Oh, it's on the ErgData app; I have a mount that I snap my phone into so it sits right above the PM5 - there are a few different screens you can watch. I like seeing drive length and total strokes, mostly because when I get lazy my stroke gets shorter and I like to play mental games with my total strokes in between watching Netflix.

It's hard to say, really; I can't imagine going below 180, but who knows. Just going by the mirror and trying to mitigate some of the effects from a super booze filled holiday season.

I hear you on the bolded

I didn't realise you watched Netflix while rowing...I wondered how you stayed on the machine for so long without going insane. It's music for me when I train and podcasts when I'm on my walks.

I'm wondering how you did anything with the kids at home. Did you find your tape measurer tied between two door knobs?

2/1
C6D1 - 70:00
16471m/2:07.4/17.1 spm/146 HR/161 ending HR

Pretty good session; heart rate got up a bit, but worked on quick hands at the finish, hip hinge, and quick drive after the catch. Did ok in spurts, but it's hard to keep it up for an hour.

I've never really been a huge music guy; listened to podcasts when I rowed at the gym, but now that I'm home I convinced the wife to "let" me rearrange my basement/office such that the erg is in front of the TV - big improvement.

Still haven't found it; I assume it's in the cardboard and tape fortress they made out of the pull-up/dip station, but who knows.

The secret is separating them; one's in the basement office with me and the other is in the attic office with the wife. They're doing reasonably well essentially on their own; they have two to three Zooms a day, other school assignments on a checklist, and have been seeing my in-laws a few days a week for afternoon activities. Throw in reading to my mom, spelling words, and stories from her over Skype and they're reasonably occupied.

Probably sending them back to in person once her parents go back home in a few weeks, which will be nice.

We’ve been very lucky in Australia to mainly dodge:eradicate Covid so my kids have been back at school since June but the home schooling period was a huge challenge - two high school age daughters who refused any attempt from us to be involved in supervising/helping their work and a 9/10 yr old boy who wanted attention the entire time and got super emotional whenever he didn’t understand something

I don’t envy you having had the kids at home for so long

Oh, they've only been at home since a bit before Thanksgiving; their school was actually really good at mitigation/control and we had them there in person from mid-August through mid-November when things started to pop (public schools around here only got a few weeks of fully in person school until they had to close). Their school started back up in person at the beginning of January, but given her parents were in town and the holiday surge was going, we figured discretion was the better part of valor until they left. E-learning has definitely been challenging, but they're generally reasonably good at keeping themselves on task and it's been as smooth as we've had any right to expect.

Glad to hear things with you have been relatively uneventful; hopefully with the vaccination program things will be approaching normal by next fall.

Librul media already talking about the new strain. After that there will be the more aggressive Africanized strain.

While we're pseudo-politarding, is Marjorie Taylor Greene your rep? Do people down there love her as much as it seems they do?

Monte, apologies for the drive by politarding your log. I'll accept any consequences you see fit.

I'm not really sure. Everyone I am around or work with is either apolitical or a lefty. Weird for TN/GA, I know.

Netflix or Youtube for me . I pay the monthly fee for no commercials on youtube. I used to love Joe Rogan but now that he is on Spotify no video on the TV. I kind of liked the video.

2/2
C6D2 - 70:00
16505m/2:07.2/17.3 spm/146 HR/158 ending HR

Decent enough.

No worries on the politarding, bros; better to confine the problematicity to a log already rife with it.

All I know is that she is a rep for somewhere in Northwest GA, which I thought was your neck of the woods. Obviously if you live in TN, then it's not her.

I'm assuming your not being sure means you didn't vote for her. That woman is ****ing nuts but somehow she wafflecrushed the election. You're running great if everyone you hang out with isn't a fan of hers. She has a ****ton of them down there.

2/3
C6D3 - 70:00
16479m/2:07.4/17.2 spm/149 HR/164 ending HR

First coaching call tomorrow; interested to see what the program is going to be.

Wow, this guy is perfect for you. Saw a couple of his videos, solid technicals.

He was yapping about how he got into the theory and started doing a whole bunch of long zone 2 rows. That his aerobic engine got massive but his power per stroke component fell apart.

Agreed, I remember watching that one and immediately rethinking some things. I'm also pretty sure I have some technical leaks, too, so hopefully he can help me improve.

Well my cardio journey has been very close to yours. Too hard at first and then too easy. And then a coach took me to the promised land (Nick Willis).

The wheel of time turns and we repeat the same story. This guy is going to teach you to find that medium and find PR City. Good choice.

I’ll be really interested to hear what kind of program he puts you on.

In a few months when my noob gains are done and my progress has stalled I’m gonna need something to keep me going

Interesting call this morning; the training program should arrive in a day or so, but some highlights:
-Training will be divided into "loading" and "unloading" days; loading is basically anything UT2 or above and unloading are UT3 (essentially 8-10 seconds below UT2 pace) or non-rowing related general fitness stuff (soccer with the kids, trail hikes, etc). He said with my current training volume, something like LLU/LLU is probably a reasonable starting point.
-As expected, some significant technique leaks; more frequent UT3 sessions where I actually work primarily on technique will help. Can send videos after a session for a quick spot review, which will be helpful.
-The general drag factors I've been using for various sessions he thought were fine. UT3 would be in the 75-80 range.
-He noticed something right away re: my position on the seat - I have trouble maintaining my anterior pelvic tilt and that leads to being too upright at the catch. Pointed me towards an early technique video of his that I should probably just watch before every UT3 session.
-He has me tracking a lot of stuff (weight, sleep, training type, splits, other activities, stress) in a shared Google sheet; interested to see what he ends up doing with it.
-I asked about HR and he essentially just said to measure my RHR every morning, give him my daily MHR, and send him C2 plots after sessions and we'd figure it out. Basically that the actual numbers don't matter, and how it feels should be more important. In line with his videos on the subject, which isn't surprising.
-He just told me to take things easy until next week in light of getting vaxxed Sunday, and plan to start Monday or Tuesday, as he'd prefer me to be fresh to start.

So, probably just thirty minutes of pretty light technique work per day for the next few days. May or may not log it here.

As someone who does not know the lingo but interested
What does UT2 and UT3 stand for ? Would I be correct that C2 is Concept 2
Look forward to seeing the program

Drag of 75-80? Wow.

I’m basically just using 110-115 the entire time, never change it at all - did he give you any time principles as to what drags to be using for particular distances/ intensity levels?

Sounds exciting, in for the ride.

Can you share the link to the techinque video regarding posture?

UT stands for utilization; UT2 is light aerobic, lower intensity work, and UT1 should approach your aerobic threshold. As per Gardner, UT2 should be strenuous, i.e. you can say a few words or a full sentence, but no more or it breaks your rhythm. (UT3 is even less intense than UT2, and should be a lower stroke rate and 8-10 splits below UT2, as per Gardner).

An online calculator can give you a basal level idea of the various HR levels, but it's individual for everyone:
http://www.freespiritsrowing.com/for...nds-calculator

He told me what I was doing seemed fine: 90ish for UT2, 100ish for UT1, 115+ for AT/TR work.

2/4
ULD1 (UT3) - 30:00
6723m/2:13.8/14.9 spm/130 HR/136 ending HR/Drag 86

Just kind of guessed with drag factor instead of checking it, so this came out a little high; worked on some of the points from the video:
-better anterior pelvic tilt, which I know I need to do but is pretty easy for me to slide out of if I'm lazy
-Better sequencing of the stroke; hands first, and then actually leaning forward, which is much easier if I'm sitting correctly
-Hands low on the recovery until they pass the knees, then rising to chest level at the catch
-Related to the second point, but more forward lean equals a longer stroke (i.e. handle almost to the handleguard under the PM5) which equals more efficiency

This was a pretty easy row, even given the drag was a bit high. Felt good.