Better Than Mars

Better-than-Mars

Today’s indoor rowing was done on earth, the best planet for that activity.  The above photo might at first glance resemble a Martian landscape, but at second glance it can be seen to be infinitely more lush than any landscape ever photographed of Mars.  It is a view of some unknown location in the Sonora desert.

The atmosphere where I did my rowing was indoors, so it wasn’t as fresh as any outdoors atmosphere in the Sonora desert, but it was fresh enough and far more oxygen-rich than the hostile-to-humans Martian atmosphere.

Today’s rowing was 10,000 meters done online but alas alone. It was followed by another 5 minutes of supplemental rowing for the sake of a few more meters.

shot-of-screen-and-screenshot

After doing the rowing, I glanced at one of the new features in the Apple Watch (photo and screen shot above) for the heart rate recovery display.  I don’t know what use, if any, to make of it yet, but from what little I’ve read about it, the steeper the angle of decline for the graph of recovery heart rate during the first two minutes after a workout is logged as “done” on the watch, the better. Of course, it would seem to depend on how hard or easy a person had been working out in that workout, so I don’t know if there is a chance of comparing apples to oranges by looking at the heart rate recovery results after workouts of different intensities and duration.

Some of the things I did for fun were to aim for an almost constant, gradually increasing pace and heart rate, with a maximum heart rate target today of around 130.  Some other things I did for fun, were to close my eyes and count the strokes until an estimated 1,000 meters had passed.  That was done about ten times, so I rowed with my eyes closed most of the time.  If other rowers had been rowing with me, I would have watched their avatars to see their stroke rate and watched their numbers for distance separation and pace, on the right of the screen. But nobody else joined, as I’ve already said… so I rowed with my eyes closed and spent a fair amount of time flying through the ethereal realm of thoughts.

APp-Oct-27th--2017-10K-online-finish
Finish screen for the online 10K session today.
APp-Oct-27th--2017-10K-online-rpt
Report for the online 10K session today.
APp-Oct-27th--2017-10K-online-gph
RowPro graphs for the online 10K session today.
APp-Oct-27th--2017-10K-online-C2-gph
Concept 2 graphs for the online 10K session today.

Happy non-Martian rowing to you.

Happy Halloween 2017

happy-halloween-2017

Yes, I know – today is not Halloween and it won’t occur until about 5 days from today – but today was the day I completed the Concept2.com Skeleton Crew Challenge.  The challenge is simply to row a total of at least 31,000 meters in the period that begins October 25th and ends at midnight on October 31st.  Today I exceeded 31K and was awarded with a certificate, which is displayed at the top of this page.

Today’s indoor rowing started out with 10K done online in the company of Bobo, who is located in France.  After that, I rowed in a 45 minute session with two others – a woman who is located in New Zealand and a man who is located in I Don’t Know What Country.  Finally, I rowed a 5 minute warm down.  Then I checked the meters rowed and saw that by rowing another 5 minutes I could surpass 31K since October 25th, so that was done to earn the certificate.

If you wonder why the HR graphs are “messy” most of the time, its probably because the heart strap battery is getting low.  Yesterday I removed the battery from the heart strap transmitter and checked it with a battery tester.  It tested to be at somewhere above 40% but less than 60% of its maximum new charge.  I decided to keep using it until it quits completely, so there may be more messy HR graphs for a few more sessions, depending on how long it lasts.

For the 10K, I rowed at about 2:20 until it counted down to 9,000 meters, then rowed at about 2:15 until it counted down to 7,000 meters, then rowed at about 2:10 until it counted down to 3,000 meters.  At 3,000 meters to go, I increased the pace to about 2:00 until distance counted down to 2,000 meters.  Then I rested a bit, did a short sprint at about 1:40 for a couple hundred meters and rowed the remaining distance at a leisurely warm down pace.

For the 45 minute session, I rowed a pace between 2:30 and 2:40 until the time counted down to 20 minutes remaining.  At 20 minutes remaining, I increased the pace to about 2:00 for four minutes then rowed easy for a few minutes, then did a short sprint for about 10 or 20 seconds, then eased off to a slower and slower pace, to warm down as the 45 minutes counted down the final few minutes to zero.

The two 5 minute warm downs/ extra meters were each done at exceedingly slow paces.

AP-Oct-26th-2017-10K-online-finish
Finish screen for today’s main session, 10K online.
AP-Oct-26th-2017-10K-online-rpt
Report for today’s main session, 10K online.
AP-Oct-26th-2017-10K-online-gph
Graphs for today’s main session, 10K online.
AP-Oct-26th-2017-45min-online-finish
Finish screen for the 45 minute online session.
AP-Oct-26th-2017-45min-online-rpt
Report for the 45 minute online session.
AP-Oct-26th-2017-45min-online-gph
Grapsh for the 45 minute online session.
AP-Oct-26th-2017-5min-wd-finish
Finish screen for the first of two 5 minute warm downs.
AP Oct 26th 2017 5min wd rpt
Report for the first of two 5 minute warm downs.
AP-Oct-26th-2017-5min-extra-wd-finish
Finish screen for the second of two 5 minute warm downs.
AP Oct 26th 2017 5min extra wd rpt
Report for the second of two 5 minute warm downs.

Happy rowing to you.

No Sweat For The Cacti

sonoran-dry-landscape

Since I did all my rowing indoors today, as usual, none of my sweat was shared with the usually-thirsty cacti in the area.

Today’s session was 10K scheduled many hours in advance online.  And it paid off, to schedule many hours in advance because one guy in England joined the session.  But he had some kind of problem, perhaps with software or with his connection, because after 100-200 meters, his rowing icon showed to be “finished” even though we still had almost 10,000 meters remaining.

So I stopped that online session and set up another 10K, so he could join that one.  But he was non-responsive in the chat room, so I assume there was some kind of connection problem.

I started out the 10K at about 2:20, then after about 1,000 meters increased the pace to about 2:15 and maintained that pace until there were 4,000 meters left.  As the distance countdown to 4,000 meters remaining, I increased the pace to about 2:00/500m and kept it there for 1,000 meters, when there were 3,000 meters remaining.

I rowed very easy for about 600 meters and then sprinted at about 1:50/500m for 400 meters until the distance counted down to 2,000 at which point I slowed down and used the last 2K as a first warm down.

After the 10K was over, I did a second warm down of 5 minutes.

AOo-Oct-25th-2017-10K-online-finish
Finish screen for today’s online 10,000 meters.
AOo-Oct-25th-2017-10K-online-rpt
Report for today’s online 10,000 meters.
AOo-Oct-25th-2017-10K-online-rp-gph
RowPro graphs for today’s online 10,000 meters.
AOo-Oct-25th-2017-10K-online-c2-gphs
Concept2 online logbook graphs for today’s online 10,000 meters.
AOo-Oct-25th-2017-WD-online-finish
Finish screen for 5 minute warm down.
AOo-Oct-25th-2017-wd-online-rpt
Report for 5 minute warm down.
AOo-Oct-25th-2017-wd-online-gph
Graphs for 5 minute warm down.

Happy and problem-free rowing to you.

10K With A Viking

sonoran-deset-92F
This is a good place for indoor rowing, since there not enough water to float a boat.

Today’s indoor rowing was 10,000 meters scheduled and rowed online.  A guy who is located in Norway joined the session, so I considered that I’d been rowing with a Viking, assuming he is a native Norwegian with Viking DNA.

I guess he was feeling either a bit tired or under the weather though, because he said he didn’t “feel like a Viking”.

AO-Oct-23rd-2017-10K-online-finish
Finish screen for today’s online 10K. The heart rate graph looks weird because it has a low battery and didn’t have a signal for most of the time.
AO-Oct-23rd-2017-10K-online-rpt
Report for today’s online 10K. Heart rate shows zero when there was no signal from the heart strap.
AO-Oct-23rd-2017-10K-online-rp-gph
RowPro 5 for the Mac graphs for today’s online 10K. The heart rate graphs look weird because the chest strap had a low battery and didn’t have a signal for most of the time.

Happy rowing to you.

A Mile For The League

october-in-sonoran-desert

Today’s main session was 1,609 meters.  It was done for the sake of the Indoor Rowers League challenge for the month of October.  It was preceded/followed by 10 minute warmup/down. The distance of 1,609 meters is about one mile.

Today’s session is categorized as a race, because it was rowed as fast as I thought I could do it.

AO-Oct-23rd-2017-1609-IRL-challenge-finish
Finish screen for the 1,609 meter portion of today’s rowing.
AO-Oct-23rd-2017-1609-IRL-challenge-rpt
Report for the 1,609 meter portion of today’s rowing. It was divided into only one split, because 1609 is a prime number and RowPro 5 for the Mac doesn’t do well with the reports unless every split is an equal length to each of the others.
AO-Oct-23rd-2017-1609-IRL-challenge-rp-gph
RowPro 5 for the Mac graphs for the 1,609 meter portion of today’s rowing.
AO-Oct-23rd-2017-1609-IRL-challenge-c2-gph
Concept 2 online logbook’s graphs for the 1,609 meter portion of today’s rowing.
AO-Oct-23rd-2017-WD-finish
Finish screen for the warm down portion after the 1,609 meter challenge was finished.

Happy miles rowing to you.

A Race For C2CTC October 2017 Challenge

sonoran-desert-bushes

The longest session today was 10,000 meters done at a very easy pace.  Then it was time for a race.  The race was to do a specific set of intervals and then log the total time for those intervals in the c2ctc.com website.

The specific intervals were 500 meters, followed by two minutes rest, then 1,250 meters, followed by 1 minute rest and finally a 250 meter sprint.  Each interval distance was to be done from a stopped flywheel.  It managed to get me to breathing very hard.

The 10K was done online but alone.  The 10K was done first, so as to serve as a long warm-up for the C2CTC race. The rest of today’s rowing was done offline.

Tomorrow, or one of the other days between now and the end of the month, there will be a 1,609 meter (about one mile) race.

ANn-Oct-22nd-2017-10K-finish
Finish screen for today’s very easy 10K.
ANn-Oct-22nd-2017-10K-rpt
Report for today’s very easy 10K.
ANn-Oct-22nd-2017-10K-gph
Graphs for today’s very easy 10K. Yes, there were interruptions.
ANn-Oct-22nd-2017-Oc_17_C2CTC-finish
Finish screen view of today’s C2CTC.COM challenge effort.
ANn-Oct-22nd-2017-Oc_17_C2CTC-rpt
Reportof today’s C2CTC.COM challenge effort. In between each interval, I stood up and walked while the timer counted down the rest times.
ANn-Oct-22nd-2017-Oc_17_C2CTC-rp-gphs
RowPro 5 for the Mac graphs of today’s C2CTC.COM challenge effort.

Happy rowing and occasional racing to you.

Net Performance Increase, Woo Hoo

sonoran-desert-wikipedia

After doing a very leisurely 10K this afternoon, I ran the RowPro 5 for the Mac comparison analysis, to compare performance change to yesterday’s session which was done at a bit faster average pace.  “Net Performance Increase,” it said.  But what does it mean, really?  Your guess is as good or maybe better than mine.

There was neither warmup nor warm down.  The session was scheduled about 25 minutes in advance as an online session but nobody else signed up so it was done alone.

AN-Oct-21st-2017-10K-finish
Finish screen for today’s 10K session.
AN-Oct-21st-2017-10K-rpt
RpwPro 5 for the Mac report for today’s 10K session.
AN-Oct-21st-2017-10K-gphs
RowPro 5 for the Mac graphs for today’s 10K session.
AN-Oct-21st-2017-10K-analysis-stats
RowPro 5 for the Mac’s comparison analysis stats comparing today’s to yesterday’s 10K session.

Happy performance increasing to you.

October 20, 2017 Rowing

October-20-2017
When I used the search terms “October 20 2017 rowing” to look for an image today, this was one of the top results. It is from the website of a rowing club in Frankfurt, Germany.

Today’s indoor rowing consisted of 10,000 meters rowed online but alone, followed by a warm down. There are only screenshots of the 10K below.

AMm-Oct-20th-2017-10K-finish AMm-Oct-20th-2017-10K-rpt AMm-Oct-20th-2017-10K-rp-gph AMm-Oct-20th-2017-10K-c2-gph

Happy rowing to you.

 

Rowing A Symphony Of Motion Better Than Yesterday

some-think-of-rowing
When some people think of a symphony of motion, they think of rowing. Into what genre would the above rowing symphony be classified?  Avant garde?  Romantic? Classical crossover? (Actually…  the two rowers above were doing a crossover of sorts, to switch seating positions.)

Today’s indoor rowing was the same distance and feeling-of-effort goal as yesterday’s.  But yesterday’s was not posted to this blog yesterday.  So today’s blog post will do double duty.

others-think-of-trains
When some people think of “symphony of motion,” instead of thinking of rowing they think of something else, such as trains.

Since yesterday’s and today’s were the same distance, this blog post will include the results of a RowPro 5 for the Mac comparison analysis of today and yesterday.

george-pocock
Part of today’s blog post title was inspired by some of the inspiring words of George Pocock, who is famous in the world of rowing. He said: “It’s a great art, is rowing. It’s the finest art there is. It’s a symphony of motion. And when you’re doing well, why it’s nearing perfection. And when you reach perfection, you’re touching the divine. It touches the you of you, which is your soul.”

The order of presentation of screenshots etc will be yesterday’s first, then today’s and finally the RowPro 5 for the Mac analysis comparison of the two sessions.

rowing-a-symphony-of-motion

A video watched during part of today’s rowing session was called “Rowing: A symphony of Motion,” found on youtube.  That’s a screenshot of it, just above.

AIi-Oct-18th-2017-8K-finish
Finish screen for yesterday’s 8K.
AIi-Oct-18th-2017-8K-rpt
Report for yesterday’s 8K.
AIi-Oct-18th-2017-8K-rp-gphs
RowPro charts for yesterday’s 8K.
AIi-Oct-18th-2017-8K-C2-gphs
Concept 2 online logbook graphs for yesterday’s 8K.
AM-Oct-19th-2017-8K-finish
Finish screen for today’s 8K session.
AM-Oct-19th-2017-8K-rpt
Report for today’s 8K session.
AM-Oct-19th-2017-8K-rp-gph
RowPro graphs for today’s 8K session.
AM-Oct-19th-2017-8K-c2-gph
Concept 2 online logbook graphs for today’s 8K session.
AM-Oct-19th-2017-8K-comp-charts
RowPro 5 for the Mac analysis comparison graphs of today and yesterday.
AM-Oct-19th-2017-8K-comp-stats
RowPro 5 for the Mac analysis comparison STATS of today and yesterday.

Happy symphonic rowing to you.

 

Restraining The Reins Among The Windmills Of The Mind

a-uk-meet

I couldn’t immediately find an image to go with today’s title, so the above photo of an indoor rowing meet featured on the British Rowing website will have to do.

Though the above photo show dozens of over 700 people at an indoor rowing meet, my rowing session was done alone at home.  As I rowed one of the things I imagined was riding a horse among windmills while holding the reins so as to restrain the horse from breaking into a gallop.

Today was not a day to race or gallop.  The goal was to maneuver and keep the heart rate in a range of between 120 and 140.

There are two competitive events to do before this month’s end.  One is for  c2ctc.com and the other is for the indoor rowers organization, whose website seems to be down at the moment…

Today’s indoor rowing was followed by a 2K warm down, the results of which will be shown first:

AI-Oct-17th-2017-WD-finish
Finish screen of today’s warm down.
AI-Oct-17th-2017-WD-rpt
Report of today’s warm down.
AI-Oct-17th-2017-WD-gph
Charts of today’s warm down.
AI-Oct-17th-2017-8K-rpt
Report of today’s 8K main session.
AI-Oct-17th-2017-8K-rp-gph
RowPro graphs of today’s 8K main session.
AI-Oct-17th-2017-8K-C2-gphs
Concept 2 online logbook graphs of today’s 8K main session.

Happy rowing to you.