erg

Apr 11 2016

Tame Session – new mesocycle

No time to go rowing OTW. First day of a new 5 week mesocycle. Maintaining base fitness, continuing with endurance power and then slowly gearing up for the 1000m sprint race season.

For the non-rowers: What we call sprint is a 4 minute effort.

Anyway, today I eased into the first week of the new cycle. A light endurance session of about 60 minutes. Decided to row it as 5×12 minutes and use the “Wolverine Plan” rate ladders to keep me busy.

I love Painsled. Nice export of stroke data to CSV files. I was curious to see what the rate ladders would do with my stroke length, average force, drive time and recovery time. It turned out to be no surprise. The recovery time is varied, all other parameters staying roughly the same.
Workout Summary - sled_2016-04-11T19-28-49ZGMT+2.strokes.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|14428|62:12.0|02:09.4|20.2|141.8|157.0|11.5 Workout Details #-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS- 00|02861|12:03.3|02:06.4|19.9|134.1|147.0|11.9 04|02876|12:07.0|02:06.4|20.0|138.7|148.0|11.9 08|02869|12:07.1|02:06.7|20.0|142.9|153.0|11.8 12|02890|12:07.3|02:05.8|20.4|146.9|157.0|11.7 16|02914|12:07.7|02:04.9|20.8|146.4|155.0|11.5

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 7 • Tags: concept2, erg, OTE, painsled, rowing, steady state, training

Apr 6 2016

Playing with the PM5 and data tools

No time for an OTW row today. The taper plan called for a quiet 40 minutes row. I decided to play a bit with the PM5 and the different tools. Here’s what I did:

Row a 2km Warming Up on RowPro. Export data. Process with my python tool.
Row a 6km Main Row on painsled, export data. Process with my python tool
Row a 2km Cooling Down on ErgData. Export data to Concept2 logbook

It all worked like a charm.

Warming Up (RowPro):
Workout Summary - D:tijdelijk2km_rowpro.csv_o.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|01998|08:35.0|02:09.0|21.9|140.3|156.0|10.6

Main Row (Painsled):

The 6km Main Row, data captured in painsled, plotted from the CSV export

Workout Summary - sled_2016-04-06T07-44-35ZGMT+2.strokes.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|06000|25:06.0|02:05.6|22.7|155.5|168.0|10.5 Workout Details #-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS- 00|01204|04:58.1|02:03.8|23.0|142.6|159.0|10.5 01|01204|04:59.2|02:04.2|22.5|158.0|165.0|10.7 02|01200|05:03.3|02:06.4|22.8|158.0|168.0|10.4 03|01200|05:02.8|02:06.2|22.5|157.6|164.0|10.6 04|01193|05:02.1|02:06.6|22.6|161.2|165.0|10.5

Cooling Down (ErgData):

What you see is a screenshot from my Concept2 logbook. I don’t have a parser for the ErgData CSV file in my plotting tool yet. Should not be too difficult. Yesterday, I literally had the SpeedCoach parser written, working and tested in 10 minutes.

Edit

It took me 15 minutes to add a ErgData parser to my tool. Had to calculate the Power in Watts by hand. It’s a pity that they don’t include Drive Length, Drive Speed, Drag Factor, Peak Force and Average Force in the CSV download.

Now, the only problem is that I will have to manually put the ErgData row in SportTracks. I don’t want to write a CSV to TCX converter. This, to me, is the downside of ErgData. Lack of export to SportTracks, Garmin Connect, Strava, and other fitness sites … I understand that Concept2 may want to build out their own logbook. I want my data to be free, however, and I want to see my rows (OTW and OTE) next to my runs and bike rides.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 4 • Tags: concept2, erg, OTE, pm5, rowing, rowing data, taper, training

Apr 4 2016

New toy – and more python

Got my PM5 today.

The row was a warming up, a 3x20min at 190W and a 2km cooling down.

I also captured the row with painsled and exported both CSV and TCX files. The TCX files read fine into SportTracks. In contrast to CSV files that I have from other people who run painsled, my files don’t have HR data 🙁

EDIT – I reported this to the painsled developer (Rick) and he fixed it within 12 hours. See the plots in all their glory:

It’s already the third monitor for my Concept2 Model C. Here are the first two:

More Python

My python software ran great on my PC. Turns out the command-line scripts didn’t work too well on other people’s computers. Over the weekend, I did some testing, using my son’s Windows10 computer with a clean Python (Anaconda) install, and on my old Linux netbook. Greg also helped greatly by running subsequent updates on his macintosh.

Turns out Python packaging is quite confusing. In the end I got it all working. Now it should install easily for people who have Python and easy_install. Just installing Anaconda and then easy_install rowingdata should do the job. You get command-line scripts that should work on every platform.

It’s all documented on: https://pypi.python.org/pypi/rowingdata and http://pythonhosted.org/rowingdata/

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 3 • Tags: concept2, erg, OTE, pm5, rowing, steady state, training

Mar 31 2016

More steady state stuff and more python

Today was steady state day, and even though it was the first day of this year when we could walk outside without a coat, I had to row on the erg. It was 19 degrees C, but I had too much work to do.

I sat down for a 3x20min. Did a short warming up. Then on to the main event. Tried to hold 200W, but gave up in the second interval. Today it felt too hard. Probably lack of sleep. I didn’t want to do the third interval. So I did something else instead. Rowed a 3k, lowering the pace every 500m.

Workout Summary - 2x20min.csv_o.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|09832|41:44.0|02:07.3|21.3|158.2|171.0|11.1

The 3k cooling down – heart rate is too high

Workout Summary - 3km_cd.csv_o.csv --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|03000|14:04.0|02:20.7|18.1|162.4|173.0|11.8

I used the Desktop version of painsled. Notice that my python code includes the time the PM3 “waits” before you start the row. I need to remove that part of the data in a next release.

On the python front, I have added an upload to the Concept2 logbook. I hope the folks at Concept2 don’t watch their logbook for suspicious behaviour, because I did a lot of uploading and subsequent deleting of rows today. :-/

On the other hand, I have new sculls ordered and I am getting a PM5 …

Here’s a screenshot from the tool:

And here is the result in the logbook:

I guess I’ll be using the Concept2 Utility for erg uploads, but it’s a nice functionality for when I forget to do that and am away from my erg. Also, I can start uploading OTW rows now as well. I never did that because it’s a hassle. Now I can do it easily:

And get this:

In the process, I also learned how to go from a file with some python to a full-blown package that other people can install, including easily created documentation.

So https://pypi.python.org/pypi/rowingdata

A small step for mankind, but a big step for me.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 3 • Tags: concept2, erg, graph tool, OTE, rowing, steady state

Mar 17 2016

Two speed lactate test again

After three weeks, one meso cycle, it was time again for the two speed lactate test. Copy paste from three weeks ago. The difference, instead of Friday afternoon I am doing it on Thursday evening. Tomorrow, I will not have time.

First, a Fletcher warming up:

Copy paste success. Virtually no differences with the previous cycle.

Then on to the main event.

Workout Summary - Mar 17, 2016 --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|Watts|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|02000|06:59.9|01:45.0|302.5|29.7|173.3|183.0|09.6 Workout Details #-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|Watts|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-|Comments 01|01000|03:37.1|01:48.5|273.7|27.6|168.1|180.0|10.0|3.9 mmol/L (3.9) 02|01000|03:22.8|01:41.4|335.6|32.0|178.3|183.0|09.3|5.3 mmol/L (6.0)

No mistakes in the measurement protocol this time. I also measured at the end of the 10 minutes cooling down: 4.3 mmol/L.

So, in comparison with three weeks ago:

Heart rate is up 3 to 4 beats per minute
Lactate is higher for the first interval (which felt hard) and lower for the second one …

Actually, the heart rate is back to what I measured in January. Here is the updated graph (the new line is yellow):

Given my 10k effort of two days ago (holding 240W for nearly 38 minutes) and the fact that I was able to hold the same power without too big problems, I don’t think there are any big changes in my fitness. Perhaps we are just seeing the day to day differences. But I will refrain from a strong conclusion now. The training schedule for the coming few weeks is quite fixed and I see no reason to change it. I have a head race in three weeks and I will do a lot of threshold workouts.

After the race, I will repeat the test, and also do a detailed planning of the April to July time frame.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 2 • Tags: concept2, erg, OTE, rowing, testing

Mar 15 2016

A hard 10000m

Monday

Enjoyed a rest day. Tactical rest day before a hard threshold row.

Tuesday

A 10k row on the schedule. A threshold row. Thinking of a PB, but I knew it would be hard. Rowing PBs is never easy, but on a working day, rowing it in the evening, after a meal, is hard. My 10k PB of the 2014/15 was rowed with people standing around. At 1:53.5 pace, in a time of 37:52.8. In a vacation, with nothing else on my mind.

So I gave myself a second target. Good training effort would be to row this in 1:55 pace (or faster).

Warming up: A 2k with 10 stroke “pieces” in the second 1000m, at 1:57, 1:53 and 1:45 pace. Strange enough, the 1:45 felt more doable than the 1:53. Strange intermediate pace … unknown territory.

Fired up RowPro, after a long time, but I wanted to have a good pace boat. To be sure, I set up two pace boat, 1:53.5 and 1:55.0. That’s how uncertain I was.

The plan was to divide the row in 4 pieces of 2.5km, and row them 1:53 / 1:54 / 1:54 / 1:53. First 2.5km went by easily. I struggled a bit to find a good rhythm, but once that was found, I just watched my pace boat fall behind, by about 2 meters per 500m.

4000m rowed. 6000m on the display. This was a first desperate moment. I had been going for some time, but still a full 6k in front of me.

Past half way. It became a bit harder to gain the 2 meters per 500m interval, but it kept me busy. I was thinking of finishing around 37:42 …

The pain started with 3km to go. I did a quick calculation, and with 2500m to go I knew that I could hold 1:55 and end up finishing before my pace boat. Between 2000m and 1000m I was really struggling and slowed down a bit. Now I was looking at a predicted end time of 37:47, and counting strokes.

Workout Summary - Mar 15, 2016 --|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg --|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|Watts|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS --|10000|37:45.4|01:53.3|240.8|26.1|176.3|184.0|10.1 Workout Details #-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|Watts|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-|Comments 01|01000|03:46.0|01:53.0|242.5|25.0|153.3|166.0|10.6| 02|01000|03:45.6|01:52.8|243.9|25.3|170.5|173.0|10.5| 03|01000|03:46.3|01:53.1|241.6|25.2|174.1|176.0|10.5| 04|01000|03:46.1|01:53.1|242.1|26.0|176.1|178.0|10.2| 05|01000|03:46.3|01:53.1|241.6|26.0|178.0|180.0|10.2| 06|01000|03:46.0|01:53.0|242.7|26.0|180.2|181.0|10.2| 07|01000|03:46.3|01:53.1|241.7|26.5|181.2|183.0|10.0| 08|01000|03:47.1|01:53.6|239.0|26.9|182.1|183.0|09.8|starting to feel it 09|01000|03:48.9|01:54.4|233.6|26.7|182.3|184.0|09.8|fighting 10|01000|03:46.8|01:53.4|239.9|27.8|182.9|184.0|09.5|end in sight

I did a very slow 2k cooling down, took a shower and then started the pleasant task of updating my signature, nonathlon score, writing my blog etc …

Planning wise I had a little set back. My boss called me to tell me that he has to go to the Middle East next week, and wants me to be at a meeting in Brno instead of him. That’s normally fine as I am based in Brno, but I planned to be in Račice next week with Romana and the girls, on the canal, and work from our Prague office (or from the canal).

Well, I’ll drive back to Brno on Wednesday afternoon, and return to Prague on Thursday afternoon. I will miss just two workouts. Just 5 to 6 hours of driving … or 8 hours by train.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 2 • Tags: 10000m, 10k, concept2, erg, L3, OTE, PB, rowing, threshold, training

Mar 13 2016

3×20 minutes

Instead of running, I went on a strawl with my wife Romana and my son Robin. We took the bus to Ořešín and hiked back. It was a very nice walk, through the village of Jehnice, then through the forest and along a few ponds back to our house.

So, enough outdoors and nature to be able to tolerate the 3×20 minutes on the erg, which by this time in the preparation phase are really becoming boring.

Nothing special to report about this session. Sat down. Rowed 3×20 minutes and listened to a course. Stroke histogram and heart rate plot are below. After the third interval, I measured lactate: 1.4 mmol/L. It felt “medium”. I wouldn’t call this a “Watts came easy” session and I had to play a few mind games to negotiate with myself and keep the 200W, but it wasn’t too hard.

This was the last session of a high volume week. The target was missed by a whopping two hours because of the travel and the show. Still, I am looking forward to a lighter week. I am planning it now. Need to take note of the wind forecast too, so I can plan my OTW sessions on the low wind days.

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

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erg

Tame Session – new mesocycle

Playing with the PM5 and data tools

New toy – and more python

More steady state stuff and more python

Two speed lactate test again

A hard 10000m

3×20 minutes

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