Saturday: pointless abuse

June 13, 2015June 13, 2015Leave a comment

i headed out to Lake Quinsigamond, and during the drive, I noticed the flags at all the car dealerships snapping in a brisk wind out of the north. When I got to the lake, there was a lot of chop and some whitecaps.

In a moment of foolishness, I thought that it would be a good idea to get some rough water practice in case conditions next weekend are less than ideal. What I actually learned is that if it’s blowing this hard and the water is this awful, don’t bother to go race. It was awful.

There were 8 of us this morning, so we had a coxed 4, a double and me in a single. We headed down lake with a hefty tail wind and lots of lumpy waves. This wasn’t so bad. At least until we got waked three times in a row. The last one was the worst. The angle of the wake was perfectly aligned to my direction of travel so I was rowing in it for at least a minute. I think I got maybe two good stretches of a thousand meters or so but the rest was just wave slappingly horrible rowing.

As we turned at the south end of the lake, it became clear just how bad the wind was. Just paddling in it as a crosswind was very difficult. We got lined up and started back up the lake right into it as a headwind. At first, I found I could not row with any pressure at all. It was all I could do to stay balanced in the confused waves at the mouth of the cove. Over about 5 minutes, I got more comfortable and started to get a bit of a better rhythm.

I passed the four and the double right before the narrows in a stretch of reasonably flat water and as we came around the point, the waves and wind hit me and practically pulled an oar out of my hand.

Around this time, rowing in motion decided that what I was doing did not resemble rowing closely enough and stopped reporting paces and stroke rates. Good thing too, because I was working hard to see anything faster than 2:50 as a split anyway. I bashed my way to the bridge and managed put some clear water between me and the other boats, but I was not havin. g much fun.

I continued north another 1500m until I saw the double turn back for the dock. With a feeling of relief, I turned and headed for home. Rowing with the tailwind and was a nice relief. It was still a real challenge to deal with the chop, but I was much more able to get into a groove and deal with the water going downwind.

Pit was even a challenge getting lined up with the dock in cross wind and chop. I basically slid out of the boat onto the dock.

It wasn’t much of a workout. I wish I had taken it as a rest day and gone tomorrow morning instead.

All together, it was about 10k of rowing which took about an hour and twenty minutes. Ugly. Just ugly.

Friday: Hard 3K, Hard 1K, Square Blade Rowing and Steady State

June 12, 20152 Comments

Weather: Sunny, warm, mid 60s. Light WNW wind, 4mph, mainly a cross/head wind going down river.

Plan: Drills, then Steady State, plus a few starts and a hard 1K. Work on finishes and balance.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0920_|_04:38_|_2:31.2_|_098___|_21.1_|_09.4_|_139___|_warmup
00940_|_2900_|_13:04_|_2:15.2_|_288___|_22.0_|_10.1_|_164___|_Hard 22
03840_|_0060_|_00:34_|_4:40.0_|_005___|_08.9_|_12.0_|_120___|_rest
03900_|_2900_|_14:21_|_2:28.4_|_298___|_20.8_|_09.7_|_157___|_Slow roll ups
06800_|_0160_|_01:27_|_4:32.5_|_027___|_18.6_|_05.9_|_133___|_rest
06960_|_0900_|_03:39_|_2:01.8_|_112___|_30.6_|_08.0_|_172___|_1K Hard
07860_|_0740_|_04:20_|_2:55.7_|_092___|_21.2_|_08.0_|_140___|_paddle
08600_|_1080_|_05:31_|_2:33.1_|_119___|_21.6_|_09.1_|_150___|_500SQ / 500SS
09680_|_0500_|_02:52_|_2:52.4_|_054___|_18.8_|_09.3_|_150___|_Starts
10180_|_3000_|_15:55_|_2:39.1_|_344___|_21.6_|_08.7_|_147___|_500SQ/500SS
13180_|_0540_|_03:41_|_3:24.7_|_072___|_19.5_|_07.5_|_135___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00920_|_04:38_|_2:31.2_|_098___|_21.1_|_09.4_|_139___|_warmup
00900_|_03:39_|_2:01.8_|_112___|_30.6_|_08.0_|_172___|_Main set
10380_|_51:42_|_2:29.4_|_1103___|_21.3_|_09.4_|_155___|_Steady State
00960_|_06:21_|_3:18.4_|_124___|_19.5_|_07.7_|_137___|_rest meters
00540_|_03:41_|_3:24.7_|_072___|_19.5_|_07.5_|_135___|_cool down
13700_|_10:02_|_2:33.4_|_1509___|_21.5_|_09.1_|_152___|_Total

That was the plan, but it didn’t quite work out that way. I was going to stick to r20 and steady state going down river and come halfway back and then do my 1K. But as I came out of the small section of river that intersects with the cove, I saw another single sculler up ahead. I felt a familiar feeling and I knew that there would be no HR cap on the trip down river. I started about 100m behind him and over the first 500m or so, I caught up and passed him. From that point, I just concentrated on putting a much distance between me and him as possible and to keep my rate lower than his. It looked like he was rowing about a r24. By end of the 2900m piece, I was about 800m ahead. I was pleased with the pace for r22, right about 2:15.

I turned and did a few more drills and had a drink and we set off in the other direction at about the same time. I was rowing with slow roll ups and focusing on technique, but I also put enough energy into it to put a little distance between us. I basically did this all the way back to the beginning of the 1K course. Beautiful flat water today, so I had no excuses for rowing badly.

I turned at the start of the 1K course, took a few deep breaths and then did my start.

The graph looks different because I was logging every 20 meters instead of every stroke like yesterday. My objective was to keep the pace between 2:00 and 2:05, which I guessed would be about 95% intensity. I now think it was a bit closer to 98%, looking at the HR. I really felt the bite at the 500m mark and pushed through it. I started to feel like I might puke or lose control of other bodily functions. At that point, I tried my “take 10 for length” idea, and dropped the rate just a little bit. It seemed to do the trick. I got through the crisis and continued to count up the strokes. But something went wrong with my counting somewhere in the piece.

My 1K is basically 120 strokes. This splits up into the first 30 which is the start and the settle and then 10 strokes. Then the next 30 strokes are where you start to feel the bite. By the 60th stroke, I’m in distress, so the next 30 is 10 for length and then either rate up or stay long for the next 20. I know that if I can get to 90 strokes, that I can make it. Somehow today, between the 60 and 90 mark, I managed to lose track of 10 strokes. That meant that I thought I was on the 90th stroke, but I was actually on the 80th stroke. I started pushing for the finish hard. I also though that I had enough room before a headland so I didn’t need to cut back to the main channel. When I got to what I thought was 10 strokes to go, I looked at the elapsed distance and it said 7700m. In the fog of lactate, I seemed to remember that I had started at 6950m. What the hell? I was now too far over to fit in another 20 strokes without crashing into the headland, and I had started my push to the end too soon. I decided quickly to just push hard through 7850 and then jam on the brakes to stop my boat. So, I had to settle for 900m today. Here is the map view. The 1K starts at the bottom and there is a broad gentle curve to get onto the line between a point (with submerged log sticking out from it) and the island. Past the island, you need to pick a new aim point to start to turn towards the entry of the s-turn. Today, I got lazy and didn’t transition to this new aim point quickly enough after the island, so I ended up aiming at the headland.

I’m not all that happy with the pace, 2:01.8, and I’d like to see the rate a bit higher. But I battled the demons and won this round in the middle of the piece. I am now a confirmed convert to Sander’s philosophy of 1K racing. Which I take the liberty of paraphrasing here: You need to do a lot of 1K time trials to get used to awful you feel in the middle of the race. Especially true because conditions vary enough that you can’t really use pace as a guide.

After that, the rest of the workout was an anticlimax. I basically just did 500m of square blade rowing and then 500m of steady state alternating the rest of the way down to the dam. When I was rowing square, I tried to work on getting my elbows out at the finish and extracting the blades as quickly and quietly as I could. Then transitioning to steady state, I tried to use exactly the same tap down, and then feather. I was working on trying to separate the two actions to clean up my finishes. I had a magical stretch where I got ten full strokes where I didn’t touch water from finish to catch at all. In general I would be able to go one or two strokes and then I would lightly skim one side or the other. But I have to say, that my hands are working better at the finish now.

After the dam, I turned and did 6 practice starts. I took each one out to 10 strokes. Then I continued with my 500 square / 500 steady all the way back to the dock.

Tomorrow: Probably out on Lake Quinsigamond, but I may face transportation challenges. In any case, I think a reasonable easy session might be in order.

Then next week, I taper for the race on next Sunday, the 21st. Unfortunately I have a business trip mid week, so I am already starting to plan my excuses based on that.

Wednesday: 29 starts. Some good, some bad.

June 10, 20155 Comments

Well, I’ve gone and done it now. I registered for the Festival Regatta. This is a nice little race up in Lowell on the Merrimac River on a 6 lane course on June 21st. I’m in the Men’s Master 1x (50-59) race (a 1K sprint) and the Men’s Open 2K (a 2K sprint).

I have no pretensions about being competitive in the Open, but I’m thinking that any racing is good racing and as long as I don’t bring an inflated self image, I will be fine with the outcome.

The format is single heat races. So, you try to win your flight an event. There are no heats and finals or anything like that.

So, ready or not, here I come.

Today, the weather was really lovely. Sunny and warm (about 65F). There was a pretty steady 7mph breeze from the West, which was a cross/tail wind going down river and cross/head wind going up river. It was enough wind to make the boat feel different, but not enough to be disruptive in any way.

The plan for today was to practice starts and do some technical rowing with HR in the aerobic zone between sets. I decided to take generally take the starts out to 20 strokes so that I could go through the start sequence, lengthen, and then settle down to something like a 1K pace. If I had technical issues, I sometimes pulled the plug right away, or after 10 strokes. I was getting tired at the end, so the last set of starts, I did all of them as 10 strokes.

I felt very shaky in the first couple of sets, but gradually got more comfortable. I will definitely need to pull a few 10 stroke starts as part of my warmup for the race. It seems that previous practices “wear off” quickly.

Totaling it up, I did 17 “20 stroke” starts and 12 “10 stroke starts”. That’s a bit more than 4K of hard rowing, but in tasty little morsels, so it wasn’t too challenging.

The gory details.

I managed to really blow the third start in the first set. It was my classic problem. I did not get my oar fully squared at the catch on the second stroke and it dove deep. I did a 10 stroke start after that and focused on being really controlled on the recovery. After the first set of starts, I rowed with slow roll ups the rest of the way down the river.

I turned around and did 4 – 20 stroke starts back across the basin into the headwind. In this set, the only problem I had was actually on the first pull of the first start. I though I was really balanced, but as I squeezed out the first stroke, I tipped pretty badly. I have no idea why. So, I held water and tried again. The following 4 starts were very comfortable and reasonably fast into the wind. The fourth one brought me close to the bridge, so I paddled through and lined up on the straight section in front of the watch factory. I was feeling a little winded at this point, so I did 3 – 10 stroke starts. It was actually 4 attempts, but I pulled out of the second one on the first stroke. After the 3 short starts, I did 2 – 20 strokes starts to finish off the rest of that straight section.

I paddled with square blades through the s-turn to set up for a few more. With the wind coming from the West, coming out of the s-turn is generally the crappiest water, which on an absolute scale still is pretty good water, but at least it provided a bit of chop for me to practice on. So I did 3 more 20 stroke starts. I was pretty happy with these. Good acceleration, no miscues, and a good settle to racing speed in each. After the starts, I rowed the rest of the way to the up river start with square blades.

After I turned down river, I did my best start of the day. My first 3 strokes were clean and was able to ramp up to 40spm with reasonable control. At 10 strokes, I downshifted cleanly to 32 SPM and the pace drifted up as it should have. From a standing start, I covered 150m with a avg pace faster than 1:50. Basically all of these starts felt pretty good.

The rest of the way down the river I tried to focus on rowing without touching water. I was OK with letting the rate drift up, I just wanted to really focus on perfect finishes so that I could swing through the recovery with no wiggles. I was having a very good time.

This took me all the way back to the dam, so I turned to do my last set of starts. I was pretty worn out by this point, so I decided to give myself a break and do all of them as 10 strokes. Again, I was going back into the head wind, but this set had no horrible misfires.

This only took me halfway back to the bridge, so from there all the way back to the dock, I alternated 500m on the square with 500m of steady state trying to row very clean. By transitioning from on the square to feathering, I was able to focus on trying to keep my tap down and feathering as two distinct motions. When I got it right, I heard a distinctly different, quieter sound at the finish. More of a “pock” and less “gurgle”.

All in all a very nice morning.

Tomorrow: I think I need to do a full intensity 1K. I will probably also do a few 2Ks.

Monday: Breezy Steady State. Pushed too hard

June 8, 2015June 8, 20151 Comment

Weather: Cloudy, mid 50s, wind South 10-15mph. This is a tail wind going down river and a head wind going up river. It got progressively windier and more gusty as I went along.

Original plan was for 1000m intervals, but I felt like crap this morning. Upset stomach and tired. I decided to just row a steady state session. I also forgot my HR strap which meant that I was rowing without some of the feedback that I like to have. Probably a good thing, actually.

Things got off to a lousy start. I launched and started rowing away. I got about 500m fro the dock and I couldn’t remember locking my car. So, I turned around, paddled back, got out and locked it. I certainly noticed that the headwind coming back to the dock was significant. I had to work to get any pace on the boat at all.

After I got that settled, I just rowed. I was working on three things today. First was to get really good compression and reach at the catch. Second was to finish early enough so that my hands do not brush my torso. Third was to try to balance during the recovery and not touch water. This was a good thing to work on today because there was a bit of chop, even on my protected river and dragging the blades resulted in whacking the wavetops in a disturbing manner.

I felt more comfortable at 22 to 24 spm today and as I focused on my three things, I found I was rowing a bit harder than I normally would for a steady state session. With the tail wind, I was faster than 2:20 pace except in the turns. Even into the head wind, I was around a 2:27, which is my usual pace for flat conditions, albeit with a stroke rate of 20 not 22.

Having said that, I’m glad I swapped out the session. I enjoy the row and I think I did pretty well considering the wind.

Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_1880_|_10:41_|_2:50.5_|_203___|_19.0_|_09.3_|_000___|_warmup
01900_|_2660_|_12:13_|_2:17.8_|_266___|_21.8_|_10.0_|_000___|_tail wind
04560_|_0060_|_00:26_|_3:34.2_|_007___|_16.3_|_08.6_|_000___|_rest
04620_|_2940_|_14:12_|_2:24.9_|_322___|_22.7_|_09.1_|_000___|_head wind
07560_|_0060_|_00:27_|_3:46.7_|_005___|_11.0_|_12.0_|_000___|_rest
07620_|_2020_|_09:25_|_2:20.0_|_208___|_22.1_|_09.7_|_000___|_tail wind
09640_|_0140_|_00:50_|_2:58.6_|_016___|_19.2_|_08.8_|_000___|_Steering mistake at bridge
09780_|_0660_|_02:58_|_2:15.2_|_067___|_22.5_|_09.9_|_000___|_tail wind
10440_|_0040_|_00:16_|_3:17.5_|_004___|_15.2_|_10.0_|_000___|_rest
10480_|_3140_|_15:24_|_2:27.1_|_354___|_23.0_|_08.9_|_000___|_head wind 
13620_|_1000_|_05:15_|_2:37.7_|_120___|_22.8_|_08.3_|_000___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
01880_|_10:41_|_2:50.5_|_203___|_19.0_|_09.3_|_000___|_warmup
11420_|_54:13_|_2:22.4_|_1217___|_22.4_|_09.4_|_000___|_Main set
00300_|_01:59_|_3:17.8_|_032___|_16.2_|_09.4_|_000___|_rest meters
01000_|_05:15_|_2:37.7_|_120___|_22.8_|_08.3_|_000___|_cool down
14600_|_12:09_|_2:28.2_|_1572___|_21.8_|_09.3_|_000___|_Total

Tomorrow I’ll do those intervals for sure.

Thursday: Steady State and Starts

June 4, 2015June 4, 20153 Comments

Plan:

Warmup: King of the mountain, top quarter, 20 strokes or so of each: arms only, arms and body, half slide, full slide, legs only.
4 repeats of:
1. 5 good starts. Focus on balance and control. Try to get good blade placement before each drive
2. row the remaining 2500m at steady state pace and work on technique and balance. HR cap at 155.
Cool down: Square blades and high pressure / low rate.

It was beautiful this morning. Sunny, no wind, mid 50s. It was good to do a structured warmup. The legs only was a good thing to do.

Starts are getting a bit better. At least I have an idea of how hard I can push the initial stroke without compromising my balance. I also have a better idea of how fast I can push the stroke rate in the start. It looks like about 35 is as high as I can go without rowing in severely and screwing up the finishes. From here, it is just lots of practice to slowly improve the pressure on the first stroke and the tempo of the initial strokes. I’ll try to take some video this weekend to see if I’m doing anything horribly wrong.

The steady state was nice. I was pretty focused on trying to balance and row quietly. I really wanted to push too hard and blow the HR cap, but I need to save that feeling for tomorrow.

00020_|_0882_|_04:57_|_2:48.2_|_095___|_19.2_|_09.3_|_124___|_warmup
00902_|_0489_|_02:45_|_2:49.1_|_050___|_18.1_|_09.8_|_138___|_5 starts
01391_|_2331_|_11:03_|_2:22.3_|_223___|_20.2_|_10.5_|_155___|_steady state
03722_|_0448_|_02:31_|_2:48.9_|_047___|_18.6_|_09.5_|_143___|_5 starts
04170_|_2549_|_12:35_|_2:28.1_|_257___|_20.4_|_09.9_|_155___|_slow roll ups
06719_|_0513_|_02:49_|_2:45.0_|_053___|_18.8_|_09.7_|_144___|_5 starts
07232_|_2361_|_11:35_|_2:27.2_|_219___|_18.9_|_10.8_|_155___|_steady state
09460_|_0551_|_03:03_|_2:45.8_|_056___|_18.4_|_09.8_|_144___|_5 starts
10011_|_2612_|_12:53_|_2:27.9_|_266___|_20.7_|_09.8_|_153___|_steady state
12623_|_1162_|_06:38_|_2:51.3_|_127___|_19.1_|_09.1_|_138___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00882_|_04:57_|_2:48.2_|_095___|_19.2_|_09.3_|_124___|_warmup
09853_|_48:06_|_2:26.5_|_965___|_20.1_|_10.2_|_154___|_Main set
02001_|_11:09_|_2:47.1_|_206___|_18.5_|_09.7_|_142___|_20 Starts
01162_|_06:38_|_2:51.3_|_127___|_19.1_|_09.1_|_138___|_cool down
13898_|_10:49_|_2:32.9_|_1393___|_19.7_|_10.0_|_149___|_Total

I set up the speedcoach for stroke by stroke data. Here are the details of the starts. I think the best metric to judge the quality of the start is the pace in the third stroke. If the pace is below 2:00 on the third stroke, then it was relatively well executed. If it was slower, generally, I either wobbled on the first stroke, or had trouble getting clean catches on the 2nd or 3rd stroke.

So, in the first set, the fourth and the sixth are OK. In the second set, all of them were OK except for the second one. The third set was all OK. On the fourth set, I blew the first 2, but the last 3 were OK.

Tomorrow: 8×500 / 500m rest. Standing starts. r30 or higher for all reps.

Side note: My right elbow has been bothering me. I think it is bursitis or tennis elbow or something. Time to buy a wrap and start popping the Ibuprofen. If it doesn’t improve with these steps, I might need to lay off rowing for a few days.

Sunday: 80 minute Wolverine Plan L4

June 3, 2015June 3, 2015Leave a comment

Plan: (on the erg)

8×10′
1′ rest every 20′
180 strokes per 10′ (4’@16, 3’@18,2’@20,1’@22)
170W at 16, 190W at 18, 210W at 20, 230W at 22

This turned out to be a bit to intense. I dropped down by 10W in the second 20′, and then by another 10W beyond that to keep my HR in the aerobic zone. Very humid. Left a huge puddle on the floor (of sweat)

In the last minute, I upped it to r24 and tried to see how hard I could pull. I was above 300W by the end of the minute.

Output
Workout Summary – Jun 03, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_19430_|_84:00.0_|_02:09.7_|_160.4_|_17.6_|_145.4_|_ 71.9% _|_13.2_|_09.1
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_02458_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.0_|_192.6_|_17.9_|_114.5_|_ 50.0% _|_13.7_|_10.8
02_|_02459_|_10:00.0_|_02:02.0_|_192.7_|_18.1_|_147.4_|_ 73.3% _|_13.6_|_10.6
03_|_00059_|_01:00.0_|_08:31.3_|_002.6_|_05.0_|_144.2_|_ 71.1% _|_11.7_|_00.5
04_|_02411_|_10:00.0_|_02:04.4_|_181.7_|_18.2_|_144.2_|_ 71.1% _|_13.2_|_10.0
05_|_02295_|_10:00.0_|_02:10.7_|_156.8_|_17.9_|_145.6_|_ 72.1% _|_12.8_|_08.8
06_|_00058_|_01:00.0_|_08:33.0_|_002.6_|_05.0_|_146.8_|_ 72.9% _|_11.7_|_00.5
07_|_02369_|_10:00.0_|_02:06.6_|_172.4_|_18.0_|_146.8_|_ 72.9% _|_13.2_|_09.6
08_|_02371_|_10:00.0_|_02:06.5_|_172.8_|_18.1_|_153.6_|_ 77.7% _|_13.1_|_09.5
09_|_00043_|_01:00.0_|_11:45.4_|_001.0_|_03.0_|_153.3_|_ 77.5% _|_14.2_|_00.3
10_|_02241_|_10:00.0_|_02:13.8_|_146.0_|_17.2_|_147.7_|_ 73.5% _|_13.0_|_08.5
11_|_02388_|_10:00.0_|_02:05.6_|_176.6_|_18.6_|_159.8_|_ 82.1% _|_12.8_|_09.5
12_|_00276_|_01:00.0_|_01:48.5_|_273.8_|_24.0_|_170.6_|_ 89.8% _|_11.5_|_11.4

After Sunday’s workout, we headed down to NJ for my son’s graduation. No training on Monday or Tuesday.

Friday: 4×20’/1’r on the erg

May 30, 20153 Comments

Back from Dallas. Home around 1pm. Got straight on the erg for an easy session.

Target: r19, 195W

Output
Workout Summary – May 29, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_20252_|_84:00.0_|_02:04.4_|_181.7_|_19.3_|_132.5_|_ 62.8% _|_12.5_|_09.4

01_|_04953_|_20:00.0_|_02:01.1_|_196.8_|_19.6_|_095.5_|_ 36.6% _|_12.7_|_10.1
02_|_00059_|_01:00.0_|_08:24.4_|_002.7_|_05.0_|_131.8_|_ 62.3% _|_11.9_|_00.5
03_|_04949_|_20:00.0_|_02:01.2_|_196.4_|_19.5_|_139.5_|_ 67.8% _|_12.7_|_10.1
04_|_00070_|_01:00.0_|_07:08.5_|_004.4_|_06.0_|_133.7_|_ 63.6% _|_11.7_|_00.7
05_|_04950_|_20:00.0_|_02:01.2_|_196.6_|_20.2_|_143.5_|_ 70.6% _|_12.3_|_09.7
06_|_00070_|_01:00.0_|_07:06.7_|_004.5_|_06.0_|_139.8_|_ 68.0% _|_11.7_|_00.8
07_|_05200_|_21:00.0_|_02:01.1_|_196.8_|_19.9_|_150.0_|_ 75.2% _|_12.5_|_09.9

Felt like stroking a bit lighter today, so the rate was closer to r20. It was a bit humid and hot, so despite starting with a really nice low HR through the first couple pieces, it started to climb and kept going in the last 2. Very easy session though.

I’m getting annoyed about how intermittent the HR monitor is at the beginning of the sessions.

Friday: Yet more Technique

May 22, 2015May 22, 2015Leave a comment

Today I was tired and sore from yesterday. I was also not all that happy with how clean my rowing was, so more technique work was on the menu.

Today, after a warmup (top quarter, pick drill and bit of steady rowing), I went right into:

500m rowing on the square
500m slow roll up
500m steady state
HR cap of 150

5/22 – Technique Day
Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0980_|_05:19_|_2:42.6_|_098___|_18.5_|_10.0_|_124___|_warmup
01000_|_0500_|_02:30_|_2:29.8_|_046___|_18.4_|_10.9_|_140___|_sq
01500_|_0500_|_02:26_|_2:26.3_|_045___|_18.5_|_11.1_|_143___|_sr
02000_|_0500_|_02:23_|_2:23.3_|_044___|_18.4_|_11.4_|_146___|_ss
02500_|_0500_|_02:33_|_2:33.2_|_048___|_18.8_|_10.4_|_142___|_sq
03000_|_0500_|_02:25_|_2:25.2_|_045___|_18.6_|_11.1_|_143___|_sr
03500_|_0500_|_02:26_|_2:26.1_|_045___|_18.5_|_11.1_|_140___|_ss with turn
04000_|_0500_|_02:37_|_2:37.0_|_049___|_18.7_|_10.2_|_142___|_sq
04500_|_0500_|_02:29_|_2:29.4_|_045___|_18.1_|_11.1_|_139___|_sr
05000_|_0500_|_02:24_|_2:24.1_|_046___|_19.2_|_10.9_|_149___|_ss
05500_|_0500_|_02:37_|_2:36.8_|_048___|_18.4_|_10.4_|_141___|_sq
06000_|_0500_|_02:28_|_2:27.8_|_045___|_18.3_|_11.1_|_144___|_sr
06500_|_0500_|_02:28_|_2:28.2_|_045___|_18.2_|_11.1_|_137___|_ss with turn
07000_|_0500_|_02:33_|_2:33.0_|_048___|_18.8_|_10.4_|_143___|_sq
07500_|_0500_|_02:28_|_2:28.1_|_046___|_18.6_|_10.9_|_143___|_sr
08000_|_0500_|_02:24_|_2:23.6_|_045___|_18.8_|_11.1_|_148___|_ss
08500_|_0500_|_02:39_|_2:39.4_|_052___|_19.6_|_09.6_|_142___|_sq
09000_|_0500_|_02:25_|_2:24.8_|_046___|_19.1_|_10.9_|_146___|_sr
09500_|_0500_|_02:25_|_2:25.4_|_046___|_19.0_|_10.9_|_140___|_ss with turn
10000_|_0500_|_02:35_|_2:34.9_|_052___|_20.1_|_09.6_|_141___|_sq
10500_|_0500_|_02:24_|_2:24.0_|_047___|_19.6_|_10.6_|_144___|_sr
11000_|_0500_|_02:25_|_2:25.5_|_050___|_20.6_|_10.0_|_149___|_ss
11500_|_0500_|_02:34_|_2:33.7_|_051___|_19.9_|_09.8_|_145___|_sq
12000_|_0500_|_02:26_|_2:26.0_|_049___|_20.1_|_10.2_|_145___|_sr
12500_|_0500_|_02:21_|_2:21.1_|_051___|_21.7_|_09.8_|_153___|_ss with cut
13000_|_0800_|_04:16_|_2:39.9_|_084___|_19.7_|_09.5_|_135___|_c

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00980_|_05:19_|_2:42.6_|_098___|_18.5_|_10.0_|_124___|_warmup
04000_|_19:17_|_2:24.7_|_372___|_19.3_|_10.8_|_145___|_Steady State
04000_|_20:38_|_2:34.7_|_394___|_19.1_|_10.2_|_142___|_square blades
04000_|_19:32_|_2:26.5_|_368___|_18.8_|_10.9_|_143___|_slow roll up
00800_|_04:16_|_2:39.9_|_084___|_19.7_|_09.5_|_135___|_cool down
13780_|_09:01_|_2:30.3_|_1316__|_19.1_|_10.5_|_142___|_Total

It is good that my pace delta between steady state and slow roll ups is now quite small. When I am doing this session, I like to have the RIM display of the acceleration curve up. I can see from stroke to stroke how clean my finishes are, and I can also see how smooth my acceleration from catch into the drive is. It’s amazing to see when I get a stroke right. Get full compression with my knees a little bit apart, hit the catch just right, and sequence my legs and back correctly, have a nice straight back. I can see the acceleration curve looks beautiful and then I see the pace on the speedcoach magically drop by about 5 seconds. It is just incredibly tantalizing. If I could hit every stroke like that, I’d be a lot faster!

Wednesday: More Technique Work

May 22, 2015May 22, 2015Leave a comment

Lovely morning. Still not in the mood to row hard. So, more technique rowing. Mostly just rowing at r18 to 20 and trying to finish very cleanly. I am trying to remember the advice from “Sculling in a Nutshell” at the finish. The author suggests that you think of the arm motion at the finish like the way you use your arms to hoist yourself out of a pool. Basically, keep steady outward pressure while you push your hands down. This maintains the stability of your upper body. I was also trying to keep proper posture in mind throughout, but I would catch myself slouching. I feel like I should row in some kind of a brace to keep my back straight as a drill sometime.

Look a lot like Tuesday’s session!

5/20 – steady state
Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0780_|_04:17_|_2:44.7_|_074___|_17.3_|_10.5_|_125___|_warmup
00800_|_2220_|_10:44_|_2:25.1_|_204___|_19.0_|_10.9_|_149___|_downriver
03020_|_0080_|_00:31_|_3:12.5_|_007___|_13.6_|_11.4_|_137___|_chat with Bruce
03100_|_0700_|_03:18_|_2:21.4_|_065___|_19.7_|_10.8_|_146___|_rest of the way to the dam
03800_|_0060_|_00:26_|_3:37.5_|_006___|_13.8_|_10.0_|_110___|_turn around
03860_|_2940_|_14:24_|_2:27.0_|_273___|_19.0_|_10.8_|_151___|_back up to cove
06800_|_0060_|_00:41_|_5:39.2_|_008___|_11.8_|_07.5_|_116___|_turn around
06860_|_2900_|_14:12_|_2:26.9_|_274___|_19.3_|_10.6_|_152___|_back down to dam
09760_|_0040_|_00:18_|_3:48.8_|_004___|_13.1_|_10.0_|_119___|_turn around
09800_|_2880_|_14:05_|_2:26.6_|_271___|_19.3_|_10.6_|_152___|_back to cut
12680_|_1240_|_06:22_|_2:34.0_|_125___|_19.6_|_09.9_|_151___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00780_|_04:17_|_2:44.7_|_074___|_17.3_|_10.5_|_125___|_warmup
11640_|_56:43_|_2:26.2_|_1087___|_19.2_|_10.7_|_151___|_Main set
00240_|_01:56_|_4:01.5_|_025___|_12.9_|_09.6_|_121___|_rest meters
01240_|_06:22_|_2:34.0_|_125___|_19.6_|_09.9_|_151___|_cool down
13900_|_09:18_|_2:29.6_|_1311___|_18.9_|_10.6_|_149___|_Total

Tuesday: Steady State

May 22, 2015May 22, 20151 Comment

Sunday and Monday: No rowing. I was at Yale attending my son’s graduation. I’m very proud of him. He finished his bachelor’s and master degree in four years and made Phi Beta Kappa doing it. I can only assume that he got his brains from his mother.

Tuesday, I was back on the river but feeling a bit under motivated. I decided to take a step back from hard core sessions and focus on technique for a few sessions. Today, I basically rowed the whole session doing slow roll ups.

5/19 – steady state
Start_|_Dist_|_Split_|_Pace_|_Strks__|_Rate_|_DPS_|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00020_|_0800_|_04:05_|_2:32.9_|_074___|_18.2_|_10.8_|_128___|_w
00820_|_3000_|_14:26_|_2:24.3_|_271___|_18.8_|_11.1_|_142___|_tail wind
03820_|_0080_|_00:35_|_3:41.9_|_008___|_13.5_|_10.0_|_113___|_turn around
03900_|_0660_|_03:18_|_2:29.8_|_061___|_18.5_|_10.8_|_134___|_head wind
04560_|_0040_|_00:14_|_2:56.3_|_005___|_21.3_|_08.0_|_134___|_steering issue
04600_|_2200_|_11:05_|_2:31.1_|_210___|_19.0_|_10.5_|_145___|_head wind
06800_|_0100_|_00:46_|_3:47.5_|_011___|_14.5_|_09.1_|_117___|_turn around
06900_|_1960_|_09:28_|_2:24.8_|_178___|_18.8_|_11.0_|_148___|_tail wind
08860_|_0040_|_00:14_|_2:53.8_|_003___|_12.9_|_13.3_|_152___|_damn kayak
08900_|_0840_|_04:00_|_2:22.7_|_078___|_19.5_|_10.8_|_153___|_tail wind
09740_|_0040_|_00:19_|_3:52.5_|_004___|_12.9_|_10.0_|_111___|_turn around
09780_|_3100_|_15:34_|_2:30.6_|_301___|_19.3_|_10.3_|_152___|_head wind
12880_|_1040_|_05:32_|_2:39.7_|_106___|_19.1_|_09.8_|_143___|_cool down

Dist__|_Time__|_Pace___|_Strks_|_SPM__|_DPS__|_AvgHR_|_Remarks
00800_|_04:05_|_2:32.9_|_074___|_18.2_|_10.8_|_128___|_warmup
11760_|_57:49_|_2:27.5_|_1099___|_19.0_|_10.7_|_146___|_Main set
00300_|_02:08_|_3:32.7_|_031___|_14.6_|_09.7_|_121___|_rest meters
01040_|_05:32_|_2:39.7_|_106___|_19.1_|_09.8_|_143___|_cool down
13900_|_09:34_|_2:30.1_|_1310___|_18.8_|_10.6_|_144___|_Total

Aside from being cut off by a kayak, it was basically uneventful. It is very difficult to stay focused on technique every stroke, but I think I am starting to make some progress.

Quantified Rowing

Measure – Adjust – Improve

Tag: steady state