Saturday: 5K Hard – Season Best

This morning I headed out to the boathouse in Worcester to meet up with some of the folks from my club.  There are serious deliberations going on to merge the masters sculling club and masters sweep club.  There is ample history making the process delicate.  But it would be great if we could combine forces and get more boats out on the water every day.

A bit later, after I got home, I headed off to the erg to do my weekly hard distance row.  I started off with my normal 20′ steady state piece, with a lactate test.  My heart rate was delightfully low, and I felt fantastic.  I also did a great job holding 185W after the first 5 minutes.  But my lactate reading was a 2.2.  I was expecting something closer to 1.5.  Weird.  Maybe it was a bad measurement.  Who knows.

186.7W, 19.0SPM, 137.1BPM, 2.2mmol/l

2015-04-04_16-31-49

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 04, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_04866_|_20:00.0_|_02:03.3_|_186.7_|_19.0_|_131.8_|_ 62.3% _|_12.8_|_09.9
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01225_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.5_|_190.5_|_19.6_|_122.0_|_ 55.3% _|_12.5_|_09.7
02_|_01214_|_05:00.0_|_02:03.6_|_185.5_|_18.8_|_133.1_|_ 63.2% _|_12.9_|_09.9
03_|_01214_|_05:00.0_|_02:03.6_|_185.5_|_18.6_|_135.5_|_ 64.9% _|_13.1_|_10.0
04_|_01214_|_05:00.0_|_02:03.6_|_185.5_|_18.8_|_137.1_|_ 66.0% _|_12.9_|_09.9

Then I freshed up a bit, and setup my 5K.  My target pace was 1:48.  Honestly, I wanted to be a bit faster than that, since I held a 1:48 for the 6K last weekend.  the other objective was to try to keep the rate up.  I wanted to hold 28spm for this session.

It was a tough row, but not as bad as the 6K.  I managed a 17:49.6, which makes this the second fastest 5K I have ever done, about 3 seconds off my PB from last year.  I didn’t check the number before, but even if I had, I’m not sure I could have sprinted early enough to shave another 4 seconds off my time.  In any case, I am THRILLED to be that close to my time from last year.  I was in my best shape ever last season, and I finally feel like I am on the track toward those kinds of times.

In terms of rate, I had a bit of a sag in the middle, but averaged about 27.5.  So, I still need to work on it.  I feel very sluggish trying to rate up when I am not on slides now.  I guess that’s a good trade off if my OTW rowing improves.

2015-04-04_16-33-09 2015-04-04_16-33-30

Output
Workout Summary – Apr 04, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_05000_|_17:49.6_|_01:47.0_|_286.0_|_27.5_|_168.8_|_ 88.5% _|_10.2_|_10.4
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01000_|_03:32.6_|_01:46.3_|_291.5_|_27.4_|_148.4_|_ 74.0% _|_10.3_|_10.6
02_|_01000_|_03:33.1_|_01:46.6_|_289.2_|_27.6_|_167.3_|_ 87.4% _|_10.2_|_10.5
03_|_01000_|_03:35.8_|_01:47.9_|_278.6_|_27.0_|_171.6_|_ 90.5% _|_10.3_|_10.3
04_|_01000_|_03:34.1_|_01:47.1_|_285.3_|_28.0_|_176.7_|_ 94.1% _|_10.0_|_10.2
05_|_01000_|_03:34.0_|_01:47.0_|_285.6_|_27.8_|_179.8_|_ 96.3% _|_10.1_|_10.3

I was pretty much destroyed at the end.

I did a long 5K cooldown.  Starting at 2:00 pace and slowing down by 5 seconds after each 1K.  By the time I finished, my HR was below UT2 range and I felt much better.

2015-04-04_16-34-47

Tomorrow: rest day!

HR and Lactate – Workload effects and when to test.

I’ve been taking close to daily lactate readings for the past month and a half.  In addition to thoroughly perforating my ring finger and keeping Nova Pharmaceuticals in business, this has both baffled and entertained me as I tried to understand how to best implement a polarized training plan using lactate measurements to manage steady state intensity.

I’ve previously posted this scatter plot of lactate readings*2015-04-02_10-39-39

Which shows essentially no correlation between HR and lactate.  Over the past couple of weeks, I thought I was starting to see some relationship between lactate and HR readings and the day of the week, so it was time to bust out excel and see what i could find.

I follow a reasonably consistent workout schedule.

  • Sunday:  Usually rest, but last month I was doing 10K just to bank the meters for a C2 challenge.  Definitely the lightest trainning day in any case
  • Monday:  ~80′ of steady state at target training power
  • Tuesday: ~80′ of steady state at target training power
  • Wednesday: 20′ lactate test at target power, and then an intense interval session
  • Thursday: ~80′ of steady state at target training power
  • Friday: ~80′ of steady state at target training power
  • Saturday: 20′ lactate test at target power, then a middle distance threshold workout (10K,30min, 6K, 5K)

Another thing to note:  Saturday and Sunday sessions are at home on a static erg, during the week, most days are on slides.  The airflow and temperature at home are better too.

Here’s the HR and lactate data sliced by day of the week.

2015-04-02_10-48-09

First things first.  Thee is still a lot of variation in the data when analyzed by day of the week.  But looking at the data for lactate you can see a repeatable variation by days of the week.  The effect is less pronounced with HR, but interestingly, it is shows a different day to day change.

So, starting with Sunday.  I am on a static erg, in a cool environment, in addition to that, I am coming off a hard workout the day before.  Both HR and lactate are low.  Average HR is reasonably consistent for Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

So, what’s deal with Wednesday?  I theorize that by Wednesday my lactates are low and my HR is high because I of the accumulated workload on Monday and Tuesday, so I have less glycogen available to create lactate.  Since my Wednesday workout is shorter but more intense, it actually ends up being fewer overall meters (and calories) than a steady state session.  This means that I actually have more glycogen available on Thursday morning for steady state, so, lactates are up a bit.

It’s all quite confusing, but I think it makes sense to use a consistent. specific session during the week to set training power, and if you believe that the most important consideration for setting the optimal training power is to make sure that it consistently yields less than 2.0mmol/l in all sessions, that the session you use to test power setting should be one where you are well fueled and rested.  For me that’s Monday.

* Note: Lactate and heart rate readings are taken at the end of a 20′ steady state piece at constant power.  Lactate readings are taken at the conclusion of the piece.  HR is the average HR for the last 5 minutes of the piece.  Power is changed on a weekly basis (or sometime more frequently) to attempt to maintain lactate levels between 1.5 and 2.0 for all steady state rows.

4×20′ / 1′ r – Not quite slow enough

Intended to drop power to 185W, but settled at 187W.  Tried to hold the rate at 18 for the first 20 minutes.

20′, r18, 186.9W, AvgHR: 142.9, Lactate: 1.6

No problems with those numbers.  Pushed on at 187W and was fine through the next 2 20′ pieces.  In the last piece, I kind of did a slow motion crash into the wall.  My HR started to run away from me and I felt a much higher level of fatigue.  So, after about 10 minutes of trying to hold 187, I slowed down to about 180W and essentially paddled it out.  HR stayed stubbornly high though.

2015-04-02_10-10-14 2015-04-02_9-45-12

Tomorrow:  Same thing, but at 185W

Waterfall – 3K / 2.5K / 2K, 5′ rest – dug deep for this one

This workout is one of the wolverine plan classics.  Also included in the Pete Plan.  Pacing for me is usually a bit slower than the other long interval sessions.  I figured that since I did a 6K at 1:48 pace last Saturday, that 1:48 would be a safe pick for pacing on this workout.  Turns out it was a bit more of a stretch than I expected.

I started out with a 20′ steady state piece, to warmup and take a lactate reading.  I was aiming at 185W but the first half got away from me a little bit and I found myself aat an avg of 190W with 10 minutes to go, so I stuck to 185W like glue the rest of the way.  So, the lactate is probably more in line with 185W than the average shown here.

20′, Avg Power: 187.3W,  AvgHR: 147.1, Lactate: 1.6mmol/l

Then into the real workout.  I was feeling a bit uncomfortable since I forgot my seat pad at home. Now that I am doing a better job at rocking my hips over on recovery, I have a very annoying, and sometime painful bump as I rotate over my sitz bones.  The pad takes care of it well, but without the pad it is like walking with a pebble in your shoe.

Nevertheless, there were intervals to be done and I was just the guy to do them.  My general strategy in these long intervals is to count strokes the strokes in each 1000m portion of the interval.  Off slides, this is usually just under 100 strokes.  On slides, my distance per stroke is a bit under 10, and the number of strokes per 1000m is usually between 104 and 110, depending on pace and fatigue.

The first interval went just fine.  Start fast, bleed off pace during the first 500m, then try to hold 1:48 through the next 500m, allow things to drift to 1:49 during the middle 1000m, and then try to pull it back a touch during the last 1000m.  I felt OK, but my HR was a bit higher than I would have hoped.

I did a slow 750m during the 5 minute rest, had a drink and setup for the 2500m.  This was really hard.  I was deeply into the red by halfway through and I was rowing with my eyes closed and trying to hang on to 1:49s. My average had climbed up to about 1:48.3 or 4.  Then I lucked out.  With less than 1000m to go, Seven Nations Army, by the White Stripes started up in my head phones.  Turns out, the beat is nearly perfect for about 30 or 31 SPM.  By hitting the down beats hard, I started pulling 1:47s, then 1:46s.  The average pace clicked over from 1:48.0 to 1:47.9 just as I was pulling my last stroke.

The 750 during the rest felt very short and I was not looking forward to the 2K.  Turns out it went fine.  No crisis.  HR was pretty much railed with 1 or 2 beats of my MaxHR, but I was able to stick to 1:48s through the middle 1000m, and push a little bit harder in the last 500m to get a faster last.

Avg pace; 1:47.8 –  Happy with that.

Last year, I did this one at an avg pace of 1:46.4, so I have a ways to go before I am back to that kind of shape.

2015-04-01_9-05-57 2015-04-01_8-58-03

Tomorrow:  4×20/1′ Steady state – 185W

4×20 – Now at reduced power

I held on to hope for the first 20 minute piece.  Since I did 20 minutes at 190W with a lactate of 1.3mmol/l on Saturday on my erg at home.  I thought I would exactly replicate that and see what happened today.  Answer…Lactate of 2.6!

I’m still trying to figure it all out, but independent of the reasons why, it is is clear that I need to train at a lower power.  So, my new training power is 185W.  And that’s what I did for the next 3 20 minute pieces.

But it is interesting to try to try to fit a theory around this.  So, what I saw last week was  steadily decreasing lactate readings, and increasing HRs after my hard session on Wednesday.  Lactate readings were very low on Saturday.  Then I did a very hard 6K and took Sunday off.  Come back on Monday and HRs are more normal, but lactates are up.

Prior to Sunday, I had rowed at least 10K 24 days in a row to try to complete the Mud Season Madness.  Granted one session a week was pretty easy, but the rest of them were at least 60 minutes of steady state or hard intervals / threshold type workouts.  Over roughly the same period, I managed to lose about 10 pounds.  I think I managed to achieve a cumulative depletion of glycogen over the period so that I was forced to metabolize fats, which does not produce lactate.  When I finally took a day off, and, I must admit do some re-feeding (and beer-dration), my gylcogen stores were fully restored.  So, going into the workouts monday and today, the power level was high enough to demand gycolysis and the glycogen stores were there to satisfy the demand.  the product of that metabolism was higher lactate levels.

The higher power and lower lactate last week was not the result of an improved ability to metabolize lactate, but a lack of glycogen to make lactate in the first place.  That is not what I was trying to induce with training.

So, as I said, the conclusion is the same.  Get the training power down to a better number and increase it very slowly.  Maybe 3W per week as Tom has suggested.

First 20 minutes.  Power: 191.4W, Avg HR over the last 5 minutes: 144.6,  lactate: 2.6

2015-03-31_10-38-09

utput
Workout Summary – Mar 31, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_04907_|_20:00.0_|_02:02.3_|_191.4_|_19.0_|_136.4_|_ 65.5% _|_12.9_|_10.1
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01229_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.0_|_192.6_|_19.0_|_120.5_|_ 54.3% _|_12.9_|_10.1
02_|_01228_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.1_|_192.1_|_19.2_|_138.7_|_ 67.2% _|_12.8_|_10.0
03_|_01225_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_190.7_|_18.8_|_142.0_|_ 69.5% _|_13.0_|_10.1
04_|_01224_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.5_|_190.2_|_18.8_|_144.6_|_ 71.4% _|_13.0_|_10.1

Then drop power to 185 for the next 3 pieces.  Decided to drop stroke rate to 18 based on a suggestion from “mightyquinn” over on the Rowing Illustrated boards.

This was a happier power level, and may still be a bit too high.  I got bored with about 2 minutes to go.  I was staring at a projected distance of 14950m and that pissed me off.  So, I cranked up the stroke rate to 27 and power to 300W and finished with a little flair.

2015-03-31_10-41-05

Output
Workout Summary – Mar 31, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_15017_|_63:00.0_|_02:05.9_|_175.5_|_17.7_|_146.8_|_ 72.9% _|_13.5_|_09.9
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_04839_|_20:00.0_|_02:04.0_|_183.6_|_17.8_|_139.1_|_ 67.4% _|_13.6_|_10.3
02_|_00086_|_01:00.0_|_05:48.1_|_008.3_|_08.0_|_133.0_|_ 63.1% _|_10.8_|_01.0
03_|_04855_|_20:00.0_|_02:03.6_|_185.5_|_17.9_|_146.9_|_ 73.0% _|_13.6_|_10.4
04_|_00049_|_01:00.0_|_10:15.2_|_001.5_|_04.0_|_146.5_|_ 72.7% _|_12.2_|_00.4
05_|_04634_|_19:00.0_|_02:03.0_|_188.1_|_18.0_|_152.5_|_ 76.9% _|_13.6_|_10.4
06_|_00553_|_02:00.0_|_01:48.5_|_274.2_|_24.5_|_164.9_|_ 85.8% _|_11.3_|_11.2

Tomorrow:  3K / 2.5K / 2K on 5′ rest.  Target pace: 1:48 (6K pace).  On slides.

4×20 – Now I’ve seen everything

On Thursday and Friday of last week, I was seeing elevated heart rates, and I felt terrible during my steady state sessions.  On Saturday, I busted out a season best 6K.  On Sunday I had a nice rest day.

Then today, it was back to more steady state.  I sit down, and 190W watts feels easy, and I cruise through the first 20 minutes with very low perceived exertion and a nice low HR.  I struggled with getting a good sample for a lactate test.  My first prick didn’t yield, so I did a second, and with the xtra time and fumbling around, who knows if it was a good test or not.  But the reading was 2.5mmol/l.  Whaaat?

So, I did another 20 minutes at 190W and tested again.  Good sample this time and I read 2.4mmol/l.  Arghhh.  I still felt mighty fresh and my HR was still nice and low, so I did the next 2 pieces at 190W.   I have to say that I am mightily confused about why my lactates were so high today.

I will drop back to 185W tomorrow to see what happens.

2015-03-30_13-09-02 2015-03-30_13-06-18

6K Threshold – Season Best Time

I think I did the right thing by backing off the power in yesterday’s session. I think I will do that in future sessions if my readings are weird.

I started today with the normal 20′ constant power piece as a warmup.  Power was 191W, HR was delightfully low and final lactate reading was fantastic 1.3mmol/l.  I think there is still a difference in effort between slides and static.

2015-03-28_15-49-16

Output
Workout Summary – Mar 28, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_04905_|_20:00.0_|_02:02.3_|_191.2_|_19.0_|_133.4_|_ 63.4% _|_12.9_|_10.1
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_01225_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_190.7_|_19.2_|_123.2_|_ 56.2% _|_12.8_|_09.9
02_|_01228_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.2_|_191.9_|_19.0_|_134.6_|_ 64.2% _|_12.9_|_10.1
03_|_01226_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.4_|_191.0_|_19.0_|_137.7_|_ 66.5% _|_12.9_|_10.1
04_|_01226_|_05:00.0_|_02:02.3_|_191.1_|_18.8_|_138.2_|_ 66.8% _|_13.0_|_10.2

I rested for a few minutes and a had a drink of water.  Then I set up for 6K and took off.  My objectives were:

1.  Pace: faster than 1:50

2. Rate 27 or higher

I didn’t think I was gonna make it about two thirds of the way through because my HR was just so high, but I focused on trying to keep the stroke rate at or above 27 and kept counting strokes. I was kinda in the zone, deep in the hurt locker, but able to keep it up. I was so scared that I was gonna blow up that I waited until I had less than 200m left before I rated up for the finish, even that was pretty anemic.

2015-03-28_15-52-35 2015-03-28_15-52-17

Output

Workout Summary – Mar 28, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_06000_|_21:36.3_|_01:48.0_|_277.6_|_26.7_|_170.6_|_ 89.8% _|_10.4_|_10.4
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI
01_|_00500_|_01:48.5_|_01:48.5_|_273.9_|_25.4_|_137.8_|_ 66.5% _|_10.9_|_10.8
02_|_00500_|_01:48.6_|_01:48.6_|_273.3_|_26.5_|_156.8_|_ 80.0% _|_10.4_|_10.3
03_|_00500_|_01:47.5_|_01:47.5_|_281.8_|_26.8_|_164.5_|_ 85.5% _|_10.4_|_10.5
04_|_00500_|_01:48.2_|_01:48.2_|_275.9_|_26.6_|_168.1_|_ 88.0% _|_10.4_|_10.4
05_|_00500_|_01:47.9_|_01:47.9_|_279.0_|_26.7_|_171.0_|_ 90.0% _|_10.4_|_10.4
06_|_00500_|_01:47.2_|_01:47.2_|_283.8_|_26.9_|_172.8_|_ 91.4% _|_10.4_|_10.6
07_|_00500_|_01:47.7_|_01:47.7_|_279.9_|_26.7_|_175.0_|_ 92.9% _|_10.4_|_10.5
08_|_00500_|_01:48.0_|_01:48.0_|_277.6_|_26.7_|_176.6_|_ 94.0% _|_10.4_|_10.4
09_|_00500_|_01:48.3_|_01:48.3_|_275.9_|_26.6_|_178.4_|_ 95.3% _|_10.4_|_10.4
10_|_00500_|_01:49.2_|_01:49.2_|_268.9_|_26.4_|_179.5_|_ 96.1% _|_10.4_|_10.2
11_|_00500_|_01:48.6_|_01:48.6_|_273.3_|_27.6_|_181.3_|_ 97.4% _|_10.0_|_09.9
12_|_00500_|_01:46.6_|_01:46.6_|_288.8_|_27.6_|_183.5_|_ 98.9% _|_10.2_|_10.5

After that, I did a quick 2K cool down and called it a day.

2015-03-28_15-53-31

Output
Workout Summary – Mar 28, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_02000_|_08:28.1_|_02:07.0_|_170.7_|_17.2_|_155.5_|_ 79.1% _|_13.7_|_09.9
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI
01_|_00500_|_01:59.7_|_01:59.7_|_204.1_|_19.5_|_148.5_|_ 74.1% _|_12.8_|_10.4
02_|_00500_|_02:04.7_|_02:04.7_|_180.6_|_17.8_|_160.9_|_ 82.9% _|_13.5_|_10.1
03_|_00500_|_02:09.7_|_02:09.7_|_160.4_|_16.2_|_159.0_|_ 81.6% _|_14.3_|_09.9
04_|_00500_|_02:14.1_|_02:14.1_|_145.3_|_15.7_|_153.9_|_ 78.0% _|_14.3_|_09.3

Seeing as how I finished the mud season madness challenge today, I think I might take a rest day tomorrow!

4×20’/2′ rest – decreasing power to get lactates in line.

Despite yesterday’s bad workout, I decided to stay the course and pretend it never happened. I did drop the power a simdge, down to 190W from 193W.  After 20 minutes, my HR was really high (151), but the lactate reading was an entirely reasonable 1.7.

So, I went into the second piece at the same power and then blew out the lactates at 3.4.  This was way too high, so, I decided to drop the power by 10 watts to 180W for the third 20′ piece, which yielded a drop down to 2.7.  Still, too high.  So, another drop in power to 170W for the fourth piece, and this one seemed to do the trick. HR was a bit better and lactates were down to 1.9 by the end. For the lazy, here it is in table form.

2015-03-27_13-48-44

Here’s the HR graph.

2015-03-27_13-49-17

So, what do I conclude?

1. I just opened pandora’s box by looking at lactates in the second through fourth pieces. I think that this will end up causing higher spending on strips and more holes in my finger. I’m not sure how much I like that.
2. I should probably aim at keeping it below 1.7 for the reading at 20 minutes.

Tomorrow:  Hard 6K threshold piece.

3×20′ – Awful workout.

Elevated HR, Lactate reading too high.  Felt really tired.  Quit after 3 20′ intervals instead doing the full four.  Even dropping my training power by 10 watts in the third piece was not enough to bring my HR down into the UT1 zone.

2015-03-26_9-24-34

2015-03-26_9-24-21

The past 7 session before today, I was able to hold >190W and measured <2.0 in every session. Yesterday, at 193W, my HR was way high, like 10BPM higher than normal, but the lactates were OK (1.9). Today, holding 192W, HR was just as far off and my lactates were 2.3. I dropped down to 190W and measured 2.8 :shock: after another 20 minutes, and my HR was at least 5BPM above the top of my aerobic band.

So, here’s my recent history:

2015-03-26_9-13-30

I’m struggling to come up with theories for what is going on.
– A little bit of acute over-training. I did a pretty hard 6×750 session yesterday morning
– Early warning of coming down with something (I am otherwise symptom free
– Reading error (I doubt it, I felt like I was working a lot harder today)

I’m also trying to figure out if I should make any adjustments. I am scheduled for another 4×20 tomorrow morning. Things I am thinking about are:
– Pretend today never happened and do a normal session at 190W
– drop back 5W and build back up again
– start to use the BTLS (Boris Theory of Lactate Supression) and do the first 20′ slowing ramping up to 190W

Any opinions?

6×750 / 3′ rest

Current routine is 4 steady state sessions per week, 1 hard distance row, and 1 interval session. (plus 10K on my rest day to keep up with Mud Season Madness).

Today was interval day.  It went very well.  I started with a pace target of 1:43 and found I could hold on at a faster pace.

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Tomorrow:  more steady state 4×20′