Tag: race prep

Monday: High Rates in the rain

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I think this picture says it all about conditions today.

2015-06-15 08.11.05

Rain, heavy at times, 60F, wind 5mph ESE (cross / tail wind going down river).  It was nice to know that most of my competition had probably decided that today would make a good day to do a session on the erg instead of going out on the river.

Plan:  Try out another one of Sander’s 1K prep workouts.  This time Session #3: The Small Pyramid.  This workout is to try to get some practice in at higher than race rates.  The workout is:

20″ @ 38 / 20″ paddle

40″ @ 36 / 40″ paddle

60″ @ 34 / 60″ paddle

40″ @ 36 / 40″ paddle

20″ @ 38 and that’s it.

Screen Shot 2015-06-15 at 9.59.20 AM Screen Shot 2015-06-15 at 9.59.40 AM

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_3709_|_17:47_|_2:23.8_|_391___|_22.0_|_09.5_|_146___|_warmup
03729_|_0180_|_01:12_|_3:21.4_|_023___|_19.0_|_07.8_|_130___|_paddle
03909_|_0095_|_00:21_|_1:47.9_|_013___|_38.0_|_07.3_|_145___|_20″ at 38
04004_|_0170_|_00:53_|_2:35.6_|_022___|_25.0_|_07.7_|_157___|_paddle
04174_|_0126_|_00:28_|_1:49.5_|_017___|_37.0_|_07.4_|_161___|_caught thumb
04300_|_0126_|_00:46_|_3:04.1_|_013___|_16.8_|_09.7_|_158___|_paddle
04426_|_0179_|_00:39_|_1:50.3_|_023___|_34.9_|_07.8_|_159___|_40″ at 36
04605_|_0172_|_01:13_|_3:31.0_|_022___|_18.2_|_07.8_|_142___|_paddle
04777_|_0261_|_00:59_|_1:52.8_|_034___|_34.6_|_07.7_|_157___|_60″ at 34
05038_|_0149_|_01:02_|_3:26.7_|_018___|_17.5_|_08.3_|_155___|_paddle
05187_|_0173_|_00:37_|_1:47.8_|_023___|_37.0_|_07.5_|_161___|_40″ at 36
05360_|_0120_|_00:43_|_3:00.4_|_014___|_19.4_|_08.6_|_161___|_paddle
05480_|_0107_|_00:23_|_1:49.8_|_015___|_38.3_|_07.1_|_162___|_20″ at 38
05587_|_4152_|_23:46_|_2:51.8_|_516___|_21.7_|_08.0_|_148___|_steady state

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
03709_|_17:47_|_2:23.8_|_391___|_22.0_|_09.5_|_146___|_warmup
00941_|_03:27_|_1:50.1_|_125___|_36.2_|_07.5_|_158___|_Main set
04152_|_23:46_|_2:51.8_|_516___|_21.7_|_08.0_|_148___|_Steady State
00917_|_05:49_|_3:10.5_|_112___|_19.2_|_08.2_|_149___|_rest meters
09719_|_50:50_|_2:36.9_|_1144___|_22.5_|_08.5_|_148___|_Total

To start, I did the extensive Rojabo warmup, and tried to really max out the stroke rate during that last 20 stroke burst. I was amazed to see that I actually could get the stroke rate up to 37 or 38.  Here are the last 4 bursts at 26, 28, 30 and 37 spm.

Screen Shot 2015-06-15 at 10.05.55 AM

Then it was time to face the demons.  I had no idea what to expect.  The intervals were so short, but the intensity was so high, I had no clue whether this workout would be easy or impossible or somewhere in between.

Per instructions, I did each interval with a rolling start.  So, to get going I took 3 or 4 good strokes and then dove into the first interval, trying to keep my layback to a minimum and my catches clean.  It went better than I would have hoped and I actually had to try to slow it down from 40 to 38.  But when I finished I was really winded.

I went right into the 40″ interval and I was hurting from the start.  The 24 or so strokes at 36 seemed, suddenly to be a very large number of strokes.  Around the 5th stroke, I caught my thumb in my shirt and, essentially, chose to not try to recover.  I took 40″ paddle and tried again.  This time I didn’t have any form problems, but I was really struggling and gave up with 10 seconds to go.

I gave myself a little pep talk.  The important thing was getting the practice in at the rate, so lighten up a bit on the pressure and focus on hitting the rate.  I repeated the 40″ @36 interval with a bit less pressure and it went fine.  Then 40″ of paddle turned into closer to a minute as I turned the boat around and then took off for the 60″ at 34.

Screen Shot 2015-06-15 at 10.06.12 AM

After the previous intervals, 34 felt almost sedate, but not quite.  It was quite a anaerobic load and I was counting the strokes down as I went to stay focused.  Then a minute of paddling, including another turn of the boat and I was off for the 40″ @ 36.  Felt good.  Then a quick 40″ paddle and into the last one, 20″ at 38.  This one felt great.

Screen Shot 2015-06-15 at 10.06.29 AM

I had a drink in the rain and let my HR calm down a bit then I set out for home.  I was at the far end of the river and I was going to do 4K of steady state.  I started up and I immediately noticed that the speedcoach pace was a lot slower than normal.  I was rowing upriver, so the speedcoach should be reading about 2 to 5 seconds faster than the gps derived pace on the RIM app.  It was reading about 10 to 15 seconds slower.  I stopped twice to feel around the impeller to see if it was fouled but there didn’t seem to be anything there.  It was really hard to row to the HR cap with the insanely slow pace staring at me, even though I knew it was wrong.  I ended up pushing a bit too hard.

Tomorrow:  Steady State plus a hard 1K.

Sunday: Race Prep on the erg

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

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

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

Screen Shot 2015-06-14 at 2.25.40 PM Screen Shot 2015-06-14 at 2.26.03 PM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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