June 2016

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Jun 13 2016

Friday – 8×15 strokes – speed work

First time I did a stroke based workout in CrewNerd. This workout idea came from our club’s official Masters rowers training plan. I don’t follow that plan, which is assuming 4 sessions/week, but I receive it in my Inbox and sometimes pick an interesting looking session from it.

This was 6-8x 15 strokes at 38 spm, 2-3 minutes rest between sets. Two sets from standing start. A race prep session.

http://rowsandall.com/rowers/workout/315

 

Workout Data

Rower:  Sander Roosendaal
Name:   8x15 strokes/2min
Date:   10 juni 2016
Time:   16:03
Distance:   10248m
Duration:   00:57:12.0
Type:   water
Weight Category:    lwt
Workout Summary

Workout Summary - media/20160610-193012-2016-06-10-1702.CSV
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|07674|40:04.0|01:55.3|33.5|148.8|169.1|08.6
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|02280| 13:09 |02:52.9|19.6|135.0|164.0|08.9
02|00111| 00:23 |01:46.5|38.1|131.0|163.0|07.4
03|00113| 00:22 |01:38.0|40.5|156.0|171.0|07.5
04|00121| 00:24 |01:40.3|37.2|165.0|173.0|08.1
05|00113| 00:23 |01:44.7|38.0|144.0|166.0|07.5
06|00121| 00:24 |01:40.7|36.9|160.0|173.0|08.1
07|00117| 00:24 |01:43.9|37.0|161.0|174.0|07.8
08|00107| 00:23 |01:48.9|38.6|150.0|169.0|07.1
09|00098| 00:23 |02:01.1|38.0|143.0|167.0|06.5
10|02579| 14:37 |02:49.5|21.8|147.0|168.0|08.1
11|00250| 00:52 |01:44.3|36.8|154.0|176.0|07.8
12|01664| 08:20 |02:30.2|20.0|140.0|165.0|10.0

I really went up high in spm and tried to achieve a good pace. The first 6 intervals were in tailwind. The two final one in headwind. Some steering was required around sailing boats and swimmers.

At the end of the workout I added a 250m full speed from a standing start. Just for fun.

 

 

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Jun 9 2016

Hill / Random / Heart Rate / Manual

Wednesday – traveled to Brussels.

Going through the Vienna train station I noticed there was a wifi network called “refugees”. It’s easy to be cynical about it. But it shows how important access to information is nowadays, for everybody.

At Vienna airport I saw a Boeing 787 Dreamliner from Ethiopian Airlines. It was a nice sight between all the Austrian Airbuses and Fokkers.

This morning, I found my regular hotel’s fitness room completely revamped. Wow!

  1. The cycling machines were now wall-facing. Apparently pedalists were staring too much at the other users of the fitness room. 🙁
  2. The water fountain had been moved by 1.5 meters to the left and around the corner.

The LifeFitness equipment still offered the usual menu:

  1. Hill
  2. Random
  3. Heart Rate
  4. Manual

I usually choose Random but today I felt adventurous, so I did treadmill on Hill, elliptical on Manual / Intervals and the cycling on Manual / Watts. It was a completely new experience! Still the same old track/hill/map/bar chart choice though:

Ergometer Physics

On the train and during the flight, I have been playing a bit with my physics of rowing toybox. I never really looked at the erg model, so when a discussion was stimulated recently on rec.sport.rowing about the part of the power that is not captured by the PM, I started improving my erg model.

As a result, I have two erg models now. Both have their weaknesses, but they seem to agree on the important bit.

figure_1-16 figure_1-18

I apologize for the color inconsistency between the two graphs (this was done on an airplane!) and clearly there is a lot to improve, but here are the topics of discussion.

  • During the drive (first 0.8 seconds of this graph), leg power is used to accelerate the rower’s body and to accelerate the flywheel. The acceleration of the flywheel is done by the force on the handle. That is the red curve in both graphs.
  • Half way during the drive, the rower’s body starts to slow down. There has to be a negative force on the rower’s body. There are two sources of this, one is the handle force and the other is the leg force. By pushing less hard on the legs and starting to swing the back, the rower slows down. In the top graph, you can see “leg power” go negative. This is where the rower is actually hanging/pulling in the footstretcher in order to stop. If he had rown strapless, he would shoot off the slide.
  • During the recovery, the rower has to accelerate, then break. One is a positive power (force and velocity have the same direction), the other negative.

The discussion is about how to count these negative lobes. Clearly, they are not measured on the PM. The human leg is not a spring, so you cannot store energy for reuse during the drive, so this negative power has to be accounted somehow. In my model, I just take the absolute value of this power and add it to the total power balance.

It is also clear that the bulk of this extra power is generated during the recovery. During the drive phase, a large part of the kinetic energy in the rower’s body can be transferred to the handle effectively.

Don’t catch me on the numbers and exact shapes of the graphs. It was really toying around trying to explain the principles.

 

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20160607-200948-2016-06-07-1750

Jun 7 2016

Tuesday – 8x500m in the single

Last time I did this (on the water) was in July 2015. Then, I averaged 1:59.3 for pace at 28.5 spm. The training plan prescribed shorter sprint intervals, but I thought it would be interesting to do this standard row as a benchmark.

Today I arrived at the lake after another really busy day at work. We have a VP over from the US so lots of time spent in preparing presentations, then waiting for the vice president to arrive, presenting, etc.

When I launched, the lake was calm, but there was a southeast wind that gained strength during the row. This was a head/cross wind in intervals 1,2, 5 and 6 and a tailwind in intervals 3, 4, 7 and 8.

I tried to focus on technique and hold 30spm, irrespective of pace. I did the 500s like this:

  • 10 strokes focus on “soft catch”
  • 10 strokes focus on strong finish
  • 10 strokes focus on the recovery (not too fast, not too slow, reach far enough)
  • repeat

Interactive plot here: http://rowsandall.com/rowers/workout/306/interactiveplot

Workout Summary - 2016-06-07-1750.CSV
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|09654|45:17.0|02:03.7|28.3|163.5|175.7|09.1
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|02854| 14:42 |02:34.6|19.8|140.0|164.0|09.8 - WU
02|00500| 01:55 |01:55.1|30.7|164.0|180.0|08.5 - headwind
03|00500| 01:59 |01:59.8|30.0|168.0|179.0|08.3
04|00500| 01:54 |01:54.2|30.5|170.0|180.0|08.6 - tailwind
05|00500| 01:58 |01:58.7|29.8|172.0|179.0|08.5
06|00500| 01:59 |01:59.5|30.6|166.0|179.0|08.2 - headwind
07|00500| 02:03 |02:03.7|30.6|171.0|180.0|07.9
08|00500| 01:55 |01:55.5|29.1|169.0|178.0|08.9 - tailwind
09|00500| 01:53 |01:53.0|32.4|171.0|181.0|08.2
10|02800| 14:59 |02:40.6|19.8|144.0|157.0|09.5 - CD

The first and fifth interval were from a standing start. The last interval was an attempt to empty the tanks by rowing the first 30 strokes at the usual 30spm, then increasing to 34spm.

Looks like a 1:58 average over the 500s to me, at a stroke rate of 30spm average. So not much better, not much worse than last year. Actually, my average heart rate seems to be higher. Not sure how happy I am with this benchmark.

Tomorrow: Flying to Brussels & rest day.

Thursday: Hotel gym

Friday: steady state

Saturday:  Race heats or start practice

Sunday: Races (2km in single & eight)

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20160606-204144-sled_2016-06-06T19-23-15ZGMT+2.strokes

Jun 7 2016

Monday – steady state

There is a lot going on at work so I couldn’t leave early and row on the lake. Couldn’t row in the morning and arrive late either. So in the evening I just sat down for an uninspired steady state row on the erg.

To force myself to row at least for an hour, I dialed up a 14k. On the erg, I have a strong preference for distance based rows.

To make it more interesting, I did a 10 stroke push every 1000m, at varying stroke rates. That generated this beautiful plot:

Average pace was very slow. Over 2:08, including the “warming up” and “cooling down” 2k on the beginning and end of the row. Total time was 60:00.3. Damn. I rowed 0.3 seconds more than I wanted!

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IMG_1867

Jun 5 2016

PrimĂĄtorky race report – disappointed

PrimĂĄtorky races. Eights and singles in the heart of Prague, on the Moldau river. The culmination of the season for many Czech Masters teams.

As you have been able to read here, also the Masters men of CVK Brno put in a few trainings on the eight, to defend their series of 4 subsequent wins on this race. Last year I didn’t take part because of back issues, but this year I would be rowing on 2 seat.

We left Brno on Saturday morning. A comfortable 2.5 hour train ride brought us to Prague. The race would only be at 7pm, so time enough for a nice lunch with Romana and some race watching.

IMG_1851
Spectators on the Moldau bank near the finish line. Prague Castle in the background

 

IMG_1853
View from the grandstand towards the famous “Railway Bridge”

After watching a few races from the grandstand, I moved to the Railway Bridge to take pictures of our Men’s Eight (the young men) in their heat.

 

IMG_1857
View of the finish area from the Railway Bridge

Prague is a great place to race. Here is the first men’s eight heat approaching the railway bridge.

IMG_1864

IMG_1867

The Brno Men:

cvkbrno_rotated

After the men rowed their heats and the repechage, the Wintech eight was ours for our Men’s Masters B final. We had time enough to launch early and used that time to sharpen our skills. After all, we hadn’t had so many trainings together. We rowed a good 7 km with 10 stroke pieces at different stroke rates and a few practice starts.

We were ready to roll and it was time for our start. Four boats started to align at the 1000m mark.

Lane 1: Brno (that’s us)

Lane 2: Piestany (they came all the way from Slovakia)

Lane 3: Neratovice

Lane 4: Blesk

A year ago our boat beat blesk by a tiny margin.

While we were aligning for the start, this guy came steaming up the river from the finish:

Right next to us, at the start line, it started to turn.

It turned. Then its engines roared as it started to make speed to return to the finish. Right next to us. The bowman and I were trying to keep our boat in the right direction.

Suddenly I noticed that the other boats had started. We did a panicky improvised start and started chasing them, right through the wake of that big river boat. The water seemed to have reached the boiling point. Whirls everywhere, waves, and the roaring sound of a fifty year old diesel engine.

After about 10 strokes our cox had to pull sharply to the left to avoid bumping into the giant. A few strokes later we started clashing blades with Piestany, but we quickly rowed through them. Adrenalin fountains were spouting from our ears. Stunned tourists on the deck of the river steamer saw us steam past them. Our stroke rate was 39 spm.

Two hundred meters into the race Blesk’s lead had shrunk from a boat and a half to a boat length. Our cox was shouting orders and we were reducing the gap by every stroke. They rowed over on the other side of the river and I was just focusing being in sync with our stroke, who was doing a fiery 37spm.

In that part of the race I was confident. We were rowing into Blesk so fast that I estimated we would be next to them by the time we rowed under the railway bridge, and then would be able to pass them in the final 300m.

By the railway bridge I had them in my peripheral vision. Thirty strokes to go. We were over 40spm by now and we were still moving but not as fast as I liked. That was clearly the feeling in our entire crew because everybody started to pull harder and harder. The problem was that everybody was pulling for himself and as we hit an area with very bad water because of the concrete banks, we started to lose balance and hit a few bad strokes, which cost us the win.

Immediately after the finish our stroke and our cox raised their arms and summoned the marshalls to listen to our complaint. At first he thought we were complaining about the clashing blades, but when we explained him the situation at the start, he started to understand. He acknowledged that conditions at the start had been far from ideal and even proceeded to say that the should have stopped the race after a few strokes.

His launch disappeared to the bank to discuss with the finish line officials. The Blesk boat and us were waiting impatiently.

After about 20 minutes of waiting, they finally seemed to have a verdict. The marshall’s boat came to the Blesk boat and started talking to them. We couldn’t hear what they were saying but it was clear that Blesk wasn’t pleased. Then the Marshall communicated the verdict to the speaker, who announced:

“The Masters B is declared undecided because of unfair conditions for Brno at the start. The two first boats will re-row the race at 19:40 to decide the winner. If one of the boats, or both, do not show at 19:40, they will be automatically put in last place in the results.”

After this announcement, Blesk rowed away proclaiming that they wouldn’t re-row. Our boat needed another five minutes to calm down. At that moment, I was ready to row to the start and race again, but some of us were fiercely against it.

All was decided when our stroke got cramp in his legs. We returned to the Blesk rowing club, only 7 rowers rowing, stroke seat bent over his oar and holding his leg.

At Blesk we went to see the Blesk crew to explain our point of view. Apparently they had calmed down as well, because they invited us with a big smile, exclaiming: “What did you think complaining against a crew from the organizing club?”

We explained that they rowed well and were not to blame, but that the conditions at our start were clearly unfair. Anyway, there wouldn’t be a re-row. One 1000m row was clearly more than enough for some of us (and some of them as well).

Our times of 2:54 and 2:54.4 were the two fastest of all the Masters races by more than five seconds.

HR and pace plot of the warming up row and race. No stroke rate data because I didn’t take the phone on board.

So of course I am disappointed by the result. On the one hand, I am sad we didn’t do a re-row. That would have been a nice story and a nice thing to do for the spectators, whoever would win it. On the other hand, I must acknowledge that I have crew members who cannot do 2 1000m efforts in series. Especially when done at 37 to 41 spm. Also, we clearly should have rowed better in the final 300m, instead of just everyone pulling hard without coordination.

Romana, the girls and I took the 9pm train from Prague to Pardubice, where we spent the night. Today was basically getting home, taking the train from Pardubice to Brno, then some groceries and now I am firing up the barbecue. My training of today consisted of a bike ride to the supermarket.

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figure_1-1

Jun 3 2016

Technique & Steady State

Worked from home today. By 4pm we all headed to the lake. In the morning it was damp and humid, gray weather but after lunch it cleared up.

With the races tomorrow, I was conscious not to hit any higher heart rates. So I just rowed and rowed. And rowed. And rowed. Twenty strokes per minute in the single:

Click here for a nice interactive plot of my row

Around 2:20 pace in the light tailwind, 2:30 pace in headwind.

I have been playing a bit with my rowing physics model today. Trying to get the calculation of corresponding ergometer power right. I am not there yet. Here is a plot of what I am trying to achieve:figure_1-1

Looking at my heart rate and how the row “feels”, I would say I was rowing at a pace that on the static ergometer is somewhere around 2:00 – 2:02. My calculations give me something between 1:55 and 2:00. I don’t know about you, but for me the difference between 2:00 and 1:55 is huge. And rowing at 1:58 on the erg, I definitely achieve higher heart rates. Being an experimental physicist by education, I have no ego problems admitting that I am in the stage where theory and experiment don’t match.

(The other explanation would be that I am a superior rower and lousy on the erg.)

Bill Atkinson has, very timely, started the discussion about internal energy dissipation in rowers on rec.sport.rowing. Also today, I received an email from Marinus van Holst mentioning that in anticipation of the Olympics, the Nederlandse Natuurkundige Vereniging (Dutch Physics Society) has devoted the June issue of its Tijdschrift voor de Natuurkunde (Dutch Journal of Physics) to Physics and Sports. Of course, being Dutch, they focus on swimming and speed skating, but still this was interesting enough to order a copy. (I am a member of this society but living abroad I don’t get the journal.)

I am very excited about this. Ultimately, when I have sorted the physics and found something that I understand and is correlating well between my humble OTW and OTE results, I want to offer the erg to water power calculations to the members who register on rowsandall.com.

Racing tomorrow. It’s not exactly Oxford vs Cambridge, but it’s the fourth year in a row of Piestany vs Brno vs Neratovice Masters Eights on the Moldau (Vltava) river in Prague. Sixteen Masters rowers will be disappointed. Eight Masters rowers will feel they own the universe. 🙂

 

 

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Jun 2 2016

2x30min on the erg. CTC or not?

In the morning I dropped the car off for a check (and probably renewal) of its shock absorbers, as well as the bi-annual technical test. Plus oil and filters.

They were supposed to call me. In the evening I realized they hadn’t. Need to check tomorrow. I hope it’s not more expensive than they told me and they are afraid to tell me. :-/

Anyway, without a car, the lake is a bit too far. So I did an erg session at home. First, a gentle 5 minutes warming up. Then a 2x30min with 3 minutes rest. The first one nice and gentle as well, the second one at 24spm average and a bit more fierce. Not as fierce as I wanted, but still. I managed 7705m.

This was not exactly what my training plan prescribed, unless you call this extensive steady state. This month’s CTC is not entirely clear to me. At the Free Spirits Forum, it is described as 30 minutes at 24 spm (maximum average). On the CTC site, it says: “Row for 30 minutes at a stroke rate of 24spm or lower.” I am not sure if my row fits the bill. The average was 24spm or lower, but I counted strokes and knew I could go up to 29spm in the final minutes. I did start the second interval from a standing flywheel, even though that condition is nowhere mentioned.

I hope it is a valid attempt, because with all the rowing on water, it will be hard to fit a second attempt into the month.

The cooling down was a 2000m which I managed in 9:00.0 minutes exactly.

IMG_0909

I am proud to say that I uploaded it to my website rowsandall.com where it transferred correctly:

http://rowsandall.com/rowers/workout/268

By the way, here is the interactive plot of the 2x30min:

http://rowsandall.com/rowers/workout/267/interactiveplot

Also, all this syncs nicely to the Concept2 logbook:

Capture

If you also want this functionality, just register at rowsandall.com.

There are still a few glitches that need ironing out, but we are slowly getting to the point where the interactions start to be smooth.

 

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