Sunday: 3 x 20′ / 1′ rest L4

January 4, 20164 Comments

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

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

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

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

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

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

Wednesday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest L4

December 30, 2015Leave a comment

Really liking this specific stroke sequence.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Monday: 4 x 20′ / 1′

December 28, 2015Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

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

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

Saturday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest

December 26, 2015Leave a comment

Nice and cool. 63F at the end. Felt very easy. Low HR and Low Lactate (1.1). Next one, I will push the stroke count up a bit and maintain the same power.

Heart rate plot shows the impact of the nice cool room and good airflow.

Workout Summary – Dec 26, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_19662_|_80:00.0_|_02:02.1_|_192.5_|_18.9_|_135.2_|_ 64.7% _|_13.0_|_10.2

Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI
01_|_02450_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.5_|_190.5_|_18.9_|_127.8_|_ 59.4% _|_13.0_|_10.1
02_|_02446_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.6_|_189.8_|_19.0_|_134.6_|_ 64.3% _|_12.9_|_10.0
03_|_02450_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_190.6_|_18.9_|_134.3_|_ 64.0% _|_13.0_|_10.1
04_|_02450_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_190.7_|_18.8_|_138.7_|_ 67.2% _|_13.0_|_10.1
05_|_02455_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.2_|_191.9_|_18.9_|_136.6_|_ 65.7% _|_13.0_|_10.2
06_|_02452_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_191.0_|_18.7_|_138.4_|_ 67.0% _|_13.1_|_10.2_|_1.1
07_|_02479_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.0_|_197.6_|_19.2_|_134.4_|_ 64.1% _|_12.9_|_10.3
08_|_02480_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.0_|_197.7_|_19.1_|_137.3_|_ 66.2% _|_13.0_|_10.3

Target_____________Actual_____________delta____________
Strokes____Meters______Strokes____Meters______Strokes__meters___EndHR
0188___|___02439___|___0189___|___02450___|___01___|___10___|___130
0188___|___02439___|___0190___|___02446___|___02___|___07___|___132
0188___|___02439___|___0189___|___02450___|___01___|___11___|___137
0188___|___02439___|___0188___|___02450___|___00___|___11___|___137
0188___|___02439___|___0189___|___02455___|___01___|___16___|___136
0188___|___02439___|___0187___|___02452___|__-01___|___12___|___135
0192___|___02456___|___0192___|___02479___|___00___|___24___|___142
0192___|___02456___|___0191___|___02480___|__-01___|___24___|___142
1512___|___19547___|___1515___|___19662___|___03___|__115___|___000

So, 3 strokes off over 80 minutes. And 115 meters over target.

Tomorrow: 5 x 1500 / 5′ rest. Target 1:48

Monday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest

December 21, 2015Leave a comment

Not on slides for a change. So, that left the question of the right power to target. My guess was 10W higher. My guess turned out to be right. It felt just challenging enough and my lactates were right on target at 1.6mmol/l after 60 minutes.

Here’s my rate and power plan.

I was very close on rate (6 strokes out of 1508) and a bit high on power (89 meters out of 19554m).

Target_____________Actual_____________delta____________
Strokes____Meters______Strokes____Meters______Strokes__meters___EndHR
0184___|___02417___|___0184___|___02429___|___00___|___12___|___134
0186___|___02417___|___0187___|___02440___|___01___|___24___|___141
0188___|___02439___|___0189___|___02445___|___01___|___07___|___139
0188___|___02439___|___0188___|___02443___|___00___|___04___|___143
0188___|___02439___|___0189___|___02443___|___01___|___04___|___142
0188___|___02439___|___0190___|___02441___|___02___|___02___|___143
0190___|___02439___|___0191___|___02457___|___01___|___19___|___148
0190___|___02439___|___0190___|___02456___|___00___|___17___|___148
1502___|___19465___|___1508___|___19554___|___06___|___89___|___000

More conventional notation.

Workout Summary – Dec 21, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_19554_|_80:00.0_|_02:02.7_|_189.3_|_18.9_|_138.9_|_ 67.3% _|_13.0_|_10.0
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_02429_|_10:00.0_|_02:03.5_|_185.8_|_18.4_|_126.0_|_ 58.1% _|_13.2_|_10.1
02_|_02440_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.9_|_188.4_|_18.7_|_136.2_|_ 65.4% _|_13.0_|_10.1
03_|_02445_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.7_|_189.6_|_18.9_|_136.5_|_ 65.6% _|_12.9_|_10.0
04_|_02443_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.8_|_189.0_|_18.8_|_142.3_|_ 69.7% _|_13.0_|_10.1
05_|_02443_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.8_|_188.9_|_18.9_|_140.7_|_ 68.6% _|_12.9_|_10.0
06_|_02441_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.9_|_188.5_|_19.0_|_143.5_|_ 70.5% _|_12.8_|_09.9 (Lactate 1.6mmol/l)
07_|_02457_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.1_|_192.3_|_19.1_|_140.9_|_ 68.7% _|_12.9_|_10.1
08_|_02456_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.2_|_192.0_|_19.0_|_144.7_|_ 71.4% _|_12.9_|_10.1

Tomorrow: Back to work. New mesocycle. Time to start working the long intervals. The menu is offering a water fall. 3K, 2.5K, 2K. Pace goal is 1:48.

Friday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest – L4

December 18, 2015Leave a comment

The most interesting part of this workout was listening to the Boradway Cast Recording of the new musical Hamilton. Which is the most awesome collection of music that I have experienced in twenty years. It’s amazing. Basically a hip-hop interpretation of the biography of of of America’s founding fathers, Alexander Hamilton. It is really more of an opera than a standard musical. Almost the whole thing is sung, so you can follow the plot completely from the songs. And the songs are remarkable. The hip-hop rap form provides a perfect vehicle to deliver plot and express conflict. Really just incredible.

The row was fine. HR was a bit higher than yesterday, and the lactates were up a smidge as well at 1.9mmol/l. Still in the right range, but right up against the top limit.

The rate plan was exactly the same as Wednesday.

I was right on target for rates, and slightly lower power than Wednesday, putting me closer to target for that too. I would have hoped for lower HR, lactate and RPE because of that, but I think I’m showing the training load.

The HR chart shows the ups and downs following the power. Most of the drift happened between the 20 minute and 40 minute mark, with a plateau from there to the end.

Tomorrow: 10K threshold. Target pace 1:49.5

Wednesday: 4 x 20’/ 1′ L4

December 16, 2015Leave a comment

Legs felt a bit heavy this morning. I guess I should expect it on the morning after an afternoon session. I have come to believe strongly that the primary way to improve my racing fitness is by doing as many aerobic meters as I can, and do them at an intensity that allows me to push high intensity sessions very, very hard.

My HR and lactates have been nice and low for the past couple of steady state sessions, so I pushed up the stroke count, but just a little.

Today, I just repeated the same 10′ sequence 8 times.

It has been great having the stroke rate to focus on. I was right on rate target and 4W ahead on power. HR was a bit higher and it felt a lot harder in the last 40 minutes. I was working hard. And I think the intensity was just about right. My lactates were 1.8mmol/l at 60 minutes.

Tomorrow: The training plan calls for a 60′ Threshold session, but I gotta say, after my triumph last weekend, I have no desire to do another hard 60 minutes, and I am warming up for an assault on my 10K PB this weekend.

So, I want a fair amount of intensity, but not destroy me. The obvious answer, another interval format L3. Back to my favorite…15 x 3′ / 1′ rest. Last time for this workout, my pace was 1:51. This week, I think I target 1:50 at 28 spm for all intervals.

Monday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest

December 14, 2015Leave a comment

Continuing the slow burn. Another lazy man’s L4. Almost identical to last Friday’s crawl.

Today. I worked on hitting my rates more precisely, and I did (within the accuracy of the PM2). I was consistently 3 watts ahead on power. My HR was totally in control and my lactates were fine at 60 minutes. I pushed the last 20 minutes a bit harder (as the stroke counts suggest) and I had some fun with the last 4 minutes trying to hold 20 watts above the target, that’s why my HR went up a bit at the end.

Next time, I think I will boost the stroke count by a few. I’d prefer to have a bit more yellow in the picture.

Tomorrow: I am scheduled for 30 minute threshold. I think I might substitute another 10K push, starting a couple seconds slower. That last one left a very bad taste in my mouth.

Friday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest

December 11, 20152 Comments

It’s difficult to describe how hard it is for me to back off on steady state power. Basically, everything I do on the erg, I am pushing hard to go faster. On top of that, there is a clear correlation between the power you can maintain at 2.0 mmol/l lactate and 2K time. So, slowing down the steady state stuff feels like moving farther away from my goals.

However, there is also clear evidence that the efficacy of endurance training is not significantly diminished by lower intensity, and the recovery time is significantly faster. By going slower in endurance training, you are able to both do more endurance meters, and attack high intensity training with more oomph.

Just because the evidence is clear, doesn’t mean that it is easy to do. If it wasn’t clear already, I’ll say it now. I’m a stubborn and competitive person. The trick is trying to figure out how to channel that into the most productive training regime.

I think one way to do this is to use “L4” format sessions for my endurance training. That way, I have the rate and pace changes to keep me occupied, and I can experiment with technique at a number of different stroke rates to try to improve. I am not going to use the L4s as precisely defined by the Wolverine Plan. The paces are far too fast for me to be able to maintain a <2.0mmol/l lactate level. And the rate and pace variations are a bit too broad for my taste in endurance training. Finally, since I am working on slides and I perceive that my problems are related to rowing efficiently at higher rates, I am shifting the rates up from the original definitions.

I guess that leaves the question, how is that like L4 workouts at all? I am retaining the idea of 6 or 10 minute sequences, broken up into distinct chucks that are executed at specific stroke rates and powers. Here are my power targets

Looking at it, they seem incredibly slow. On a static machine, doing L4s, I was pushing about 12 seconds faster at each rate (16 at 2:07). Of course, I was rowing way down at 16 spm most of the time.

If I think about it as a 4 SPM change in baseline. So, on slides, 20 SPM is basically like 16 SPM on a static machine, then it kind of works out. Today, I did the following power sequences.

The average power was around 180 for the whole workout, but it gave me some variety. The actual powers were a bit higher (because I’m an overachiever)

Heart rate response was right on. Ranging from sub UT2 up to UT1 for the 190W and 200W stuff. Stroke rates were above target. I should have been averaging about 21 SPM for all segments.

I did a lactate test at 60 minutes. –> 1.8mol/l (perfect)

I think I will do more of my steady state stuff this way. It’s more entertaining and the stroke rate and power targets are good constraints for me to focus on instead of just obsessing over getting faster.

At the end of the workout, you can see a little extra. I took some video to analyze. More on that later.

Tomorrow: Plan is for a HM. I think I’ll do an hour instead. I’d really like to see how close I can get to 16K.

Wednesday: 3 x 20′ / 1′ rest – Tired

December 9, 2015Leave a comment

High HR, High Lactate. Need to slow down.

Tomorrow: Was scheduled for threshold session, but I am changing the plan to do 2 HIT sessions per week and 4 LIT to get the 80/20 ratio back in balance.

Quantified Rowing

Measure – Adjust – Improve

Tag: Lactate

Sunday: 3 x 20′ / 1′ rest L4

Wednesday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest L4

Monday: 4 x 20′ / 1′

Saturday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest

Monday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest

Friday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest – L4

Wednesday: 4 x 20’/ 1′ L4

Monday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest

Friday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest

Wednesday: 3 x 20′ / 1′ rest – Tired