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.
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.
Last night’s sleep had a long interruption of about 90 minutes but total time was sufficient at 8 hours 45 mins.
Today’s main session was a 10K done at RPE Level 2. There were 8 additional, shorter sessions. A screen recording was made for row-along. The screen recording is here: Indoor Rowing 10K 583 Calories 01312019
Finish screen for today’s 583 Calories.
Report for today’s 583 Calories.
RowPro graphsfor today’s 583 Calories.
Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s 583 Calories.
There was a wide-awake-in-the night sleep interruption, but I was able to get back to sleep, sleep in late and make up for accumulated sleep debt with 9 hours 5 minutes sleep.
Today’s workout started as a speculative half marathon rowing session. After 30 minutes I decided that 40 minutes would be enough. The session was done at RPE Level 3 but if the entire half marathon had been done, it might have been a level 4 or 5 by the finish. It was preceded by a SkiErg warm up and followed by 109 Calories on the SkiErg.
A screen recording is available of the 40 minute rowing session, for those who’d like to row along: Indoor Rowing 40 minutes 01302019
Finish screen for today’s 40 minutes.
Report for today’s 40 minutes.
RowPro graphs for today’s 40 minutes.
Concept 2 online logbook chart for today’s 40 minutes.
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 Morning Readiness reading with the EliteHRV app shows me to be “readier” than yesterday or the day before. I think what’s happening is that the app is forming a new baseline in reaction to my HRV score becoming slightly higher. I hope so. That would be very nice.
Atrial fibrillation started and interfered with my sleep last night. It began at about 2 AM. I couldn’t sleep with it happening, so I got out of bed and sat on the living room sofa for about 3 hours. Heart rhythm returned to normal at about 5 AM. So I went back to bed and slept until an alarm clock woke me at about 10 AM, for a total of 6 hours 20 minutes sleep.
Today’s main session was 5K done at an easy pace on the SkiErg, but slightly faster than yesterday’s 5K SkiErg pace. It was done mostly at RPE Level 2, except for slight pickup in pace during part of the last 500 meters. I’m trying to get a feel for the “alien” body involvement with the SkiErg. It is alien, compared to what I’ve become so used to on the rowing machine. I’m liking the SkiErg more and more, as a supplement to rowing – it’s nice to be using some upper body muscles that aren’t used when rowing.
A screen recording was made of the SkiErg 5K, for those of you who’d like to row-along or ski-along with it. It is at this link on YouTube: Indoor Workout 5K SkiErg Easy 01272019
Finish screen for the 5,000 meter SkiErg session.
Report for the 5,000 meter SkiErg session.
RowPro graphs for the 5,000 meter SkiErg session.
Concept 2 online logbook chartfor the 5,000 meter SkiErg session.
After the 5K SkiErg piece, this rowing session was done. It was done at RPE Level 2. Its distance was 8995 meters.
RowPro graphs for the rowing session of 8995 meters.
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 analysis was very low. But I had problems going to sleep and staying that way last night which resulted in staying in bed until a little past NOON(!) today. Therefore, the EliteHRV reading was several hours late. The readings are supposed to be taken about the same time every day. I decided to disregard today’s reading, since it was taken much later than it should have been.Last night’s sleep was more than enough at 9hours 10minutes but it was poor quality due to an interruption of wide-awakeness and some Atrial fibrillation.
Today’s main rowing session was 30 minutes online. It wasn’t a race, because there was an agreement between the other guy and me that we’d aim for a pace of 2:10 and I would pace him. I enjoy pacing another rower. I also enjoy racing, which might be why thoughts, cognition and imaginations of racing came to mind during the session. In the midst of that cloud of race-themed neuron activity, entered the thought that both the other guy and me are each in a race against the fictional figure, “Father Time”. We row daily and do other workouts, to avoid being ravaged by some of the effects of passing time which can be mitigated or avoided through aerobic activity.
The 30 minute online session was done at RPE Level 5 and it’s available as a screen recording for those who’d like to row-along. It’s link is: Indoor Rowing Online 30 mins 01252018
Like last night’s sleep was bothered by atrial fibrillation, today’s 30 minute session was also visited by Afib. However it wasn’t the kind of Afib that changes into tachycardia – it just manifested itself with occasional feelings of fluttering and causing the heart strap to lose track of its count which caused the heart rate display to go blank. After about 15 minutes it settled down and went steady again.
The Afib did not reappear after that first 30 minute session. I did 8 more sessions after the 30 minute piece, some on the rowing machine and the rest of them on the SkiErg and there was no more Afib with any of those.
The RPE Levels for the sessions after the 30 minute session were: RPE Level 2 for the 2K warm down, RPE Level 3 for the 3,000 meter piece, RPE Level 10 for the 100 meter sprint and all the rest of them were done at RPE Level 4.
Finish screen for the main 30 minute session.
Report for the main 30 minute session.
The atrial fibrillation was during the first part of the 30 minutes, where heart rate kept disappearing.
Concept 2 online logbook chart for the main 30 minute session.
Chart of the session following the 30 minutes – a 2K warm down with no Atrial fibrillation.
Chart of the 3rd of nine sessions today. This was a 3K and there was no atrial fibrillation.
This is a listing of all nine of today’s sessions on rowing machine and SkiErg. The one that was the most fun was also the shortest – the 100 meter sprint on SkiErg.
Today’s EliteHRV Morning Readiness analysis said it was okay to do anything, so I didn’t have any excuse not to row.Last night’s sleep was okay until just before 5 AM again, when I became wide awake after the second of 3 trips to the bathroom. I tried to just lay still and fall back to sleep but it didn’t work. So I went to another room and sat and did “HRV breathing” in “coherence” for about 20 minutes. At least there was no Afib like the night before. Felt relaxed enough after that to get a total of 7 hours 55 minutes of actual sleep.
Today’s main workout was the same distance as yesterday’s main session and it was done to the accompaniment of a pace boat that duplicated yesterday’s rowing. My goal was to stay about 10 meters ahead of yesterday’s rowing, throughout the distance. Near the finish, I picked up the pace a bit more to make sure that today’s session was a few calories more than yesterday’s. The estimated level of exertion for today’s main session was RPE Level 5.
In addition to the rowing session, I also used the SkiErg, to burn almost another 300 calories. There will be no screen shots relating to the SkiErg in this post.
finish screen for today’s main sessionreport for today’s main sessionRowPro graphs for today’s main sessionConcept 2 online logbook chart for today’s main session
