Ethereal Rowing

Today’s session was a Pete Plan speed pyramid, like the one done on December 4th a few weeks ago in the previous training cycle. Only this time I didn’t scratch it and it went like it was supposed to.  If you look at the result of this session on Dec 4th, the target rate for the first three intervals was the same as today’s target rate: 1:50.6 but the overall average for 7 intervals that time was 2:03.9 because there were problems and I backed off very early in the session.

This time, everything felt normal and so the first three intervals were done at the target pace of 1:50.6 and the last 4 were each done at a faster pace: The first and longest of the last 4, the 1,000 meters, was done at 1:49.8, the next one (750 meters) was done at 1:49.7, followed by the 500 meters at 1:48.7 and finally the 250 meters at 1:46.0.

The overall average for all 7 intervals of the speed pyramid was 1:49.7 and so that will be the target pace for the first 3 intervals of this seven-interval set when it is done again three weeks from now in the next training cycle.

The intervals were preceded by a mild warmup of 10 minutes duration.

Happy trails to you.

Today’s session on the schedule was to be a “hard distance” of 5K or more. I chose 5K and no more but actually did a little more if you count the warm up.

But the warm up was not hard.

Actually, no part of the rowing today was hard, because what might have been hard ran out of accompanying enthusiasm after about 1,000 meters.  I started out with a target pace of 1:55.1 and it felt easy but that is always the case at the beginning, no matter WHAT the pace.  Row as hard as you possibly can – and it ALWAYS feels easy at the start.  It only feels hard later.  But to keep rowing at any pace which would later begin to feel hard, you need a sufficient measure of enthusiasm.

The laddie in the photo above has more enthusiasm about his ice cream (or whatever it was which is showing remnants on his face) than I had about rowing hard today.

I just felt, somehow, “out of synch” with my body.

But … soon after I slowed down from the first few meters of the might’ve-been-hard 5K, Diane came into the room and reminded me that we were going to go out to eat.

I asked her, “When do you want to go?”

She replied, “Whenever you are finished.”

So I picked up the pace a little bit.

And then a bit more.

And then a little bit more… so as to not keep the lady in waiting too long. But for the last few hundred meters, I slowed way, way down, so that could serve as a little bit of a warm-down.  Don’t want to be all sweaty, when you go out to eat…

Rowing reports and finish screen views below, beginning with the warm-up first:

Happy trails to you.

Today’s rowing session started and finished before dawn. Today is the day of the year that the sun rises latest (and sets the earliest, too) but still… it was quite a bit earlier than typical.

The session was a steady distance 11K.

Happy trails to you.

Today’s session was a set of five intervals of 1500 meters each with a five minute active rest after each.  5×1500 R5:00.  Nothing musical about them but there was music playing while doing them.

The target pace for all but the very last interval was 1:58.4/500.

The very last interval was done with a deliberately restrained target of being a just slightly faster pace.

The overall average pace of all five was 1:58.2 and that will be the target pace for the first four intervals of this set of five when it is done again in three weeks.

There was a warmup of about 5 minutes before the set of intervals.

Happy trails to you.

Today’s training session was an approximation of some kind of steady state while doing indoor rowing.  The name for the session is “steady distance” and it is supposed to be a distance of from at least 8K to 15K (or more if desired) while rowing at a rating of anywhere from 22 to 25.  Today’s session was the second day of the first week of the 4th cycle of my first experience training with the Pete Plan (or training with ANY plan, for that matter).

The main thing that I like about a training plan is that I know what I’ll be doing from one day to the next.

Chosen distance was 11K.  Details follow.

Happy trails to you.

Today’s rowing session was 8×500 with 3mins 30secs rest after each interval.

There was also a 1250m warm up and an additional 500 m rowed but then stopped due to RowPro crashing after the first 500m interval and needing to be completely restarted.

But I won’t bother with documentation for the extra bit (the warm up and odd 500m due to a software crash) and will show just the main session of eight times 500 meters.

Target pace for all but last interval was 1:53.2.  Last interval was done slightly faster.  Resulting average pace for all 8 times was 1:52.9, which will be used as target pace for all but last interval in the session in next cycle three weeks from now.

Happy trails to you.

Today was scheduled to be a rest day but I was one day behind in the training schedule so I did Friday’s steady state session today, at a restful pace including one break near the middle of the session.

Happy trails to you.

Today was not a twofer because I’m almost caught up to being current again in the Pete Plan training.

So I did a “hard distance” at a pace vigorous enough to qualify as “hard” though it was not at a race pace. It was preceded and followed by 2.5K warm up and warm down.

So the finish screens, reports and charts below are warm up, 5K main session and warm down, in that order from top to bottom.

Target pace for today’s 5K was 2:00/500m which pace required both the will to row hard and simultaneously the restraint to not push harder and go into a race pace.

HR stayed in zones 1 and 2 of 5 zones for me for almost all the session until near the very end when HR started to edge up out of zone 2.  But it was well below LTHR throughout.  Relative to my recent best 2K TT, this 5K was done at 85% of that 2K Watts.  So I’m not sure if that means I was (A) rowing above the UT1 zone or (B) if my 2K TT time should be a lot better than it was the most recent time I did it.  It “felt right” and HR could have been a lot higher if I was pushing harder, so I think that if either (A) or (B) is true, it is the latter.

Tomorrow would be a rest day in Pete Plan, but I’ll use it for the steady state session which should have been done today if I’d been totally caught up and on schedule.

Happy trails to you.

Today’s session was another doubling-up of two Pete Plan training sessions in one day, to help catch up after three days missed.

The first session was a waterfall endurance interval session 3K R5:00-2.5K R5:00-2K R about 15 minutes(as warm down from last interval) and then that was followed by a steady state distance session of 8K.

Happy trails to you.