Friday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest L4

January 1, 2016Leave a comment

Thursday: Too busy getting ready for New Year’s Eve festivities to fit in my planned 4 x 8′ workout. I was due for a rest day anyway.

Last night was a long one with rich food, and lots of champagne. A delightful evening. I finally got to bed around 2 in the morning, and slept until 10:30. It’s going to be hellish getting up at 5:15 on Monday!

I headed off to row around 4pm. I figured it would be a crappy session since I was a bit hungover and still felt pretty full from last night, but the room was nice and cool and after a reasonably uncomfortable first 10 minutes, I settled in nicely and really started to enjoy the row. I am listening to a “Great Courses” course about turning points in american history. Today I listened to two lectures. The first on the birth of the american environmental movement (1968 when there was an oil spill off Santa Barbara and the Coyahoga River caught on fire in Cleveland). The second was about Watergate and Nixon’s resignation. Brilliant course. It started before the landing of the Pilgrims and continues to nearly the present. A perfect thing to listen to during steady state rowing.

HR and RPE were fine throughout and for the last 20 minutes, I spiced it up by extending the segement at 21 spm and 210 watts from 1 minute to 2 minutes and shortening the 18 spm section by a minute.

HR was fine throughout. I didn’t bother with a lactate test.

Workout Summary – Jan 01, 2016
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_19806_|_80:00.0_|_02:01.2_|_196.7_|_19.2_|_136.5_|_ 65.6% _|_12.9_|_10.2
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_02463_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.8_|_193.7_|_18.7_|_126.6_|_ 58.6% _|_13.2_|_10.4
02_|_02477_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.1_|_197.0_|_19.1_|_134.3_|_ 64.1% _|_13.0_|_10.3
03_|_02477_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.1_|_196.9_|_19.1_|_134.5_|_ 64.2% _|_13.0_|_10.3
04_|_02472_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.4_|_195.9_|_19.2_|_140.4_|_ 68.4% _|_12.9_|_10.2
05_|_02472_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.4_|_195.8_|_19.1_|_137.4_|_ 66.2% _|_12.9_|_10.3
06_|_02470_|_10:00.0_|_02:01.4_|_195.4_|_19.3_|_140.1_|_ 68.1% _|_12.8_|_10.1
07_|_02489_|_10:00.0_|_02:00.5_|_200.0_|_19.6_|_137.8_|_ 66.5% _|_12.7_|_10.2
08_|_02486_|_10:00.0_|_02:00.7_|_199.1_|_19.5_|_140.5_|_ 68.5% _|_12.7_|_10.2

I was only one stroke off after the whole workout. My pace accuracy is getting better. I am still pushing the pace too much. Better to hit that exactly and ramp up the stroke counts.

Target_____________Actual_____________delta____________
Strokes____Meters______Strokes____Meters______Strokes__meters___EndHR
0190___|___02447___|___0187___|___02463___|___-03___|___16___|___130
0192___|___02456___|___0191___|___02477___|___-01___|___21___|___130
0192___|___02456___|___0191___|___02477___|___-01___|___21___|___137
0192___|___02456___|___0192___|___02472___|___00___|___16___|___135
0192___|___02456___|___0191___|___02472___|___-01___|___16___|___136
0192___|___02456___|___0193___|___02470___|___01___|___15___|___135
0195___|___02460___|___0196___|___02489___|___01___|___29___|___135
0195___|___02460___|___0195___|___02486___|___00___|___26___|___134
1540___|___19647___|___1536___|___19806___|___-04___|___159___|___000

Tomorrow: The plan is asking for a 5 x 6′, but I might do the 4×8′ that I skipped yesterday instead.

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

Wednesday : Aborted Marathon

December 25, 20152 Comments

It was not meant to be. I’m on Christmas vacation and for once, I had enough time. I felt pretty good and I wanted to be able to grab the 100 bonus points in the Nonathlon. But things just didn’t work out to plan.

I looked up my PB and it was a 1:59.1 pace. Ouch. That seemed hard, but I was game. I took off at 1:59 and within 5K I realized it was too fast for me. I pushed on to my first water break, at 12192m. I guzzled down some water and got going again, but this time I held it to about a 2:03 pace. This was much better. My HR stayed in better control and I was a lot more comfortable. At least I was for the next 12 minutes or so. At that point I got a call from my car insurance people. It’s a long story, but I needed to handle a problem right away with a few phone calls. It all took about 15 minutes.

I just left the clock running on the marathon. When I pulled again, it showed a projected time of 3:00:00, and an average pace of about 2:30. What a depressing sight. But I pushed on. For about 5 minutes. That’s when my iphone spontaneously stopped playing music. I played around a bit and determined that it was the headphones, ran and got another pair, and got back on the erg.

Now the projected finish was above 3:08:00. And I just started to lose interest. At this point, I had rowed 17 or 18km. I rowed to 20km, had a quick drink and continued. When I got to 25km, I decided that I’d had enough. I had some Christmas shopping to do and some other errands, and the thought of grinding away for another hour was not at all interesting to me.

Maybe, I’ll give it a go in a couple weeks if I have a marathon sized hole in my schedule.

I guess it’s really just another steady state training day.

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.

Tuesday PM: 30′ L4

December 16, 20151 Comment

I’m really liking this L4 thing. It’s giving me something to think about instead of just bashing my head against constant power steady state sessions. I think it is also good to have the rate changes to force me to think about technique as I go along.

This was just an easy session. I repeated the same 6 minute sequence 5 times.

Stroke count was right (to the resolution of the PM) and I was about 6 watts ahead of the target power. I should probably get back on the power target and push the rate up a notch.

HR was nice and low through the session. I don’t bother doing lactates for the 30 minutes sessions.

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.

Quantified Rowing

Measure – Adjust – Improve

Tag: steady state

Friday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest L4

Wednesday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest L4

Monday: 4 x 20′ / 1′

Saturday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest

Wednesday : Aborted Marathon

Monday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest

Friday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest – L4

Wednesday: 4 x 20’/ 1′ L4

Tuesday PM: 30′ L4

Monday: 4 x 20′ / 1′ rest