4by1k 5r - run in to the Irish

Q's plan for the run up to the Irish has been delivered and it's quite an interesting and brutal path - wouldn't have it any other way - one of the mainstay sessions is the 4by1k on 5 min rest - he's given me a desired target which may or may not come before the Irish but a first session target was 1:33.9 and so the plan for the first session would be 1:34.2 - 1:34.2 - 1:33.9 - 1:33.3.

Bit late at night after waiting for the Mrs to finish work so I could get the dogs walked and am carrying a touch of a sore throat (both the daughter and Mrs have been ill recently) but decided feck it lets see what happens - one rep at a time and commit to the session.

Over 90% humidity in the shed - warm up completed and so into the first rep - sat on sub 1:34 pace from start to finish at 30 SPM so just went with it. Second rep and got the dry mouth sensation again - still had that half way through the 2k recently and managed to finish it so kept on the pressure and finished it. OK third rep and commit to the session - no point tip toeing through just to finish the four - could easily have called it a day after that one to be honest - lol - eyed up my target and figured I could row a 1:34.9 and still finish on target - again what's the point - the idea is to drive myself into a place I don't want to be and endure - so I did - and I endured - boy did I endure - one thing about the recent back problems is I know that the is a whole lot worse pain than I ever get to on the erg - finished the fourth rep and down on the floor - 3 minutes later I crawled literally back on to take the snapshot and do a 2 min cool down and then nearly fell down the stairs back to the house ....

all reps from a "standing start"

30r20 75% HRR - after three days off

Having three days off from the erg usually means I get punished on a return to HR restricted rows - but not today - up early to get dogs walked and have this erg session done before my daughter wakes up as I'm off work it's a bit topsy-turvy training wise. Yesterday I got some time to sort the erg shed out - brought home the model D to train on from work. I did start a session on Christmas Eve but I was still blown apart from the previous days 8by500's. Today's just went well from the off - think I managed about 15 minutes sub 1:45 ave. Ended up with a season best for the session. Merry Christmas everyone

8by500's 1:30 Q's plan - Wulf delivery

Quick chat with Q this morning via the old email and what with Christmas and it's distractions I decided this lunchtime would likely be the only chance I'd get for a good run at a speed session so with that in mind and having fallen upon the 8by500's as the session next came the pace plan - wanting to beat 1:31.5 I handed over to Q's and he came up with

Suggest you put the first 4 at 1:31.8 (which puts you 1.6s slow). Then a pair at 1:31.5 (2.2s slow). Then a 1:31.0. Then see how close you can get to 1:29.0 on the last. HOWEVER it is just training, so get the best out of yourself on the day. If it is a 1:32.5 average, take the training benefit!!

 So plan sorted - r30 to start lifting the last one or two if needed - down and warmed up but felt off and not in the mood - gave myself a talking to and reminded myself I may not get on the erg again properly over the next few days so got stuck in. First rep was OK but a little bit tougher than usual on these - still 1:31.7 done and rest then the next, 1:31.7 again and for the third also - still felt strangely hard but not destroying so plowed on - fourth rep and 1:31.6 still at r30 so have time to spare as looking at that 1:29.0 for the final rep it looked a touvh out of reach - fifth 1:31.4 and then 1:31.3 OK keep going nearly there - 1:30.8 OK I think I can get a 1:30.0 and still hit target......

fyi - all from standing start

30r20 75% HRR - the shed sweat pay off

After spending the last two mornings sweating through some 30r20 75% HRR in the cold humid shed at a lowly 1:49/50 pace today was the pay off as I returned to the comfort of a air conditioned gym. Although I found it tough at the start (and also forgot my Garmin HR strap - so used the Suunto which although connected to the Monitor wasn't picked up on the Garmin watches for obvious reasons) I soon saw some good numbers and persevered - onward and upwards

more sweat in the shed - 30r20 75% HRR on the model B

Another early morning session to keep the heart pumping - 30r20 75% HRR - some amount of sweat generated again in the low temp and high humidity

30r20 75% HRR sweat in the shed

Off work for two days (back in Wednesday and Thursday) so realistically the only real chance I have to train is early morning - so up and breakfast then dog walk in the rain home and changed then up to the shed - bit of messing about to get the Model B set and off I went - even though I set the drag to the same as the Model C the B feels a lot different in the stroke. After a while the sweat really started to roll and noticed humidity was over 90%! Not something you think about when training in Ireland in a shed in the winter - still session complete and good start to the day :-)

2k TT next step

So Wednesday as reported I showed signs of tiredness/bug so kept to low rate work - yesterday morning was a similar story and plodded through a 30r20 75% HRR Ave HR 147 Max HR 156 -  8,244m then at lunchtime I planned on rowing a 2k - first 1500m was to be 1:32 r32 and then just finish it off - as I got through 250m though a guy came in and started "fixing" one of the machines in the gym - and seemed to have difficulty as he threw most of the stuff around - really not in the mood for that and so HD time. This morning still tired I woke late and had no time before work to row - so - end of the week lets at least try and finish it well - I noticed the HR this morning had returned to a reasonable level so whatever was "ailing" me had passed referring back to Q's thoughts after my last 2k of 6:23.3 - 17th November

"Still not looking for anything faster than 6:19.9 next 2k - 1:36 cruise and then a push at the end."

I went down with a plan of 1:35 first 500m with the drop to 1:36 middle 1k and then attack the last 500m and so through the warm up. Then the thoughts start - are your legs too tired, have you still got some sickness, did you get enough sleep etc etc. Still I was determined to go and so I did - r30 to start and lift if I needed - all went well for first 30 seconds and then it was as if an avalanche of doubt poured down on me - which was bad enough - but then I had the driest mouth I've ever experienced on the erg - literally no spit at all - normally fluid is coming out from mouth, nose and brow lol - not today though - so breathing became even more difficult than usual but I stuck to my guns and drove on - looking for anything to help me see a finish line - constantly working out how long left - how many strokes - how many meters - finally about a minute out I knew i was going to make it - lets drive on - clicked the mental ticker on with the countdown from 32 strokes and in came the power and down came the pace - about ten strokes from home I was hovering on a 6:16 finish but wanted to get down under that to 6:15 so with a few 1:28's and a few more 1:29's it flicked to showing a 6:15.. finish and through the line I got - not flattened but certainly needed a drink. - One step closer.

Why I row to HR - 30r20 75% HRR

Perfect example of why I use HR to govern the bulk of my ergs - although it would be obvious that I would be tired today both mentally (due to lack of sleep) and physically (yesterdays 4by750 following on from Mondays 12by1min) it would be hard to work out how much to drop pace on one of my core sessions without the HR - Monday and Tuesday saw this session at 1:47.5 pace (8,369m both days) where as today we ended with 1:49.1 (8,248m) a drop of 121m - this isn't a drop in form this is showing that the body is fatigued and as such this lunchtime will see a "easier" session than I would if I hit a better pace. Still good training and certainly got a sweat on.