Rowsandall

Dec 14 2016

Getting rows on Strava

Two days ago, I intercepted a question on Greg Smith’s blog Quantified Rowing. It turns out someone was looking for a way to convert ErgData CSV files to TCX or FIT, in order to upload his workouts to Strava, had found my rowingdata Python package, and had trouble installing.

I pointed him to rowsandall.com, the website that is running rowingdata as one of its elements and is able to import your C2 logbook rows and share them with Strava, without you having to install anything.

The next day I received a thank-you email from Joakim, the happy user. Also, he had been kind enough to write a positive review on his personal blog. And I was even more happier with Joakim’s remarks that the site works well for visually impaired people like he, using a web reader. Wow! I must confess that I haven’t taken access for the visually impaired in mind when I developed the site.

Tuesday’s row was a 18km of Steady State. I rowed it as 6km/5km/4km/3km at 18/19/20/21 spm.

Workout Summary - media/20161213-204248-20161213-2030100o.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|18278|75:56.0|02:04.6|186.0|19.8|158.4|171.0|12.1 W-|17250|70:18.0|02:02.3|190.8|19.9|158.9|171.0|12.4 R-|01028|05:38.0|02:44.6|112.3|19.1|146.8|171.0|09.9 Workout Details #-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS- 01|06000|24:39.5|02:03.3|185.0|19.0|149.8|163.0|12.8 02|04750|19:25.8|02:02.7|189.9|19.6|162.2|170.0|12.5 03|03750|15:10.9|02:01.5|194.3|20.5|164.6|169.0|12.1 04|02750|11:02.0|02:00.4|200.4|21.4|165.6|171.0|11.6

I did some 250 m of paddling and a drink pause between the “intervals”, so I used rowsandall.com’s interval editor to get that into the statistics (and remove the paddle strokes from the plots).

Not really concentrated on hitting 18spm, and to be honest the stroke rate drifted to 19spm in the first interval

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 0 Comments • Tags: concept2, OTE, rowing, steady state, training

Dec 12 2016

Mixing in some ANC

ANC Today:

I am starting a 3 week mini meso-cycle, substituting one steady state session for an interval session. ANC stands for Anaerobic Capacity. Short intervals at 2k speed or faster, with enough rest to recover and not make it a hard distance row. The idea is that you row at a pace that is hard but sustainable for a large number of these intervals, and you can go faster if you want (but you don’t want to).

First, I did this month’s CTC:

Workout Summary - media/20161212-201119-sled_2016-12-12T20-02-36ZGMT+1.strokes.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|02492|10:01.0|02:00.7|271.4|30.3|166.4|179.0|08.2 W-|01537|05:00.0|01:37.6|371.9|31.9|166.2|179.0|09.6 R-|00955|05:01.0|02:37.8|115.5|27.5|167.5|179.0|07.2 Workout Details #-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS- 01|00151|00:30.0|01:39.3|352.6|33.1|127.8|158.0|09.1 02|00205|00:40.0|01:37.6|371.2|31.5|165.8|172.0|09.7 03|00256|00:50.0|01:37.7|373.8|32.7|170.7|177.0|09.4 04|00307|01:00.0|01:37.7|373.5|30.7|173.1|179.0|10.0 05|00257|00:50.0|01:37.3|379.2|31.6|171.9|178.0|09.8 06|00205|00:40.0|01:37.6|374.5|31.9|170.8|176.0|09.7 07|00156|00:30.0|01:36.2|370.0|32.6|168.7|176.0|09.6

The graphs:

That CTC was not enough for a full training, of course. So after picking myself up from the floor, I dialled up a 45″/1min time based interval workout and set off. The first interval was actually the hardest.

Workout Summary - media/20161212-2005230o.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|04630|22:45.0|02:27.4|224.7|26.9|164.1|180.0|07.6 W-|02559|09:45.0|01:54.3|317.3|29.5|163.2|178.0|08.9 R-|02082|13:00.0|03:07.3|131.5|24.6|166.0|178.0|01.6 Workout Details #-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS- 01|00220|00:45.0|01:42.1|305.4|30.3|144.5|161.0|09.7 02|00211|00:45.0|01:46.4|312.0|29.1|161.8|168.0|09.7 03|00213|00:45.0|01:45.6|322.9|29.1|164.6|171.0|09.8 04|00212|00:45.0|01:46.2|314.7|28.6|164.6|172.0|09.9 05|00207|00:45.0|01:48.9|321.3|29.5|162.1|172.0|09.3 06|00216|00:45.0|01:44.1|316.9|29.3|166.6|174.0|09.8 07|00216|00:45.0|01:44.0|311.2|29.0|165.1|174.0|10.0 08|00217|00:45.0|01:43.7|333.4|29.8|166.6|175.0|09.7 09|00208|00:45.0|01:48.0|313.5|28.7|165.7|174.0|09.7 10|00210|00:45.0|01:47.0|314.7|29.3|164.1|175.0|09.6 12|00213|00:45.0|01:45.5|331.0|30.6|162.2|176.0|09.3 13|00214|00:45.0|01:45.1|336.7|30.8|169.2|178.0|09.3

Interesting to see that I am much higher in work per stroke on this workout than on the steady state.

It was nice to row this. When I closed my eyes during the workout, I could imagine being in my single and racing in Munich, first 10 strokes out of the starting pontoon. That memory also made me sit up straight and pay attention to rowing a good “OTW” stroke and rhythm.

A good workout.

Tomorrow: Steady State.

This week is supposed to be a heavy week, but I already know now that it will be difficult to do the planned training time, with a business trip in the middle of the week.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 0 Comments • Tags: ANC, concept2, erg, OTE, rowing, training

Dec 11 2016

Holiday Challenge

We had a social event at the rowing club yesterday evening, the annual December party for the parents of the kids, combined with the official publication of the new Nude Calendar 2017 that our elite men made. It was a fun night. I believe that we decided to do a “nude rowing parents” calendar, and I hope everybody realizes that we were just kidding. As usual in this day and age, the photos are already on the internet:

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Woke up with a sore throat. I guess the party didn’t help.

Well, it gave me an excuse to take it easy today. I did a 1km warming up and then dialed up a 10k. That would just bring me over the threshold for the Concept 2 Holiday Challenge:

Concept2 will donate for every km rowed.

The row itself was fun. I let the stroke rate figure out itself and fell into a 23spm groove. Heart rate stayed low, so I guess I cannot use my man flu excuse any more.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 0 Comments • Tags: concept2, erg, OTE, rowing, steady state, training

Dec 10 2016

Running Training

I skipped Friday’s session. I planned to do the Two Speed Lactate Test, but having a cold and not feeling 100%, I thought it was better to relax and skip it.

Being an active rower doesn’t make me immune for these annoying infections, but I have the feeling I do get over them with relatively little drama. I usually have a slight headache and I sniff a bit. I sleep a bit worse than normally. In two days it goes away. This is different to what I observe with colleagues who exercise less frequently.

It’s another method how spending time doing a sport saves you time in the end.

This morning I was feeling better, but I still wanted to keep the intensity low. Also, Romana delegated the girls/women running training to me, so I did a gentle run along the lake. Nothing hard. Chatting. I feel terribly out of touch listening to the girls chatting during the run.

One of the topics that was discussed was working and traveling in the US. I recommended doing a “US Life Guard” training and certification, which they can do locally. I know a few people who did this, spent a month sitting next to a swimming pool in a US hotel (sticking a few plasters) and making enough money to explore the rest of the country.

Our lake is frozen. A thin layer of ice. No rowing.

Running with my little running group, we met a few commercial running groups. There are many people who make money by giving running trainings along the lake. Of course they don’t call their sessions “trainings”, but “clinic”, “workshop”, or something else. Also they don’t go just running, but have a “philosophy” behind it. I had the feeling their coaches/gurus/mentors were trying to figure out if I was a new competitor.

But maybe it was all imagination. Anyhow, it was a nice recovery session.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 0 Comments • Tags: running, training

Dec 8 2016

On to the Holiday Challenge

Well, that was a little disappointing. On the Concept2 logbook, I noticed that a 22km row would bring me just above 100k during the Holiday Challenge.

I almost dialed up a 22km row, but then I decided to just do a Just Row. I have a slightly sore throat. Not feeling the usual 110%.

Heart rate climbed faster than expected, so I reset my expectations to do a normal 15km.

Gliding scale thing. I stopped after 10km, paddled out to 11km and that was it.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 1 Comment • Tags: concept2, erg, OTE, rowing, steady state, training

Dec 6 2016

Another 15k of steady state

No training on Monday.

And today, another staple 15km of steady state. This time I did it as a 3x5km/1min rest interval workout. Outside temperature was -1C, but in my rowing basement it was a comfortable 6C.

Workout Summary - media/20161206-2005090o.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|15317|64:04.0|02:05.5|191.9|21.5|161.6|175.0|11.1 W-|15000|61:04.0|02:02.2|194.9|21.5|161.9|175.0|11.4 R-|00320|03:00.0|04:41.6|076.8|19.8|151.5|175.0|01.4 Workout Details #-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS- 01|05000|20:19.4|02:01.9|192.4|21.2|153.5|163.0|11.6 02|05000|20:18.3|02:01.8|195.4|21.3|164.7|173.0|11.6 03|05000|20:27.1|02:02.7|196.9|22.0|167.6|175.0|11.1

I had to stop in the last interval because the playlist ended with 3.5km to go. I figured it was better to start a new playlist than to row in silence. I have turned around the erg (Romana’s wish). The positive thing is that the cold outside air is now near the flywheel and my back is towards the inside of the house, which is good for preventing backpain. The downside is that the radio is not any more an arm reach from the erg. With the old setup, I could switch from bluetooth mode (playlist played from phone) to radio within one recovery. Now I have to get up.

The avera/peak force is oscillating interestingly

I looked at the plot for Average/Peak Force ratio and it shows some interesting oscillations. I was wondering what this is, so here is the plot for the peak and average force.

It looks like the main variations are in the peak force.

Drive length doesn’t seem to depend on stroke rate, but again looking at the metric vs distance is interesting:

Definitely looks like some fatigue setting in, leading to shorter drives. And here is the reason why this is bad:

The shorter the drive length, the less energy in the stroke. This is a pretty good example of a strong correlation.

It’s fun to look at these data. My power histogram over this erg season is starting to show a strong steady state component:

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 0 Comments • Tags: concept2, erg, metrics, OTE, rowing, steady state, training

Dec 4 2016

Plocina Tribute

I was moved by a tribute video made for Michal Plocek, the 22 year old rowing talent who ended his life a week ago:

Michal Plocek Tribute – R.I.P from Bastian Faralisch on Vimeo.

I think the video catches very well what a tragic loss this is. Doing my steady state row of today, I had a lot of time to think about it. The Czech media and the Czech rowing community gossip is full of information around his death and I am unqualified to distinguish between facts and lies.

Still, this tragedy forces us to think about what we are doing, in our clubs, as coaches, as masters rowers, as members of club boards, to prevent. In my mind, whatever we do in rowing, building a positive community with love for the sport and being part of a team should come first, and winning races should be a result of a positive experience rather than the end goal. Sports clubs are one of the few places where the generations are not segregated and as rowing adults we may be role models, and we cannot deny that we may have a small influence on young people, and by enforcing the importance of good results in school, a positive attitude in life, or, in general, by making your rowing club a place where young people can build self confidence.

I am not and have never been a world class athlete. But still I think that rowing has taught me some very important skills that have helped make me the person I am, and I am grateful to my coaches and team mates for that. Rowing and sport have become a life long addiction for me, and I am reaping the benefits of that every day.

We should also be aware that sometimes people have such big struggles, that even though we try to be there and be positive, we cannot prevent a tragedy. There is only so much an individual can do, and it can make the difference, but sometimes it doesn’t, sadly.

So these were my thoughts during a 19km steady state row, rowed as 4km/3km/2km/1km/2km/3km/4km at 20/21/22/23/22/21/22 spm:

Workout Summary - media/20161204-1540090o.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|19000|78:30.0|02:04.0|185.4|21.2|157.9|169.0|11.4 W-|19000|78:31.0|02:04.0|185.1|21.1|157.7|169.0|11.5 R-|00000|00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|169.0|00.0 Workout Details #-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS- 01|01000|04:07.2|02:03.6|180.3|20.2|130.0|140.0|12.0 02|01000|04:10.2|02:05.1|179.8|20.2|142.9|151.0|11.8 03|01000|04:07.0|02:03.5|184.7|20.4|146.8|153.0|11.9 04|01000|04:07.0|02:03.5|185.7|20.2|151.0|154.0|12.0 05|01000|04:05.3|02:02.7|189.8|21.0|155.7|158.0|11.7 06|01000|04:04.7|02:02.4|190.9|21.1|158.6|161.0|11.6 07|01000|04:05.8|02:02.9|188.5|21.2|159.8|163.0|11.5 08|01000|04:02.7|02:01.4|195.8|22.1|162.6|165.0|11.2 09|01000|04:02.3|02:01.1|197.0|22.2|164.0|166.0|11.2 10|01000|04:00.9|02:00.5|200.0|23.0|166.3|168.0|10.8 11|01000|04:03.3|02:01.7|194.5|22.4|166.6|168.0|11.0 12|01000|04:03.8|02:01.9|193.1|22.3|166.6|169.0|11.0 13|01000|04:08.0|02:04.0|183.6|21.3|163.1|166.0|11.3 14|01000|04:09.2|02:04.6|181.0|21.5|162.9|165.0|11.2 15|01000|04:09.7|02:04.8|180.0|21.2|162.5|165.0|11.4 16|01000|04:12.2|02:06.1|174.6|20.6|161.3|164.0|11.6 17|01000|04:13.2|02:06.6|172.6|20.4|160.1|162.0|11.6 18|01000|04:27.6|02:13.8|170.4|20.1|155.8|160.0|11.2 - change radio station 19|01000|04:11.0|02:05.5|177.1|20.8|159.9|162.0|11.5

Steady State does give you time to think.

Lactate measurement at the end: 1.3 mmol/L. Rate of perceived exertion: Time flew by.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 1 Comment • Tags: concept2, erg, OTE, rowing, steady state, training

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