Short and sharp - 8 by 0:20 r0:40

A bit of a different session for me today - 20 seconds on at high rate high power with 40 seconds recovery - as I'm new to it wsa a little uncertain to how it would go - almost managed to get near to me target of 1:20.0 but as I was trying to hold a reasonable length in the stroke it eluded me this time  ;-)

oh and looks like concept2.co.uk have populated the British as well as the Irish records  ;-)

**** 6by1 1r PB **** then go again!

I've had a few days of HD's - think a lot was down to the pills I got for the ankle (which seems to have sorted itself for now although will still get an MRI done to check) one of the side affects makes you retain weight lets say - i ended up gaining 2kg over the days I was taking them - it's gone now  ;-) also "life" stresses didn't help. Today I determined to turn the corner though (I also decided this yesterday but was interrupted half way through a 30min TT - blinking life getting in the way!)

 

So what did Q have lined up - 6by1min on 1min rest then 8min rest then 6by1min on 1min rest - Q if you read this - did your ears burn as I called on you?  :lol:

 

So targer pace for the first set (take one at a time) was my PB of 1:26.3 so for 1:26.0 I needed 348m for each split. Started off OK but kept it cautious and was lucky I did - by the 4th set it was really starting to bite down hard on the lungs and legs but managed to dig deep and get through - had to dig deeper on the fifth and sixth and it was all I could do to stand up at the end of the sixth - lead legs - walked around - got back on the erg for a slow paddle - geared myself up - fixed my target on 333m (1:30.0 split) and of I set - again just had to hold on - could really feel this working the lungs and breathing and knew this would benefit me come race day - called on the inner beast to finish of the last rep on set two and Wlf got the split down to 1:26 before it slipped back up at the end - job done and so was I

 

As you can see from the last split/stroke length I gave all I had

As you can see from the last split/stroke length I gave all I had - I actually drove down to 1:26 in the last 30 seconds but then the power drained and I just held on

2by5k at22 5r (30TT+4)

So with the ankle seemingly holding out - or maybe the drugs masking the pain - although I personally reckon the Dr pushed the floaty bit back to somewhere it isn’t causing issues - today I was able to return to schedule - that meant 2by5k @22 on 30min TT pace +4 - so for me that meant 1:44.6 pace - nice and simple - although felt like crap before I started (I don't do well on prescription drugs - which is why I don't normally take them if I can help it) sat on the erg and saw the HR popping around the 42bpm mark - so yes I was indeed half asleep - still feel better now - although about to take the next dose :lol:

4min challenge series - Dr's orders

Well after ending up in more sporadic and intense pain yesterday afternoon – especially just before I left work – I booked myself into the Dr’s for a 7:45pmappointment – got home and had some food and then hobbled round with the dogs in “discomfort pain” and then off to the Dr’s we went – Mrs drove and came in with me – after a few questions the Dr got me to sit on the bed with both socks and shoes off – prod – poke – touch – scream – yelp – tears (yep – I cried from the pain – Mrs said after it was the first time she had seen me cry in ten years from pain – I’d broken a leg in that time :lol: ) after a few minutes the pain subsided and the Dr prodded again – she said she was looking for the same spot – I said I hoped she didn’t find it and she didn’t. Sitting down and discussing she thought maybe I had either ruptured the tendon or got something floating about in there - bit of bone or something – I asked for a MRI and she sent in the form – meanwhile I got drugs – which are spacing me out :lol: I asked about training and she agree’d that if I wasn’t in actual pain it should be OK – so today I trained.

 

Went down and did the usual warm up – slightly stiff/sore on the first 1k but no intense pain – so I set up the 4min for the challenge series – I know that I could do better than Mondays attempt (1335) and so set the target at 1:29 split and set off – the toughest bit for me in these is the breathing but I managed to control the drowning feeling and came out with a more solid – but not yet heroic – score – will have to take each day as it comes for now – oh yes – drug time :o)

Broken

well ankle flared up again just before lunch - while I was sat at my desk FFS - sharp pain across the top and a small yelp from me - head went down to hold down the pain and a few concerned looks from the team - still went down at lunch to train - got on the erg and took about 3 strokes before the pain flared again - took a few more hoping it would go - it didn't - I did  :(

 

Challenge Series 4min - knackered ankle

I don't like not training because of a niggling injury (ie one that comes and goes) and although obviously training on a knackered ankle isn't good - not training on it with only weeks before a comp in my mind is worse - so went down to test it out - first plan was to get through the morning without collapsing in pain - check - next step was to get changed - fail (forgot my socks) - but I had an ankle brace thing so I went barefoot in my shoes with that on the bad ankle - next step warm up - fail - after the first 1k I stopped as usual and although the row itself went pain free something went in the ankle again and the pain flared up - I saw the 1 minute countdown go over and all I could do was sit and wait for the pain to subside – then I got up and went for a little walk gingerly around – seemed OK so sat on the machine for the next part of the warm up – all OK – phew – OK the last part of the warm up 3k with bursts and that was OK too – I was very conscious of the ankle and tried to maintain a very rigid stroke.

OK so now the 4min for the challenge series – I reckon on recent form I should be 1340+ meters on this – but with the ankle issues and a HD before the holiday on this session I just wanted a solid row – so with a split of 1:30 in my head I set off and waited for the usual pain and hoped the ankle would hold – well the usual breathlessness came within the first minute and had to remind myself that although this was uncomfortable it wasn’t going to get much worse – first three minutes I was in more control than I would have thought before I started – but still conscious of the ankle going “ping” I left the drive to the last 30sec and drove I did – hitting 1:25 I believe to be the lowest split – job done – not quite the distance I should be at – but good enough for the moment

The main pain in the ankle is across the top where the finger is when it comes 

Back from holiday - 30r18 HRR 70%

Well got back from vacation last night - midnight by the time we hit the house - 1amby the time I hit the pillow - will fill in the vacation training on another blog.

 

So today I'm back in work and tired so just wanted to crack through the 30r18 hrr 70% and see what the body was like - turns out the body held up well - seems the holiday training did it's bit

 

8262m @18 - 1:48.9