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Apr 21 2016

April CTC

The training plan featured a hard distance row, so today was the ideal date to replace that with April’s CTC:

2 minutes , 1 minute rest – from standing start

4 minutes, 1 minute rest – rolling start

6 minutes, 1 minute rest – rolling start

8 minutes

Simple. I knew I would be immune against the temptation to row the shorter intervals faster. When rowed in this order, one has to respect the final, longest interval. Distance wise, this looks like a 5k. There is not an abundance of rest, so I decided that my 5k pace 1:50.5 or slightly faster would do it. I started with a 3k warming up and then went for it.

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Mar 11 2016

Concept2 Cross Team Challenge @ 2k pace

Working from home today, but don’t think I am lazy.

Still tired from all this, but I have to complete the final reviews of 11 project proposals:

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Picture from Honeywell Aero Twitter (https://twitter.com/Honeywell_Aero)
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Picture from Honeywell Aero Twitter (https://twitter.com/Honeywell_Aero)
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Picture from Honeywell Aero Twitter (https://twitter.com/Honeywell_Aero)

So sitting behind my desk, reading and commenting.

Tiring work. I was done around 3:30PM and decided to read a bit in a book I bought at the Vienna train station. It’s about the Habsburg family, and very interesting. A family that left an influence in Spain, the Netherlands and central Europe. I just wanted to read for 30 minutes and do my workout.

An hour and a half later I woke up, book on my chest.

So I quickly changed clothes, did a 2k warming up and then straight into this month’s Cross Team Challenge:

Row nine reps of 300m
with just 30 seconds rest between each rep
The first rep from a standing start the others can be rolling starts.
Record the time taken for the 9 reps (2700m total).

I decided to go off at 2k pace (1:44). This way it would be nice intermezzo between two threshold pace workouts, and allow me to train my stroke at 30spm, the intended stroke rate at the Czech long distance championship (April 8th).

It’s an interesting workout. The breaks are extremely short. Somehow it reminded me of an old recipe to improve your 2k pace, which goes like this: Dial up a 2k on the Concept2 rower. Row your new 2k pace (3 seconds per 500m below your PB pace). Stop when you hit three subsequent strokes that are slower than the target pace. Get up, stretch your legs, sit down on the erg and continue at the target pace. Repeat until you’ve completed the 2k. Repeat session until you complete the 2k in one go at the new target pace. (Yes, that sounds like 20th century training philosophy.)

So here’s the result:

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Workout Summary - Mar 11, 2016
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|Watts|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|02700|09:15.1|01:42.8|322.2|30.8|168.9|184.0|09.5
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|Watts|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-|Comments
01|00300|01:02.6|01:44.3|308.8|29.7|142.6|163.0|09.7|
02|00300|01:01.9|01:43.2|318.5|30.0|165.2|170.0|09.7|
03|00300|01:02.1|01:43.5|315.7|30.0|167.4|172.0|09.7|
04|00300|01:02.1|01:43.6|315.0|30.9|168.3|173.0|09.4|
05|00300|01:02.1|01:43.6|315.1|29.9|171.1|176.0|09.7|
06|00300|01:01.8|01:43.0|320.1|31.1|172.8|178.0|09.4|
07|00300|01:01.5|01:42.6|324.2|30.2|174.4|179.0|09.7|
08|00300|01:01.4|01:42.4|326.1|31.3|176.7|181.0|09.4|
09|00300|00:59.5|01:39.1|359.7|34.3|180.3|184.0|08.8|

Quite hard work, but in the end I managed 2k pace minus 1 second.

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Feb 1 2016

February CTC test – fail

Perhaps I should have scheduled a rest day but this week’s work schedule works out better if I take the rest day on Wednesday. So I planned the Pete Plan waterfall for today.

Then I checked what this month’s CTC is: A 3x7min at 5 minutes rest, with standing starts. Decided to do that one. It’s shorter. 🙂 But, I don’t like time based intervals. 🙁

I wanted to try 1:49.0 pace but it was hard from rep 1. I managed 1925m so I decided to copy that for rep 2 and then max out in rep 3. I was naive. I managed rep 2 but it was harder than rep 1. Then I missed the start of rep 2 by 2 seconds, so I was looking at lousy average pace which I slowly tried to get back to 1:49.0.

Thousand meters into the third rep I almost HD’ed, then  dropped pace to 1:55-1:58 for 600m, only to take it up again in the last minute to at least get the distance over 1900m.

3x7min.jpg

Unfortunately, my notebook went into sleep mode during the second rep. The reason, I discovered later, was that I didn’t push the plug into the power socket deep enough.

Here’s the data I have.

3x7min partly.jpg

Some more pictures have surfaced from the race.

Also, the Czech rowing site Veslo.cz published an interview with our recordman Jiri Pfeifer:

I translate a few interesting bits:

How did the race go?

“The race in Pardubice went according to expectations. After a relatively fast 500m I found myself in second place behind Jan Vesecky, who started in a younger age category, so no stress. I tried to hold an average of 1:35, which I succeeded in at a stroke rate of 28-29spm. I expected that at this pace I would gradually come closer to Jan, just as in the December race in Hostivice. At the start of the last 500m  my average pace was 1:35.2, and I thought: You cannot spoil such a well opened race. I tried to ignore the pain and only concentrated at getting the average pace under 1:35. I felt tired from Tuesday, but I tried not to think abouot that. In the end it was more a question of willpower than fitness. In Hostivice, I didn’t know I could row 6:20.5, but now I really wanted to go under 6:20.

Your time was indeed faster than the 6:20.5 that you mentioned. Then, your time could not be an official record because of your birth year (1966). So did you look for a revanche? You must have been disappointed in December.

Yes, I was disappointed in December, because I was allowed to start in the 50-59 age class. I had no idea that I would not qualify for a record. If I had started in the 40-49 age category, then I would know I could not change the record (5:46.1 by Vaclav Chalupa).

[…]

My record will surely fall soon. Next year, Vaclav Chalupa will be 50, and we shouldn’t forget the president of the Czech Rowing Association, Dusan Machacek, who is also from 1966 and will definitely try to break my record.

[…]

 

What is your profession? Do you have other hobbies?

I own a transport company. I have no time for other hobbies. I train in the morning, then quickly to work, and if I don’t come home too late, I do another training before going to bed.

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Dec 11 2015

606 strokes: December CTC

Left  the office early but work didn’t stop of course. I felt completely drained and had to focus on driving safely.

The plan was: Pete Plan waterfall (3km, 2.5km, 2km) or this month’s CTC, which is a 8x750m with 1 minute rest. I decided to do the CTC. Knowing that my top three inches were not in the best shape, that seemed the least intimidating of the two options.

2k warming up with speed bursts, and then on to the main event. I had no idea about the pace, but somewhere around 1:50 seemed reasonable. It’s not a long distance, but there are many of them and the rest intervals are deceitfully short.

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Workout Summary - Dec 11, 2015
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|Watts|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS
--|06000|21:46.0|01:48.8|271.5|27.8|169.8|182.0|09.9
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|Watts|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-|Comments
01|00750|02:45.2|01:50.2|261.8|26.9|155.4|168.0|10.1| 74 str
02|00750|02:43.0|01:48.7|272.8|27.6|167.7|175.0|10.0| 75 str
03|00750|02:43.1|01:48.7|272.2|27.6|168.7|176.0|10.0| 75 str
04|00750|02:44.3|01:49.5|266.3|27.0|170.4|177.0|10.1| 74 str
05|00750|02:43.1|01:48.8|272.1|27.6|171.2|179.0|10.0| 75 str
06|00750|02:43.0|01:48.6|273.0|28.0|173.2|180.0|09.9| 76 str
07|00750|02:42.5|01:48.3|275.4|28.4|173.9|181.0|09.7| 77 str
08|00750|02:41.8|01:47.9|278.7|29.7|177.3|182.0|09.4| 80 str

The first interval was a toe in the water, and in the second one I dared to go a bit faster. It turned out to be doable, but it was a fine balance. Just counted to 75 over and over again. When I tried to go slightly faster than the 1:49 which I turned out doing, I felt it on the next interval. After the 5th interval the number of strokes got above 75 and it started to be hard, but by then the end was in sight. It wasn’t a very glorious session but I got it done in reasonably good form.

I did a lactate measurement immediately after the last interval, just for fun. Got 5.1 mmol/L. After 5 minutes of cooling down, that was down to 3.1 mmol/L. I did a longer cooling down but I didn’t do any more lactate measurements.

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30min

Oct 20 2015

Monday-Tuesday: Steady State and CTC

Monday

Wanted to row OTW but I had to finish something at work. It was raining hard when I had to drive to the club, and I was late already, would have to shorten the row because of the early darkness … so I did an OTE session.

Warming up, then a 30 minute rowpro session, then a cooling down. A bit under an hour in total. Time pressed.

30min


Workout Summary - Oct 20, 2015
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|Watts|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS|-SPI
--|07255|30:00.0|02:04.0|183.4|22.1|156.4|167.0|11.0|08.3
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|Watts|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-|-SPI|Comments
01|01205|05:00.0|02:04.5|181.6|21.6|136.1|147.0|11.2|08.4|
02|01226|05:00.0|02:02.3|191.2|22.4|156.0|161.0|10.9|08.5|
03|01216|05:00.0|02:03.4|186.4|22.0|160.0|164.0|11.1|08.5|
04|01207|05:00.0|02:04.3|182.2|22.2|160.1|164.0|10.9|08.2|
05|01206|05:00.0|02:04.4|182.0|22.0|163.6|166.0|11.0|08.3|
06|01195|05:00.0|02:05.5|177.1|22.2|162.2|167.0|10.8|08.0|

I did the 30 minutes at slightly higher power than the Friday session.

Tuesday – CTC

Again working late. I started this session close to 9pm. 15×1 minute on 1 minute rest, and actually quite enjoyed it. Targeted 1:45 which is around my 2k pace. It was nice to do some sprinty stuff after many steady state and distance sessions. Counted to 30 strokes. A sip of water after every 3 sets. Final three sets with closed eyes and imagining rowing the final 300m of a sprint race.

I did wear the heart rate belt but forgot to clip on the heart rate unit. 🙁

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Tomorrow: Cycling and steady state.
Thursday: Fly to Brussels/Amsterdam
Friday: Short hotel fitness triathlon + weights

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Aug 31 2015

Monday: CTC & Quad Training

Last day of the month. Just a few hours left to do the CTC.

I arrived at the club very early, spent an hour offloading our boats from the trailer, rigging them and giving them a good wash. Then I had some time left before our quad training at 6pm. So I went to the erg room and rowed the 3×9 min that is this month’s CTC. Not doing the CTC that was chosen by my own team, Free Spirits, didn’t feel right.

However, with an intensive quad training ahead I couldn’t do this at a decent pace. I decided to do it at warming up pace and try to hit 2:15.0 pace exactly, 2000m per interval, 6000m in total. Here is how I managed:

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I rowed 1m too much in the first interval, but somehow the numbers still add up to 6000m.

The mixed quad training was excellent. The training plan prescribed:

3x(5×30″)/R8 (1) 30″/30″ @36spm, (2) 30″/45″ @ 38spm, (3) 30″/60″ @40spm

However, I changed it a bit. I decided it would be more interesting to row the 5×30″ as 30″ @ 40spm, 30″ @ 38 spm, 30″ @ 36 spm, 30″ @ 38spm, 30″ @ 40spm.

This being the last day of the school vacation and temperatures hitting 35 degrees again, the lake was full of paddle boarders, swimmers, windsurfers, pedal boats and motor boats. We decided to leave the lake and row the first two intervals in the canyon. The problem was the setting sun and the presence of more paddle boarders there. Somehow, we managed.

The problem with the paddle board paddlers is that they are very inexperienced, are glad they manage to stand up, go very slow, on the wrong side of the river, do not look behind themselves and do not steer well. Also they tend to go in groups so you suddenly have a flock/swarm of paddlers around using the entire width of the river, so you cannot pass them. We had to stop hard a few times during the warming up.

Somehow we managed to do the first two series without problem. Then we rowed back to the lake during the second 8 minute rest period, but by the time we were supposed to start the first 30″ interval, we were in the middle of a swarm of swimmers and paddlers. And, I must mention this, a nude guy on an inflatable raft. The ladies on the paddle boards were not looking at us but at the nude guy, so we had to stop hard before we could pass them.

Here are the stats:

Series 1

30″ / 155m / 1:36.9 /35.9 spm (38 max)

30″ / 152m / 1:39.1 / 37.9 spm (38 max)

30″ / 146m / 1:42.3 / 34.0 spm (38 max)

30″ / 145m / 1:42.7 / 36.0 spm (38 max)

30″ / 150m / 1:40.0 / 37.9 spm (41 max)

Series 2

30″ / 148m / 1:41.8 / 37.9 spm (41 max)

30″ / 147m / 1:42.1 / 36.0 spm (39 max)

30″ / 147m / 1:42.3 / 35.9 spm (37 max)

30″ / 150m / 1:39.8 / 36.0 spm (39 max)

30″ / 134m /1:51.7 / 34.0 spm (39 max) – stopped early to avoid collision with paddlers

Series 3

30″ / 91m / 2:45.4 / 21.9 spm(23 max) – couldn’t row because surrounded by paddling ladies and nude guy on inflatable raft

30″ / 156m / 1:36.5 / 35.9 spm (38 max) – wake

30″ / 151m / 1:39.1 / 35.9 spm (37 max)

30″ / 154m / 1:37.6 / 37.9 spm (39 max)

30″ / 160m / 1:33.6 / 38.0 spm (41 max)

Very happy with today’s training. The boat was super stable, even though Romana on bow seat had to turn her head every second stroke to spot swimmers/paddlers. We managed to row through a wake without problem, and we had less and less difficulty hitting the high stroke rates.

The goal of today’s session is really to get comfortable rowing 35-36spm and I think we achieved that.

No HR data today  because I left the belt at home.

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Jul 26 2015

Getting the CTC out of the way

The plan was to go cycling with Romana but the plans changed. Our boys came back from camp yesterday. Unfortunately, their coach broke down and they had to wait 3 hours on a gas station before another one would pick them up.

They seem to have had a great time, but Robin is a bit white and threw up in the night and another time this morning. I think they are just tired and need a day in front of the TV ;-).

So I sat down to do CTC and if the Robin gets a bit better we’ll do a short ride in the afternoon. Just a ride to a nice country pub, have a drink and ride back.

Not sure how to pace. Decided to do the short ones in 1:45 pace and the 2km in 7:30, which seemed reasonable.

But ouch, this erg thing hurts after so many hours in the boat. It is weird. A week ago I held 1:49 pace in the single for almost four minutes. Now I had difficulty getting under that pace for less than 2 minutes.


Workout Summary - Jul 26, 2015
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|Watts|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS|-SPI
--|03500|12:35.4|01:47.9|278.5|28.8|167.8|183.0|09.6|09.7
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|Watts|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-|-SPI|Comments
01|00500|01:45.1|01:45.1|301.3|29.7|154.7|169.0|09.6|10.2|
02|00400|01:24.5|01:45.6|297.4|29.8|162.2|171.0|09.5|10.0|
03|00300|01:02.9|01:44.9|303.2|30.5|160.9|171.0|09.4|09.9|
04|00200|00:41.9|01:44.7|304.8|30.1|159.3|171.0|09.5|10.1|
05|00100|00:21.9|01:49.3|268.0|27.4|149.6|168.0|10.0|09.8|
06|02000|07:19.1|01:49.8|264.5|28.1|175.1|183.0|09.7|09.4|

I did back down a bit on the 100m to make the “rest” a bit longer. The 2km was without issue. I was able to gradually ramp up the pace. Definitely not an all out affair.

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