Training Log Archive: igoup

In Chattanooga for the Head of the Hooch. Hit the water just before 2pm. Gray, mid 50s and a building wind. Felt pretty good rowing. The bouys seem to be randomly placed; I hope they are going to reset them. Actually, I hope we get to row; the weather for tomorrow is not looking good.

3 x 1250 = 3 [250 at 24, then 26, 28, 30, 28] / 4
Nice morning. Wish I felt stronger. I had a massage yesterday and that always leads to muscle lethargy. Easy to say but it when I'm dragging on relatively easy pieces it is challenging to believe it.

2 x 20 = 2 [ 8 (2 at 20 + 30s at 26) ] / 2

Lousy night sleep but decent row anyway. A bit windy but a nice sunrise.

3 x 20 = 3 [ 2 (5 at 20 + 3 at 22 + 2 at 24) ] / 2

Late start so a little warm and I got a little hungry. Nice morning though and I didn't feel to bad for the day after racing.

The nutrient rich H20 from Barton Creek into Lady Birdy Lake leads to serious summer growth cabomba weed. It's hung around a little late this year cutting the usual course in half. Thus, the course was shifted east a bit and we only went 4k. This meant we only had 2.5k to the start from launch and so I spent a bit extra time on shore warming up.

Bit of a rough day all around. I felt tired and not 100% committed to the effort. I kept the pressure up but once I hit the 2k mark at I35 my resolve was fading. In hindsight, perhaps going out a little too fast added to it. In any case, the next 2k along festival beach was a grind and I really just wanted to turn into the recovery dock. I took it down a notch and tried to relax. Once I made it to 3k I stabilized and pressed on but lacked much zing. Over the last 500 I was able to put in some distance on Scott Bolton. Felt pretty crappy afterward with an upset stomach. In hindsight, I think a lot of today's difficult was fatigue from a week of spotty rest, both physically and mentally.

1x) Pace_ave
1k) 2:00.9
2k) 2:06.2
3k) 2:06.4
4k) 2:04.9

Another rough race, for both of us. The effort was steady but we whacked a buoy then went on the wrong side of another (-30s). Ugh.

1. T. Brown, Austin 16:02.3
2. P. McDonough, Ft. Worth 16:12.7
3. S. Borchelt, Texas Rowing 16:24.6
4. T. Carr, White Rock 16:32.7
5. S. Bolton, Texas Rowing 16:43.9
6. m. knifton, Texas Rowing 17:02.1
7. D. Schnepp, Austin 17:22.9
out of 10


SR_ave = 29.5
2x) Pace_ave
1k) 1:56.7
2k) 1:59.0 - Buoy adventures.
3k) 1:56.6
4k) 1: 54.2
1. P. Ellis, Texas Rowing 15:51.3 = 15:51.3
2. P. McDonough, Ft. Worth 15:57.4 = 15:27.4 + 30
3. R. Schiller, Austin 15:58.5 = 15:58.5
out of 7.

All easy in Austin's afternoon heat (90F).

6 [ 1 at 30-32 / 1 ] / 4 +
6 [ 30s at 34-35 / 90s ]

Slept in this morning to catch up so I rowed this evening. Very nice evening. Legs are a little sore just from yesterdays little bit of lifting. Nevertheless, I had a good workout. I was putting in good strong strokes.

3 x 20 = 3 [ 8 (2 at 20 + 30s at 26) ] / 2

Very nice morning. Good rowing. But I'm still tired -- still have sleep deficit.

2 of 5 sets because it is taper time.

From FALS to River St on the Boston side. Back on the Cambridge side. Cooler and a N wind today. Met up with Lisa, Ulf and Mette to watch their son Christopher stroke the Norwalk River Rowing Juniors boat. After than, drank hot cider, watched more races, had a pretty darn good grilled sausage with onions and peppers, watched more races, then met Lisa's sister Karen and her BF Nick for lunch.

In the WU tent. Usual race WU.

Rude = coach telling team of girls to go row for 30min in the WU tent on race day.

HOCR Senior Masters Singles (40-49)

1: 18:28.8
13: 19:36.1
14: 19:36.6. Troy Howell
15: 19:44.31. Ned Flint
16: 19:44.39.
17: 19:44.62. TC. 7.3%
18: 19:50
out of 37

location) split, (place), % behind the ave of the top 5.
Riverside) 4:37.1 (18), 8.1%
Weld) 6:12.1 (17), 6.9%
Cambridge) 5:28.5 (14), 4.1%
Finish) 3:26.9 (12), 6.2%
Final) 18:44.62 (17), 6.3%

Some Garmin data. Kind of useless to compare to other races but it might be interesting to compare to future HOCR events.
?k) pace, HR_max
1k) 2:05.0, 173
2k) 2:04.5, 176
3k) 2:09.5, 182
4k) 2:11.5, 181

Boat:
After rowing yesterday I moved the stretchers one more notch to the bow. That definitely helped. However, I neglected the rails. Thus, on the way to the start I pulled over at Harvard-Newell and slid those forward as well. Overall, much better. I would have liked my seat to be 1/4in higher but no complaints.

Steering:
South wind with gusts in the basin so they kept us Boston side as long as possible. I went through the railroad bridge easily, while watching the 2 behind me having to make corrections due to steering too close to shore. Once through the bridge I had to put in some port pressure to get to the green buoys. Steered a good line: close enough not to be adding too much distance but not so close as to be stressing about every buoy. Passed 16 at SADL. There was a tail wind down the powerhouse stretch so I stayed Cambridge side thinking there might be better water; I'm not sure if it made a difference. (Looking at my Garmin track I think it adds unnecessary distance unless conditions are really rough -- rougher than what we had). I went through the Cambridge arch at River Street but as I came to Western I was close enough to center that I just went to the center arch. I eased my way over to the buoys and had a good line through Weeks. I started my 4 hard starboard side pulls under the bridge and had a good line to Anderson. As I approached Anderson I was moving up on another boat. I decided I wanted to be Cambridge side of them so that I would be free to set my own line. After Anderson 4 hard port side pulls. As we moved up past Newell I was abreast of the other boat. I knew I had to get ahead before the turn. When my 3km alert beeped I put in a hard 10 up to 30+ spm, got clear water, and shifted to the buoy line. Rowed the line all the way around. Clipped a buoy once. Otherwise, 3 strokes, look, 3 strokes, look. Had a good hard turn and a good line through Elliot St and then drifting Cambridge side. Smoothed out well and didn't need a correction on the green buoys. Took the last turn and then a good line to the finish. All and all, a decent course I think.

Pacing and tactics:
Off the line I found myself at 28-29 and had to get myself to ease just a bit. I tried to maintain 28 down the stretch but would find the SR dropping sometimes to 26.5 so I would bump it back up. I put in my P7s at 1k and 2k with decent effect I think. At 3k I went a few extra strokes to make the pass. Around the long bend I was so busy steering I didn't really watch SR much. When I did I was 28+. I have to say I was so focused on the race I wasn't paying much attention to effort. However, coming around the final bend I was aching for the line. When I hit the tree stump it was time to count down from 20 and 15. In the mean time bow 24 was moving up on me. I really did not want to get passed by bow 24. My brained fried after the 20 and I lost count and had to keep counting down by 5 looking over my shoulder for the line. I'm a little annoyed how often I turned around, which isn't going to make it come sooner. Could have easily cost me the 0.3s I lost to 15th and 16th place. Rowed as hard as I could though. I didn't let up the effort regardless of what my boat speed may have been doing. I held of bow 24 as well.

The race went by fast but also seemed a bit hectic. I need to be able to address the steering and competition, while still finding times to focus on clean rowing.

Results:
7.3% off the winners is my best performance by a bit over 2%, which is cool. It appears that I might be a bit too mellow in the first half of the race. I'm loosing a bit of time. Can I up the effort there and still maintain the solid finish. It appears I did a good job around the long bend to Cambridge being only 4% off the leaders -- not bad for an out of towner.

What matters more:
I am happy that I managed my nerves, temperament and attitude pretty well. During the race I was fully engaged, positive, racing and in the moment.

Boston. HOCR WU row. Borrowing a midwt fluid from Jim Dietz. Fits reasonably well but I don't quite feel as locked at the catch. Such is the way of things when borrowing a boat; better than the boat I borrowed in Rochester thought.

3 x 30 strokes at 28-30, then steady 26 around the Cambridge turn, then 35 strokes from the tree stump through the finish. Good work.

Lots of traffic as usual. Nice day though. Bit of a wind.

Steady state. Short on time so land boat rowing.

3 x 1250 = 3 [ 250 at 24, then 26, 28, 30, 28 ] / 4

More storms last night. Still wet, gray, and windy; first two are fine, third is a little annoying. Slogged it out.

SMU parking lot. Transitioning weight practice.

3 x 20 = 3 [ 2 (5 at 20 + 3 at 22 + 2 at 24) ] / 2

Another very nice morning. Felt a little tired on the 24s. There was a wedding on the lawn of the FB so I floated and watched for a few moments.

0 falls. Post rowing and after a snack. I did not feel very fluid and, oddly enough, I actually feel more comfortable doing V1 now than V2. That said, I felt the most stable and most relaxed of any previous outings. The parking lot sessions seem to be helping.

12x1min = 2 [ 6 (1 / 1) ] / 4
1st at 30, 2nd at 32.

Storms last night left a north wind, cool temps and gray skies. I had good rowing along W. Lauther. That is until stupid DUC showed up with their eights and launches. In any case, turned out to be a good workout. Definitely working hard and tired but I didn't bog down quite as much as when I did this workout a couple of weeks ago.
Generally on the high side of the rates.

rep) Pace today (Pace on 9/30)
1) 1:55.0 (1:54.5)
2) 1:54.5 (1:52.5)
3) 1:52.5 (1:54.0)
4) 1:52.5 (1:52.5)
5) 1:50.0 (1:53.0)
6) 1:56.5 (1:53.0)
1) 1:50.0 (1:48.5)
2) 1:50.0 (1:52.0)
3) 1:48.0 (1:49.0)
4) 1:51.0 (1:50.0)
5) 1:49.5 (1:55.5)
6) 1:48.0 (1:52.5)

0 falls. SMU parking lot.

5 x 2000 = 5 [ (500 at 20, 500 at 22, 500 at 24, 400 at 22) / 90s ]

South winds again. Either I'm really tired or duct tape on the skeg is very slow. Boy did the boat feel heavy and my legs and arms were abnormally tired for the workout.

3 of 5 rounds per prescription. That was enough though. I was tired.

5 x 1500 = 5 [ 1500m at 24 / 5 min ]

Evening row dealing with all the kiddos and launches. South wind meant we were all doing laps and fighting for the same water. Pain in the tosh.

South wind waves, launch rollers, and a wobbly* skeg covered in duct tape made for an unsteady ride.

* On Sat a wind gust blew my boat off the slings and rolling on the ground. The skeg didn't break but its wobbly. I duct tape it so it wouldn't break off but it is wobbly. A new $170 skeg will get here in a day or so.

0 falls. More skating practice in the FB parking lot. It's concrete so I just had the poles for balance and focused on skating, and circles, and figure eights, etc. Getting better.

Had the option to take today off. However, I didn't sleep well I think due to too much caffeine yesterday, particularly on the drive home. Thus, I thought I'd get out and burn it out of my system a bit. Spinning only. Nice morning -- low 60s. The north end of the lake and our old neighborhood got hit pretty hard by Thu's storms; lots of limbs and trees down. The pelicans are back and starting to gather in sunset bay. The Royal Classic Car Club was starting to gather at Flag Pole Hill. Most of the cars were not really my style but I still think they are cool and I like that others go "all in."

0 falls. Picked up some hip padding at Academy sports that would normally go in a football players pants. I shoved then in my compression shorts and they stayed relatively in place. My hip is still pretty swollen and I'd be lying if I didn't say it has made me a little hesitant. Did what I should have probably done in the beginning. I went to a big parking lot at SMU and practiced circles, and eights, and slaloming, and no poles, and V1, etc.

Head of the Oklahoma

Mens open 2x:
1 179 USTC - OKC (W. Daly) 13:58.45 13:58.45
2 180 Oklahoma City (H. Bingham) 15:09.70 15:09.70
3 182 Ft. Worth,White Rock (T. Carr) 15:12.11 15:12.11
4 183 Wichita State (E. Gordon) 15:39.46 15:39.46
...
Total of 9.

SR_ave = just under 30.
Pace_ave ~ 1:52
Dead even when measure over each km. Some ups and downs due to turning and bridges.
HR
Baseline of about 170-171. A mid race peak as we were going through the railroad bridge and under Lincoln street. Settled back down a bit to the rise up to 176 over the last 3 min (750m).

Mens open 1x:
1 352 Malta BC (C. Ethridge) 15:03.72 15:03.72
2 338 USTC - OKC (R. Prendes) 15:11.100 15:11.100
3 339 USTC - OKC (A. Fahden) 15:16.41 15:16.41
4 342 OKC Riversport (V. Lepeltier) 15:40.34 15:40.34
5 344 OKC Riversport (M. Mahon) 15:48.49 15:48.49
6 340 USTC - OKC (T. Nase) 15:48.99 15:48.99
7 345 Vesper (B. Borberg) 15:57.97 15:57.97
8 351 USTC - OKC (P. Gibson) 16:04.62 16:04.62
9 347 Ft. Worth (P. McDonough) 16:20.43 16:20.43
10 341 Oklahoma City (C. Shafer) 16:25.42 16:25.42
11 346 White Rock (T. Carr) 16:33.57 16:33.57
12 343 Oklahoma City (B. Jones) 17:49.92 17:49.92
13 348 Oklahoma City (K. Vutborg) 18:48.54 18:48.54

Borberg, McDonough and I are all old guys. The 1st place guy was rowing 90s faster than me or about 10s/500m! Yowsa!

Some historical data:
2013: skipped
2012: 2x then 1x= 17:32 (Pat= 17:11). Headwind.
2011: No 2x. 1x = 16:58 (Pat = 16:51) 65s behind the fastest in open.
2010: No 2x. 16:24.2 70s behind the overall fastest in open.
2009: No 2x. 16:35.6

SR_ave: Just under 28.
Pace_ave:
1k: 2:03.6
2k: 2:03.0
3k: 2:01.5
4k: 2:01.4
HR: Profile similar to last weekend. A little slower to get to linear portion due to navigating through bridges. Then rising to 180 by the end.

Tailwind the whole way and it definitely got gusty the last 2k. I'm not sure how much help it was because it was enough to cause an unsteady boat and missed or stuck strokes.

I guess I have to say it was a decent race. I wish I was a little closer to Pat and Borberg. And to be down 10s/500m on the youngsters just makes me feel old and slow. However, I steered a good course, held my SR consistently, my pace was consistent, mentally solid the whole way, and my HR says I was at max. Can't do any better than that. I was certainly helpful to have people, particularly Pat, behind me this week for motivation. I also found the 250m markers over the last 2k helpful -- they seemed to go by fast enough and I wasn't constantly looking over my shoulder for the finish. I mounted a bit of a kick over the last 10. I have to be cranking for 30 at the Charles.

45 = 4 (5 at 18 + 3 at 20 + 2 at 22) + 5 at 18
South wind laps. My right elbow is sore but not due to impact. I doesn't hurt to pull. The recovering (arms away) is fine if my hands stay in an even plane. However, if waves or balance cause me to have to adjust, I feel strain on the inside upper and inside lower part of the elbow. Poopers.

The fall last night took the wind out of my sails so I went to bed early and slept 10 hrs. I felt better today but still decided to bag lifting. My legs felt decent biking but my butt has become wimpy. ps: My hip and elbow are very unhappy.