The title of today’s post is the note that I wrote to myself on the notepad which is on a nightstand next to my side of the bed. It was intended to remind me, first thing in the morning, to put off anything and everything else and just row, first thing early in the morning.
It worked.
Today’s “any distance” turned out to be 10K. I set up RowPro so that it would display an easy pace zone with boundaries of 2:25 and 2:15 /500 meters and aimed for about 2:20. (All versions of RowPro allow you to designate and display optional target target zones for pace, heart rate and/or rating).
Heart rate was irregular for about the first 1,000 meters and then smoothed out.
Today was a late morning start so the distance rowed was only 3K. It was done at randomly varying paces.
I perhaps got a little carried away with some of the faster, sprinting bits… because I hadn’t warmed up and, perhaps due to that, the finicky heart rate started to climb near the end when it should have been slowing down if it was acting normally. But it wasn’t being normal, it was being tachy , as in tachycardia.
During the last 1,000 meters I did a tiny little bit of sprinting and heart rate climbed up to 145 BPM when there was about 500 meters remaining. At the 500 meters-to-go point, I slowed and rowed easy for a warm-down to the finish. Heart rate went from 145 to 139, 138, 137, 135, 134… acting normal for a warm down after a little sprint and it slowed all the way to around 121 while I was rowing easy during the last 500 meters.
But then, even though I continued to row easily, heart rate climbed to 129, 131, 146, 147 … all the way up to 150 as I continued to row very easy near the end and when I reached the finish line it was beating at 148.
It remained high for a little while after rowing stopped, even though I hadn’t worked up a sweat and wasn’t breathing hard at all – totally normal breathing, as if I’d been being a couch potato instead of rowing, but heart rate was in the tachycardia zone for a bit.
After a few minutes it dropped below 100, which is the technical boundary for tachycardia.
The tacky heart behavior was rather annoying. But perhaps I caused it? By annoying the heart? By rowing later in the morning instead of first thing, before 7 a.m.? It might be my imagination, but the heart and everything it’s connected to seems to prefer an earlier rowing session.
In addition to the tachycardia-ish behavior near the end, the heart rate went noticeably irregular a couple times during the session. I felt it each time, and the heart rate display briefly went blank at those times. You can see them on the graphs below, where the graph of heart rate spikes down to zero around the middle and near the end.
Today’s rowing was done with a target pace of 2:20/500 meters average for the entire distance. I started out slow and took a couple of brief breaks during the first half, so the second half was a bit faster paced than the first half, in order to achieve the target average pace.
There wasn’t much time to spare for rowing this morning, so little rowing was done. But the amount of rowing done this morning was about 19% more than was done yesterday, so that was an improvement.
For four days, I did no rowing. I don’t know why, except that there was some deep-seated subconscious reluctance. My better half remarked, yesterday, that she was worried about me, because I hadn’t done any rowing for four days.
When I do row every day, she leans toward considering it obsessive. But when I don’t, she starts to worry… because she knows I feel better and am much more inclined to be in a better mood, if I do some daily rowing.
Today, the reluctance was still present and unidentified/undiagnosed. So I compromised with it and suggested that I row just 1,000 meters. The subconscious regions immediately agreed, with no argument.
Today’s session was three. First there was a very easy, very low-rating 5K, followed by an easy but more normally paced 5K at a normal stroke rating and finally there was a warm down. (Screen shots of the warm down session are not being posted here but it is part of the YouTube video/screen recording.)
RowPro 5 for the Mac acted up a bit during the first 5K because for some glitchy reason it showed some of the stroke rate readouts to be exceedingly high, at the impossible rate of in the 60s or 70s when they were all actually exceedingly low, mostly between 10 and 20 spm for that particular 5K.
Report for the first of today’s two 5Ks.RowPro graphs of the first of today’s two 5KsConcept 2 online logbook chart the first of today’s two 5KsFinish screen for the second of today’s two 5KsReport for the second of today’s two 5KsRowPro graphs for the second of today’s two 5KsConcept 2 online logbook chart for the second of today’s two 5Ks. RowPro had no glitches in measuring stroke rate for this 5K.
This bear is taking it a little bit easier than I did during today’s rowing session.
Today’s rowing session was online but nobody else joined in. Which wasn’t surprising, because I scheduled it less than 25 minutes in advance and it was on a week day when most people are working or going to school.
Because there wasn’t any company, I took it easy and barely did any hard rowing at all. Only about 200 meters of hard rowing, near the end, with the rest of the effort at an easy level.
A cardiologist with whom I consulted recently regarding occasional heart rate irregularity recommended that I take blood thinner. I declined his recommendation because I know that not only are some of the prescription blood thinners literally the same chemical as used in rat poison, but also because taking a blood thinner tends to be a one-way street. With no exit. It is dangerous if not fatal to stop taking blood thinners, once a person starts.
I tried to talk with the doctor about any thoughts he had on helpful, healthy changes in lifestyle or diet, but he didn’t want to talk about those and stuck to recommending taking blood thinner.
So I’m trying modifications in diet, eating times and also adding some limited fasting. By fasting, I mean that it is very limited so far and usually not much more than around 14 hours from the evening meal until breaking fast the next day.
To supplement, accelerate and amplify the beneficial effect of that limited fasting, I’m trying to do my rowing in the mornings, before eating anything.
So far, it’s been working. Far fewer episodes of atrial fibrillation. In fact, virtually none at all… as long as I don’t eat a late meal after 7 or 8 pm and as long as the evening meal is not a large one that makes me feel full. And… as long as I also do my rowing before eating the next day.
Blood thinners, begone!
Today’s rowing was divided into 4 sessions. The first two were done in “just row”mode with the PM3 only (without using RowPro 5 for the Mac software) because the computer was busy updating its operating system.
First of two “just row” sessions.Second of two “just row” sessions.Summary of today’s rowing sessions.
By the time the computer system update was finished, I’d already rowed more than 5K so I set up a RowPro session for 5K. That session was also recorded and uploaded to YouTube at the following link: “Indoor Rowing 71 years old 5K variable pace 04062018“.
RowPro graphs for today’s 5K.RowPro graphs for today’s 5K.Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s 5K.
This morning was a normal morning. I would have said I felt fine, but compared to how I felt after completing this morning’s rowing session, I would have to correct that and say that in comparison to how I felt after this morning’s 10K, I felt somewhat foggy minded before rowing.
That relative comparison was normal also. A bit of sustained rowing at the right level of effort clears the mind and boosts the mood.
Confirmed: Yesterday’s messy heart-rate graphs were caused by a weak (less than 40% when tested) battery in the heart strap transmitter. Today’s session had 100% graphing of heart rate, with a 100% fresh battery.
Today’s session was uploaded to YouTube as a screen recording to be found at the following link: “Indoor Rowing 71 years old – A Daily 10K 04052018“. (As this is being written, it is still uploading and probably won’t be available until sometime between 20:00 and 21:00 GMT.)
Finish screen for today’s 10K.Report for today’s 10K.RowPro graphs for today’s 10K.Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s 10K.
