Today’s 2K on the SkiErg was done at RPE Level 9. If you play the session screen recording, you will be able to hear me quite out-of-breath when talking after the end of the 2K.
Today’s HRV reading gave a green light to race or workout as hard as I wanted.
Though last night’s sleep had a huge interruption, I managed to get enough sleep at 7 hours 35 minutes to still have a good HRV reading.
The main workout today was the shortest, a 2,000 meter session on the SkiErg. It might correctly be called a “time trial,” because though it was solo, I was trying to go as fast as possible for that distance. It felt like RPE level 9 but I’m new to the SkiErg, so there is lots of room for improvement.
A screen recording was made of the SkiErg 2k and it can be found at this link: SkiErg 2K 02162019
The longest workout session today was 8,000 meters on the rowing machine. It was done as a warmup for the SkiErg 2K and was done with a target heart rate zone of 133 to 158 and it felt like RPE Level 5. Heart rate was allowed to rise above 158 near the end because it felt good, I was barely perspiring and was breathing easy.
Finish screen for SkiErg 2K.
Report for SkiErg 2K.
RowPro graphs for SkiErg 2K.
Concept 2 online logbook chart for SkiErg 2K.
Finish screen for today’s 8K warmup.
RowPro report for today’s 8K warmup.
RowPro graphs for today’s 8K warmup.
Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s 8K warmup.
This morning’s EliteHRV morning readiness reading helped me decide to avoid doing any intervals or sprints today.
Today’s workout was a total of about 10,000 meters. First there was a warmup of 1,018 meters and then the main session was 8995 meters.
There was plenty of sleep last night at 7 hours 15 minutes but heart rate was unusually high during the night, so that was another reason I took it easy today.
Finish screen for today’s main rowing session.
RowPro report for today’s main rowing session.
RowPro graphs for today’s main rowing session.
Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s main rowing session.
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.
…will be a day with some indoor rowing. Today wasn’t a day with rowing, but at least I’ve been doing the daily sleep logging and EliteHRV Morning Readiness readings, which are displayed below.
A dubious Morning Readiness reading from EliteHRV on February 10th.
Good night’s sleep of 7hrs 25 minutes logged February 10th.
February 11th had a very good EliteHRV Morning Readiness reading.
February 11th’s sleep was good but a little short at 6 hours 25 minutes.
Today’s EliteHRV reading was okay but could have been better.
February 12th’s sleep was good with 7 hours 25 minutes logged.
No rowing today but did get some things done that were overdue.
This morning’s odd HRV.
There was no HRV reading yesterday but you can see this morning’s HRV reading above. It is probably erroneous, because it was taken at the wrong time of day and after I’d eaten. But I’ll let it stand anyway… Maybe if I let the odd ones stay in the record, the long-term “baseline” will be more accurate.
There wasn’t much sleep yesterday: only 3 hours 15 minutes.
Today’s sleep made up for yesterday’s loss, with 9 hours 10 minutes of totally uninterrupted sleep.
This kind of skipping burns calories. My skipping of workouts doesn’t.
Today is and will continue to be the second day without a workout. Hopefully, this workoutless streak will end tomorrow.
Though there was no workout yesterday nor today, there were HRV Morning Readiness readings. And there was sleep logging. That drowsy subject matter is screenshotified below:
The morning of February 6th began after 8 hours 20 minutes of good sleep with only a single small interruption.
February 6th EliteHRV Morning Readiness reading.
Today’s morning began a bit late in the day after 8 hours 15 minutes of good quality sleep, with once again only one small interruption.
Today’s EliteHRV Morning Readiness reading was almost a mirror image of yesterday’s. They were each a 7, but yesterday’s was Parasympathetic and today’s was Sympathetic. The difference means nothing to me, however.
Finish screen for today’s 5000 meter rowing session.
Today’s aerobic workouts consisted of first doing 5K on the rowing machine. The 5K was wrapped around three intervals of 500 meters each, like yesterday’s rowing 5K. It was RPE Level 4.
After the rowing, I did six intervals of 500 meters each, on the SkiErg. The target pace for each of the 500 meter intervals was going to be 2:10 to 2:11, but after the first interval at target pace, I faded during the second interval and went a lot slower during the final 5 of 6 intervals. The SkiErg session was RPE Level 10 for sweating but RPE Level 7 for breathing.
Report for today’s 5000 meter rowing session.
RowPro graphs for today’s 5000 meter rowing session.
Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s 5000 meter rowing session.
Finish screen for SkiErg intervals.
RowPro reportfor SkiErg intervals.
RowPro graphs for SkiErg intervals.
SkiErg Interval 1 of 6.
SkiErg Interval 2 of 6.
SkiErg Interval 3 of 6.
SkiErg Interval 4 of 6.
SkiErg Interval 5 of 6.
SkiErg Interval 6 of 6.
Today’s Morning Readiness reading,Last night’s sleep was fairly good quality, 5 hours 35 minutes.
Today’s workout was a pair of 5k sessions, one on the SkiErg and one on the rowing machine.
For the SkiErg 5K, I reduced the drag factor to what I hoped would allow a rating of about 45 SPM. But the drag factor still seemed a bit high and most of the session was done at a rating of 37 to 42 SPM. That seems to be the “secret” to having a faster pace on the SkiErg – the SPM has to be a lot higher than it would ever be when rowing. Arms aren’t nearly as strong as legs, so the SkiErg stroke rate using mostly the arms has to be higher for any pace than stroke rate would be on the rowing machine which mostly uses leg power.
The SkiErg 5K was done at RPE Level 7 or at least it felt strenuous enough to be that level though I wasn’t breathing as hard as the RPE Level chart seems to indicate for Level 7. (You can see a copy of the RPE chart in the Terms and Abbreviations tab on the home page of this blog)
I sweated a lot during the SkiErg session but barely perspired during the rowing session, if that counts for anything regarding the Rates of Perceived Exertion.
After the SkiErg 5K, I did 5K at a more moderate effort on the rowing machine and included a 500 meter sprint at a moderate sprint pace, every 1000 meters for a total of three 500 meter sprint intervals. The 5K rowing session was done at RPE Level 4 for the slower rowing and RPE Level 8 for the 500 meter intervals.
Report for the SkiErg 5,000 meters.
RowPro graphs for the SkiErg 5,000 meters.
Concept 2 online logbook chartfor the SkiErg 5,000 meters.
Finish screen for the Rowing 5,000 meters.
Report for the Rowing 5,000 meters.
RowPro graphs for the Rowing 5,000 meters.
Concept 2 online logbook chart for the Rowing 5,000 meters.
Today’s EliteHRV Morning Readiness reading.
Last night’s sleep of 6 hours 45 minutes was good quality.
Today’s aerobic exercise was done with the SkiErg. Mainly, it was a 5K. I started out at a pace of about 2:27 for the first 250 meters. Pace slowed to 2:28 for the next 250 meters. For the third 250 meters, it slowed to about 2:31. After that, I decided to aim for something around 2:45 to 2:40. By the last 500 meters, there was enough energy left to pick up the pace and finish the entire 5K at an average pace of about 2:38. It was placed into the rankings, which placed me second-to-last in 5K SkiErg rankings this season for men in my age group.
The 5K was done at RPE Level 4 and was followed by a 5 minute SkiErg warm down.
RowPro report for today’s 5K on the SkiErg.
RowPro graphs for today’s 5K on the SkiErg.
Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s 5K on the SkiErg.
Today’s Morning Readiness score from EliteHRV
Last night’s sleep was good quality, 6 hours 30 minutes.
