OTE

2speed

Apr 15 2016

The 2 speed test again

So today I did the 2 speed test again. I did it on March 17 and on February 26. First, a 20 minutes warming up:

figure_1

Then the first 1k, at “head race pace”:

1kmb

Did that in 265W, 3:39.3. Lactate was 5.0 mmol/L after one minute, 4.6 mmol/L after 3 minutes.

Twelve minutes of gentle rowing at 2:12 pace. Then the “hard” 1k.

1kmb2

Hard it was. Max heart rate 184, average heart rate 178. My original plan was to hold 1:41 pace. I had difficulties from 600m to go and I even saw a 1:49 at one point. Lactate reading was 8.4 mmol/L, one minute after the row, and 8.6 mmol/L three minutes after the row.

2speed

The top blue line are today’s results. No wonder I was struggling during the second 1k. I have never seen so high lactates.

I have difficulty interpreting the lactate test results. I guess I will have to reread the lactate guru’s bible. One thing I notice is that I am working in the “elbow” of the lactate curve. Any small shift of the elbow to the left or right, or a slight increase in steepness of the right-hand side will have a very noticeable effect on the lactate curve. Here is my 10′ step test from the end of the fall:

lactate2

The light blue line is an extension of the >200 W points. For the 318W that I pulled today, that line is at 10 mmol/L.

Next week, I plan to do a 1k OTE erg to get a good score in for the nonathlon, before the erg season ends. I guess I will approach this 1k attempt with fear, after this result. After that 1k, I may have to think hard about the effectiveness of the training that I am doing.

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figure_1

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.

figure_1.png

figure_2.png
I love painsled. Such a wealth of data

pie.png

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

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6km

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.

wu.png
The Warming Up, captured in RowPro

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):

6km.png
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):

ErgData.JPG

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.

cd.png

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.

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3x20min

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.

IMG_0775.JPG

IMG_0774.JPG

IMG_0773.JPG

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:

 

3x20min3x20minb

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/

 

 

 

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otwscreenshot

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.

2x20min.png
The 2x20min


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

3km_cd.png
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:

screenshot.JPG

And here is the result in the logbook:

screenshotlogbook.JPG

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:

otwscreenshot.JPG

And get this:

otwlogbook.JPG

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.

 

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2speed_graf

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:

fletcher.jpg

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

Then on to the main event.

2speed.jpg


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):

2speed_graf.jpg

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.

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10kmpb

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.

10kmpb.jpg

10kmspm.jpg


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.

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