Wednesday: 14km steady state @ r20

August 19, 2015August 19, 20152 Comments

Weather: A little cooler, around 70F. Still really humid. There was something between haze and mist over the surface of the river. A little breeze that was a head wind going up river, maybe 2 mph.

Plan:

4 x 3000m / 1′ r
rate: 20 spm
pace: hopefully faster than 2:30
HR limit: 157 (hard cap)

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_04:58_|_2:31.8_|_100___|_20.2_|_09.8_|_126___|_warmup
01000_|_3000_|_14:23_|_2:23.8_|_296___|_20.6_|_10.1_|_142___|_tail wind
04000_|_3080_|_15:17_|_2:28.8_|_309___|_20.2_|_10.0_|_146___|_head wind
07080_|_2980_|_14:28_|_2:25.6_|_295___|_20.4_|_10.1_|_150___|_tail wind
10060_|_2980_|_15:06_|_2:32.0_|_304___|_20.1_|_09.8_|_151___|_head wind, waked
13040_|_1120_|_05:43_|_2:32.9_|_117___|_20.5_|_09.6_|_156___|_cool down

What a nice row. The wind was just fresh enough to make the boat feel different going up stream versus down stream. It also was a welcome relief from the heat.

Tomorrow: Time for a Sander special! 5 x 20@32/10 off / 5 x 20@34/15 off / 5 x 20@36/20 off, 8′ between sets

Tuesday: 5 x 2000 / 5′ rest – That stung

August 18, 20152 Comments

Weather: Hot as hell. Upper 70s and humid. Light, flukey headwind heading up river, maybe 2 to 4 mph.

Plan:

5 x 2000m / 5′ rest
rate: r26
pace: better than 2:15

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:59_|_3:03.0_|_111___|_18.6_|_08.8_|_117___|_warmup
01000_|_2000_|_08:33_|_2:08.2_|_218___|_25.5_|_09.2_|_162___|_Interval #1
03000_|_0500_|_03:24_|_3:23.6_|_059___|_17.4_|_08.5_|_120___|_rest
03500_|_2000_|_08:47_|_2:11.6_|_235___|_26.8_|_08.5_|_169___|_Interval #2
05500_|_0500_|_03:35_|_3:35.0_|_067___|_18.7_|_07.5_|_131___|_rest
06000_|_2000_|_08:47_|_2:11.8_|_231___|_26.3_|_08.7_|_172___|_Interval #3
08000_|_0500_|_03:42_|_3:42.3_|_068___|_18.4_|_07.4_|_131___|_rest
08500_|_2000_|_09:03_|_2:15.7_|_239___|_26.4_|_08.4_|_172___|_Interval #4
10500_|_0500_|_03:51_|_3:51.0_|_074___|_19.2_|_06.8_|_134___|_rest
11000_|_2000_|_09:08_|_2:17.1_|_226___|_24.7_|_08.8_|_171___|_Interval #5
13000_|_3320_|_19:50_|_2:59.3_|_377___|_19.0_|_08.8_|_141___|_fo,sbr,sru

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:59_|_3:03.0_|_111___|_18.6_|_08.8_|_117___|_warmup
10000_|_44:18_|_2:12.9_|_1149___|_25.9_|_08.7_|_169___|_Main set
02000_|_14:32_|_3:38.0_|_268___|_18.4_|_07.5_|_129___|_rest meters
03320_|_19:50_|_2:59.3_|_377___|_19.0_|_08.8_|_141___|_cool down
16300_|_24:39_|_2:35.8_|_1905___|_22.5_|_08.6_|_152___|_Total

Between the slight tail wind and fresh legs, the first 500m of the first rep felt so easy that I thought the speedcoach was broken!* I was pulling under a 2:10 split without any trouble. I just kept pushing along and sure enough around 1000m mark, it really started to bite. That’s when I went into the s-turn. I cut the corners of the turn which puts me into the up river lane coming out the turn. Unfortunately, this morning this lane happened by occupied by another sculler. To add to the problem going through the turn down river you are basically rowing right to the east, so there was a ton of solar glare looking over my shoulder and I missed him until I was only about a boat length away. I was about half an oar length off of his path, and we ended up just touching oars.

It was totally my fault and I have to be more careful through that turn when I’m rowing into the sun. I apologize profusely by email afterwards and he seems to hold no real ill will, but he would have every right to.

After that setback, I spun back up to speed and hammered through the rest of the rep. I finished with an average pace of about 2:08, which is damn fast for me.

After I finished, I noticed I was tired and regretted my exuberance.

The other reps passed painfully and uneventfully. In each of them, I would try to row to a level of effort, not a specific pace, so the ones with a headwind were a little slower. At the end of the fourth interval, I lied to myself and told me that I could stop after the 4th interval and just go home. Then after the rest, I betrayed myself and made me do the last rep as planned. I reminded myself that the HOCR was coming and it would be better to fail today than to fail then.

So, to give myself a little break, I decided to target r24 for the last rep and let the pace settle between 2:15 and 2:20. That was plenty hard enough.

I finished the 5th rep at the far end of the river, about 3K from the dock. So I rowed 1K with feet out trying to use RIM to see how clean I could get get my finishes. Then I put back on the shoes and did 500m on the square, then 500m with slow roll ups. Then I basically just limped the rest of the way home. Between the intense session and the heat, I was totally spent. I basically crawled out of the boat at the dock.

Tomorrow: 4 x 3000m / 2′ rest, r20, HR limit at 80% HRR (157)

I didn’t believe it until I got onto the computer and compared the pace from the speedcoach with the pace from the GPS and they lined up pretty much perfectly.

Monday: Steady State Rate Ladders

August 17, 2015Leave a comment

Sunny and hot. Very light wind. Head wind heading up river.

Plan:

4 x rate ladders (1000m @ r16, 1000m @ r18, 750m @ r20)
2′ rest
HR cap at 155.

Not much to talk about. A nice session focused on technique.

Tomorrow: 5x2K / 5′ rest. rate target: r28, pace target: 2:15.

Saturday: 5.5km Threshold on Quinsig

August 17, 2015Leave a comment

Since I had my boat on my car from my Charles River adventure, I decided to bring it out to Worcester to do my weekly hard distance piece in my own boat. I think I will do it again this week. It was much better rowing in my own boat. And just as importantly, it takes away one set of excuses for going slow.

The plan was:

Warmup: 3.5km of bungee rowing working on stroke sequence
5.5km at r26. Aim at better than 2:15 pace.
drills and stuff back to the dock.

The bungee row was great. I took it pretty easy and just tried to work on not opening my back early. There were various interruptions, but it was a nice change in warmup routine.

Then I turned and got myself ready for the piece. I was aiming at keeping the pace between 2:10 and 2:15. And this actually felt pretty good through the first 1000m or so. Then, I got hit by the first wake. As I recovered from the wake, the pace on the speedcoach did not budge. Weeds! I just maintained the stroke rate and tried to ignore the erroneous pace readings. After about 15 or so strokes, the pace popped back to a reasonable number.

I was starting to feel a bit overcooked, so I eased up the pressure a little bit as I approached the narrows. Right after the narrows, I was hit by two wakes in reasonably close succession. At this point I was about 500m from the Rt 9 Bridge, so I just tried to settle into a sustainable pace and rate. This hovered around 2:15. Sometimes a bit slower, sometimes a bit faster. Generally dependent upon the water state. There was a bit of slop from all the boats and even though it wasn’t seriously disruptie, it kept me from getting really good balance.

I passed under the bridge and at that point I know there is a bit more than 2k left to go, so I tried to up the pressure a bit. My HR started to creep up to the top of my TR band, but I didn’t feel like I was in much distress. Around 1000m left to go, I got waked again. This time was closer and bigger than the others and it took a couple strokes to try to get back on track. Now, I was past the Gazebo and getting closer to the Donahue Rowing Center, and since I knew there would be people there, I had some motivation to try to look better than I felt. I tried to row clean and hard and the pace sped up a little bit as I approached the rt 290 bridge. Last Saturday, I stopped at the bridge. Today, I wanted to push a bit further, so I rowed under the bridge plus another 40 strokes. That put me close enough to the north end of the lake that I needed to check it down to keep from running into the docks.

Including all disruptions, including the weeds, my pace was 2:19.8. But if you cut out the weed section, the avg pace was 2:14.7, including being waked 4 times. I want to be much better than that, but I’m pleased with making some progress.

After that I did a bit of feet out rowing, and then strapped back in and did 500m of square blades, then 500m of slow roll ups, then 500m of square, then to finish it all off, I did 500m of r28 full pressure rowing. It felt very good. Well balanced, good stroke mechanics.

A good day on the water.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_3480_|_21:24_|_3:04.5_|_341___|_15.9_|_10.2_|_130___|_warmup
03500_|_1440_|_06:17_|_2:11.0_|_165___|_26.2_|_08.7_|_159___|_start of piece
04940_|_0120_|_01:29_|_6:09.2_|_037___|_25.1_|_03.2_|_167___|_weeds!
05060_|_4040_|_18:19_|_2:16.1_|_478___|_26.1_|_08.5_|_174___|_rest of piece
09100_|_2400_|_14:54_|_3:06.4_|_261___|_17.5_|_09.2_|_132___|_feet out, sbr, sru
11540_|_0440_|_01:51_|_2:06.1_|_051___|_27.6_|_08.6_|_163___|_500m hard
11980_|_0180_|_01:17_|_3:34.4_|_021___|_16.3_|_08.6_|_135___|_back to dock

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
03480_|_21:24_|_3:04.5_|_341___|_15.9_|_10.2_|_130___|_warmup
05480_|_24:37_|_2:14.7_|_643___|_26.1_|_08.5_|_170___|_Main set
02520_|_16:23_|_3:15.1_|_298___|_18.2_|_08.5_|_135___|_rest meters
00440_|_01:51_|_2:06.1_|_051___|_27.6_|_08.6_|_163___|_500m @ r28
00180_|_01:17_|_3:34.4_|_021___|_16.3_|_08.6_|_135___|_cool down

Friday: 20km on the Charles River Basin

August 17, 20152 Comments

Thursday: I was too tired at 4am to get up and workout before my flight. So I didn’t.

I got home from the airport around 7pm and had a nice relaxed evening.

Friday: Since I will be rowing in the HOCR, I need to learn the river. This session was the first step towards doing that. The plan was for two hours of steady state down the whole HOCR course and into the basin, then turn and row up the course in the direction of the race. There are lots of bridges and turns, so there is a lot to learn.

I launched at a public boat ramp next to Community Rowing in Brighton.

I managed to knock my seat off the rails while doing my beach launch, so I scooted over to their docks and got myself fixed up. Then I proceeded down river.

I had spent a little time looking at the Charles River Rowing Map. But I certainly had not memorized it. I began to regret this almost immediately. After heading downstream from the CRI docks, you pass under the North Beacon Street Bridge. About 500m past that bridge, there is a sandbar that extends more than halfway across the river. It is well marked, but I misjudged how close I could cut it and ended up dragging my fin and speedcoach impeller through the sand and needed to gingerly turn to escape. It didn’t really occur to me that it could be as shallow as it was, but I looked off to the side of my boat and about 20 feet away from me downriver, I saw a goose standing on the sandbar, and his body wasn’t even touching the surface. It must have only been about an inch deep there!

Having extricated myself, I then continued downstream through the Arsenal Bridge, and past the Northeastern boathouse. Just downstream from there is where the HOCR finish is. Along this part, I also managed to get some weeds entangled in my impeller, so the pace was wrong on my speedcoach. It took a bit of time to realize this and I really raised the pressure to get back to sub-2:30 splits.

I continued down river through the Eliot Bridge turn. This turn is HUGE. It’s about 1 km around the bend and now I can see why it so hard to keep a good line in the race. It just keeps going and going. Finally you straighten out and hit the Anderson Bridge. This was the warmup area for the Cromwell, so I rowed up and down the section from the Anderson Bridge to the Weeks footbridge a number of times that morning. Today, I just went straight through the Weeks foot bridge and onto the 1km straight section called the Powerhouse Stretch. There are two bridges in this section, the Western Avenue Bridge and the River Street bridge.

I had rowed 5.5km by the time I hit the Powerhouse stretch, and nearly 7km by the time I entered the broad turn toward the BU Bridge. I was starting to feel a bit tired. I had been rowing a lot harder than I had intended. Mainly because I wanted to see faster splits, but I think also because there were other folks on the river and I didn’t want to be a slowpoke.

After going through the BU Bridge, I passed in front of BU’s DeWolfe Boathouse, which is the HOCR starting line. This is also the finish of the 2K course in the basin. So I lined up on one of the lanes and continued rowing down stream under the Harvard Bridge, and nearly all the way to the Longfellow Bridge.

At the point where the speedcoach told me I had done 10K, I turned around and had a drink. I’d been rowing for a bit more than an hour. I then set myself up and got going in the other direction. I discovered that I had a bit of a headwind to contend with, and I was getting a pretty tired. I rowed upstream over the HOCR course and tried to pick out useful landmarks to use for different sections of the river. After I passed the finish of the HOCR I slowed down and paddled through the narrow bit of the river. Through the last 2 km or so I was gaining on a women sculling ahead of me. I pushed the pace to cleanly pass her before we got to the North Beacon Bridge.

I had such a good time! It is a remarkable place to row. Some nice straight sections, broad turns in both directions. Tons of bridges.

Certainly keeps you alert.

I think I might try to do this again a few more times. It was really information overload this time.

Saturday: 5.4km Threshold Piece

August 8, 2015Leave a comment

Sunny, cool ~ 60F, wind from the NE about 8mph with gusts to 10. This was a head wind for the main piece. It also kicked up a bit of chop, especially at the south end of long fetches. The only parts where the water was pretty good was directly south of the narrows, the 250m of so south of the rt 9 bridge, and then the last 500m or so before the rt 290 bridge. There was still a head wind, but at least the water was flat.

The plan was a hard 5.5km at 26 spm. I was torn between doing the piece with a tail wind or a head wind. I asked the other folks which way they wanted to go and they all wanted to go south first. Head wind, then.

I took it easy during the warm up, started with a pick drill, including some legs only. This was pretty important to get used to the feel of the club boat I was using. Then just easy steady state with 2 1′ minute chunks at r26 and full pressure.

I turned and psyched myself up. I knew that my pace would be slow with the chop and the head wind, but I wasn’t sure how slow. I decided to try to keep my HR around 170 until I had less than 1000m left and then crank it up. I also wanted to try to focus on keeping the rate up at 26. I tend to slow the rate down in a head wind. I guess the pace was less important to me than trying to manage the conditions.

|Dist_|Time_|_Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|max HR|DPS_|Remarks
|00253|05:31|10:54.0| 23.0 | 096 | 106 |02.0|drills
|03302|17:08|02:35.7| 20.2 | 141 | 162 |09.5|warm up
|00193|04:29|11:35.3| 19.7 | 108 | 135 |02.2|rest
|05388|27:31|02:33.2| 26.3 | 170 | 180 |07.4|5.4km Threshold (head wind)
|01359|12:41|04:40.0| 21.9 | 134 | 179 |04.9|rest
|01819|09:54|02:43.3| 23.0 | 154 | 166 |08.0|feet out

dist_____|_time_____|_pace___|_HR__|_SPM__|_DPS_|_comment
3555_____|_22:39____|_3:11.1_|_130_|_20.9_|_7.7_|_warmup
5388_____|_27:31____|_2:33.2_|_170_|_26.3_|_7.4_|_Main set
1819_____|_09:54____|_2:43.3_|_154_|_23.0_|_8.0_|_Cool down
1552_____|_17:10____|_5:31.8_|_127_|_21.3_|_4.2_|_rest meters
12314____|_17:14____|_3:08.2_|_150_|_21.8_|_7.3_|_Total

So, it was pretty damn slow. 2:33 pace. Based on the biorow graphs, I guess that’s about a 2:15 with no wind. It sure was hard work, and it took a long time! I’m not happy with the pace, but it was good practice and I hit the right training zone.

After I finished, I tooled around a bit until the other boats got up to the end of the lake. Then I popped my feet out of my shoes and started to head back to the boat house with the tail wind.

As I passed back out under the rt 290 bridge, 2 singles started a rate limited piece right behind me and one of them was gaining. He was rowing about r24 or so, I matched his rate and started to push the pace a bit to keep ahead of him. This went on for most of the way back to the dock until they stopped and turned around. I guess I really don’t like getting passed.

Tomorrow: Off to Tanglewood for the day. No training.

Friday: 14K of Technique

August 7, 20154 Comments

Beautiful morning! Cooler, around 65F. Sunny. Light NNE wind 0-4mph. This was a headwind going downriver. It was a non-factor in the first 2 intervals, but was a little head wind in the third and a little tail wind in the fourth.

Today was my first experiment rowing with a bungee. I have seen this referred to in a number of sources (Marlene Royale’s book, “Rowing Faster”, and other articles, like this one, in of all places the new york times) A google search turned up a variety of opinions about the efficacy of using a bungee or other device to increase the drag of the boat. This thread on rec.sport.rowing was particularly vituperative about it.

I fashioned my bungee out of a 12 foot long piece of 1/4″ diameter shock cord wrapped around the boat 4 times right at the foot stretcher and hooked end to end. This created quite a dramatic amount of turbulence and a rather impressive, splashy wake as I pushed the pace. Here is a youtube video I found of an 8+ doing some starts with bungees on the hull, you can get the idea of what it look like.

This flowed up the gunwales of the boat, and squirted through the footstretcher mounting holes. By the time I did about 7K of rowing with the bungee, I had a few inches of water sloshing around in the bottom of the boat.

Note to self: Next time put the bungee on right at the stern end of the cockpit so the wake will not put water in the cockpit!.

The intent, as I understand it, is to add drag to the boat, which decreases the run and therefore the boat speed at the catch. This higher drag also increases the drive time, unless a hugely higher amount of handle force is applied. This has the effect of slowing down the whole stroke sequence. I found it made it a lot easier to focus on isolating my leg drive and delayed opening my back. This helped to work on one of the areas that I want to improve in my stroke. So, I guess for me, it’s a good thing.

Plan:

(With bungee)

pick drill: arms only, arms and body, 1/2 slide
full slide warm up at r16
2 x low rate ladders (1000m at r16, 1000m @ 18, 750m @ 20) / 1′ rest
remove bungee, 2 min rest
2 x low rate ladders (1000m at r16, 1000m @ 18, 750m @ 20) / 1′ rest
1K square blade rowing

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:47_|_2:57.0_|_095___|_16.4_|_10.3_|_119___|_warmup
01000_|_1000_|_05:20_|_2:39.8_|_086___|_16.1_|_11.6_|_135___|_r16 w/ bungee
02000_|_1000_|_05:12_|_2:36.2_|_094___|_18.1_|_10.6_|_145___|_r18 w/ bungee
03000_|_0750_|_03:46_|_2:30.9_|_076___|_20.1_|_09.9_|_152___|_r20 w/ bungee
03750_|_0250_|_01:25_|_2:49.6_|_023___|_16.3_|_10.9_|_133___|_r
04000_|_1000_|_05:20_|_2:39.8_|_089___|_16.7_|_11.2_|_145___|_r16 w/ bungee
05000_|_1000_|_05:16_|_2:37.8_|_096___|_18.3_|_10.4_|_152___|_r18 w/ bungee
06000_|_0750_|_03:50_|_2:33.3_|_077___|_20.1_|_09.7_|_157___|_r20 w/ bungee
06750_|_0250_|_01:25_|_2:49.6_|_022___|_15.6_|_11.4_|_131___|_r
07000_|_1000_|_05:04_|_2:32.0_|_083___|_16.4_|_12.0_|_146___|_r16
08000_|_1000_|_05:03_|_2:31.3_|_094___|_18.6_|_10.6_|_150___|_r18
09000_|_0750_|_03:39_|_2:25.7_|_075___|_20.6_|_10.0_|_154___|_r20
09750_|_0250_|_01:22_|_2:44.0_|_021___|_15.4_|_11.9_|_132___|_r
10000_|_1000_|_04:57_|_2:28.5_|_082___|_16.6_|_12.2_|_145___|_r16
11000_|_1000_|_04:55_|_2:27.3_|_090___|_18.3_|_11.1_|_149___|_r18
12000_|_0750_|_03:30_|_2:20.3_|_072___|_20.5_|_10.4_|_156___|_r20
12750_|_1090_|_06:35_|_3:01.2_|_129___|_19.6_|_08.4_|_131___|_square blades

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:47_|_2:57.0_|_095___|_16.4_|_10.3_|_119___|_warmup
04000_|_20:40_|_2:35.0_|_340___|_16.4_|_11.8_|_143___|_r16
04000_|_20:25_|_2:33.2_|_374___|_18.3_|_10.7_|_149___|_r18
03000_|_14:45_|_2:27.6_|_300___|_20.3_|_10.0_|_155___|_r20
11000_|_55:51_|_2:32.3_|_1014___|_18.2_|_10.8_|_148___|_Main set
00750_|_04:12_|_2:47.7_|_066___|_15.7_|_11.4_|_132___|_rest meters
01090_|_06:35_|_3:01.2_|_129___|_19.6_|_08.4_|_131___|_cool down

So, the bungee slowed down splits by about 7 to 9 seconds at similar rates and effort levels. The boat certainly felt light after I took it off. I was very happy that I was able to establish a nice rhythm at r16. I don’t I’ve ever done that before.

I think I will do a bit of bungee rowing on Fridays for the next few weeks as a way to work on stroke mechanics.

Tomorrow: 5.5K hard distance on quinsig at r26

Found a set of very pretty images of the river that I row on…Here

This one is the view from the prospect bridge towards the moody street dam. On the left is Nova Pharmaceutical. They are the folks that the lactate meter that I use. I may have to stop in to see if they’ll give me some strips!

Wednesday: Rate Ladders – Pushed a bit too hard

August 5, 20151 Comment

Lovely sunny weather. Still warm and humid.

Plan

4 rate ladders (1000m @ 18, 1000m @ 20, 500m @ 22, 250m @ 24)
Pace target, better than 2:30 for the r18, roughly 2 to 4 seconds faster for each rate jump.
HR cap at 157

I totally blew the HR cap. I torched the first rate ladder. Really pushed the pace through the r18 and r20 section, and didn’t want to slow down. There was a bit of a head wind heading up river, so the 2nd and fourth ladders were impacted a little bit. By the time I got to the fourth ladder, I was pretty worn out, and it felt like gremlins were attached to the bottom of my boat slowing me down.

I need to be way more disciplined in the early stages of these workouts and slow down to stay under the cap. I’m worried about tomorrow’s session now.

My HR monitor was not in the mood to work with the speedcoach, so the HR plots are from RIM. The pace and rate chart is from the speedcoach. You can see that the rate looks pretty good, but the pace is much better from the speedcoach (and you also lose the effect of upstream and down stream).

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:24_|_2:45.4_|_085___|_15.7_|_11.5_|_099___|_warmup
01000_|_1000_|_04:48_|_2:24.1_|_086___|_17.9_|_11.6_|_139___|_18
02000_|_1000_|_04:42_|_2:21.2_|_097___|_20.6_|_10.3_|_154___|_20
03000_|_0500_|_02:15_|_2:15.1_|_050___|_22.2_|_10.0_|_163___|_22
03500_|_0250_|_01:02_|_2:04.8_|_025___|_24.0_|_10.0_|_167___|_24
03750_|_0250_|_01:41_|_3:21.0_|_028___|_16.7_|_08.9_|_129___|_turn
04000_|_1000_|_04:55_|_2:27.3_|_090___|_18.3_|_11.1_|_149___|_18
05000_|_1000_|_04:56_|_2:27.9_|_100___|_20.3_|_10.0_|_156___|_20
06000_|_0500_|_02:21_|_2:21.0_|_053___|_22.6_|_09.4_|_164___|_22
06500_|_0250_|_01:06_|_2:11.8_|_025___|_22.8_|_10.0_|_168___|_24
06750_|_0250_|_01:57_|_3:53.6_|_032___|_16.4_|_07.8_|_127___|_turn
07000_|_1000_|_05:01_|_2:30.3_|_092___|_18.4_|_10.9_|_106___|_18
08000_|_1000_|_04:56_|_2:28.2_|_102___|_20.7_|_09.8_|_107___|_20
09000_|_0500_|_02:18_|_2:18.3_|_052___|_22.6_|_09.6_|_114___|_22
09500_|_0250_|_01:02_|_2:05.0_|_025___|_24.0_|_10.0_|_110___|_24
09750_|_0250_|_01:53_|_3:45.4_|_037___|_19.7_|_06.8_|_110___|_turn
10000_|_1000_|_05:12_|_2:36.0_|_095___|_18.3_|_10.5_|_099___|_18
11000_|_1000_|_05:04_|_2:32.0_|_104___|_20.5_|_09.6_|_103___|_20
12000_|_0500_|_02:22_|_2:22.2_|_054___|_22.8_|_09.3_|_117___|_22
12500_|_0250_|_01:03_|_2:06.6_|_026___|_24.6_|_09.6_|_111___|_24
12750_|_1210_|_07:30_|_3:06.0_|_146___|_19.5_|_08.3_|_122___|_square blade

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:24_|_2:45.4_|_085___|_15.7_|_11.5_|_099___|_warmup

04000_|_19:55_|_2:29.4_|_363___|_18.2_|_11.0_|_123___|_r18
04000_|_19:39_|_2:27.3_|_403___|_20.5_|_09.9_|_129___|_r20
02000_|_09:17_|_2:19.1_|_209___|_22.5_|_09.6_|_139___|_r22
01000_|_04:14_|_2:07.1_|_101___|_23.8_|_09.9_|_139___|_r24
11000_|_53:04_|_2:24.7_|_1076___|_20.3_|_10.2_|_129___|_main set

00750_|_05:30_|_3:40.0_|_097___|_17.6_|_07.7_|_122___|_rest meters
01210_|_07:30_|_3:06.0_|_146___|_19.5_|_08.3_|_122___|_cool down

Looking at the paces, it is curious to me how much faster I am at r22 and r24. The r20 is impacted because all of the r20 segments included going through the s-turn.

Tomorrow: 8×1000 / 2′ rest

I will probably build rate through the workout 2x 24, 2 x 26, 2 x 28, 2 x 30. I may stick at r28 depending on how well it goes.

Tuesday: 5×1500 / 5′ rest

August 4, 20151 Comment

Conditions: Overcast, warm (70F), humid, very light variable breeze.

One the primary reasons that I keep a training journal is to help keep myself accountable. Did I do what I planned to do? How did I perform relative to targets? Did I notice anything that I can work on to improve? Was there anything that I did well that I want to make sure I remember?

This is also why I keep my journal public, so that the other sets of eyes can help keep me honest. All of that really hinges on whether or not I am honest with myself in what I write. So, I made a promise to myself to write what really happens and try my best to avoid making stuff up after the fact to justify the facts of the workout.

Today was a perfect example. My workout plan was:

5x1500m / 5′ rest
Rate target: r26
Pace Target: faster than 2:15

Pretty simple. But a different story on the water. The issue was the weather. When I pulled into the parking lot, it was overcast. The weather report was for Thunderstorms later in the day. By the time I left the dock, it was REALLY overcast, and the world had that sort of greenish tinge. In the back of my head I wondered if it was a good idea to go out, but I immediately doubted my motivations. Today’s workout was going to be uncomfortable, and I wondered if I was just looking for an excuse to bail out. So, I kept going.

I did a quick warmup and rolled straight into the first interval. Which went quite well. I pushed the pace a bit too much, but I was thrilled with the avg pace (2:07.6). As soon as I finished, I heard a rumble of thunder.

It is just a common and logical groundrule that when you hear thunder, you get the hell off the water. Of course, I was at the far end of the 2K course when I finished the first Interval, so the fastest way to get back to the dock was to actually do the second interval, and then keep going. That’s what I intended to do. I even pushed the pace hard, kind of assuming that I’d be done. But when I finished the interval, I was really conflicted. Do I scrub the workout and try to squeeze in an erg session? What would I use for clothes? When would I do it? The sky looked a little bit lighter to me and I decided that it must be clearing up, based more on what I was hoping than what I was seeing. So, I went for interval Number 3.

In Interval number three, I found that I really had pushed the first 2 pieces too hard and I blew up around 400 into it. I skipped about 2 strokes and then reset my target back to 2:15. That was hard enough, but I was able to carry that pace through the s-turn and push a bit harder in the last 200m.

After I finished this interval, I was paddling out my rest when I saw an actual lightning bolt off to the south, like I could see the bolt, not just a flash. From the amount of time between the lighting and thunder, it was still a couple of miles off, but it really spooked me. But again, this happened at the far end of the course and the fastest way home was to just do interval #4.

Interval #4 was uneventful. I stuck with the slower target and pushed the pace a little after I got through the s-turn. By the HR data, I was working quite hard, but I was in control and I had no desire to bail out of it. As I finished this interval, I was again confronted with a choice. Go back to the dock, like I should, or do interval #5. At this point, the only reason to do interval #5 was because that was what the plan said I should do and that was what I had said that I was going to do. The right thing would have been to go home, but basically, I just didn’t want the feeling of having bailed out on the last rep haunting me all day. I especially didn’t want write a journal entry congratulating myself on being prudent when I actually felt like I was copping out.

So, I did the last interval and really nailed it too. As soon as I finished this one, it started raining, but there didn’t seem to be any more thunder or lightning.

But now I am left with the feeling that I took a stupid risk for no good reason. It was a great training session. Right on the edge of failure, very challenging, but that certainly would not have been worth getting killed in my boat for.

I guess one thing I should do is to make sure I have a extra set of workout clothes on days when the forecast is iffy. Then I can more realistically execute an alternate session if I bail out of the OTW workout. Other than that, I think I need to just wise up a bit.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:25_|_2:45.8_|_100___|_18.5_|_09.8_|_116___|_warmup
01000_|_1500_|_06:23_|_2:07.6_|_165___|_25.9_|_09.1_|_160___|_Int #1
02500_|_0500_|_03:12_|_3:12.4_|_053___|_16.5_|_09.4_|_124___|_rest
03000_|_1500_|_06:27_|_2:09.0_|_172___|_26.7_|_08.7_|_166___|_Int #2
04500_|_0500_|_03:29_|_3:28.5_|_056___|_16.1_|_08.9_|_120___|_rest
05000_|_1500_|_06:40_|_2:13.2_|_167___|_25.1_|_09.0_|_166___|_Int #3
06500_|_0500_|_03:24_|_3:24.4_|_063___|_18.5_|_07.9_|_135___|_rest
07000_|_1500_|_06:37_|_2:12.4_|_173___|_26.1_|_08.7_|_170___|_Int #4
08500_|_0500_|_03:27_|_3:26.8_|_064___|_18.6_|_07.8_|_127___|_rest
09000_|_1500_|_06:32_|_2:10.7_|_175___|_26.8_|_08.6_|_171___|_Int #5
10500_|_2680_|_16:07_|_3:00.3_|_322___|_20.0_|_08.3_|_134___|_Cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:25_|_2:45.8_|_100___|_18.5_|_09.8_|_116___|_warmup
07500_|_32:39_|_2:10.6_|_852___|_26.1_|_08.8_|_167___|_Main set
02000_|_13:32_|_3:23.0_|_236___|_17.4_|_08.5_|_127___|_rest meters
02680_|_16:07_|_3:00.3_|_322___|_20.0_|_08.3_|_134___|_cool down
13160_|_07:42_|_2:34.3_|_1510___|_22.3_|_08.7_|_147___|_Total

Next time I do this workout, I will try to stick to a 2:11 avg pace for the first 4 reps and then try for a faster last rep.

Tomorrow: Rate ladders (1000@18, 1000@20, 500@22, 250@24)

Monday: Steady State – R18 – Back on the water!

August 3, 20152 Comments

Sunny, Hot and Humid. Wind from the SSW at 6 to 8 mph. Headwind going upriver.

The Plan for today was supposed to be rate ladders. But I wanted to ease into it a bit more gently, so I switched for Wednesday’s 4 x 3K steady state session. I also lowered the target stroke rate from 20 to 18 so I could get used to being back in the boat after a 10 day absence. I wanted to keep the pace faster than 2:30, and I rowed with a hard HR cap at 155.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0940_|_05:17_|_2:48.4_|_094___|_17.8_|_10.0_|_117___|_warmup
00960_|_2900_|_13:56_|_2:24.1_|_255___|_18.3_|_11.4_|_140___|_tail wind
03860_|_0060_|_00:20_|_2:45.0_|_004___|_12.1_|_15.0_|_120___|_turn
03920_|_2900_|_14:17_|_2:27.7_|_269___|_18.8_|_10.8_|_147___|_head wind
06820_|_0100_|_00:32_|_2:42.5_|_010___|_18.5_|_10.0_|_117___|_turn
06920_|_2840_|_13:41_|_2:24.6_|_258___|_18.9_|_11.0_|_149___|_tail wind
09760_|_0100_|_00:36_|_3:02.0_|_009___|_14.8_|_11.1_|_128___|_turn
09860_|_2980_|_15:01_|_2:31.2_|_283___|_18.8_|_10.5_|_152___|_head wind
12840_|_0980_|_05:24_|_2:45.4_|_109___|_20.2_|_09.0_|_145___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00940_|_05:17_|_2:48.4_|_094___|_17.8_|_10.0_|_117___|_warmup
11620_|_56:55_|_2:27.0_|_1065___|_18.7_|_10.9_|_147___|_Main set
00260_|_01:29_|_2:50.6_|_023___|_15.6_|_11.3_|_122___|_rest meters
00980_|_05:24_|_2:45.4_|_109___|_20.2_|_09.0_|_145___|_cool down
13800_|_09:05_|_2:30.2_|_1291___|_18.7_|_10.7_|_144___|_Total

Mission accomplished. The wind seemed a bit fresher during the last up river leg, but maybe that was just me getting tired.

Tomorrow: 5×1500/5′ rest @ r26. Target Pace: faster than 2:15.

Quantified Rowing

Measure – Adjust – Improve

Tag: OTW

Wednesday: 14km steady state @ r20

Tuesday: 5 x 2000 / 5′ rest – That stung

Monday: Steady State Rate Ladders

Saturday: 5.5km Threshold on Quinsig

Friday: 20km on the Charles River Basin

Saturday: 5.4km Threshold Piece

Friday: 14K of Technique

Wednesday: Rate Ladders – Pushed a bit too hard

Tuesday: 5×1500 / 5′ rest

Monday: Steady State – R18 – Back on the water!