1 minute r20 with video plus catch up on yesterdays sessions

I got yesterday's training in (2by25min and 2by1min) also managed the three one minutes today (1:30.3 was best) but had to cut short the 30 min r18 70%

Irish Indoor Rowing Championship 2017 - triple gold

Well I kinda spoiled the ending to the story....

As I said a few days ago "I would rather go and lose than stay at home and wonder" and as Q said to me "Sometimes racing is about getting to the finishing line... sometimes the victory is getting to the start line. I think turning up and rowing a 2k of any description is a victory - you have been to hell and back. This is not about winning in the eyes of others, it is about winning your battle. That occurs when you take the first stroke. Nothing after that matters..."

I had a not very good session on Thursday I attempted two by 1k on 4min rest first 1k was aimed at 1:33 r30 which I hit (this was target for 2k) the second 1k was to be 1:32 r32 but 400m in I just felt it on the legs and stopped... But I've learned and this didn't completely disrail me but gave me a new target for the day. From looking at the competition I thought the 1k could be around 2:55 so I planned to start at r32 1:28 pace and I would do what I needed to do to win. If I have to bury myself so be it. As it turned out the guy I expected to be the main competition didn't arrive so I changed the plan to 1:30 r30 and see what was happening at halfway. On starting the race I noted that guys from the lower age group where showing on the screen but knew that one of the guys in front of me was in this lower age group and pretty sure that the guy leading was also in the other group. At about 600m gone I saw that I was in second and as I was pretty sure the leading guy on the screen was in the lower group thought I would just sit behind him .... that didn't last long and the pace came up to 1:26's and with about 100m to go I went passed him finishing in 2:57.8 - the second guy came in at 2:59.2 - it turned out he was in the same category as me - phew!

 

So the 2k plan was aimed at a 6:15 orinally as again I had it planned around another rower being there - for some reason he didn't make it - it was to be r32 and start at 1:35 pace and this was to remain until half way at which point I will decide if I needed to destroy myself to go for the win or if I can save some for the 500m. I ended up rating a little lower than planned at 30 maybe the 1k took more than expected or maybe the recent cold/flu - lack of training etc etc still I had the control and come the final 500m I simply kept the pressure on and controlled it home - a win but I'll be honest slower than I really wanted.

There was quite some crowd there ....

ahh the reason for the crowd :o) O'Donovan brothers 

So then the 500m that itself will be a fly hard from the start and hold on to the wings of the angels. As I was lining up to get to the erg I heard the all so familiar "Attention - This is a emergency - Please evacuate the building" ... err no that's not right its Ready Attention Row! Nope there is was again and at that the arena was cleared and we waited outside for the fire brigade to come on scene and declare it safe - as there was apparently a fire detected in a plant room this took about a half hour or more. Still once back in I was even more pumped for the 500m - on the erg - music on and ... balls forgt to put the phone on airplane mode and the wife was calling - quickly chucked the headphones off and tried to focus - got a good not great start but think I missed first stroke - patiently waited for the pace to come down as I was hitting 1:16's but the average was showing over 1:20... eventually it came down and I was looking at a sub 1:20 finish up to the last few strokes - ended on 1:20.1 and my third Gold. 

Overall I was happy with my day - it was about getting to the start as much as it was about finishing the races and to get three wins made it all the better - talked to some old friends and met some new ones and for that I am grateful. Also got three new t-shirts :-)

AM Weights - PM 30r20 70% HRR + 500m Controlled

in the gym this morning and went through the Tuesday weights routine with an increase in the weights for the main piece - so

5 min warm up on bike and some stretches

Squat - Barx5, 50kgx4, 65kgx3, 70kgx2, 80kgx1

           85kgx5x3

Overhead Press - Barx5, 15kgx4, 20kgx3, 25kgx2, 30kgx1

           35kgx5x3

Deadlift  - Barx5, 65kgx4, 70kgx3, 80kgx2, 90kgx1

           100kgx1

(all the above are using the olympic bar so total weight is weight plus 20 - eg deadlift is actually 120kg or 264lb)

Lat Pulldown 3x6x100kg

Lunchtime and I got in for a 30r20 70% HRR which I enjoyed - although it was quite funny as my mind drifted now and then to the possibility of racing which saw the HR spike by about 5 beats lol

Followed up by a 500m r32 target was 1:26.0 - got the power down early and tried to keep good length while controlling the rate

Punch the Power - 8by2:30 r20 full frontal video of last rep lol

Well today's session - done early as wouldn't have time in a lunch break - was 8 by 2m30s rating 20 with 3 minute 30 rest - have to admit the rest was maybe a little long for me - or maybe I didn't push hard enough early on?

Two reasons I didn't push earlier is a) lower back a little tender at mo b) no idea where to pace this (haven't done these in a long while) c) it was frickin early lol I figured somewhere between 1:35 and 1:40 would be a good place for the pace after a 1k with bursts at rate warm up I opted for 1:40 and to be honest in the first two I thought that was about spot on. After the third I obviously needed to negative split the rest - the 7th went quite well so on the 8th I thumped it (while keeping control)

2:30.0 750m 1:40.0 20

2:30.0 750m 1:40.0 20

2:30.0 750m 1:40.0 20

2:30.0 751m 1:39.8 20

2:30.0 752m 1:39.7 20

2:30.0 753m 1:39.6 20

2:30.0 757m 1:39.0 20

 2:30.0 779m 1:36.2 20  

AM Weights - PM 500m TT

This morning I went through a weights session before work which was


5 min warm up on bike and some stretches

Squat - Barx5, 40kgx4, 50kgx3, 55kgx2, 60kgx1
           70kgx5x3

Flat Bench Press - Barx5, 35kgx4, 40kgx3, 45kgx2, 50kgx1
           60kgx5x3 (this wasn't to chest and thinking of using dumbells in order to get deeper?)

Power Clean  - Barx5, 30kgx4, 40kgx3, 45kgx2, 50kgx1 (learning as I go on this)
           50kgx5x3 (did have 60kg on but couldn't shift it for even one rep lol)

Seated Cable Row 3x8x91kg (maxed out the stack on the machine)

Lunchtime - had to be a quick session as stuck in traffic on way to gym so went with 500m TT - still full of cold but as said earlier in the week as long as it's not "on the chest" I'll just crack on with it.

Full race warm up and set up the monitor - weighed down the front end (see Tuesdays blog) and off I went - same tactic - settle at 1:18 ish and keep it going - think the cold had more of an effect than hoped and just had trouble with really dry mouth by half way - plus I probably rated a little high for my liking - need to get a better control on it. Still - 1:20.6 and managed to bury myself in the process which was nice - NOT!! lol - oh I love the erg!!!

AM 40r20 70% HRR - PM 500m test recording ergdata screen

Full of cold at the moment - feel like a kid as I go between a blocked and runny nose.... yuck lol so that slowed me getting up at 5am and by the time I got to the gym I figured I had about time for 40 minutes so off I went keeping it on 70% HRR (143bpm)

Over the weekend I was helping Rhona Ware out with some advice on the erg and during the session I put some power down as i wanted to demonstrate you don't necessarily need high SPM to hit the power - this ended up with some 1:18 splits quite comfortably appearing and then down to 1:13 at the same time I got an idea that I could record the ergdata screen "real time" as there is a option on my phone to to screen record ...

So not feeling 100% but knowing I can hit 1:18's, with a short time in the gym and the idea to test the screen recording all road led to a 500m trial - and after a 5k warm up of various rates/pace that's what I set up. Was hoping to get a good start - drop under 1:18 to get the average down then simply sit on 1:18/1:19 to the end - all went well until about 150m - 200m out the erg starting shifting at the front over to the right... I ended up having to back of for fear of hitting the erg next to me and so not the time I should have got but a successful test of recording the screen :o)