May 3 2015
Data annoyances and wellness
Just checking if this cool video works. Looking forward to following this guy:
Saturday
Went out in the single for a steady state workout. Everything seemed to work against me. I had terribly tired legs after Friday’s workouts. There was a nasty chop. Did I mention I was tired? My back hurt. I didn’t seem to be able to find my light and fast stroke. CrewNerd issues. First, the XGPS160 stopped after 4km, which I discovered just after the turn and I didn’t want to interrupt my rowing, so I rowed 4km without tracking. Then I switched the XGPS back on, closed CrewNerd, restarted it, but CrewNerd didn’t seem to take the high update rate of the XGPS. I can see that on the screen. When it works, the distance rowed is increasing in 1 meter intervals and I can see the pace change during the stroke. When it doesn’t work, the distance rowed is increasing in steps of 2 or 3 meters, and the pace displayed changes every other stroke.
I have the new version of CrewNerd and I am duly sending bug reports to the author of the software, who is very active and responsive, so I am expecting this is a bug that will be solved in the next couple of weeks.
However, on a day when everything seems to cost extra energy, I find this annoying. 4km of rowing missing in my data. Data in two separate files. Not good for this data and automation junkie.
Need to start using the Garmin forerunner again as a backup scenario. It has never failed me and seems to have more accurate position data than the iphone without the XGPS160.
I made a salad with green asparagus and lamb steaks from the charcoal grill for dinner. Picture will follow once Lenka sends it to me.
Sunday
Went out in a double with Romana in considerable chop. The plan was to do 4x6min but it turned out there were sailing races. We couldn’t go on the river because it is officially forbidden to go there so you have to do that only on times when the ferries aren’t out. On the lake, we had only 500m of the 2k to our disposal because of the sailing races.
My father called me in the middle of the row and I had to take it. My first phone call from the middle of the lake.
Funnily, this was one of the rare outings where Romana actually did enjoy rowing in rough conditions. So we did do a race start and a few fast strokes, then binned the session, promising ourselves that we would finish it in the erg room.
We didn’t do that. We went to the wellness in hotel Maximus instead:
It’s a really great wellness, with lots of nice saunas around a little lake with ice cold water to swim in after the sauna. The sauna complex is 500m from the rowing club. So I took an unexpected rest and recovery day. I really enjoyed the sauna. Feel very refreshed now.
The data annoyances continue. I am actually surprised at how low my HR was during the 5km row in the double, but looking at the values and steps in the HR, I am really suspecting something is not right.
May 12 2015
500m/1km/2km, Garmin and CrewNerd stuff, and Race evaluation
Today I wanted to do a 4x1km OTW, but the Renegade Rowing wordpress blog (http://renegaderowing.com/2015/05/12/rowing-wod-51215-500m-2min-rest-1k-4min-rest-2k-post-splits/) inspired me to change it to:
500m @32 s/m (2k-1)
2min rest
1k @30 (2k)
4min rest
2k @28 (2k+2 to 2k+4)
It was quite windy when I launched. I did a “long” warming up of 3km, to Rokle and then back to the start of the 2km Albano. In the 500m with strong headwind, I had difficulty holding the prescribed 30spm stroke rate, and the pace was around 2:10 at best. So I was very surprised to suddenly see 2:02 in the Crewnerd App when I finished. Didn’t give it too much thought.
I did take a bit longer rest to drink a bit, reset CrewNerd to “just row”, remember to hit “start” on CrewNerd, and turn the boat.
One kilometer with tailwind. Got started, and had to check my course a few times because there was a windsurfer in my rear view mirror who was doing unpredictable things. At one point he fell in the water and then tried to get his sail up again. When I checked Crewnerd, I suddenly was down to 500m to go, but with a time of 1:30 for the first 500m.
Hm, something must be wrong. The XGPS160 LEDs were on. What to do now? Do an additional unrecorded 30 seconds? Somehow I didn’t feel like it. But I did make a mental notice to do the 2km from start to finish in the Albano, and not stop early.
So I did. The 2km was a real struggle. The Masters pair was next to me, probably doing steady state, but still it felt like a victory that I could row away from them. With the strong headwind and waves, it was difficult to keep the stroke rate at 28spm.
Here’s how rough the weather was:
Here are the statistics according to CrewNerd:
CrewNerd+XGPS160 statistics
|Dist_|Time_|Pace__|_SPM__|avg HR|max HR|DPS|Remarks
|02875|15:49|02:45.0| 19.0 | 131 | 148 |09.6|Warming up
|00495|02:02|02:03.3| 29.4 | 163 | 178 |08.3|500m headwind
|00671|04:17|03:11.6| 17.8 | 131 | 177 |08.8|rest
|01021|03:33|01:44.3| 28.0 | 165 | 177 |10.3|"1000m" tailwind
|00765|04:59|03:15.4| 18.9 | 136 | 175 |08.1|rest
|02020|09:50|02:26.0| 26.1 | 174 | 181 |07.9|2km headwind
|00804|06:15|03:53.1| 18.3 | 134 | 180 |07.0|cooling down
And here is my trajectory according to CrewNerd:
Notice the strange loop at the beginning of the 1km?
Statistics according to Garmin+Crewnerd
So I decided to do an experiment and merge the Garmin data with the CrewNerd data, taking position and speed from Garmin, and stroke rate from CrewNerd.
Here are the data:
| Time_ | Pace__ | _SPM___ | avg HR | max HR | _A/D | DPS | Remarks
| 15:30 | 02:53.1 | 18.9 | 129 | 148 | | 09.2 | Warming up
| 02:02 | 02:12.9 | 27.2 | 162 | 177 | | 08.3 | 500m headwind
| 04:43 | 04:26.0 | 20.1 | 134 | 174 | | 05.6 | rest
| 03:00 | 01:58.6 | 25.5 | 161 | 177 | | 09.9 | "1000m" tailwind
| 05:35 | 03:30.2 | 19.9 | 135 | 175 | | 07.2 | rest
| 09:10 | 02:18.6 | 25.7 | 173 | 181 | | 08.4 | 2km headwind
| 13:32 | 05:18.9 | 19.4 | 128 | 180 | | 04.9 | cooling down
Not sure if the SPM is right. Might be an artefact of merging the data.
Here’s the revised trajectory:
And the colorful graphs:
I guess it was smart to take the Garmin Forerunner as a backup.
Race Evaluation
So it’s time for the race evaluation.
The Quad
We basically had no opposition, so it was just a test of how well we could row together. We were focused. The race plan was to settle down 10 strokes after the start and row a light and easy stroke. We did just that. I decided to not take any stroke coach and just stroke this one on feel. Romana measured a 34spm when we were 250m from the finish. It definitely didn’t feel as an all out effort. Our time of 3:03 is of course fast with the tailwind and the (light) current.
We should expect tougher competition but it was a good start.
What worked: Race plan execution, light stroke. We were confident.
What didn’t work: –
What would I do differently next time: We have to train doing a 10 hard stroke section in the middle and do an all out last 200m.
The Eight
What can I say. We got the 2 guys who didn’t make the selection for the local team and we got their worst eight. Still we won. We managed to pass the boat, take a half length lead and defend this, winning by a margin of 0.5 seconds. Good race experience.
What worked: We won, despite everything. Apparently the six of us have enough horse power.
What didn’t work: The rowers in the bow didn’t hear the cox.
What we need to do differently: We need to make kilometers in the eight. We need to have a boat with a coxbox. We need an experienced cox.
The Single
A nice race despite the pressure I loaded on myself. I wasn’t the fastest out of the start but I was confident and focused and rowed well. More a training than an all out 1km. I should expect tougher opponents in the rest of the season. The time of 3:39 was of course fast with tailwind and current.
What worked: I win effortlessly. I was focused and nothing distracted me (launch wake). I thoroughly enjoyed the racing. I was rowing a relaxed stroke. I was confident.
What didn’t work: I need to discipline myself the evening before the race. Strictly one glass of wine with dinner (or zero), not eat too much, and go to bed early.
What would I do differently next time: I still need to do a hard, all out 1km. Should train this a few times before the next race.
By sanderroosendaal • Uncategorized • 1 • Tags: crewnerd, OTW, race analysis, rowing, training, XGPS160