  173, 174, 175, 176, 177, 178 (who was missing a bow number but they worked it out), then they called me to full pressure and I was off.

On the video, I am on the course at 2:50.  I could feel the head wind making the boat feel a little heavy, but it felt good to row with full pressure and I probably pushed the pace a little too hard off the line.  I found my line to hug the shore of the next island and counted strokes.   I overtook a boat at 4:15, it looks like he made a mistake steering to the east side of the island and then needed to correct it.  You can see him rowing across my bow then falling back.

Then I was past the first island and I had my sights on two things.  First, don’t run into the beach, which juts out a bit.  Second, the next boat that I was going after.  I pass the beach at 5:40.  Prior to that, you can see that this boat made the mistake I wanted to avoid.  He needed to steer radically around the beach, right while I was closing the gap on him.

After the beach, the next challenge is the narrows.  This is a spot that is wide enough to fit four boats with oar tips touching.  They have it marked with a buoy so that boats going down lake are separated from the boats racing so there is just enough room for two boats side by side, but it’s tight.  I looked over my shoulder and I saw two boats right ahead of me.  I closed on one of the quickly and passed him right in the middle of the narrows.  The other guy seemed to be rowing at something very close to my pace.

From the Narrows, it is about a kilometer of relatively unprotected water.  This is the widest point of the lake.  There was a little bit of head wind, but not much chop, and I could really focus in on this next boat.  It was the guy with no bow number.  His name was Bjorn and he came from Narraganset Rowing Club.  A group of women from that club borrowed one of our eights for the race and they told me that he was a good rower.  At any rate, here we were.  I had made up the start interval on him, and it seemed like he thought I shouldn’t make up any more.  From 8 minutes to 9:30, he basically holds me off, and then from 9:30 to 10:00 I manage to crawl up and establish a bit of overlap with him.  Then we are stroke for stroke for the next 2 km.  Right at the end of the first video, both of us overtake a 3rd boat.  We are in our own little race at this point.

The second part of the video picks up right before we go under the bridge.  Over the first minute, you can see his bow disappear from view, but he’s still there.  I push really hard in this chunk because a couple of my friends from the club are watching from our docks and I hear them yelling.  I usually have a significant crisis at the bridge because I know how much the second half hurts and how long the 1.6km from the bridge to the finish feels.  I’m still counting strokes and when I get to 400, and I haven’t yet reached the gazebo, I fear that I am going to blow up.  But my friend Bjorn is still right on my tail, maybe half a boat length back and showing no sign of slowing down.

I finally pass the gazebo and I know that it’s 60 strokes to the finish.  I keep my rate and pressure for another 20 strokes and then I start to push for the finish.  The last 40 strokes, I bring up the rate a touch, and the splits obligingly come down, and finally in the last 300m I start putting more distance between us.

I was really hurting at the end and paddled well clear of the course before turning.  Bjorn and I congratulated each other and then paddled into the QRA docks.  I stopped there for a few minutes and chatted with some friends from  the club up there, and then paddled home to regatta point.  At this point, I had no idea what the results were.

I packed up and headed home.  About an hour later, Bob texted me a picture of the results.

IMG_0118

I got a second place behind the guy who looked like a rower.  Considering the 20 year age gap, I guess I’m OK losing to him by 16 seconds.  Truth be told, I’m delighted with the whole race.  I feel like the benign conditions let me really push myself as hard as possible, and having someone to race side by side with forced me to keep it together when it started to hurt.

Here’s the data:

Screen Shot 2015-10-10 at 11.11.56 PM Screen Shot 2015-10-10 at 11.11.40 PM

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_3280_|_17:37_|_2:41.1_|_318___|_18.1_|_10.3_|_141___|_warmup
03360_|_4180_|_18:31_|_2:12.9_|_498___|_26.9_|_08.4_|_175___|_race
07540_|_2519_|_13:44_|_2:43.5_|_265___|_19.3_|_09.5_|_145___|_cooldown

500 meter splits
03360_|_0500_|_02:11_|_2:11.2_|_058___|_26.5_|_08.6_|_167___|_sp
03860_|_0500_|_02:14_|_2:13.8_|_059___|_26.5_|_08.5_|_171___|_sp
04360_|_0500_|_02:12_|_2:12.2_|_058___|_26.3_|_08.6_|_173___|_sp
04860_|_0500_|_02:15_|_2:14.6_|_059___|_26.3_|_08.5_|_175___|_sp
05360_|_0500_|_02:12_|_2:11.8_|_060___|_27.3_|_08.3_|_177___|_sp
05860_|_0500_|_02:15_|_2:14.7_|_060___|_26.7_|_08.3_|_178___|_sp
06360_|_0500_|_02:14_|_2:14.0_|_061___|_27.3_|_08.2_|_178___|_sp
06860_|_0500_|_02:13_|_2:12.9_|_061___|_27.5_|_08.2_|_177___|_sp
07360_|_0180_|_00:46_|_2:07.2_|_022___|_28.8_|_08.2_|_179___|_sp

Here are the videos

By the way, there is an excellent online tool to watch rowing videos called Rowvid. It let’s you use slow motion or speed things up so you can look at form an fast forward through the dull bits.

Sunday:  Recovery / Endurance session…4 x 20 / 1′ rest with lactate