Rowing With A Governor

engine-governor
This is an automatic engine governor and if you really want to know more about it, search images for “engine governor” and it should be one of the first results. At least… it was one of the first results when I used Bing to do the search. My engine governor was discretionary instead of automatic and required a little attention to the heart rate display.

Today’s rowing was brief.  It consisted of 5 minutes of easy and non-scientific warmup, followed by the main 2,000 meter piece and finished with a 5 minute warm down.

The 2,000 meter plan was to row at an average pace of 2:00 minutes per 500 meters (about 203 Watts) but to limit heart rate to a maximum of 140 BPM and slow the pace if it exceeded 140 BPM.

It was fun.

It was uploaded to YouTube as a screen recording and may be viewed at this link: “Indoor Rowing 2K with HR limit 02172018

AGg-Feb17th-2018--2K-w-HR-limit-140-BPM-finish
Finish screen for today’s 2,000 meter portion of the total rowing.
AGg-Feb17th-2018--2K-w-HR-limit-140-BPM-rpt
Report for today’s total rowing.
AGg-Feb17th-2018--2K-w-HR-limit-140-BPM-rp-gph
RowPro graphs for the 2,000 meters portion of today’s rowing.
AGg-Feb17th-2018--2K-w-HR-limit-140-BPM-C2-chart
Concept 2 online logbook chart for the 2,000 meters portion of today’s rowing.

Happy rowing to you.

Back In The Rowing Saddle Again

AF-Feb12th-2018--10K-Target-148-Watts-finish
Finish screen for today’s 148 Watt 10K.

After two days of zero rowing, today resumed with the series of 10K sessions increasing by one average Watt per session.  Today’s 10K was done at 148 Watts average power and heart rate, which had been unchanged for the past 2 or 3 increases of one Watt, finally increased by the end of this session.

The session was uploaded to YouTube and will eventually be available at this link: “Indoor Rowing 10K Target 148 Watts 02122018“.

AF-Feb12th-2018--10K-Target-148-Watts-rpt
Report for today’s 148 Watt 10K.
AF-Feb12th-2018--10K-Target-148-Watts-rp-gph
RowPro graphs for today’s 148 Watt 10K.
AF-Feb12th-2018--10K-Target-148-Watts-C2-chart
Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s 148 Watt 10K.

Happy rowing to you.

Another 10K Another One Average Watt Increase

AE-Feb-9th-2018--10K-Target-147-Watts-finish
Finish screen for today’s 147 Watt 10K.

Today’s indoor rowing was different from yesterday’s in that the average power was increased by one more Watt, from 146 to 147 Watts. That resulted in a small increase in pace and a total increase of 1 “large” calorie but there was no resulting increase of heart rate at the end.

Tomorrow’s session is planned to be 148 Watts.

Today’s session was uploaded to YouTube as a screen recording and will eventually be available at the following link: “Indoor Rowing 10K at 147 Watts 02092018“.

AE-Feb-9th-2018--10K-Target-147-Watts-rpt
Report for today’s 147 Watt 10K.
AE-Feb-9th-2018--10K-Target-147-Watts-rp-gph
RowPro graphs for today’s 147 Watt 10K.
AE-Feb-9th-2018--10K-Target-147-Watts-C2-chart
Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s 147 Watt 10K.

Happy rowing to you.

What Difference Does One Watt Make?

AD-Feb-8th-2018--10K-Target-146-Watts-finish
Finish screen for today’s 146 average Watts 10K.

Today’s session was another 10K and today’s goal was to achieve an average effort, in Watts, of one Watt more than yesterday’s average Watts.  It didn’t feel any different.  There is probably a margin of error of about 1/2 of an average Watt.

Comparing today’s session report to that of February 7th (yesterday) the total calories increased by one calorie, the pace was faster by -0.2 seconds per 500 meters and the ending heart rate was the same today and yesterday, at 133 BPM.  It should be noted that officially the number of calories increase from yesterday to today was one “unofficial” calorie because it is in layman’s terms, which is a “large” calorie or… in official physics terms the “kilogram calorie” or one “kilo-calorie”.

There are so MANY official calories in the food we eat that the number is made to seem a smaller and also more easily manageable number by dividing them by 1,000 and using an unofficial term for units of energy.  The link immediately preceding this sentence is to a Wikipedia article and though many things in Wikipedia are untrue, biased or part of the truth is censored… the article on calories seems accurate. (I took a few courses in high school and college physics.)

So… that little Snickers candy bar (yummy!) which is listed as having a “mere” 250 calories actually has 250 kilo-calories which in normal physics terms is 250,000 actual official calories.   Yes, it is a lot of energy.

Tomorrow’s goal:  Increase average power by one more average Watt.

AD-Feb-8th-2018--10K-Target-146-Watts-rpt
Report for today’s 146 average Watts 10K.
AD-Feb-8th-2018--10K-Target-146-Watts-rp-gph
RowPro graphs for today’s 146 average Watts 10K. Heartbeat briefly went irregular at least 4 times, where the vertical HR lines are graphed. I could feel it, each time.
AD-Feb-8th-2018--10K-Target-146-Watts-C2-chart
Concept 2 chart for today’s 146 average Watts 10K.

Happy rowing to you.

Indoor Rowing 10K Addiction Fix

ACc-Feb-7th-2018-10K-finish
Finish screen for today’s 10K.

Today was another in a string of indoor rowing 10Ks. Yes, I’m addicted to the ethereal* results of indoor rowing. Thus, today’s title.

The plan for today was to aim for a target pace of 2:14/500m and then to increase the effort for tomorrow’s 10K by 1 (one) Watt for tomorrow’s average power. And increase average power by one more Watt the next day, etc until the session’s End HR is about 140 BPM.  Its something to do that shouldn’t be overworking the heart, between now and the date of my next cardiologist appointment.

Today’s rowing session was uploaded to YouTube and will eventually be available at the following link: “Indoor Rowing 10K Addiction Fix 02072018“.

ACc-Feb-7th-2018-10K-rpt
Report for today’s 10K.
ACc-Feb-7th-2018-10K-rp-gph
RowPro graphs for today’s 10K.
ACc-Feb-7th-2018-10K-C2-chart
Concept 2 logbook chart for today’s 10K.

Happy rowing to you.

*Happiness is ethereal.  Working or exercising at a sufficient level stimulates the body to produce the hormone serotonin, which is the hormone associated with happiness.

Targeting Pace With Attention To Heart Zone

AC-Feb-6th-2018-10K-finish
Finish screen for today’s 10K.

Today’s session was 10,000 meters with a pace target of 2:14/500m average pace while giving attention to heart rate.  The heart rate zone painted on the screen wasn’t the same as the mental heart rate zone being used.  The mental zone was an upper boundary of around 140.

The session was uploaded to YouTube as a screen recording.  It may be found at this link: “Indoor Rowing 2m 14s Pace Target with Heart Zone 02062018“.

AC-Feb-6th-2018-10K-rpt
Report for today’s 10K
AC-Feb-6th-2018-10K-rp-gph
RowPro graphs for today’s 10K
AC-Feb-6th-2018-10K-C2-chart
Concept 2 chart for today’s 10K

Happy rowing to you.

Spurred Faster By Text Messaging

ABb-Feb-5th-2018-10K-mixed-zones-finish
Finish screen for today’s mostly two-handed 10K.

Today I decided to see what happened if I rowed slow enough that heart rate would be a lot lower than 120 BPM.  But the extra-slow rowing only lasted about 3,500 meters.  Someone started text-messaging me, so I replied by taking a brief video of the rowing monitor with one hand and continuing to row with the other hand.  The text I sent along with that brief video was “I’ll be done in about 30 minutes.”

You can see that one-handed rowing video here: “Rowing with one hand while texting“.

Then I increased the effort and rowed a bit harder so that the “done in 1bout 30 minutes” part would be true.

The 10K was uploaded to YouTube as a screen recording and can be found at this link: “Indoor Rowing From Below To Inside A Heart Zone 02052018

ABb-Feb-5th-2018-10K-mixed-zones-rpt
Report for today’s mostly two-handed 10K.
ABb-Feb-5th-2018-10K-mixed-zones-rp-gph
RowPro graphs for today’s mostly two-handed 10K.
ABb-Feb-5th-2018-10K-mixed-zones-C2-chart
Concept 2 chart for today’s mostly two-handed 10K.

Happy rowing to you.

10K After A Day Off

AB-Feb-4th-2018-10K-Target-HR-120-finish
Finish screen for today’s 10K.

Today was another 10K with target heart rate of 120 BPM.

The average effort to maintain 120 BPM was a lot lower than that of the day before yesterday.  Once again, God only knows why. I don’t have a clue as to the reason why the big difference from one day to the next at the same heart rate.

The session was uploaded to YouTube as a screen recording at the following link: “Indoor Rowing 10K w target HR 02042018“.

AB-Feb-4th-2018-10K-Target-HR-120-rpt
Session report for today’s 10K.
AB-Feb-4th-2018-10K-Target-HR-120-rp-gph
RowPro graphs for today’s 10K.
AB-Feb-4th-2018-10K-Target-HR-120-C2-chart
Concept 2 chart for today’s 10K.

Happy rowing to you.

Watching For Improvement At Same Heart Rate

AA-Feb-2nd-2018-10K-Target-HR-120-finish
Finish screen for today’s 10K.

That’s the reason I’m doing the ongoing series of 10Ks with the same target heart rate of 120.  Curiosity as to whether the body will adapt and there will be improvement resulting in higher power and faster pace  though the heart rate is the same.

Today and yesterday were with the same target heart rate but today’s session report shows an average power of 143.6 Watts and yesterday’s an average power of 123.9 Watts.  That’s quite a bit of difference, almost 15% more power today than yesterday.  God only knows why because I don’t know and nothing comes to mind that was significantly different today than yesterday. Perhaps what I ate today was better than yesterday or perhaps I got a better night’s sleep? I don’t know.  But God always knows why.

I’ll keep on doing 10Ks at a target HR of 120 for a while, and see what the variation in power is from day to day.  Just curious, am I.

Today’s indoor rowing session was done on a Windows 7 computer with RowPro 4 instead of on a Mac using RowPro 5 for the Mac.

The session was uploaded to YouTube as a screen recording and may be found at the following link: “Indoor Rowing 10K heart rate zone workout 02022018“.

AA-Feb-2nd-2018-10K-Target-HR-120-rpt
Report for today’s 10K.
AA-Feb-2nd-2018-10K-Target-HR-120-rp-gph
Second of two RowPro graphs for today’s 10K. There is no Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s session because unlike RowPro 5 for the Mac, RowPro 4 for Windows does not upload heart rate data to the Concept 2 online logbook.

Happy rowing to you.

570 Calories Burned In Another Easy 10K

A-Feb-1st-2018-10K-Target-HR-120-finish
Finish screen for today’s 10K.

This may seem like déjà vu  because its a different day with the same goal for a 10K – target heart rate 120.  I’ve decided to do a string of them.  Don’t know how many… to compare results in watts/calories/average pace and see if it remains constant or changes.

The session was uploaded to YouTube as a screen recording at “Indoor Rowing 10K Target HR 120 BPM on 02012018

A-Feb-1st-2018-10K-Target-HR-120-rpt
Report for today’s 10K.
A-Feb-1st-2018-10K-Target-HR-120-rp-gph
RowPro graphs for today’s 10K.
A-Feb-1st-2018-10K-Target-HR-120-C2-chart
Concept 2 chart for today’s 10K.

Happy rowing to you.