OTW

Nov 21 2015

OTW Row & First Lactate steps

Lactate fun

The “ding-dong” came just before lunch time on Friday. It was the UPS man ringing the doorbell, delivering my lactate meter. I will write a separate review blog about it tomorrow.

It came with a small lancing device but no lancets. No problem. Richard told me that lancing devices are sold in each pharmacy. As I was working from home, I went to the neighborhood Thai for a quick lunch, and as this is in the Czech Republic, there is a pharmacy on every street corner. I am exaggerating just a little. Tried 3 pharmacies and had to explain what I was looking for. I felt very weird, asking for a device to stab myself to get blood. In the third pharmacy they sent me to a shop selling medical devices in the town center.

There, they sold me the Accu-Chek lancing device but the girl told me that they didn’t have the lancets on stock. I asked if there weren’t any lancets in the package with the device. She checked. Negative. I asked her to order them. Tuesday morning.

A bummer, because of course I was very eager to test my new toy.

I ended up trying to stab myself with a (sterilized) needle. This was very painful and yielded just a minimum of blood, which I used to waste two strips.

This turned out to be harder than I thought.

This morning I finally opened the package with the Accu-Chek for a closer inspection. To my surprise there was a set of lancets packaged with the device.

The manual to the Accu-Chek said to first test at depth setting “2” (out of a max 5.5). I tried that, but apparently have a very thick skin. After a few more stabs I managed to get a reasonable drop at the maximum setting. It took another two stabs (and one wasted strip) until I had my first reading: 1.5. Hurray!

Tomorrow I will do my first test. I will probably miss one or two data points but who cares. I can repeat it next week.

I am going to the “long step test” where I will do a few 10 minute steps around my presumed 2.0 mmol/L intensity.

My club mates did the classical 4 minutes step test and the trainer has determined their training bands from that. Unfortunately I missed this opportunity. I don’t have the raw data but here is what I reconstructed from the training bands published in our club house:

Quite impressive numbers … I am afraid that when I will do this test, I will be somewhere to the left of this graph.

Today’s Row

We still don’t have a winter dock built and the water level is continuously falling. When I arrived at the club, the air temperature was +3 degrees C and the water was colder.

Instead of wading in, I decided to build an improvised dock. Actually, I was quite proud of the end result which was perfectly usable:

vlot 001 — First part of improvised dock

The water next to my improvised dock isn’t very deep, but when I had removed a few big stones, it was deep enough for a single.

Today, I didn’t have a lot of time, so I did one rate ladder, 4-3-2-1-2-3-4 minutes at 18-20-22-24-22-20-18 spm.

| Tstart_ | Tstop__ | Dist_ | Time_ | Pace__ | _SPM | avg HR | max HR | DPS | Remarks | 00:00.0 | 13:09.0 | 02278 | 13:09 | 02:53.2 | 18.9 | 140 | 153 | 09.2 | WU | 13:09.0 | 17:09.0 | 00831 | 04:00 | 02:24.5 | 17.6 | 144 | 152 | 11.8 | 18spm | 17:09.0 | 20:08.0 | 00639 | 02:59 | 02:20.1 | 19.6 | 154 | 161 | 10.9 | 20spm | 20:08.0 | 22:09.0 | 00454 | 02:01 | 02:13.2 | 21.8 | 164 | 167 | 10.3 | 22spm | 22:09.0 | 23:08.0 | 00227 | 00:59 | 02:10.0 | 23.1 | 169 | 171 | 10.0 | 24spm | 23:08.0 | 25:08.0 | 00387 | 02:00 | 02:35.0 | 21.4 | 166 | 171 | 09.0 | 22spm; turn | 25:08.0 | 28:10.0 | 00596 | 03:02 | 02:32.6 | 19.6 | 161 | 165 | 10.1 | 20spm | 28:10.0 | 32:09.0 | 00774 | 03:59 | 02:34.5 | 18.0 | 159 | 165 | 10.8 | 18spm | 32:09.0 | 47:15.0 | 02927 | 15:06 | 02:34.8 | 18.9 | 149 | 162 | 10.2 | CD

dist_____|time_____|_pace___|_HR__|_SPM__|_DPS|comment 2278_____|_13:09____|_2:53.2|140|18.9|9.2|warmup 3907_____|_19:00____|_2:25.9|157|19.4|10.6|Main set 2927_____|_15:06____|_2:34.8|149|18.9|10.2|Cool down 9112____|_47:15____|_2:35.6|150|18.8|10.3|_Total

I still have mixed feelings about the new WordPress.com editor. Today I discovered that I miss the “code" buttons in HTML editing mode.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 6 • Tags: lake, OTW, rowing, single, steady state

Nov 7 2015

Low SPM OTW training

Skipped training on Friday because of work and because the flu shot nurse told me “no exercise, no alcohol”. OK.

The training schedule said running, but I had to bring my sons to the rowing club and the water was mirror flat, so I changed my mind.

It was raining a bit and about 7 degrees C. Not bad weather, actually. I tied an old bicycle inner tube around the shell and started rowing. Perfect exercise for technique. Everything slows down. Pace drops by about 30 seconds per 500m and the run of the boat is nice and slow, so you have enough time to set up each stroke perfectly, especially on this flat water. It’s also good for strength.

| Tstart_ | Tstop__ | Dist_ | Time_ | Pace__ | _SPM | avg HR | max HR | DPS | Remarks | 00:00.0 | 45:00.0 | 07615 | 45:00 | 02:57.3 | 15.7 | 136 | 148 | 10.8 | with band | 45:00.0 | 15:00.0 | 05718 | 30:00 | 02:37.4 | 18.3 | 140 | 153 | 10.4 | normal

After 45 minutes I removed the tube and rowed normally. When I arrived back at the club, the summer dock was being cleared away and the winter dock wasn’t prepared yet, so I had to step into the water. It was quite cold. During the 2 minutes or so that I needed to get out the sculls, my clothes, my phone and the XGPS160, my feet were freezing, almost starting to cramp. A good reminder of how it is when you fall in during a winter row. Unpleasant, to say the least.

The weather forecast for tomorrow is sunny and reaching 17 degrees. The plan is to go in the double with Romana and I almost can’t wait. A nice fast boat after so many kilometers on the erg and the single. It will be a nice training.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 1 • Tags: lake, OTW, rowing, single, steady state, strength, training

Oct 31 2015

Rowing in a Dream

It was misty when I set off but the sun soon cleared the fog. It was beautiful weather. I did a steady state towards the castle and back, interrupted many times because I had to take pictures. The kind of day when you know why you row …

Sunny - canyon towards castle — Sunny – canyon towards castle

When I arrived at Veveří castle I rowed into a mist bank, and I took many pictures. I cannot decide which one is the best, so I show a few of them:

The foot bridge is nice in itself:

Then I rowed back through the canyon:

From Wikipedia:

According to legend, the castle Veveří (“squirrel” in Czech) was founded by Přemyslid DukeConrad of Brno in the middle of the 11th Century, then only as a hunting lodge. Nevertheless, the first credible recorded mention about the castle is from the years 1213 and 1222, when King Přemysl Otakar I used the fortified castle as a prison for rebellious peers. Initially, it was apparently a wooden residence situated near the church of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary west of the present compound. In the 1220s a stone castle on the extremity of the rocky promontory behind a deep moat cut out of the rock started to grow. The so-called keep is the only structure which has remained well-preserved from this oldest building stage.

King Jan of Luxembourg pledged the castle to nobleman Jan of Vartemberk in 1311, but his son, Margrave of Moravia Charles (later Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV), received the property as a debt settlement in 1335. Charles´ younger brother, Margrave Jan Jindřich (John Henry), then took a fancy for Veveří Castle. He was responsible for the building of its rear part with two towers and an outer ward. In the central area around the keep, he developed the main palace, which included a large hall and the Chapel of St. Prokop (later of St. Wenceslaus). The present appearance of the compound is the result of these building activities, giving the castle its basic silhouette of a medieval fortress.

And from the Czech Tourism web site:

For several centuries treasure hunters have taken turns in the Moravian castle Veveří near Brno. Legend has it that the Templars of France brought their valuables right there after the liquidation of the order in 1307. The treasure of the guardians of the biggest secrets of human history, however, has not been found to this day. Recent research on Veveří, though, has confirmed the existence of an underground space under the church near the castle and assumes their secret connection.According to mystery experts, there is a cipher of the name Molay, the last Grand Master of the Templar Order, above the entrance to the church.

One of the most important politicians of the 20th century is also connected with the Veveří castle. Winston Churchill stayed there three times with his friend, the former owner of the castle Baron de Foresta.

Quite a good place to row to!

Training wise this was 12km in the UT1 HR band.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 2 • Tags: lake, OTW, river, rowing, single, steady state, training

Oct 30 2015

Some deliveries, rowing, strength training

Some deliveries

My sportgraphics.com photos arrived and I picked them up yesterday. Last week I received an email from the Czech Post, telling me that my merchandise from the US had arrived and that they could do the customs for me if I mailed them the original invoice. So I did. Due to travel and public holidays, it wasn’t until yesterday that I could pick up the parcel.

It’s a framed picture of Romana and I doing our Mixed 2x in Hazewinkel and it will be a birthday present. The only downside is that Czech Post also charged VAT over the delivery costs … not sure if that is correct. Well, I discovered way to late to protest.

On Wednesday, Romana and I were discussing the resistance bands for strength training and in an impulse I ordered these ones from Amazon.co.uk. The German Amazon appears to have a lower quality German rip-off of the originals, so I ended up going to Amazon.co.uk. While I was there I also threw in the 2nd edition of Rowing Faster and clicked on next day delivery, which seems to be very reasonably priced on the UK Amazon, compared to the German Amazon.

The bands and the book were delivered to our neighbours yesterday. My sons immediately got hold of the bands and started to play/exercise with them. The idea is that I throw one or two bands and a door anchor in my luggage and I can do a hotel room workout. The other use is to have a “home gym” without having to create a weights room. We’ll see how it works out. The price is much more pleasant than the TRX stuff that is popular with the big guys in my rowing club, so the decision wasn’t that hard. I am only regretting a bit that I went for the anti-snap handles, instead of the bands that connect to the handles with carabiners, which seems a bit more foldable and flexible to me, especially if you want to combine two or more bands to one handle.

Wednesday being a public holiday, I am taking Thursday and Friday off to relax. The original plan was to go to the mountains and do some hiking and mountainbiking, but we decided to skip the longish drive and enjoy a few lazy days at home. After writing up this blog, I will relax on the couch and read Rowing Faster.

After breakfast we headed to the rowing club and I did two sessions, a 40 minute extensive row in the single and a strength session.

Row

Perfect conditions:

After the many reactions to yesterday’s blog, I decided to do a few tests, so I added a few 15 stroke pushes at >30spm to the session. I am glad to say that something of a double peak appears on my RIM analyses at higher stroke rates:

Strength Session

Three rounds in the rowing club weights room:

Lat pull
Bench press
Row
Back
Sit ups
Bench Press
Biceps curl
Bench pull
Squat
Push ups

I had to guess the weights a bit, as this was with free weights which is different than the hotel gym system. If I managed less than 10 repeats in the first round, I lowered the weight for round two. If I underestimated my own strength (pah!) and easily managed the 15 repeats, I increased the weight for the second round.

As the girls were still working out, I played a bit with the bodylastics bands and tried to find the equivalent exercises using the bands, and determine which band strength is the one to throw in my travel bag. The exercise were of course slightly different, but I am confident I can create a demanding strength workout using them.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 0 • Tags: OTW, rowing, single, strength, training

Oct 29 2015

Indoor and Outdoor rowing comparison

Wednesday, Indoor

Changed clothes, descended to torture cellar, sat on Concept2 erg. Rowed. Showered

Fun factor: 2 (on a scale from 0-5) – the audio broadcast I listened to was slightly entertaining
Boredom factor: 3 (reach 5 and you fall asleep spontaneously) – Somehow rowing a 10k in 42 minutes is a lot less boring than rowing for 40 minutes
Training effect: 3 – good steady state. Should have rowed a bit longer but it became very sweaty and I was becoming bored
Learning effect: 0 – it was just a 10k OTE

Thursday, Outdoor

Changed to bike/row gear. Rode to rowing club. Launched my single. Rowed. Rode home. Showered.

The Strava status has a nice summary:

It would be fun to do a real mini-triathlon. Ride bike to rowing club, row, run home. Pick up bike another time. Will probably do this one day.

In the single, I did Steady State and used Rowing in Motion to track my strokes. I tried to work on the catch, to see how I could row to produce the famous double acceleration peak that is seen in Olympic crews and not in club crews. I guess I fall strongly in the club category. The pace variations are purely due to the wind strength and direction. I was rowing constant pressure, 19/20spm:

Not sure if I see a difference in the graphs between the first part of the row where I was really focusing on the catch and the second part, where I wasn’t. But catch efficiency and catch duration seem best in the first headwind part.

Apparently, according to this blog post, the so-called “sculler’s catch” is fashionable again, at least on Rowing Illustrated. (By the way, I have a problem with that site because I cannot sign up. Apparently, they think I am a spammer, or another life form that spoils discussions.)

I suspected I row a “sculler’s catch”, which is a catch where you square late and the blade hits the water with a slightly negative angle. You fully square while the blade enters the water. I have been coached this catch when I was 16 and never really got rid of it. I paid attention to what my hands and blade are doing. Yes, I do square late, my blades are very close to the water, and my handle rotates slightly in my hands while I apply pressure. It is a very subtle effect in my case. Not sure by the way how much speed is gained by doing this catch. At least it is a sign that I hold the handle lightly, like one should. (Another sign of that was on Tuesday morning in the sweaty hotel gym, when the Concept2 handle escaped from my sweaty hands during one pull.)

Fun factor: 5 – there was a slight chop. The colored leaves are still partly on the trees so the forests are beautifully gold, yellow and red colored. I passed Lodni Sporty rowing club when a lady in a single had just launched, so I got to pass a young, blonde sculler on a nice Filippi single. Romana and the girls were on the water in a quad. Lodni Sporty had their junior’s quad on the water
Boredom factor: 0 – I rowed the 12k and had the feeling I wanted to add another few kms. A group of about 15 swans have occupied the lake, so I had to be careful at Sirka. I don’t like these agressive birds. During the rides, it was hard to see the rocks during the forest segments, because the path was covered with leaves. A few climbs and descents and some “real” mountain biking

Training effect: 4 – good steady state.

Learning effect: 5 – good to work on the catch

The Verdict

Outdoor sporting wins hands down

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 0 • Tags: OTE, OTW, rowing, single, steady state

Oct 17 2015

Saturday: Fartlek in the single

The training plan said “Intensive Steady State”. The original plan was that I would row in the quad with Romana’s girls crew, but in the end there were enough girls. So I took the single.

I rowed next to the girls quad for most of the session, and decided to do a Fartleg at 22spm and higher.

The water was nice. Some chop but today I liked it. There was enough chop to make it a challenge but it was manageable with good technique.

We all went for lunch to a pizzeria close to the lake. Took some pictures on the dam when we returned to the club. The first picture shows the lake (and there is a sailing race going on), the second picture shows the river as it continues after the dam. The concrete construction on the left is a 1940s bridge pillar for a highway the Germans wanted to build across occupied Czechoslovakia:

After that we had the traditional season closing with the club. We determined coxed four crews by a draw and raced against each other. Then we had a few beers and discussed the state of rowing in our town, in the world, and the world in general.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 0 • Tags: lake, OTW, rowing, single, training

Oct 12 2015

Monday: Rowing a quad with the girls

Romana had to be in Pardubice for work. Usually she has her appointments in the morning and is back in time to coach her girls, but today I volunteered to look after them.

They had scheduled 1500m intervals (3 of them) on the erg, which was sensible given the predictions of freezing temperatures and a 4 Beaufort wind, which can throw nasty chop on our lake. However, when we arrived at the rowing club, it was sunny and the wind direction was such that there was a lot of rowable water. Three girls: Lenka, 15, and an experienced rower. Iva, 14, who has rowed in the girls 13/14 category, and Klara, 17, who is just learning to row. I decided to take them in the quad and do technique/extensive Steady State. I promised them I will explain to Romana. I also promised they will not escape from the OTE intervals.

I put the “girls double” on 3 and 4, Klara on 2 and I rowed bow position to take care of the course and to keep an eye on Klara as the least experienced. But she picked up quite well. We did rowing by pairs on the first 1km. Then we used the second warming up km to work our way to a full stroke, starting with hands only, etc. After 3km we were rowing steady enough that we could add some pressure. So the training ended up to be low stroke rate (17-18spm) with high pressure and a sloooow recovery to feel the boat run (and give Klara some time to sequence everything right).

Worked out pretty well and it was fun to do. Turns out, I thought I was doing nothing myself, but when I did some stretching this evening I found out that I had taxed my muscles a bit. So far, so good.

By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 2 • Tags: lake, OTW, quad, rowing, steady state, training

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OTW

OTW Row & First Lactate steps

Low SPM OTW training

Rowing in a Dream

Some deliveries, rowing, strength training

Indoor and Outdoor rowing comparison

Saturday: Fartlek in the single

Monday: Rowing a quad with the girls

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