concept2

bokeh_plot (96)

Feb 17 2017

Sharpening

8km in total. A few 15 stroke bursts and 350m at 2k pace. Pace came easy today. I went slightly faster than my anticipated pace.

Tomorrow: Race day. A 2k erg race in the Masters category.

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myimage (55)

Feb 16 2017

Taper

We have a 2k erg race in two days, so today’s workout was a light one.

3km warming up, 

2x500m / 5min rest at 2k race pace

250m full out

10 km in total 

I changed the 5 minutes rest to 1000m rest to make it easier to row as a “Just Row”.


Workout Summary - media/20170216-1940200o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|10014|42:45.0|02:08.1|188.8|23.4|149.8|179.0|10.0
W-|07204|29:23.0|02:02.4|199.9|23.7|148.4|179.0|10.4
R-|02810|13:22.0|02:22.8|142.7|21.0|149.9|179.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|02950|12:28.1|02:06.8|182.0|22.2|134.0|165.0|10.7
01|00500|01:45.0|01:45.0|303.0|29.3|161.8|175.0|09.7
02|00500|01:44.2|01:44.2|307.4|29.9|169.1|179.0|09.6
03|00250|00:47.0|01:34.0|424.0|36.8|167.3|176.0|08.7
04|03004|12:39.1|02:06.3|174.6|22.8|156.6|163.0|10.4

My pace and stroke rate was all over the place in the first 200m of the first 500m. The entire second 500m was much more regular and consistent. A nice light stroke at 30spm. That’s how I like it. I am not sure about the significance of the 250m, but I think that it is a way to tell the body that serious work is coming soon.

The flex charts. In the final 3km I was rowing a bit shorter than normal. I was very focused on technique, still having the recommendations from my video analysis in mind.

I didn’t train yesterday. I had to travel to Prague to visit the Dutch Embassy to arrange my urgent passport renewal for an upcoming trip to the USA.

During that trip, I received a phone call from our club’s head coach. Our elite rowers have spent a week in Italy. The club borrowed my trailer to get their boats to Prague, from where they traveled to Italy on the National Team’s trailer.

I had instructed the driver to take my trailer back to Brno, and then take it to Prague again to pick up the returned boats. Against my instructions, they had decided it was more efficient to leave my trailer parked in a hangar on the Dukla club, where the national team trains.

During the training camp, Dukla underwent a reconstruction, and they had to move my trailer, which was locked. Instead of pushing it to another place by hand, the Dukla guys decided to break the lock and tow it.

So I have my trailer back with a broken lock. I told our head coach that he has to get it repaired by the original manufacturer of my trailer, and that it is his problem how he gets it paid by the Dukla guys.

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myimage (52)

Feb 14 2017

Short and uninteresting

Training plan says: 2x3500m.

I now have official approval from the coach to make trainings longer/harder as I feel fit. He commented that “one shouldn’t be dogmatic about a training plan, and if you feel you can handle a higher volume or shorter rests, I should go ahead and do it, as long as you stay in the prescribed intensity bands”. But today I didn’t feel like it. The only change I made was shorten the 4 minute rest to a 2 minute one.

The air quality in Brno is really bad today and I felt it. There is an official recommendation to not do any sports and public transport is free today. The issue is related to the winter weather, dusty roads and an inverted air temperature gradient. I believe.

Anyway, it was going to be 2x3500m (after a 2km warming up, and with a 1402m cooling down which would also be a slow Valentine Concept2 Cross Team Challenge entry).


Workout Summary - media/20170214-1956130o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|07377|32:22.0|02:11.6|190.7|21.0|155.9|171.0|10.9
W-|07000|28:20.0|02:01.5|196.0|21.0|157.3|171.0|11.7
R-|00378|04:01.0|05:19.3|132.9|21.3|147.5|171.0|00.1
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|03500|14:11.5|02:01.6|194.0|20.5|151.7|161.0|12.0
01|03500|14:09.4|02:01.3|198.1|21.6|162.9|171.0|11.5

And here are a few other charts:

Heart rate was slightly on the high side. Perhaps because of yesterday’s almost 2k row?

Tomorrow: No training. I have to get to Prague urgently to get my passport renewed for an upcoming trip to the US.

If the Netherlands Embassy stuff goes fast, I may be tempted to pay a visit to this place:

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myimage (49)

Feb 13 2017

Mixed Vegetables – only healthy stuff

A new week, a new email with a training plan. I guess that in the lead-up to the National Indoor Rowing Championships (coming Saturday) this is another light week, because the training plan called for 30 minutes or running.

When I am done with work, it is dark. Too dark to run, especially on snow and ice. So I did it on the erg.

Also, I wanted a confidence builder for Saturday’s race, so I figured that if 30 minutes of steady state is healthy, adding a nice and spicy 1500m at race pace wouldn’t hurt.

Also, I wanted to test a Variable Intervals workout on Painsled. I am working through some Painsled bugs with the developer.

Anyway, here is the summary:


Workout Summary - media/20170213-200557-sled_2017-02-13T19-39-36ZGMT+1.strokes.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|11485|50:41.0|02:12.4|190.4|22.6|153.0|181.0|10.0
W-|11182|46:39.0|02:05.2|187.6|22.2|152.2|181.0|10.9
R-|00304|04:02.0|06:37.9|082.8|20.7|142.2|181.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|07182|30:00.0|02:05.3|183.6|20.9|149.6|169.0|11.5
01|00250|00:53.1|01:46.3|292.3|30.5|148.0|168.0|09.3 - 2k test
02|00250|00:52.9|01:45.8|291.3|29.8|172.6|175.0|09.5
03|00250|00:52.5|01:45.1|293.4|29.7|177.7|179.0|09.6
04|00250|00:53.4|01:46.7|301.2|30.3|179.8|181.0|09.3
05|00250|00:52.2|01:44.5|300.3|30.9|180.7|181.0|09.3
06|00250|00:53.0|01:46.1|302.5|30.9|180.8|181.0|09.2 - 2k test 1500 done
07|00250|01:30.4|03:00.9|064.3|19.0|164.5|180.0|08.7 - rest
08|00250|00:50.3|01:40.5|332.1|33.6|165.4|172.0|08.9 - final 250m
09|02000|09:01.9|02:15.5|143.9|21.1|145.2|151.0|10.5

Here are the plots:

Pie charts:

And the flex charts:

I did the first 30 minutes as a Fletcher style warming up, but lightened up on the 18spm bits in anticipation for the 2k.

I paced the 2k in Caviston style: 800m @ 1:46, 600m @ 1:45, and then on to 1:44. Here’s a close up on pace for the 2k:

I stopped with 500m to go. Paddled 250m. Then changed my mind and blasted out a final 250m.

Good enough to build confidence that I should go around 7:00 on Saturday. For the rest of the week I will be a nice boy and stick to the training plan.

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myimage (44)

Feb 10 2017

Minute long intervals

The training plan had running, but I decided to do Saturday’s workout today and keep my running to Saturdays.

Warming up 3km

3x(4x1min/1min), 6 minute break between sets, stroke rate in the intervals 28-30spm

Cooling Down, 25 minutes of stretching

Warming Up

The main workout:

Stats:


Workout Summary - media/20170210-1655220o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|07986|35:00.0|02:11.5|205.6|24.9|158.4|179.0|09.2
W-|03517|12:00.0|01:42.4|327.6|29.7|164.2|178.0|09.9
R-|04483|23:00.0|02:33.9|113.2|21.2|154.1|178.0|07.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00298|01:00.0|01:40.8|322.4|29.1|148.2|169.0|10.2
01|00293|01:00.0|01:42.4|323.7|29.7|167.9|176.0|09.9
02|00295|01:00.0|01:41.6|328.4|30.0|167.5|177.0|09.8
03|00299|01:00.0|01:40.3|346.9|30.3|170.2|178.0|09.9
04|00297|01:00.0|01:41.1|338.7|29.9|161.9|175.0|09.9
05|00299|01:00.0|01:40.5|342.8|30.7|162.6|176.0|09.7
06|00297|01:00.0|01:41.2|338.4|30.4|168.1|177.0|09.8
07|00292|01:00.0|01:42.6|321.7|29.4|165.8|176.0|09.9
08|00290|01:00.0|01:43.5|319.7|28.6|156.9|172.0|10.1
09|00287|01:00.0|01:44.7|317.2|28.9|166.1|175.0|09.9
10|00282|01:00.0|01:46.5|306.7|29.4|164.9|176.0|09.6
11|00290|01:00.0|01:43.5|324.6|30.6|169.8|178.0|09.5

Pie charts:

I rowed it as a “just row” which was good, because in the second set, I forgot to start the second interval. My thoughts carried me away and when I looked at the PM again, I was 30 seconds late, so I decided to start one minute late. Luckily, the interval editor on rowsandall.com allows for that. There were a few other intervals where I started a few seconds late, leading to a worse average. I basically pulled 1:41 or 1:42 pace, occasionally 1:40 or 1:39.

Again, I didn’t really know how to pace this, but the long rest between the sets made this quite irrelevant. The main constraint was the stroke rate. I personally would have rated up a bit, and you can see from the stats that I did hit 30spm most of the time, and rarely went down to 28spm.

After that, I did a 2km cooling down.

As I have two lighter weeks, I stay with this plan, but I will have to diplomatically ask our head coach how he determins this plan’s intensity.

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bokeh_plot (75)

Feb 7 2017

New Zones, New Charts, New Correlations

Today’s session was a new one for me. This week I am following his training program for our Masters rowers, and I am considering to stay on this program if it looks/feels OK.


warming up 2500m
8min @ 22spm / 4min rest (Zones 1/2)
16min / 4min rest. 16 min = 1min @ 26spm, 2min @ 24spm, 3min @22spm, 4min @ 20spm, 3min @ 22spm, 2min @ 24spm, 1min @ 26spm (Zones 2/3)
8min @ 22spm
Cooling down
25' stretching

I wasn’t sure how Adam defines zones, and I forgot to ask the other Masters rowers*. I think it is based on a lactate step test that the guys did in the fall. If that is correct, I can do a similar test at home and plug the numbers into rowsandall.com

Something wrong with the HR and power recording after the 16min interval

I programmed the session as an irregular interval on the PM5, and I am afraid this confused rowsandall.com (or painsled) a bit. I haven’t really tested this mode, so I need to check what is going on. The Power figures definitely look wrong in the second rest interval, as do the HR values. Also the interval editor misbehaves, so no statistics today.

Luckily, the Flex Chart works well, so here are the flex charts:

I have implemented a new feature on Rowsandall.com. A big page with statistics. One feature that I implemented for my own pleasure is a correlation matrix:

This is the correlation matrix for this particular workout. Each cell indicates how strongly the metrics on the two axes correlate. A positive correlation means that if one metric increases, there is a good chance that the other also increases. A negative correlation means the opposite. So you can see that the Average/Peak force ratio decreases as my heart rate increases. Also, a shorter drive length goes together with a higher average/peak force ratio. I also seem to shorten up on the slide a bit when going to higher SPM.

This is just one workout, and I am not 100% convinced of the usefulness of this chart (although I do hope it is). I also implemented functionality where you can look over all workouts over a longer time period. Here are all my erg workouts in January.

It is interesting to look at the strong negative correlation between Peak Force and Average/Peak Force Ratio. Here are two plots of all strokes over the same time period.

I have filtered out any strokes in the first 2km of any workout, to reduce any “warming up” effect. There are two funny things. In the plot on the right, you can see that most of the negative correlation comes form “paddle” strokes.

The other funny thing is the little “island” of strokes in the graph on the right. Looks like some different “mode” of rowing. Comparing that with the graph on the left, where the two parameters are plotted against the stroke rate, you can see that most probably the “island” correspond to a group of strokes between 18 and 20spm.

So I created two more plots:

 

On the left, I filtered out all strokes at lower than 20spm (so the chart shows only strokes of 20spm and higher), and you can see that the island disappeared. The chart on the right shows only strokes at 20spm and lower, and you can see the two islands. The red dots are Power values. You can see that these are not “paddle” strokes, because they were done at around 150W.

Another interesting thing in the left graph is that my peak force stagnates as power increases above 250W.

So if anything, the correlation matrix plots have led me to find some mysterious “flat” stroke that I row at 19spm. I have added the last two plots to my regular flex charts to study after a workout. Interesting!!!!

*Regarding zones, I asked the other Masters rowers, and the definition is as follows:

Zone 1 = 1-2 mmol/L “Steady State”

Zone 2 = 2-3 mmol/L “Steady State”

Zone 3 = 3.5-5 mmol/L “ANP”

Zone 4 = 6-8 mmol/L “Aerobic Capacity”

Zone 5 = 8-15 mmol/L “Anaerobic Power”

Zone 6 = 3-6 mmol/L “Speed”

The table also has individual paces and HR frequencies for each rower. 

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Image uploaded from iOS

Jan 28 2017

I must be doing something wrong

So the Masters rowers of our club want to go to the Masters Worlds in Bled this year, and I am one of the guys who has been urging everyone to train hard this winter. I even put up a list on the notice board where people are supposed to write their 6k and 2k erg scores (fall, spring and summer values).

Today, there is an erg race in Pardubice, where I was supposed to compete. However, our boys have been sick. They are recovered now, but we decided that it is better I stay at home with them, a day before we go to the mountains.

The instructions of our coach were clear: “Masters compete in Pardubice. Who cannot make it, rows a 2k on Saturday and sends me the score.”

So at the end of the morning I headed down to the basement and started doing the Fletcher warming up for 1:44 pace. I thought I was in shape for a PB attempt. Actually, I had difficulty not going faster than the paces prescribed by Fletcher, at his prescribed rates. Here is the warming up:


Workout Summary - media/20170128-1025200o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|04786|20:09.0|02:06.3|184.3|20.9|160.2|177.0|11.3
W-|04790|20:09.0|02:06.2|179.6|20.6|159.6|177.0|11.7
R-|00000|00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|177.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00932|04:00.0|02:08.8|161.1|18.3|140.1|157.0|12.8 "18spm 2:11"
01|00949|04:00.0|02:06.4|173.3|19.3|159.2|164.0|12.3 "20spm 2:07"
02|00724|03:00.0|02:04.3|181.7|21.0|162.9|166.0|11.5 "22spm 2:05"
03|00248|01:00.0|02:01.2|196.2|23.0|165.5|168.0|10.8 "24spm 2:03"
04|00136|00:30.0|01:50.5|257.3|26.8|168.1|172.0|10.1 "26-28spm 1:52"
05|00467|02:00.0|02:08.6|167.9|19.9|167.9|173.0|11.7 "18spm 2:11"
06|00211|00:45.0|01:46.6|285.4|28.4|171.0|177.0|09.9 "28-30spm 1:47"
07|00523|02:15.0|02:09.0|165.3|20.0|169.0|177.0|11.6 "18spm 2:11"
08|00147|00:30.0|01:41.9|330.6|31.3|171.0|177.0|09.4 "30-34spm 1:41"
09|00454|02:09.2|02:22.3|151.2|20.1|162.9|177.0|10.5 "18spm 2:11"

In the last interval, my son came down to ask me something, so I stopped and answered.

And here are the metrics charts:

Then I did some stretching and set up the PM for a 2000m. Here are the stats:


Workout Summary - media/20170128-1025190o.csv
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|-Pwr-|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|02000|07:08.0|01:47.0|285.6|29.9|179.8|184.0|09.4
W-|02000|07:08.0|01:47.1|284.9|29.9|179.9|184.0|09.4
R-|00000|00:00.0|00:00.0|000.0|00.0|000.0|184.0|00.0
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|-Pwr-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-
00|00250|00:50.5|01:41.1|322.8|31.2|164.8|178.0|09.5 - start and first 10
01|00250|00:52.3|01:44.6|306.1|30.4|180.5|183.0|09.4 - settle for 1:45 pace
02|00250|00:52.5|01:45.0|302.0|30.1|183.3|184.0|09.5 - keep 1:45
03|00250|00:52.7|01:45.4|299.6|30.2|183.6|184.0|09.4 - keep 1:45
04|00250|00:52.9|01:45.7|297.8|30.5|183.6|184.0|09.3 - power 10??
05|00250|00:55.2|01:50.3|262.3|29.2|182.3|183.0|09.3 - crisis 1
06|00250|00:54.7|01:49.4|266.7|29.6|181.1|182.0|09.3 - trying to save it
07|00250|00:57.7|01:55.5|230.6|28.5|179.5|181.0|09.1 - crisis 2

The story is simple. I set off at 1:44 pace. In the second 500m I retreated to 1:45 pace, seeing the occasional stroke at 1:46. At 1000m to go I did a power 10, hoping that would give me motivation to get through the dreaded third 500m. After the “power 10” I had difficulty finding the 1:45 pace again. Actually, pace slipped to 1:48 and I wasn’t able to react.

With 500m to go I told myself that all is not lost and with a strong final 500m I could at least set a decent time.

No way.

I sped up slightly, but that only brought me back to a terrible 1:48 pace. Then I let the pace slip back to 1:50 and worse …

Here are the metrics charts:

After the row, I sent the score to the coach.

I guess I will not be going to Bled, unless I drastically improve something.

The problem is that I am not sure what I am doing wrong. I need to look at my training load of November and December, and compare it to the 2015/16 season. I need to find what I am doing wrong. There must be something.

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