not particularly enjoying the programming I'm being given - my third consecutive 30min UT2 of the week. erg data obviously doesn't approve either as it didn't record the session. Excited to do something a lot harder tomorrow

7,006m
METERS

30:28.0
TIME

2:10.4
PACE

428
CALORIES

More erg data uploading problems and more mental strength issues

Aborted a 30r20 session after a little over 16 mins after being interrupted and losing focus

was at 1.54.2 ave. the plan had been to go through half way in about 1.53.5/500 and then aim to turn the heat up and make an attempt at 8k, but not sure I had the power in my legs to achieve that anyway.

Wanted to do something hard but not painful to get a little mojo back, so waited 3 mins and did a grey zone 2k. Started out at 1.46 pace and then turned up the pace a little in the final 400m. Actually really enjoyed it

6:58.6 2000 1:44.6 30

14k UT2 this morning. Getting used to rowing slower with a slightly higher sr to keep the HR in zone.

also did a 40min UT2 on Sat but forgot to post

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M HR
1:01:09.6 14,003m 2:11.0 156 835 19 135

5:00.0 1,149m 2:10.5 157 841 19 123
5:00.0 1,161m 2:09.1 162 858 20 132
5:00.0 1,148m 2:10.6 157 839 20 131
5:00.0 1,148m 2:10.6 157 839 20 128
5:00.0 1,134m 2:12.2 151 820 20 140
5:00.0 1,141m 2:11.4 154 830 19 136
5:00.0 1,141m 2:11.4 154 830 19 139
5:00.0 1,143m 2:11.2 155 832 20 139
5:00.0 1,137m 2:11.9 152 824 19 140
5:00.0 1,142m 2:11.3 154 831 20 136
5:00.0 1,141m 2:11.4 154 830 19 140
5:00.0 1,155m 2:09.8 160 849 20 141
1:09.6 263m 2:12.3 151 819 20 140

What do these rowing medals look like?

I an sick of participation medals, I need a facking trophy.

I haven’t received this year’s silver yet. This is last year’s State Gold and Aus Bronze. NB, they don’t come like this - wifey got them framed as my Christmas present last year.

That gold one looks pretty sweet.


Copper one looks like participation 5k running medal.

Man I was in possible 5k masters trophy shape last month. Then went south and then got sick and now I am in participation medal shape. Facking brutal.

Nov CTC.

2k 2mins rest
1.5k 1min 30 rest
1k 1 min rest
500m

Oof. Was hoping to get 5k-3 but ended up closer to 5k-2. That 1500 was a test of mental strength as much as conditioning and I was very happy I grinded through it. Probably a rookie mistake doing it so early in the month, as there's enough time to forget the pain and consider another attempt.

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
17:39.8 5,000m 1:45.9 294 1311 31

7:02.3 2,000m 1:45.5 297 1323 31
r: 2:00 26m
5:20.8 1,500m 1:46.9 286 1285 31
r: 1:30 26m
3:33.3 1,000m 1:46.6 289 1292 31
r: 1:00 29m
1:43.4 500m 1:43.4 317 1389 32

Looks brutal.

Really was. Came in Hopi by I might be able to sneak sub 1.45/500 for it all but think that’s a pipe dream right now although if I aspire to get sub 6.30 on 2k I think I need to be able to take a lot of time off workouts like this

early am gym. Aiming to lift 2x a week and start getting back to some reasonable weights but we're not there yet

3x8 DB Bench 28kg ss with 5 pull ups
3x7 Hex Bar DL 90kg
3x7 Hammer High pull 100kg SS with 3x10 single legged KB RDL 24kg
3x9 Ben over DB row 32kg SS with 3x10 Hammer Curl 14kg

was really whacked out this am. My body has forgotten that I trained pre work for 15 years. Either that or I'm old and trying to do too much.

on the plus side, some exciting looking MILFs in the 7-8am slot at globo

logged 30 very easy mins tonight. Wifey has got sick and it's making me feel like I'm getting something too, so my paranoia made me cut the session short

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
30:14.5 6,821m 2:13.0 149 811 17

5:00.0 1,140m 2:11.5 154 828 18
5:00.0 1,142m 2:11.3 154 831 18
5:00.0 1,140m 2:11.5 154 828 19
5:00.0 1,128m 2:12.9 149 812 18
5:00.0 1,113m 2:14.7 143 792 17
5:00.0 1,106m 2:15.6 140 782 17

comfortable 60min UT2 tonight with the HR under control the entire way. not sure if it's because i rowed later in the day or with a slightly lower drag (123 vs 128) or just variance

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M HR
1:00:00.6 13,837m 2:10.1 159 846 20 131

5:00.0 1,153m 2:10.0 159 847 19 125
5:00.0 1,166m 2:08.6 164 865 20 126
5:00.0 1,156m 2:09.7 160 851 20 127
5:00.0 1,156m 2:09.7 160 851 20 131
5:00.0 1,152m 2:10.2 159 845 21 130
5:00.0 1,150m 2:10.4 158 842 22 133
5:00.0 1,157m 2:09.6 161 852 21 133
5:00.0 1,148m 2:10.6 157 839 21 135
5:00.0 1,156m 2:09.7 160 851 21 137
5:00.0 1,147m 2:10.7 156 838 21 135
5:00.0 1,145m 2:11.0 156 835 21 136
5:00.0 1,149m 2:10.5 157 841 21 129

new 500m PR - 1.26.9. 1.6 seconds faster than the one I did 2 weeks ago.

totally ran out of power in the final 150 when the legs felt like floppy rope. Also feel I made several mistakes - first two strokes didn't have enough power, I had a weird drop in sr in the third 100 and I could have got one more stroke in at the end.

I'd like to try it again with fresher legs - it was my 6th session in 5 days and when you see 1.5 seconds or more disappear off your split in the final 100 it’s hard not to think about what might have been. But, maybe that’s what happens in the sprints?

3rd in Aus and 97th percentile in my age group worldwide, but I think there’s more to come.

Still…it’s a PR and at my age, I’ll take every one I get.

Ha, that's a massive PR. Congrats!

thanks.

I'm gonna try another one next week when I have fresh legs and I hope to shave a few tenths off and then 'retire' this event for a long while. It's fun, but it doesn't really feel like rowing.

also...very dispiriting seeing the predicted time slow with basically every stroke in the final 100.

Awesome work!

Nice PR! Sounds like a brutal bunch of fun.

thanks gents.

not sure if I'll be able to write this up coherently but...I either post all or none of my workouts so....

today I'd planned my nemesis workout....3k, 2.5k. 2k 5r paced at 5k+1

2.5k warm up and then the first 3k went well

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
10:54.4 3,000m 1:49.0 270 1228 29

550m into the 2.5k, my wife interrupted me (just to tell me she was going out), but it was enough for me totally lose focus and had to stop. I decided to wait a few mins and do another hard 3k and call that a session.

was feeling ok if a little tired at about 900m when my mind started playing tricks on me. I had an internal debate about keeping going and thought I'd won it but then inexplicably stopped again

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
4:15.0 1163 1:49.2 256 1212 29

furious with myself I started a just row, thinking I'd probably do a UT1 type 5k but chose to pull the pin after 3k.

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
12:06.2 3,037m 1:59.5 205 1004 25

so...all in all, I did a little over 10k and my body got an OK workout but I left the erg feeling like my mental fitness is in tatters. It's so puzzling to me...my mental strength and intestinal fortitude during my rugby career was always my biggest asset, I would just never ever know I was beaten or quit, or back down. And even this time last year, I'd never HDd a single workout. And yet it's now so common and I feel my fitness, training and body are being totally let down by my fragile mind.

Anyway...I think what I need to do is have a few weeks of finishing every session as a priority...even over the speed of the session itself. So I'm going to scale back my interval target times a little to ensure I can finish them strong and start re-building my brain's confidence in itself

early morning UT2. Need to start doing more of these now the temperature is rising but find it harder to get into the right rhythm so early in the day

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
51:52.6 12,005m 2:09.6 164 852 19

I know that feeling; I agree that reducing intensity and just working on getting some meters in without feeling like you need to rip the chain out of the machine will do you some good. Everyone needs some (relative) downtime.

8x500 3.30r - an old favourite

really good, morale building session. After too many HDs when I've gone out at PR pace, I've decided to approach my hard sessions with a bit more humility, take a little heat off the first few reps, commit to finishing the session however I'm feeling, but attempt to negative split if I'm feeling good. And that's what happened - did 7 reps at 2k-2 average and then the 8th at 1k pr pace. It's about 1 split off my best time for this, but I left knowing there's more in the tank and feeling good about myself for the first time in a while

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
13:00.0 4,000m 1:37.5 378 1599 34

1:38.7 500m 1:38.6 364 1552 34
1:38.5 500m 1:38.5 366 1560 34
1:38.3 500m 1:38.2 368 1568 34
1:38.3 500m 1:38.2 368 1568 33
1:38.0 500m 1:38.0 372 1579 34
1:37.3 500m 1:37.3 380 1607 35
1:36.5 500m 1:36.5 389 1640 35
1:34.3 500m 1:34.3 417 1736 36

Negative splitting those types of interval workouts are always hard for me to make myself do, but always result in a more productive seeming workout - nice work.

I can't imagine ever positive splitting an interval session. Sure I did it in the beginning but it must be negative EV in multiple different ways (lactate + health, recovery, etc etc).

what I'm unclear on is how much of an 'exercise benefit' there is in doing these sessions at 100% vs 98%. Like, if I'd gone balls out the whole way and managed to finish and managed say a 1.36.2 split vs what I did...does that make me fitter physically? And then to loco's point...how much of an impact does it make on my recovery?

IDK. all I know is that I woke up this morning feeling good and fresh and positive about my rowing again...and confident that there's improvement in me. Whereas HDing on a session makes me feel like it's not worth it

1k row warm up
3x12 single leg extensions warm up
3x6 front squat 60/ss 5 pull ups
3x7 single leg press 100kg/ss with 7 single leg KB RDLs 20kg
3x8 seated DB Press 22kg/ss with 8 lat raises 14kg DB
3x6/6 DB Flye/Bench ss with 22kg DBs