Today’s distance (in meters) was tougher than any atom, because atoms can be split but today’s distance could not be split because is was a prime number, 5,023. You can try to split a prime number into factors other than itself and unity by dividing it with any and every integer less than the prime number and you will not be able to split it. Primes are absolutely indivisible, unlike atoms, any of which can be split if they collide with another particle which has sufficient energy.
So today’s session was done in one non-split RowPro session. It was not split, primarily* for the reason that RowPro 5 for the Mac has a bug which always shows itself if the total distance of a session cannot be divided into splits which are each and every one equal to each of the other split distances.
I don’t know why, but looking at some of the properties of the numbers chosen for the set distance of a rowing session adds a tiny but nonetheless helpful amount of motivation to do the rowing.
The session was recorded and can be viewed for the purpose of rowing-along with it, if desired, at this link:
Finish screen for today’s 2,272 seconds of rowing.
Today’s indoor rowing session was a set time of 37 minutes and 52 seconds. That’s because one of my “training partners” had rowed earlier, in the “just row” mode and because her session lasted 37:52.4 I thought I would use that as today’s goal, to match that time and do a fraction of a second more, making it 37:53 for my session.
Heart rate tried to be irregular during the first 1/3 of the time but then smoothed out for the remainder.
But when I calculated the number of seconds in 37 minutes 53 seconds, it came out to be 2,273 seconds. That was a problem, because I wanted a total time, in seconds, which could be divided by some integer greater than 1 and less than or equal to 30, which is the possible range for the number of splits that RowPro can make for a rowing session. I wanted to make each split the same as each of the other splits because otherwise RowPro 5 for the Mac always has some calculation errors with the last, unequal “remainder” split.
2,273 is a Prime Number, so it is not divisible by any integer greater than 1.
So, instead of rounding the time up to 37:53, I rounded it down to 37:52, which amounted to 2,272 seconds, which is divisible by several integers in the range from 2 to 30.
Nonetheless, RowPro managed to activate a different glitch and do some miscalculating for one of the splits anyway, the sixth split. I thought that the 6th split was the most appropriate split in which RowPro would manifest a programming error… Not that it matters in the grand scheme of things, but RowPro didn’t even record the correct amount of time for the 6th split. The erroneous numbers in the record of the 6th split are in the columns for Time, Meters and Avg DPS.
The main “bottom line” numbers, the grand totals, are correct and match what the PM-3 recorded on the rowing machine.
Report for today’s 2,272 seconds of rowing.RowPro graphs for today’s 2,272 seconds of rowing.Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s 2,272 seconds of rowing.
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’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.
The first of two false start screens this morning.
Today’s main rowing session was an online 10K. There were two false starts before the third and successful start. A false start happens if there is a technical glitch or if one of the rowers starts rowing before the announcement “ROW” which appears simultaneously on screen and over the computer speakers. In that case, RowPro 5 for the Mac (or any other version of RowPro) will announce a False Start.
One of the rowers, Wolfram Huhn, is an Olympic rower and so it was not surprising that he finished in first place by a substantial margin. What was surprising was the pace at which he rowed today’s 10K, during several thousand meters of which his pace was in the 1:40s and even in the 1:30s. Impressive effort on his part. The other rowers were impressive also and the whole group inspired me to row with a bit more effort than during yesterday’s 10K.
I did yesterday’s at a pace of 2:11.7/500m and today’s at 2:08.4. They were both done at what I subjectively classified as “medium” effort. Most of my rowing, especially if it is offline, is usually done at “easy” effort level. All the other rowers were capable of doing a 10K a lot quicker than I think I could do it now, so I didn’t see any rational reason to race, row “hard” or even to row “medium hard”.
The session was uploaded to YouTube as a screen recording and is available at the following link: “Online Rowing 10K race plus warmup and warmdown 04082018” The video’s title includes the words “plus warmup and warmdown” because the recording started before I did a 4 minute warmup and therefore included that warmup, the chatroom activity before the 10K and everything until after the 10 minute online warmdown session that followed the 10K.
Finish screen for today’s online 10K.Report for today’s online 10K.RowPro graphs for today’s online 10K.Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s online 10K.
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.
Today’s indoor rowing was 10K with a target of 140 Watts average power. When the session was finished, the RowPro 5 for the Mac screen display showed an average of 140.0 Watts but the RowPro 5 for the Mac session report listed average Wattage as 142.5.
I arbitrarily chose the higher number as being most correct and named the session “Indoor Rowing 10K at 142 Watts 01252018” which is what it is called at that link to which its screen recording was uploaded on YouTube.
There was also a warm down of 2,000 meters but I’m not bothering to insert that in today’s post.
Finish screen for today’s 10K.Report for today’s 10K.RowPro 5 for the Mac graphs for today’s 10K.Concept 2 chart for today’s 10K.
Over 7,000 meters remained in the session, but I quit early and this was the final screen.
Today’s indoor rowing started out with an arbitrary goal of rowing until I’d burned 1,000 calories. But by the time about 3/4 of the goal was reached, I decided to quit rowing for the day.
Today’s rowing session was set up as a half marathon, but with the intention of stopping early (after 1,000 calories, as mentioned above).
Today’s indoor rowing was 14K with intervals, interruptions, daydreaming and RowPro software glitches.
The interval setup was 14×200 meters with active rest of 800 meters after each interval. Before the 14K session began, there was 750 meters of warm up. After the 14K session started, there were several interruptions where I had to either row one-handed or stop, so I could respond to text messages. Two or three times during the session, RowPro partially froze with the area that displayed effort as either Watts, Calories per hour, pace etc remaining unchanged for a while. The rest of the software seemed to continue to function. Once, when it was time to row the 9th interval, I was daydreaming and totally didn’t notice it until it was too late.
Other than that, everything went okay. Especially the heart – it remained 99% regular and was in the right BPM range for all the variations in effort.
Report for today’s 14K.RowPro graphs for today’s 14K.Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s 14K.
If you look at the screen recording of today’s 8K, the above screenshot is what you will see at about 45 seconds after it starts – unless you have the window maximized, in which case you will only see the image of what was on my computer and not any of the YouTube stuff below it as is displayed in this screenshot. Note: This video will eventually be deleted from YouTube, when I can replace it with something that has not had its sound track muted and mutilated by YouTube (see note regarding the YouTube problem, below)
Today’s indoor rowing session was the second experiment in making a screen recording and uploading it to YouTube. Today’s video recording has a sound track which consists of a few spontaneous unrehearsed words at the beginning and then, after the start, there are the sounds of the room and also you can hear the sounds of the YouTube videos I watched.
The title of today’s rowing session screen recording on YouTube is “8K Indoor Rowing 136 Watts Average Pace with Intervals” . Note: This video will eventually be deleted from YouTube, when I can replace it with something that has not had its sound track muted and mutilated by YouTube (see note regarding the YouTube problem, below)
NOTE REGARDING VIDEO POSTED TO YOUTUBE DECEMBER 28: (8K session mentioned above): after posting it to YouTube, I noticed that it had been tagged as “containing copyrighted material” which turned out to be some of the music that was playing over the speakers in the room. YouTube said that because of that, there would be Ads placed on the video and the advertising profits from the videos thus being monetized would go to whoever had claimed copyright rights. So I used YouTube’s tools to “remove” the copyrighted tracks. After taking a long time to re-process and “edit” the video, YouTube announced that it hadn’t been able to remove the song and gave the option of leaving it as is and having ads displayed, or muting the song. So… rather than have ads plastered over it while someone is trying to watch it during their rowing, I chose the “mute” option. The worst case is that there will be blank areas of audio. In the future, I will only have sounds playing from the speakers that are not copyrighted!
ADDITIONAL NOTE REGARDING THIS VIDEO WHICH WAS POSTED TO YOUTUBE: After YouTube “edited” the sound track of the video, the sound track was ruined and the relevant signals (interval timer beeps) are either removed or re-positioned. So … I will put other videos up to replace these, when I can. After those videos are up, I will delete these videos from YouTube. Once that is done, I will also delete the links to them. It has been educational, to learn about how the music industry is listening to the sound tracks of all videos posted in public places on the internet and making copyright claims so that they have the right (and so that they are the only ones who have the right) to “monetize” the video by placing whatever advertisements they like on the video. Screen recordings of indoor rowing sessions aren’t nearly as helpful or relevant if the actual sounds, including the signals from any interval timer used, are audible.
The “136 Watts” is the average of the entire rowing session. The instantaneous effort level was sometimes much lower than 136 Watts and other times much higher. You can see the instantaneous Watts effort level displayed in big blue numbers in the center of the bottom right pane of the RowPro window. The big red numbers in the bottom right of that same pane are an instantaneous reading of heart rate.
One of these days, I might try recording the session using a GoPro camera mounted either on my head or on a tripod. Or both…. to see which one works better. But until then, there’s only the screen recording which shows only one of the two monitors.
All of the 8K was rowed at an easy pace except for the intervals. The first 8 intervals were done at a moderate pace and the 9th & last interval was done at a hard pace. RowPro 5 For The Mac is what was used to display everything on the screen, once the rowing started.
The music was provided by another YouTube video and its name and link are on the second-to-last line near the bottom of this blog post.
Finish screen for today’s 8K.Report for today’s 8K.RowPro graphs for today’s 8K.Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s 8K.
The music which played during the first 27+ minutes of this rowing session comes from the YouTube video called HOCR Rowing Power Workout.
