For the first time in many weeks, I managed to do the day’s workouts in the morning before breakfast. That’s supposed to be very good for the mitochondria, if breakfast happens at least 12 hours after most recent previous eating and exercise is included in that 12 hours or more of fasting time.
So, the most satisfying thing about today’s erg sessions was that they were done in the morning, before breakfast and they benefited the body’s vital little buddies, the mitochondria.
The second most satisfying thing was: a SkiErg 5K in improved time.
Also, I was rewarded with a move up in the SkiErg 5K world rankings. The move up was only one place, from 6th to 5th out of 10 total entries. But it’s progress in the right direction, so I’m happy and sort of have a little smile about it, like the little smile on the face of the mitochondrion.
The SkiErg 5K was done at RPE Level 5 and was mentally absorbing because I had to focus on a pace target of 2:16 for the first 4K then tentatively explored faster paces during the final 1,000 meter split.
There was some rowing done also – a very slow 10K session at RPE Level 1. It was not “mentally absorbing,” because it was so slow that my mind wandered all over the place.
Today’s most satisfying session, a 5K on the SkiErg.
Finish screen for today’s very slow and somewhat fartleky 10K.
Reportfor today’s very slow and somewhat fartleky 10K.
RowPro graphsfor today’s very slow and somewhat fartleky 10K.
This is a photo of a snail because I felt a sluggish kinship with snails today.
Today was a low energy day but I did manage to include some time on both SkiErg and rowing machine. The sessions and their chronological order were: 2,331 meters warmup on SkiErg at 2:48 pace, 1,000 meter time trial on SkiErg at 1:59.1 pace, 324 meter SkiErg warm down, 5,107 meters on rowing machine which started out with the goal of 10K but I got tired and quit and finally a 1,510 meter session on the rowing machine which started out as a distance session of 4893 meters (the balance of the original 10K) but I got tired and quit that one also.
Screenshot from my Concept 2 online logbook, showing summary listing of today’s SkiErg and rowing erg sessions. The 1K SkiErg session is highlighted because it was a personal best on the SkiErg and ranked in the online world rankings.
Above is a summary listing of today’s sessions. The only screen shot of today’s charts and data is for the 1,000 meter time trial. It was done at RPE Level 8 and everything else was at RPE Level 1.
Chart and data for today’s 1,000 meter SkiErg time trial, the high point of today’s workouts.
A little chaos is part of the spice of life and is probably so by divine design. But today’s measure of chaos seemed a bit too much. Today’s workout was bothered by excessive chaos of the heart, which has been assigned the medical label “paroxysmal atrial fibrillation.”
If I hadn’t been wearing a heart strap while using the Concept 2 ergs, I might not have noticed it, because it felt a little fluttery but nothing I would notice if my mind was focused elsewhere such as on some physical activity, reading a book, playing a game etc.
But I was wearing a heart strap and its display showed that the little fluttery feeling was correlated with heart rate being too high. When it was regular enough to be displayed. The rest of the time, heart rate was not displayed and unknown.
Today’s plan was for there to be 3 workout sessions. The first was going to be 181 Calories on the SkiErg at a pace of 2:21. But because heart rate was climbing much too high for the effort level, I cut the first session short after 80 calories and took a break, so heart rate could settle. Heart rate didn’t settle, so I did the remainder of the SkiErg workout as a 100 Calorie session, at 2:21 pace. Those two sessions added up to the day’s goal of 181 Calories on the SkiErg.
The rowing workout was a pair of sessions: The first one was the moderately fun session: 1,000 meters at 2:06. The second rowing session was 10,000 meters at an extremely slow pace while I watched a documentary I wanted to see about purifying water.
During both rowing sessions heart rate was very irregular. Other than that, everything was normal. By “everything was normal,” I mean that if I’d talked with a cardiologist about it, as I have about previous episodes of “heart strangeness,” there would have been questions such as “did you feel any chest pains, tightness or shortness of breath?” My answer would have been “No, I was breathing very easy, virtually the same as if I’d not been working out.” None of the workouts done today were hard enough and/or long enough to even make me sweat.
The only session recorded for my YouTube channel today was the 1K. That 1,000 meter session was recorded for those of my 19 subscribers (at last count) and others who would like to row along with it. It is available as a screen recording on YouTube at: Indoor Rowing 1000 meters at 2min 6sec pace 07202019
Chart and data for first of today’s 2-part SkiErg session.
Chart and data for second of today’s 2-part SkiErg session.
Finish screen for today’s moderate 1,000 meter rowing session.
Report for today’s moderate 1,000 meter rowing session. The rowing effort was moderate and breathing was easy but heart rate was excessively high.
Chart showing erratic and excessively high heart rate during today’s 1,000 meter rowing session.
Chart for the extremely slow 10K rowing session done today while I watched and listened to a documentary. Heart rate was so erratic that most of the time it wasn’t displayed.
I wasn’t inclined to believe the analysis and recommendation of EliteHRV this morning…
As you can see from the above screenshot, the heart rate variability analysis from the EliteHRV app this morning recommended that I take it easy. I didn’t believe it and so I warmed up to do an attempt at a season best in rowing a 30 minute piece.
Last night’s sleep was good, at 7 hours 55 minutes logged by SleepWatch, but I felt very much like staying in bed and getting some more sleep,
But there were feelings of heart-skipping during the rowing warm-up, which frequently is a sign of impending Atrial fibrillation. So I decided to do a 30 minute session at 2:07/500m instead of aiming for a bit faster than 2:03.
Even at the slower pace of 2:07, Afib and elevated heart rate happened. So I slowed down significantly. After about one minute of the 30 minute session, heart rate started to rise disproportionately to effort. So I took a break to get an aspirin.
The atrial fibrillation continued after the 30 minute session was over. Above is a screenshot of the Apple Watch’s 2 minute graph of recovery heart rate after I stopped rowing and while I sat motionless for a couple minutes. Normally, heart rate steadily decreases during those two minutes. This time, it increased and behaved erratically.
The Afib continued through the rowing session but cleared up after the rowing was finished, after I started using the SkiErg. Go figure…
So I spent a while on the SkiErg and set two season best times for short sprints (100 meters and 1 minute) on the SkiErg.
I did 10 SkiErg pieces, for a total of 14 rowing + SkiErg. Instead of showing screenshots of each of the 14, I’ll just post screenshots of lists of the rowing and SkiErg sessions. If you really want to see them in more detail, it’s easy to do. You just visit the concept2.com online logbook where my rowing sessions are available to anybody who is logged in. You can find me by looking at the listing of virtual rowing clubs and clicking on RowPro Rowers, where I’m listed among the members.
These 4 rowing sessions were done first today.
These 10 SkiErg sessions were done after the rowing sessions. The ones highlighted in blue turned out to be season best times for those particular pieces.
Today’s workouts consisted of first a 10 minute warmup on the rowing machine at RPE Level 1, followed by ten intervals on the SkiErg at RPE Levels 7 to 9. There was a 2 minute RPE Level 1 period of active rest after each interval.
The SkiErg intervals were arranged as 5 minutes at 40 SPM, 4 minutes at 42 SPM, 3 minutes at 44 SPM, 2 minutes at 46 SPM and 1 minute at 48 SPM. Each was followed immediately by the 2 minute active rest. The entire sequence was then repeated one more time.
It was VERY challenging, to achieve the target stroke ratings of 40, 42, 44, 46 and 48 SPM for each of the five intervals. I only managed to achieve the exact average for the target SPM for 3 of the 10 intervals.
For the first 5 minute interval I had the drag factor too high with the damper set at 7. For the next interval I reduced the drag factor by moving the damper to 6. After each subsequent interval, I moved the damper a bit lower until it was at 3 by the time the first 5 intervals were completed.
For the second 5 intervals, I left the damper at 3.
Today’s heart rate variability reading with EliteHRV was a green light for any kind of workout.
Last night’s sleep was good with 7 hours 10 minutes logged.
Finish screen for the 10 intervals done today on the SkiErg.
Report for the 10 intervals done today on the SkiErg.
RowPro graphical overview for the 10 intervals done today on the SkiErg.
Concept 2 online logbook chart for the first of 10 intervals done today on the SkiErg. You can see how heart rate kept rising even though my effort level was fading… that’s why I kept adjusting the damper level lower, looking for a drag factor that was sustainable for the entire interval. If you want to see charts for each of the rest of them, you can do so by logging in to your Concept 2 logbook account, finding me in the RowPro Rowers virtual club and clicking on my profile, then clicking to view my log, which is accessible to anybody who is logged in. Then click on the + sign to the right of today’s log entry for this session. On the next screen, you will see a line for each interval and a line for each rest. If you click on the line for each interval, you will be able to see the chart for each respective interval. There are no charts to see for the rests.
This lovely display of fractal growth will be part of our dinner tonight. Its called by many different names including the one we know it by, which is “romanesque cauliflower”.
Today’s rowing was mainly 5000 meters with 3 intervals of 500 meters each woven into the session. Overall, I rate the 5K rowing at RPE Level 4. It was followed by a 1K rowing warm down at RPE Level 1.
There was also a 500 meter SkiErg session at RPE Level 10 and it was followed by a 1K warm down at RPE Level 1.
Today’s Morning Readiness was good and HRV seems to be continuing to climb.
Today’s HRV reading seemed to become elevated a little more than halfway through the EliteHRV morning readiness reading session, when my heart sort of skipped a beat and then sort of went “thump” one time. You can see a little spike in the HR graph for the session at about that time, and you can see that the HRV graph raised a bit at that point, and stayed higher to the end.
Very good sleep last night. I may have been a bit dehydrated, because I didn’t wake one single time during the night. Total sleep 5 hours 55 minutes.
Today’s rowing wasn’t interrupted by heart strangeness – it was a constant thing throughout. The unusual behavior was a combination of irregular heart rate and heart rate way too high for the effort. Normally at that effort level my heart rate would be around 100 BPM, plus or minus a little bit. Hopefully, it will clear up later today and be gone tomorrow.
Today’s main session was 6K on the rowing machine. It was preceded by a 50 calorie warmup on the SkiErg.
Finish screen for today’s 6K which was done very slowly while heart rate raced too fast. The HR graph looks good in this view, but you can see the heart rate mess caused by irregular heartbeat in the RowPro graph and the Concept 2 online logbook chart, further below.RowPro report for today’s 6K.RowPro graphs for today’s 6K.Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s 6K.
Today there was no workout done. 🙁 All activity was merely walking to and from, to and fro in the course of doing things that had to be done. So I guess that would be RPE Level 1, tops.
The EliteHRV Morning Readiness score recommended taking it easy. I did more than that, it turned out, and there was no workout at all.
Last night’s sleep was a bit short again at 6 hours 10 minutes but other than that it was pretty good quality.
Today’s EliteHRV Morning Readiness reading was done at the right time, in the morning. It indicated caution, but I interpret that differently – I’ve been doing “deep breathing” sessions daily for a while, which is supposed to have many benefits, including an increase in HRV. So my opinion is that while my HRV is increasing in response to my new habit of the breathing sessions, EliteHRV needs to establish a new baseline, which may take a while.
Three interruptions of sleep last night but other than that it was good quality sleep and sufficient quantity at 7 hours 55 minutes.
Today’s main rowing session was 8995 meters with the goal of staying ahead of my most recent session of the same distance by about 10 meters and then going a faster pace a few hundred meters from the finish until calories burned added up to 545. Once reaching 545 calories, I eased up for the few remaining meters of warm down. It was done at RPE level 5. A screen recording was made for those who’d like to row along with it. The screen recording is on YouTube at this link: Indoor Rowing 547 Calories 01262019
There was another 2K done very slowly on the rowing machine at RPE Level 1 and a few kilometers on the SkiErg at an easy effort level of RPE Level 2. All totaled, the distance on rower and SkiErg today came to 16177 meters.
Finish screenfor today’s 8995 meters.
Report for today’s 8995 meters.
RowPro graphs for today’s 8995 meters.
Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s 8995 meters.
One of the sessions done on the SkiErg today was a very easy 5K. This is a screenshot of the Apple Watch heart rate graph for that particular session.
Today’s EliteHRV Morning Readiness reading didn’t seem to have been dampened at all by yesterday’s workout and it even improved over yesterday’s.
Last night’s sleep was good, though a little short at 6 hours 35 minutes and with two brief interruptions.
After today’s aerobic workouts I felt tingly, all over. It’s a good feeling.
Today’s rowing was a preset distance of 13,400 meters. That distance was chosen based on the distance rowed yesterday to reach 800 calories. That was the main workout and it was done at RPE Level 6. It was followed by another attempt at doing a 500 meter sprint on the SkiErg, which was done at RPE Level 10. Lastly there was a 2 minute warmdown at RPE Level 1.
Concept 2 online logbook chart- today’s 13,400 meter session.
Finish screen-today’s 500 meter sprint on SkiErg.Report-today’s 500 meter sprint on SkiErg.RowPro graphs-today’s 500 meter sprint on SkiErg.Concept 2 online logbook chart-today’s 500 meter sprint on SkiErg.
