The competition on C2CTC inspired me to do better on the February event of ten 90 second intervals. Today’s training session was only going to be an easy 6K. So I used the easy 6K as a warmup, then followed the 6K with a set of 10 x 1:30 active r :30 easy for c2ctc. But it crashed after the 9th interval. I don’t know if RowPro crashed or the PM crashed but it seemed that the PM was the problem because the PM went blank, then it re-booted and there was no error message or comment from RowPro except that it lost connection with the PM.
I checked the PM’s battery and it was low, so changed that.
There’s still time before the end of the month, to try it again. Here’s the data on what was done today:
finish screen for today’s training session. It was done super-easy, so as to leave plenty of energy for the intervals to follow.training session detailsTraining session reporttraining session graphsView of screen for attempt at C2CTC intervals as it looked after PM crashedThere might be a problem with RowPro 5 for the Mac, since it is showing that I did 19 intervals. I had only done 9 sets – 18 active and rest intervals – when it crashed. The 19th one is “fake news” from RowProGraphs for 9 sets of intervals done before PM crashed.
This photograph was supposedly taken from 12,000 meters above sea level.
Today’s rowing session was a set of three 1500 meter intervals with 750 meters active rest after the first two and 6,000 meters after the third. The session was preceded by a 500 meter warmup and followed with a 750 meter warm down.
Drag factor was 120. Straps, as usual, were not used.
Finish screen after main part of today’s training session.Today’s training session detailsToday’s session reportGraphs of today’s session.The warm down finish screen data.
If there was 100% synchronicity of legs in this group, I would conclude that it had been choreographed. But it looks like the five pairs of legs all simultaneously finishing a drive are merely a coincidence.
What’s it like, to row in the actual (not virtual/online) company of others who are also rowing the same piece? I don’t know and today was another instance of that.
Today’s training session was 6K easy/recovery with 500 m warmup and warm down. To bring the day’s total up to 10K, there was a supplemental 3K piece done first.
Supplemental 3K warmup finish screenSupplemental warmup reportSupplemental warmup graphsFinish screen for 6K portion of today’s training sessionDetails of today’s training sessionToday’s training session reportToday’s training session graphsFinish screen of graph portion only of today’s training session warm-down
This picture depicts a favorite scene showing a combination of rowing and walking.
Today’s rowing session was a mixture of rowing and walking. It was mostly rowing. The rowing started out easy and finished kinda hard but not all-out hard.
First, there was a 5 minute preliminary warmup. Next, there was a mix of rowing and walking, for the current monthly event hosted at the website called c2ctc.com which stands for “Concept 2 Cross Team Challenge.” Its a motivational thing that anybody can join. You just sign up and choose a team, then row the current piece and by doing so you help to “float a boat”. The faster you row that piece, the higher in the rankings will be the boat in which you float. It’s all in fun and for the purpose of a little more variety in your inspiration to row.
The c2ctc.com event for this month was to do 10 intervals of 90 seconds each, with 30 seconds of rest following each interval. The first interval was supposed to be done from a standing start. I did all of the intervals from a standing start and spent the 30 seconds of rest time between each 90 second interval walking somewhere between 50 and 100 feet in a short round-trip to and from the erg.
After that set of 10 intervals, I rested a bit and then started a playlist of music which usually serves as inspiration to row hard, before commencing the final rowing piece for the day, which was supposed to be a 6K time trial. My previous best time in the 6K this season was at an average pace of 1:57.1, so I thought I’d aim for that and then pick up the pace a bit during the 500 meters and set a new season best.
But after about 1,800 meters, I lost enthusiasm. I decided, however, to continue at that pace until 3,000 meters remained and then decide if I wanted to continue further. At about 3,000 meters, I started to sweat to a somewhat annoying degree and because I hadn’t donned a sweatband before the time trial began, I reached for a towel to mop up some of the sweat. That’s when I decided to become a slacker and eased off.
The final result for the 6K time trial was merely a nice workout and not an effort to make a 6K season best.
There was a glitch with RowPro 5 for the Mac which prevented it from producing a session report for the 6K. So all you will be able to see, if you scroll down that far in this blog post, is a screenshot of the finish screen for the 6K itself, a screenshot of the finish screen for the 750 meter warm down after the 6K and a screenshot of the error message when I tried to retrieve the session report.
Though I couldn’t retrieve a session report for the 6K… if you scroll down further, below the screenshot of the error report, you will see photo images of the Concept 2 Personal Monitor PM3 displaying the split results for all splits of the 6K time trial. But the PM doesn’t save or display any graphs. Sorry about that.
A view of the finish screen for the preliminary 5 minute warm up which immediately preceded the C2CTC event.Report for preliminary 5 minute warm upGraphs for preliminary 5 minute warm upFinish screen view of the February 2017 C2CTC event, which was 10x90seconds_r30seconds.Session report for the C2CTC event.Graphs for the C2CTC Feb 2017 event
Below, are details of today’s 6K training session but as mentioned earlier, RowPro 5 for the Mac would not give a session report. Instead, it gave the following error message:
Another thing about RowPro 5 for the Mac is that there is no easy way for me to tell them about this error message. If I click OK, it vanishes. If I try to select/copy the text of the message, that doesn’t work either. So the only way to tell them about it is to make a screenshot and attach it to an email.
So In lieu of a session report for today’s training session, you will find 4 photos of the Concept 2 PM displaying all the split results for the 6K. (Each split was 200 meters, so there are 30 split results to display)
6K session finish screenTraining details. I didn’t follow the instructions to “Do your best!” Maybe I would have done my best, if there had been a medal involved or an actual flesh-and-blood coach watching. I would work harder, to please a coach…
Though I don’t usually do this, here is a screenshot of the very last, final screen for the day after the last 750 meter warmdown was completed:
If you had to make a long walk across a desert and had limited water, you would probably conserve energy by walking at the most moderate and efficient speed. Today’s RowPro-generated training session seems to have had that purpose of conserving energy, though for a different reason.
The training session was only 2,000 meters and was to be done at an easy pace. The person who designed the software algorithm for generating the training program probably had it work out that way for today’s training session, because tomorrow’s training session is supposed to be a hard 6K, coded as “TT” which is the code for a Time Trial.
A time trial is sort of a pretend race. There are no others competing but a person is supposed to work as hard as if he’s trying to win a race.
In order to get a total of at least 10K meters rowing today, the training session was preceded by a SUPER easy 8K. Screenshots and other details follow:
If you want 6,000 meters HARD, row faster…. or climb a mountain.
Today’s session was 6,000 meters which the training plan coded E for Easy, as explained in the training details screenshot somewhere below. It was supplemented and preceded by 3,000 meters even easier, to bring today’s meters rowed up to 10K total. If you are thinking, “6,000 plus 3,000 is less than 10K” – you are correct. But the programmed 6K was immediately preceded and followed by 500 meter warmup and warm down.
The drag factor setting was about 120 and it was done “strapless” because the only benefit of cinching up the straps around your shoes is if you are going to sprint at a high rating. Rowing strapless encourages better rowing form. However, I’m not one of those who row strapless and also barefoot because that’s a good way to get blisters on the back of the heel. Nor do I row strapless and in socks only because that will give blisters and also wear holes in the socks. Strapless – wearing shoes. And the type of shoes isn’t critical, as long as they are reasonably flexible, as most sport/running/walking shoes are.
When you row, you are generating more light. Granted, the light that is generated when you work to elevate your metabolism is invisible to the eye, but it is light nonetheless and the elevation of metabolism does more than generate thermal energy, it stimulates the production of happy hormones.
So expect to experience some elevation of your mood when you row.
Today’s RowPro generated training session was 6K divided up into four 500 meter sprints and the remainder was easy/”rest” rowing. The shorthand designation for today’s session was 4x500r750. Each of the active rest periods was 750 meters, with the exception of the very last active rest period, which was 750 meters plus what remained of the 6000 meter total.
Before doing the training session, I did an easy 3K, to bring today’s total up to a little over 10K.
Finish screen of 3K supplemental warmupReport of supplemental 3K warmupGraphs for supplemental 3K warmupFinish screen after main (6K) part of today’s training session.Training details for today.Report for today’s 6K training session.Graphs for today’s 6K training session.
I don’t know where this photo was taken or who took the photo, but the geography certainly qualifies as ethereal.
Today’s training session was a “recovery” session and was only to be 4,000 meters. That wasn’t enough, for the sake of maintaining a daily average >/= to 10K so it was supplemented with 6K which was done before the 4K training session.
The painted target HR zone on the training session screen was ignored because it seems to be too low.
I haven’t recently mentioned details of drag factor setting or whether I used the straps or not. So here are those details for today’s rowing: Drag factor was set to about 120 and that’s where it usually is, unless I say otherwise. As for the straps, I never tighten them up unless its a race and I anticipate a rating of 30 or higher. Any rating of less than 30 doesn’t really need straps and you can develop better form if you don’t rely on the straps.
Here are the screenshots for the 6K supplemental and the 4K training session, in that order:
Supplemental 6K finish screenSupplemental 6K reportSupplemental 6K graphsFinish screen for main (4K) portion of actual training session.Training session details. As usual recently, I disregarded the HR target of 89-112 because it seems way too low to fit the description of the session. It felt better to go a little faster and actually feel a bit warmer for having done so.Training session reportTraining session graphs.
A few minutes after I went into the room where the rowing machine is located, I started to feel like it would be better to take a nap. I sat motionless on the erg for a minute or so and considered doing so. But then, I pulled a few strokes and the desire to take a nap disappeared.
Today’s training session was 5,000 meters arranged as 4x500r750. It included a 500m warmup and 750m warm down attached at beginning and end, respectively.
500 meters isn’t enough of a warmup, if I’m going to do some sprinting. So before the 5K training session, I did an easy 5K continuous, to get more thoroughly warmed up.
Finish screen for extra warmup. You need to be nice and warm before sprinting.Warmup reportWarmup graphs.Finish screen for main part of today’s training session.Details of today’s training session.Report for today’s training session.Graphs for today’s training session
