Tag: steady state

Friday: 14km steady state

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Weather:  Amazing.  60F, sunny, dry.  Light wind (head wind heading up stream)  Flat water.

There were 5 other singles out while I was rowing.  I think that’s the highest number I’ve ever seen.  It was nice to have company.

The plan:

  • The training plan called for 2×30′ mp with a HR cap below 70%HRR.  I’ve never been able to respect a 70% HR cap, ever.  So I decided 150 was OK (75%)
  • 30 minute intervals are a pain on my stubby little river, so I did 20’/15’/15’/20′

The challenge for me today was to figure out how to row with marathon power at r20 and good length.  Why is this a challenge?  Well, because that combination requires me to row with a lighter stroke than I am used to.  I tend to naturally row at a higher than mp power at r20, and that makes my HR shoot up too high.  When I try to lighten up, instead I tend to shorten up, which, in theory, reduces how efficient I am.

I pronounce the session today to be useful and productive, even though it was a pretty constant struggle.  It was an exercise in “mindful training”  I was consciously thinking about every stroke, and the speedcoach was basically grading me on every stroke.  I would finish and glance down during recovery and see stroke rate, effective length and stroke power.  And then I would adjust for the next stroke.  One of the things that I really noticed is that if I concentrated on trying to get a little more layback than I am used to doing, and kept my elbows nice and wide at the finish, I was getting about 5 extra degrees of effective length, and my finishes were cleaner.

The result of the struggle was that I ended up pushing up against the HR cap, and I was getting pretty tired.  Bearing in mind that I have a long row planned for tomorrow, I decided to focus on technique for the last 20 minutes of the row by alternating 2 minutes of r20 and 2 minutes of SBR.   This allowed me to focus on practicing strokes with more layback and getting the blades out of the water as cleanly as possible.

myimage (28)

Tomorrow:  Hopefully, a 26km open water long row

Friday: 75′ of steady state

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weather:  warm, around 70F and humid.  light wind 5-7 mph from the WSW.  This was a headwind heading up river.

Plan was 2 x 40′ / 4′ @ mp.  MP is 155 to 170W OTW.

My river is not 40 minutes long, so I did this as all the way downstream, quick turn, all the way upstream.  Then the rest, then repeat.  I could get about 36 minutes in each rep this way.  Close enough.  This was supposed to be a HR capped session at 150. I changed my mind and tried to row to a 155 cap, which worked until almost the end.

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Workout Summary - media/20170519-151239-SpdCoach 2182533 20170519 0633amo.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|13837|71:44.0|02:35.5|153.4|18.9|152.6|163.0|10.2
W-|13591|69:47.0|02:34.1|155.3|18.8|152.6|163.0|10.3
R-|00249|01:56.0|03:53.5|084.3|19.6|150.5|163.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|03991|18:55.8|02:22.3|169.7|19.0|145.8|156.0|11.1
01|02813|14:54.0|02:38.9|156.4|18.6|154.7|158.0|10.1
02|02846|13:58.8|02:27.4|153.9|18.5|153.5|158.0|11.0
03|03941|21:59.3|02:47.4|143.1|19.1|156.6|163.0|09.4

So, power was OK at the start, but by the third interval, I had to ease up to stay under the cap.  I guess that means that the 15% “OTW Slack” derating is a bout right for me.

The paces for the speedcoach impeller are still a bit slow.  Here’s the GPS pace.

Workout Summary - media/20170519-173116-87736o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|14818|75:16.0|02:32.4|000.0|18.9|0.0|000.0|10.4
W-|14558|71:20.0|02:27.0|000.0|18.8|000.0|000.0|10.8
R-|00261|03:56.0|07:32.1|000.0|17.9|000.0|000.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|04115|18:57.0|02:18.1|000.0|19.0|000.0|0.0|11.4
01|03023|15:13.8|02:31.1|000.0|18.6|000.0|0.0|10.7
02|02932|14:10.8|02:25.1|000.0|18.6|000.0|0.0|11.1
03|04488|22:59.0|02:33.6|000.0|19.0|000.0|0.0|10.3

4.2, 7.8, 2.3, and totally out of whack for the last interval.  I’m sticking with the idea that the speedcoach is reading about 4 seconds slow.

A few stroke metrics

  • power versus pace.  The bimodality is head wind versus tail wind.
  • pace and power versus distance.  Shows the slow decline in power as I slowed down for the cap and a much more precipitous drop for the pace as the headwind increased.
  • Power and effective length versus distance.  I tried hard to work on maintaining long strokes and just lighten the stroke pressure to slow down.  This was very hard to do.  you can see my stroke getting shorter at the end when I was trying to row with a long, but light stroke.

I’m off to the cape tonight.  Hopefully, the weather will be good for a long row tomorrow.

 

Cold Enough for Pogies! 90′ of steady state

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On the upper charles in my fluid.

Weather:  Cold and clear,  35F.  Light wind from the ESE.  This was a bit of a head wind coming up river.  Another absolutely stunning day.

Plan:

  • As much steady state as I had time for.  ( turned out to be nearly 90 minutes)
  • rate: 20
  • pace: ~2:30
  • HR: Capped at 155
  • Technique:  good compression, level drive, crisp finishes

screen-shot-2016-10-26-at-10-35-09-am

I got to the dock about 20 minutes earlier today than yesterday and the difference was dramatic.  It was really dark!  I could see a few lights out in the lagoon heading down river when I got my boat, but I could see the boats that they were on.

By the time I got in my boat, my eyes had adjusted enough that I could see a little bit, but I was still pretty tentative.  The river is narrow enough at the beginning that it is shaded by trees on both sides, so it is really dark in places.  As I started the turn out of the lagoon, I saw lights ahead.  One was on a four that had steering off into the weeds on the inside of the turn.  The other was a launch.  I couldn’t tell which way the launch was heading so I stopped and inspected the situation closely, then paddled through the whole situation.  After I passed those two boats, there was one more four a bit further down  the river.  I saw no more of them after that.

For today, my objectives were pretty simple.  Work on building my aerobic base by getting in lots of minutes or rowing.  And more importantly, try to work on correcting the flaws in my stroke.  In the double, I was rowing way to deep (over the barrel), and my finishes were very sloppy.  Today, I was trying to maintain an internal monologue during every stroke.  It went something like this.

(starting right after the finish)

  • Get those blades off the water, don’t be lazy, you don’t need training wheels
  • Easy up the slide.  keep it smooth
  • Don’t hunch, keep your shoulders high in to the catch
  • Reach way out there, don’t be a chicken
  • drop the blades first, then accelerate
  • keep the handles nice and low, don’t go deep
  • push hands down and away crisply.  Don’t let your hands brush your torso
  • Get those blades up.

Over and over.  Sometimes I would get focused on one part of it, especially the finishes and I would start to hunch or drag my blades, but this was some of the hardest concentration that I have done in a steady state session.

After I finished my usual 2 full laps of the river, I had time to add in another 2k or so rowing.  This part I did with slow roll ups.  I would finish, feather, and then roll to square slowly through the whole recovery.  This was a good change because it still required a lot of concentration, but was a bit of change.

Sometimes I just want to row, but right now, I really want to try to break some habits and start some new ones.  It ain’t easy.

Data from RIM.

| Tstart_ | Dist_ | Time_ | _Pace_ | SPM_ | avgHR | _DPS___ | Remarks
 | 00:00.0 | 00705 | 05:32 | 3:55.5 | 12.5 | 112.8 | 10.2 | warming up
 | 05:32.0 | 03357 | 16:19 | 2:25.8 | 19.4 | 141.1 | 10.6 | 
 | 21:51.0 | 00111 | 01:08 | 5:06.3 | 18.6 | 133.3 | 05.3 | 
 | 22:59.0 | 02803 | 13:49 | 2:27.9 | 19.9 | 149.5 | 10.2 | 
 | 36:48.0 | 00053 | 02:01 | 19:01.5| 15.7 | 120.8 | 01.7 | 
 | 38:49.0 | 02846 | 13:38 | 2:23.7 | 20.1 | 147.8 | 10.4 | 
 | 52:27.0 | 00088 | 00:59 | 5:35.2 | 18.7 | 142.3 | 04.8 | 
 | 53:26.0 | 02809 | 14:02 | 2:29.9 | 20.1 | 151.0 | 10.0 | 
 | 07:28.0 | 00103 | 01:17 | 6:13.8 | 14.9 | 134.5 | 05.4 | 
 | 08:45.0 | 01090 | 05:21 | 2:27.2 | 20.0 | 144.9 | 10.2 | 
 | 14:06.0 | 00099 | 01:18 | 6:33.9 | 20.3 | 133.2 | 03.7 | 
 | 15:24.0 | 01186 | 05:58 | 2:30.9 | 20.6 | 146.1 | 09.6 | 
 | 21:22.0 | 01120 | 05:51 | 2:36.7 | 20.8 | 146.7 | 09.2 |

| Tstart_ | Dist_ | Time_ | _Pace_ | SPM_ | avgHR | _DPS___ | Remarks
 | 00:00.0 | 00705 | 05:32 | 3:55.5 | 12.5 | 112.8 | 10.2 | warmup
 | 00:00.0 | 00454 | 06:43 | 7:23.8 | 17.4 | 131.1 | 03.9 | rests
 | 00:00.0 | 01120 | 05:51 | 2:36.7 | 20.8 | 146.7 | 09.2 | cool down
 | 00:00.0 | 14091 | 09:07 | 2:27.2 | 19.9 | 146.8 | 10.2 | main set

I always feel a little bit better when I can stick with a HR cap and still do a steady state session with the avg pace faster than 2:30.

Saturday: 16km Open Water Row

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We headed down to the cape after work on Friday and arrived around 8pm.  I’m still struggling a bit with Jet lag and I was asleep by 10pm.  I woke up around 4am, but managed to eventually get back to sleep and got up for good around 7:30.  When I got up, I looked out and it was absolutely stunning outside.  Temperature was around 55F, and there was just a little bit of wind, maybe 1-2mph.  Even better, it was nearly high tide, so launch and recovery would be easy.  I tossed my boat on top of my car and headed to the beach about 2 minutes away.

I launched and discovered that I had forgotten my seat!  Oh well, I paddled to the base of my stairs, ran up to my house, got my seat, and then I started my row.

Screen Shot 2016-10-16 at 8.28.22 AM.png

First, I headed straight up to Wellfleet harbor.  I noticed that my boat speed was pretty good (around 2:30-2:40).  Remember, I am in an Alden star.  I usually have to work pretty hard to go that fast.  Then it occurred to me that I was riding the incoming tide up the harbor.  After that, it was kind of fun to maintain the same pressure and watch the boat speed move around depending on the tidal current.

I rowed through Wellfleet harbor and around the town pier.  I rowed a way up into the old harbor.   I turned around when it started to get a bit narrow.  Then I headed south along the east shore of the harbor, turning again when I ran out of space.

Then I headed across toward the long spit that forms Wellfleet harbor.  At the north end of this is a tidal estuary called the Herring River.  I had never gone up there, so I paddled through with the tide and briefly saw a 2:20 pace when I was in the middle of the channel.

I did a big loop around and headed back south along the spit.  I rowed 2km south, and then cut across the bay.  The wind had picked up just a little and there was a cross chop that made rowing a bit more challenging.  Once I was over to Lt. Island, the water was flatter and I pushed along to the finish at the beach.

Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|16727|94:49.0|02:50.1|21.1|145.9|156.0|08.4
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|05048|28:00.0|02:46.4|20.2|139.4|147.0|08.9 - With the tide
02|05476|30:00.0|02:44.4|20.9|146.6|151.0|08.7 - harvbor & Herring River
03|05614|32:49.0|02:55.4|22.2|151.6|156.0|07.7 - Back against the tide

I felt great after the workout.  Energized and happy.  But within an hour or so, I felt pretty drained.  It was a long session.  I had trouble keeping my eyes open by 8pm and I was asleep before 10.

The featured image was the sunset on Saturday night.  It was close to low tide then.  I’m not sure the picture does justice to the incredible colors.

 

Tuesday: 2 x 30′ fitness center

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I was planning a 3 x 30′ session this morning, but I just got bored and tired and then I stopped.

  • 30′ inclined march (15% grade, 5 km/h)
  • 30′ on some weird version of an cross trainer.

I walked over to a stationary bike, and got on and started pedaling.  But my thighs hurt a bit, and I was feeling pretty unmotivated.  I decided 60 minutes was enough for today.

Now, my whole body hurts with DOMS from the puny weights I was lifting.  I imagine it will hurt even worse tomorrow.

Tomorrow:  Threshold run on the treadmill – 4 x 10′

I have a couple more meetings tomorrow and then fly out of Korea in the early evening.  I am so tired of being on the road.  I can’t wait to get home.

 

Saturday: Fitness Center Drudgery

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Well, it’s Saturday morning now.  I’ve been on the road for 5 full days and I am getting tired of it.  Yesterday was another day of customer and internal meetings and I finished off with a dinner with the guy who is responsible for sales in this region.  After that, it was back to my hotel to join a couple of conference calls.  This lasted until after 2AM.

I slept from around 3 to around 7, and then headed down the the gym.  On tap for today, another fitness center triathlon.  Today, I was determined to keep it nice and easy so that I would have no excuses in another threshold session tomorrow.

Plan:

  • 30 minutes inclined march (15% grade, 3mph)
  • 30 minutes bike (“foothills” program, level 14)
  • 30 minutes elliptical (“around the world” program, level 17)

I was working out a bit later and its pretty obvious that they turn off the AC at night because it was much cooler and dryer in the fitness center at 8am than it is at 5am.  This was reflected in much lower HR and RPE for all three chunks of the workout.

For example, both yesterday and today started with a 30′ inclined march at 15% grade and 3mph.  Yesterday, my HR at 30 minutes was 151bpm.  Today, 143 bpm.

This afternoon, I am heading to the airport for a shortish flight to Korea.  I hang out there on Sunday, and then have 3 days of internal and customer meetings before I fly out on Wednesday afternoon.  It can’t come soon enough.

Tomorrow:  I think a 20 x 2 minutes on/1 minute off interval session on the treadmill.

 

Friday: 3 x 30’Sweatfest

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I remain in Taiwan.  I’m in the city of Hsinchu, which was a pretty grimy place, but is rapidly changing into a pretty cosmopolitan, energtic place.  There is ton of public art in Taiwan, and many public buildings have sculptures outside.  The featured image is probably my favorite.  It’s a sculpture outside the Hsinchu cultural center.  To give you an idea of scale, the magnifying glass is probably about 6 feet in diameter.  You can walk right through it.

Plan:

  • 30′ Inclined march on the treadmill (15% grade, 3mph)
  • 30′ run (1% grade, 5.7mph)
  • 30′ Elliptical (“Cascades”, level 14)

That wasn’t too bad.  The time seemed to pass a bit faster today.  During the first 30 minutes I listened to the NPR Politics Podcast.  They were talking about the Vice Presidential Debate.  After that I listened to the Original Cast Album of the musical Hamilton, which was great.

My biggest issue was that my shorts got so heavy with sweat that they started falling down during my run.  I needed to hoist them up every minute or so to keep from losing the around my ankles.

My HR monitor seemed to be acting up.  Popping up to higher heart rates and then dropping back down.  In general, my HR seemed to be running a bit hot today, but in terms of RPE, the workout was solidly aerobic.  I think I will change the battery in the strap just in case that’s the problem.

Here’s a measure of the humidity.

2016-10-07-06-56-43

That’s the elliptical machine after finished using it.  And, yep, that is a genuine puddle in front of the pedal.  That is sweat that ran down my leg, through my sneaker and collected there in last 30 minutes of my workout.  I think that rates an “ewww!”

 

Wednesday: 3 x 30′ Fitness Center Triathlon

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Still in Hsinchu.  Woke up at 4am (jetlag).  Gave up trying to sleep at 5am and headed to the gym.  (pictured above)

Plan:

  • 30′ ellipitcal (“around the world” hill profile, level 17…too easy)
  • 30′ stationary bike (“classic hill profile”, basically 1′ intervals, level 18)
  • 30′ treadmill (inclined walk, 3mph, incline 11 to 12%, keeping HR just below 150)

Well, that was pretty boring.

Tomorrow:  Threshold session on treadmill.  Probably interval format.

Tuesday: 40′ Inclined March in Hsinchu

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After flying from Boston to Tokyo, waiting around for a couple hours, then flying on to Taipei and taking a car from there to Hsinchu, I arrived at my hotel around 10pm.  Roughly 21 hours of travel time.  I slept about an hour on the first flight and maybe 2 hours on the second one.  I knew I needed a full nights sleep and I didn’t trust my body’s internal clock to let that happen, so I took an ambien and was out cold for 6 hours.

I set the alarm for 4:45 so that I could get a quick workout in before I needed to head to the office at 6:30.  I was in the hotel gym at 5am, and I figure I had time for a 40 minute workout.

I decided to keep it pretty tame, so I headed to a treadmill and set the incline to 15% and the pace to 3mph, basically a fast walk.  When I’ve done this workout in the past, I end up with a HR that rises steadily through the session, today was no exception.  I slowed to 2.8mph with 5 minutes to go, and then back up to 3.2 for the last 2 minutes.

It was humid in the gym and I was very sweaty when I finished.

Tomorrow:  I have more time tomorrow morning, so I think I will do a fitness center triathlon 3 x 30′ on different machines.

Sunday: 3 x 20′ L4 w/lactate (morning)

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The rest of Saturday was a blur.  We went out shopping, and had a little dinner, then came home and I did laundry, packed and did some paperwork.  Then we watched the season premier of Saturday Night Live.  It is intriguing that it requires nothing more than to repeat exactly what Donald Trump says to effectively parody him.  But enough of that.  On to the training.

I got up around 8:30 and hopped on the erg at 9 for a steady state session

Plan:

  • Just like yesterday
  • 3 x 20′
  • 1′ rests
  • L4 format
  • target power 185
  • HR cap at 150
  • Measure lactate at the end

20:00   4813    181W 18
40:00   4894   190W 19
60:00   4861    186W 19

Basically the same session as yesterday.  I did a different sequence from 40′ to 50′ but otherwise exactly the same.  It felt harder, but the HR stats are very close.

Lactate level was 1.8mmol/l, so 0.4 higher than yesterday.  From yesterday’s results, it would be logical to increase training power a bit.  From today, it’s pretty close to the limit.  I guess I stick with ~185W for now.

For fun I compared yesterday’s session with today’s.  Looks like I had a slightly higher HR in general yesterday.

myimage10-1e.png

I am posting this from the plane.  I’m flying to Taipei and I’ll arrive Monday night local time.  I will be in Asia for through next Thursday, or about 12 days.  It’s a long trip.  I’m going to be trying to follow my training plan roughly but I am sure this is going to impact performance for the HOCR.  I think the most important things to focus on are:

  • Limit drinking
  • get enough sleep
  • avoid getting sick
  • maintain aerobic base.