WP - C4D2

3x20:00/1:00r
1:00:00.0 13,315m 2:15.1 142 787 19 160

20:00.0 4,420m 2:15.7 140 781 19 158
20:00.0 4,439m 2:15.1 142 787 19 159
20:00.0 4,457m 2:14.6 143 793 20 162

HR was a bit higher than I wanted, but it was my fastest steady state row ever again. My back slightly bothered me, but I could make it go away by slouching slightly and making my stroke more fluid.



I'm still overcompressing a little, I need to cut that out. I'm also opening up my back early and using my hands a bit early. I think the recovery looks good though.


Nice, good luck! I'm looking forward to seeing what you can do. I really want to do a 60 minute and HM just to have a time in those and get some of those nonathlon points.

WP - C4D3

3x25:00/1:00r
1:15:00.0 16,470m 2:16.6 137 772 19 152

25:00.0 5,481m 2:16.8 137 770 19 152
25:00.0 5,494m 2:16.5 138 773 19 153
25:00.0 5,495m 2:16.4 138 773 19 151

Lowest ever HR for steady state. It never hit 155, and the average was 147. There was some minor back irritation, but nothing to worry about.

I moved the foot straps from 4 to 5 to try and help me hinge more. My focus today was hinging and not overcompressing.

S&S - D16

1 Handed Swings: 16x10x2, 24x10x4, 16x10x4
Turkish Getup: 16x2, 24x4, 16x4

24s are getting a lot easier; I'm going to add an extra two sets of them next time. I had a bit of an aha moment with getups. I wobbled a bit on the way down with the 24 and I had to really tense up my arm to not cause damage. I then realized my arm should be that tense at all times. They became a lot more stable and easier. I always knew I had to be tight at all times, but there's nothing like the danger of a kettlebell falling on your face to drive the point home.

Rest day tomorrow and then a ranking piece on Tuesday. I'm undecided between an allout 1000m, a controlled 2000m PB (7:12 maybe), or a controlled 10000m PB.

Strap up and do a 2k

Not sure he has the heart for a balls out 2k. It's definitely daunting to run a mile balls out all by your lonesome. That's why races are so awesome. But Covid kill all races, now it's stupid virtual nonsense.

I am supposed to run Boston Marathon virtually in two weeks. It's the stupidest thing I ever heard of. Some batshiet crazy runners said I should do it (the Boston athletic association mails you a jacket and medal once you send proof).

Do they think I am a moron? I ain't running a virtual marathon and compromising my health. The point of Boston is to run Boston. JFC.

Where do they expect people to run these virtual marathons? The main benefit of a marathon course is that other traffic is restricted. No bikes or cars. Just other runners all going the same way as you.

WP - C4D4



I'm having some trouble uploading it to my logbook, but hopefully that will be sorted soon.

Monte and loco, sorry to disappoint but no 2k. loco, you're partially correct - I don't have the heart for a 2k or longer time trial without some importance attached, but I do have the heart for it if it's for a race or a big milestone. My next allout 2k will be to break 7. I'll probaby also do an allout 10k when I can break 40. Besides that, it will be controlled PBs. I enjoy the shorter ones though, it's a different kind of suffering which I don't mind doing more often. Today was close to 100%.

I set out thinking 1:41/1:42 would be realistic and breaking 1:40 would be like 5%. My legs felt pretty heavy even after the rest day, so I settled on 1:41. I was pulling like crazy at the end, but just didn't have the power to keep it up. This hurt my legs and arms, but not so much my lungs. I gave it everything I had in the last 200m to keep the average below 1:42.

I might stop doing the shorter distances for a while, because my training is geared towards longer distances and building my base. I've done all the shorter distances anyway except for 1 minute. This one is 20/105 among 30-39 LWT males. I'll take it.

Nice job! I might give a 1k a try on Saturday, even though I have no idea how I should pace it; feels like sub-1:40 should be doable, though.

What did you set the drag factor to?

Thanks! 1:40 will be a piece of cake for you. I would aim for 1:36. From everything I've read, a fly and die is optimal in a 500, and a little bit can be fine in a 1000. Start at 1:35 and hang on for dear life?

I used 114 but I'm not sure if I should have gone higher or not. My stroke rate was pretty high, but my heart rate only hit 183, and my legs just about held on. Perhaps that means I could increase it a bit, or maybe it all doesn't make a difference.

Crossfit

Metcon 1
On the 6:00 x 3 Rounds:
50 Calorie Row
50 Box Jump overs L

Metcon 2
On the Minute x 10
25 Double Unders
Max Strict Handstand Push-ups

I scaled to 35/35 in the first metcon and finished the rounds in 3:45, 3:35, and 3:40. I severely underestimated my cardio and since your "score" was the slowest time in a round, the last 2 rounds weren't too hard. I rowed at around 1:57 and did the box jumps pretty quickly.

For the second metcon, I was planning on doing 20 DUs per round and 3 HSPU. After 2 in the first round, my rope broke!!! The gym did not have ropes due to covid, so I had to improvise. I did 5-6 burpees for a few rounds, then 15 plate hops for the rest. I did 20 HSPU in total (4,2,2,2,1,1,1,2,2,3). They got a lot easier with plate hops than with burpees, for obvious reasons.

Overall, I'm really pleased with today. I saw/felt the huge cardio jump in a crossfit setting for the first time. Plus it was just really fun. I just wish our gym didn't follow Comptrain, which is so heavily biased towards endurance. Some strength would be nice.

WP - C4D5

3x20:00/1:00r
1:00:00.0 13,455m 2:13.7 146 803 19 155

20:00.0 4,442m 2:15.0 142 788 19 151
20:00.0 4,490m 2:13.6 147 804 19 156
20:00.0 4,523m 2:12.6 150 816 19 158

Quoted is from a near allout 10k on May 14. It feels like a milestone for my steady state to go under 2:15 (and 2:14!) and to be faster than that 10k. It wasn't a fake steady state either; my average heart rate was 149, which is the 3rd lowest average from all my steady states. I'm going to measure my RHR soon, I'm curious to see where it is now. My stroke felt good today, I tried to shorten it up while still keeping it smooth. No back pain at all.

Awesome progress!

WP - C4D6

15x3:00/1:00r
45:00.0 10,955m 2:03.2 187 943 24 169

3:00.0 725m 2:04.1 183 929 23 157
3:00.0 727m 2:03.7 184 934 23 160
3:00.0 728m 2:03.6 185 937 24 165
3:00.0 727m 2:03.7 184 934 24 166
3:00.0 730m 2:03.2 187 942 23 168
3:00.0 727m 2:03.7 184 934 24 169
3:00.0 727m 2:03.7 184 934 24 171
3:00.0 727m 2:03.7 184 934 24 170
3:00.0 727m 2:03.7 184 934 23 171
3:00.0 730m 2:03.2 187 942 24 171
3:00.0 731m 2:03.1 188 945 24 171
3:00.0 731m 2:03.1 188 945 24 172
3:00.0 735m 2:02.4 191 956 24 171
3:00.0 740m 2:01.6 195 969 25 174
3:00.0 741m 2:01.4 195 972 25 174



That's more like it, finally a good UT1 session. The few bad ones were definitely due to the heat. Today was 2 seconds faster than the beginning of last month and with the exact same heart rate! This session is pure grunt work. It's not hard enough that you can ever quit, but not easy enough that an hour goes by quickly. Intervals 5-10 is where I question my choice of hobbies. I decided on a HR cap of 175 for UT1 and didn't come close to hitting it before I sped up in the last couple of intervals.

I'm debating going to crossfit this evening. There is a metcon with a 100 (!) deadlifts where the RX weight is 70. If I go, I will go really, really, REALLY light.

Thanks Monte, I'm just trying to keep up with you. I'm feeling a bit naughty and am thinking about making my next UT1 session a 60 minute ranking piece and just go for 14k. It should be UT1 pace and not all out, and will be my longest continuous row.

Sweet session; **** you for giving me the idea to do it myself, though.

Re: 60:00 ranking piece, I definitely think 14k is there for you. I'm not really sure how the longer ranking pieces are supposed to be paced; UT1ish makes sense but I feel like there must be more to it than that. I guess when I get around to it, 15k+ should be my goal for that one. Sounds terrible.

Crossfit

Pause Deadlift
12 mins to build to 3 rep set
*Pause 2 sec at knee on the way up & way down.

60x3
70x3
80x3
90x3
100x3

5 Rounds (20 min cap)
30 Push-ups
20 Deadlifts (70kg)
10 Calorie row
1 Minute Rest Between Rounds

Scaled to 25 pushups and 50kg DLs and finished in 18:48

Paused deadlifts were fine, RPE pretty low. I'm slowly building back the weight.

In the metcon, pushups became hard. The first 2 sets were fine, and then there were a LOT of singles. DLs were easy. I did it in 2 sets except for the last round where I did it unbroken. I was really worried about how my lower back would fare, but absolutely no pain. My hamstring mobility has improved over the lockdown and so has my core strength and I think my deadlift form is looking a lot better.

Most of the people in the session were doing these half pushups. I obviously finished last since I was doing them properly. One guy who is lolbad, did 30 fake unbroken throughout and then was cheering me on after he finished. I wanted to punch him.

Rest day tomorrow and then 5x1500 next.

Our sessions are synced! Yeah, this wasn't fun. 14k should be fairly comfortable for me. I think you might be able to hit 15k if you truly went at it for an hour and did a proper race effort. That sounds terrible though.

WP - C4D7

5x1500m/5:00r
29:10.0 7,500m 1:56.6 220 1058 27 180

5:52.0 1,500m 1:57.3 217 1045 27 172
5:50.3 1,500m 1:56.7 220 1056 27 179
5:50.2 1,500m 1:56.7 220 1057 28 182
5:50.0 1,500m 1:56.6 220 1058 27 183
5:47.5 1,500m 1:55.8 225 1075 28 183



I had pretty bad DOMs in my hamstrings and chest from crossfit, but it went away once I warmed up. These sessions are so mentally and physically draining. I wanted to be smart about pacing and not put myself in the pain cave early. I aimed for 1 second faster than last time for the first 3 intervals and take it from there. I stuck to it for the first. In the next 2, I stuck to it, but sped up in the last 500m. I gave it close to everything I had at the end of the last interval.

It looks like my HR for a fixed RPE is lower across the board. I only hit 183 today, and I was easily hitting 188 for these sessions earlier. Today was really hard though. Perhaps my RHR is lower after 5 months of cardiotarding.

I'm happy with today. If I can get close to 1:55 next time, and then 1:54 in 2 cycles time, that should get me under a 19 minute 5k. Monte will be at 15 minutes by then. I do think the big jump from technique gains might be over. It seems like I now have to rate up to go faster.

Crossfit - Open Gym

Back Squat: 85x5x3
OHP: 45x5x3
Weighted Pullups: 10x5x3

This was 5 hours after rowing, but no biggie. It felt a lot easier than the routine I was doing at home (pistols/HSPU/pull ups). Squats were really easy, OHP were fine, pull ups were RPE 10 but probably because I didn't rest much. It was a really quick session, but it feels so good to lift again!

Awesome progress on this one! 5x1500 is a rough one; closing in on sub 5:45 for each interval is a pretty nice benchmark

WP - C4D8

3x20:00/1:00r
1:00:00.0 13,436m 2:13.9 146 800 20 157

20:00.0 4,483m 2:13.8 146 802 20 153
20:00.0 4,480m 2:13.9 146 801 19 159
20:00.0 4,472m 2:14.1 145 798 20 159

This seems uneventful on paper, but it was a rollercoaster. My lower back started irritating me halfway through the first interval. It was a real mental slog then. I kept telling myself that I overdid it with crossfit and I should avoid metcons with tons of hinging. I just wanted the row to be over. I was also trying lots of different things with my stroke. Towards the end of the third interval, something clicked. Knees out on recovery helped me hinge way better, and the pain was gone! I tried a couple of strokes without knees out and it really drove the point home. My main issue with my stroke has been getting into that nice hinged position at the catch, so I can drive with my legs. If I don't hinge, I then use my back too much on the drive. This corrected that. So ultimately, the 120 deadlifts on Thursday led me to this.

I was planning on a 90 minute row tomorrow, which I changed to 60 minutes midway through the row today. I might just end up doing 90 tomorrow. That will be the real test of the knees out cue.

Thanks! I was really pleased with it. I started out these sessions as per Pete's instructions of doing the first few intervals slowly and then speed up. I then did a more flat paced approach, where I really suffered if I got my pacing wrong. I think I've come a full circle and I'm back to the cautious start/fast finish for these sessions.

WP - C4D9

3x30:00/1:00r
1:30:00.0 19,857m 2:15.9 139 779 19 153

30:00.0 6,608m 2:16.1 139 776 19 152
30:00.0 6,611m 2:16.1 139 777 19 153
30:00.0 6,639m 2:15.5 140 783 20 155

This was 270m more and 1.9 seconds faster than my last 90 minute session, at a slightly lower heart rate (149 vs 150.5). It was brutal though. My back was a constant 2/10 irritation, but better than yesterday. I never thought about stopping. I just need to be smart about the loading on my lower back in the next week and this should go away. Rest day tomorrow and then UT1 on Wednesday. I'm debating whether I should do 2x5k or a 14k 60 minute ranking piece.

297k meters in August, vs 287k in July. I've added in lifting and crossfit as well.

Goals for September:
Stay injury free
Similar-ish meters rowing
Get stronger
14000m 60 minute (not max effort), 41:30 10k (not max effort), and 7500m 30 minute (possibly max effort)

Awesome session! 90:00 half marathon next?

Ha, are you mad? You just did that, I'm quite a bit away from it. I was thinking about doing 2-3 continuous 60 minute rows, and then do a UT2 half marathon.

What did you think of the Greg Nuckels' program? I saw you made it into week 4 before getting cut off by the COVID shutdowns and had that squat PR triple, but then didn't really get back into it when trying it later (doing other stuff instead, though).