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20160520-163232-sled_2016-05-20T15-01-25ZGMT+2.strokes.csv

May 20 2016

Good old erg and good old Pete Plan Waterfall … and a stomach full of rice

The lake is a no go area today because of the youth (“Olympic Hopes”) regatta. Somehow I didn’t mind. I had enough work to do and some errands around the house, so I worked from home and squeezed the workout in after lunch.

For lunch I went to our neighborhood Thai, combining that with some shopping. Our Thai guy had an excellent dish with rice, duck, and lots of vegetables. Delicious. Had a beer with that. Then two coffees, and about an hour after lunch I started my workout.

Pete Plan Waterfall. Good old erg again.

3km, 2.5km, 2km, with 5 minutes of rest between the intervals. My all time record is 1:51 pace (on sliders). Last time I did this workout, in February, I managed 1:52.0, so that’s what I set off at. I decided to negative split each interval, allowing myself 1:53 pace for the first 4/10ths of the workout, then accelerating from 1800m, 1500m, and 1200m to go.

Focusing on length and good posture at the finish. When I become sloppy, it feels like harder work to keep the pace in the right ballpark.

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Hard but doable, is the verdict.

But the rice in my stomach was a bit of a problem.

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pazdi

May 19 2016

Good sprintervals in the eight, and a few words about coxing

We had a very good outing in the eight. The head coach accompanied us during the training and made us do a 4km long warming up, including technical drills. This really made the boat come together. After that it was time for the 15 stroke on / 10 stroke off training (2x3km).

Timing is everything. When we had the timing right, there were hints of boat speed. 🙂

 

The first 30 minutes were warming up. I had the feeling we were doing higher rates than the 32spm that the plot shows. Still, I felt surprisingly comfortable on stroke side (not my preferred side), and the coach’s instructions were good and helpful. The rowing stroke is subtly different than the sculling stroke. Actually, for a sculler it feels as much less subtle but I guess there are different subtleties. One of the things I need to pay attention to (even more than in sculling) is to first push on the legs and then use the back swing to help the arms. Otherwise, the blades pop out of the water, the boat stops accelerating, and suddenly everything become much more difficult.

We had a new cox, the son of one of the rowers. I think he will be good at it, but of course today he made the classical beginner’s mistakes. Too much steering (oversteering) and not enough talking. Can’t blame him. It must be scary for a 16 year old to be suddenly in charge of 8 old men. Here’s the result:

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If you think that’s not so bad, compare it with my trajectory in the single:

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As said, he will eventually learn it. 🙂

Tomorrow a long racing weekend will start. First, on Friday, there is the CEFTA, or the “Rowing Regatta of the Olympic Hopes” as it is called with a beautiful English name. This regatta is for 15 and 16 year olds, from former Communist Eastern European countries only. The regatta used to be organized under communism, and after the fall of the iron curtain it just continued under  a different name. The location is different every year, but this year it will be in Brno.

Then on Saturday and Sunday there is the Brno International Youth Regatta, an annual event on our lake for rowers in the 15/16 and 17/18 year old categories. My daughter Lenka will row in a quad.

So while we were out on the water about three trailers, two clubs from Prague and a trailer from Poland (I believe) arrived and the club was busy with youth. Also the lake was full of young rowing teams. Nice atmosphere.

In other news, I received an email from David at Concept2. He will check what I am sending to the Concept2 Development logbook server and when he finds it ok, we will migrate rowsandall.com to the real thing! Exciting!

He also lifted the data limitation on the Concept2 logbook server, so we can now upload each and every stroke, up to 9 hours of rowing. Exciting. It will be a challenge to do a row which exceeds the Concept2 data limit!

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May 18 2016

Rate Ladders in the Single

I arrived at the lake early, and saw mirror flat water. Of course I launched at the usual after-school training time for all the juniors, so the lake was buzzing with shells and coach launches. The launches create waves which reflect off the shores, which makes for interesting, long standing waves. That’s different than rowing in chop. These buggers throw your single to the left, then to the right, then up, down, and back again.

I did a 2k warming up and then rate ladders. Four times 2/2/2/3/2/1 minutes in stroke rate 18/20/22/20/22/24. A very nice series. A bit shorter than one lake. One minute to turn on the lower end of the lake. A little longer on the long end, because I had this pre-programmed as 2x(2/2/2/3/2/1)/R1 in CrewNerd, and after one double lake I had to repeat the workout, which gave me some time to drink a bit.

My workout as hosted on rowsandall.com. Picture created from uploaded TCX file.

I have to market my own new site rowsandall.com a bit. The picture above was made fully automatically through that site and hosted there. It also can upload the row to the Concept2 (development) logbook, from which you can also import workouts. Here are the workout stats (note that the notion head/tailwind is very weak, there was hardly any wind today):
Workout Summary - 2016-05-18-1607.CSV
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|14252|68:29.0|02:19.7|21.0|151.4|157.2|10.2
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|01968| 09:59 |02:31.9|19.3|133.0|162.0|10.2 - warming up
02|00416| 02:00 |02:24.3|18.5|131.0|142.0|11.2 - headwind
03|00431| 02:00 |02:19.3|20.0|143.0|147.0|10.8
04|00422| 02:00 |02:22.2|22.0|147.0|153.0|09.6
05|00641| 03:00 |02:20.4|20.3|152.0|154.0|10.5
06|00441| 02:00 |02:15.9|22.0|155.0|161.0|10.0
07|00227| 01:00 |02:11.7|24.0|162.0|164.0|09.5
08|00411| 02:00 |02:26.2|19.0|138.0|147.0|10.8 - tailwind
09|00429| 02:00 |02:20.1|20.0|148.0|155.0|10.7
10|00443| 02:00 |02:15.6|21.5|156.0|160.0|10.3
11|00644| 03:00 |02:19.8|19.7|153.0|160.0|10.9
12|00452| 02:00 |02:12.6|22.5|158.0|164.0|10.0
13|00238| 01:00 |02:06.3|24.0|166.0|168.0|09.9
14|00398| 02:00 |02:30.8|18.5|140.0|147.0|10.8 - headwind
15|00424| 02:00 |02:21.7|21.0|154.0|159.0|10.1
16|00436| 02:00 |02:17.7|22.5|161.0|165.0|09.7
17|00634| 03:00 |02:22.1|20.7|160.0|164.0|10.2
18|00435| 02:00 |02:18.0|22.5|162.0|165.0|09.7
19|00224| 01:00 |02:13.6|24.0|164.0|165.0|09.3
20|00404| 02:00 |02:28.4|19.5|141.0|144.0|10.4 - tailwind
21|00420| 02:00 |02:23.1|20.0|149.0|153.0|10.5
22|00443| 02:00 |02:15.6|21.0|155.0|159.0|10.5
23|00638| 03:00 |02:21.1|19.3|153.0|159.0|11.0
24|00440| 02:00 |02:16.6|22.0|156.0|160.0|10.0
25|00231| 01:00 |02:10.2|24.0|161.0|165.0|09.6
26|01962| 10:30 |02:37.2|19.3|139.0|145.0|09.9 - cooling down

These one are from the desktop version of the same tool, but this can be added to the website. Also, I am thinking of adding my “patented” power calculations. One function that I am thinking of is calculating pace and power to “erg equivalent pace” for OTW workouts. I think that would be useful for comparison.

Here is the second plot from the desktop tool. I find it interesting to see how the meters/stroke dip every time I change rate.

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And finally, the pie chart.

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Tomorrow a high rate interval workout in the eight.

 

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May 17 2016

Busy Days

Monday

Busy days. Self-inflicted busy of course. Still, so busy that I had difficulty arriving at out Masters Eight practice on time, on Monday evening. We will race the Masters 8+ in the first weekend of June, and our result of last weekend shows that there is a lot of work to do, so I really had no excuse. It’s just that my solo rowing makes me very flexible, and I now have to get used again to fixed starting times for team sessions.

We have won that particular race three times in a row, but this year will be difficult. We have a couple of Masters who did less than the ideal amount of training work during the winter. To put it mildly. There’s also rumor of a couple of good Masters putting together a composite eight with all the Masters. I was indirectly approached but I refused immediately and I don’t know the details. One of the requirements seems to be that you have to be on Facebook, because that is where all the team formation happens. Anyway, even though we have some challenges, I prefer to row in a club eight.

The observant viewer could have spotted two of our eights on the lake simultaneously, because the Men’s eight have started practicing as well. And there were some observant viewers, because a couple of members of “the other club” on our lake were busy putting out the Albano lanes for coming weekend’s international Youth regatta. Actually, when we were turning the boat on the finish line, they couldn’t resist to comment us.

And we deserved that. We arrived at the finish line, and immediately eight Masters started to talk about what was wrong and how – in their opinion – we need to row to go faster. We are an eight without a leader. And without a coach. And with a very quiet cox. We need to change a few things.

The fact that the Men’s eight was on the water also meant that we had to row in our old, wooden eight. This boat is not good. While the upper four rowers complain that it falls on bow side, the lower four rowers complain that it falls on stroke side.

Personally, sitting in 2 seat, I had no difficulty. We did a couple of technique drills and then a lot of steady state in 22 and 24 spm. On Thursday evening, when we will do 30 seconds on / 30 seconds off, this will be a different thing. That’s the workout that can potentially ruin your back. Luckily, we will be able to take the new eight.

I have rambled for six paragraphs without a picture. That is because I rowed with the Garmin Forerunner instead of with CrewNerd and didn’t notice that the HR belt hadn’t paired with the Forerunner. So no HR data. 🙁

So here’s a picture of our boat hangar, freshly painted:

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The blue text says “Czech Rowing Club Brno – established 1912” and the best thing is that it is clearly visible from the other side of the lake: From the club house of “Lodni Sporty Brno”. The hangar doors used to be green. Now they are in blue club colors. Unfortunately some of my fellow club members spoiled the Latin numbering for the hangars and put “IIII” instead of “IV” which will probably make us the laugh of the local rowing world for a long time. We also re-numbered, so what used to be “hangar 3” (my single is there) is now “hangar IIII” (IV), because our boat workshop has been added to the numbering.

Enough complaining. I love the text and I hope it brings many new rowers to the club. I am also proud of our nice new dock (in the foreground in the picture) and in general of all the improvements we have been made in the club in the past 4 years.

Tuesday

Today I had to go out in the morning, because of my work schedule. That’s normally not a big deal but when it’s just one day after returning from Arizone (-9 hours), it’s quite tough. The session was a 4x1km with 3 minutes rest, and I thought I could row that at 29spm and a decent pace.

In April 2015, I had rowed this session in 2:01 average pace and 29.4 spm.

I had to compromise or abandon the session. It was very hard to keep the pace up. I had no energy and no motivation. I don’t know what’s better, to stop and just row, or to at least finish the workout. I opted for the latter.

Workout Summary - 2016-05-17-0754.CSV
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|06113|38:21.0|02:20.8|62.4|158.0|165.3|07.1
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
01|00130| 10:43 |03:07.6|247.7|140.0|153.0|00.6 - warming up
02|01000| 04:11 |02:05.4|28.2|168.0|175.0|08.5 - tailwind
03|01000| 04:04 |02:02.1|27.7|168.0|173.0|08.8 - tailwind
04|01000| 04:34 |02:17.4|26.0|167.0|174.0|08.4 - headwind
05|01000| 04:29 |02:14.5|26.5|168.0|173.0|08.4 - headwind
06|01983| 10:20 |02:36.3|18.5|137.0|144.0|10.4 - cooling down

Somehow the GPS didn’t kick in until the end of the warming up, so the numbers are weird and so is the SPM value. In the graphs you can really see (from the stroke rate) how I gave up and settled for a lower pace. Heart rates were pretty high for the paces I was rowing. It must be the jetlag. At least I’ve got something to blame. 🙂

Still I want to point to the start of the fourth interval where I think I was rowing technically quite well. You can see the pace shoot up compared to the previous interval, at relatively low rates. Length. It’s key for me.

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South Mountain 032

May 14 2016

Running with subordinates

Last night I mentioned I would go running on South Mountain. Petr got interested and promised to join. My former boss used to take us on these exhausting hikes, climbs, rides or other things. Maybe I am copying him. But Petr seems to be exercising regularly. I met him on my morning runs on the resort and in the fitness center, so I wasn’t too worried.

Meeting at 5am in the lobby, then a 20 minute drive to the trailhead. We saw a coyote when we drove up the parking lot. Petr wasn’t too excited to run between coyotes and rattlesnakes. He ran with me for about 1o minutes, then announced that he would go his own tempo.

Anyway, I didn’t feel too guilty and started to run the climb at full speed. It was a very nice trail but quite steep. At times it was more like a leg strength exercise than running.

I ran for about 30 minutes which brought me almost to the top of the mountain. Nice views of the sunrise over Phoenix.

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I met Petr about 10 minutes after I turned around. We took a few more pictures and ran back to the car. No more coyotes. No rattlesnakes. Just a few rabbits.

It was great to be outdoors and run on a trail. The cacti had little flowers on them. Here are the pictures from SportTracks:

southmountain South Mountain 5-14-2016, Elevation South Mountain 5-14-2016, Heart rate

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image

May 12 2016

Running on the resort

I am spending the week in Chandler, Arizona. We’ve got a tech symposium here. Hard work, sessions from 7:30am to 9pm. Breakouts that need moderation. And of course a constant stream of emails from the lab back in Europe.

Add jetlag.

The resort has a 1.25 mile running path. Yesterday I did it twice to the end and back. This morning one time, followed by a strength session in the fitness center. Here’s yesterday’s session:

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On Saturday, I plan a more intensive running session in the South Mountains. Looking forward to it.

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May 10 2016

Piestany day 2

Masters Single

Of course all my races are important, but the race I was looking forward to most was the Masters Single, on Sunday morning. They put all the Masters C nicely in one race, keeping that fast Mr Milodanevic in the “A+B” race (he’s B) and letting the older guys fight for their title in a “D+F” race.

I had won this last year, easily. But this time I would have fierce competition from Kazimir “Robocop” Nedoba. A year ago he didn’t compete because he was getting a hip implant. But he’s back in full training now. As a policeman he has a lot more time than I do to spend on the water and in the fitness center. Actually, it’s part of his job description.

On the long distance championships, where he rowed in the heavyweight category and I rowed as a lightweight, I gave him a minute over 6km. But Kazi is a sprinter and my strength is more in the longer distances. So I wasn’t so sure.

My race plan was to start fast and get in front of him. Sometimes that breaks the competition.

Five boats at the start. I was in lane 5, Kazi in lane 4. Got out of the start a little behind him. Did ten strong strokes after the start. In my head, I repeated this mantra: “Got. To. Get. In. Front. Of. Him. Got. To. Get. In. Front. Of. Him.” I managed to get half a length. Then it was time to focus on technique. I know that if I don’t do that, I get sloppy. Then I get sloppy and tired, and that’s enough to lose a race.

Luckily my focus on technique helped. By half way I was length in front of Kazi. This is the part where the trees end and the boat area starts, so I now also had the support of my family and club members from the bank.

The other three boats were far enough behind to not be threatening. At the 500m mark I started to count strokes and I managed to push back Kazi a bit more. With ten strokes to go I knew I wouldn’t lose the race. Still had to keep rowing very fast.

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Of course I was extremely happy. On the finish line, after we both just sat there breathing hard for a few minutes, Kazi commented that he now knows he has some work to do. I guess later in the season it may become even harder to beat him. This was very hard work, pretty much the max I can do in a single right now, at the beginning of the sprint season. I did a long cooling down row and then went on to prepare for the Masters 2x, just after lunch time.

I helped prepare the girls quad for their race by telling them that the girl who had won the single didn’t have three other strong girls in her quad and that they could win. Then I just took pictures and cheered while they won their final in a very nice battle.

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Here they are landing, happy with their win:

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girlquad

I also cheered for Dominik in their B final in the boys 11/12 year old 2x. They were rowing in fifth place but taking over Lodni Sporty Brno and even had a chance to get the bronze, when the Lodni Sporty boat changed course and the two Brno doubles bumped into each other.

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I guess Dominik really wasn’t lucky this weekend.

Masters 2x

We would be rowing against Kral/Milodanevic, so we knew that the best we could do was a second place. That’s not defeatist. That’s just how it is. Milodanevic won his singles race in 3:28, Kral won the “D” category in 3:48. Still, even a second place would be a good result, because my partner Radek hasn’t put in as much training as he’d have liked during the winter, and the other boats looked strong on paper as well.

Our race tactics was to see where we were out of the start and then just race the boat closest to us.

That’s exactly how the race unfolded. We were in 5th position (in a full field of 6 boats) after the start and it took us 250m to get to the fourth position, then another 150m to get to second position. By that time Kral/Milodanevic were somewhere in front, too far a way for my peripheral vision, and we were rowing next to the locals from Piestany. Actually, they were half a length in front of us. I tried a ten stroke push but they managed to defend their position. Then, roughly at 0:50 in the video below, we tried a second push and manage to get in front of them. That gave us enough energy to even push away more and come in second place. Good result.

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Mix Double

The final event of our racing weekend was the mix double with Romana. I was confident that we could win. Romana wasn’t so sure. There was a Piestany Masters B boat with a lady who had won the Masters Women’s single, and an athletic looking guy who hadn’t raced for the entire weekend.

This was a 500m sprint, so again a painful affair.

Piestany started on “Ready” while we went on “Go”. So that cost us a length which we had to get back. We managed to do. Romana is a very determined engine in the mix double. We knew it would be very painful two minutes but we put in the work and managed to get back in front. I don’t know how many times this weekend I had to get back from behind or from second position. It’s not a bad experience, actually, when you succeed.

Anyway, in front of the crowd we managed to build out our lead and we won. Fourth medal out of six starts.

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After that an hour of packing and trailer loading, then a two hour drive home, and packing my suitcase for  a trip to the US.

Spent a very long Monday getting to Phoenix, AZ, where I will spend the rest of the week on a symposium. The symposium program runs from 7:30 in the morning to 9pm in the evening, with just a one hour lunch break, so I am curious where I will find time to put in some exercise.

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