The lure of the PM data

[mitchel674]

Have you considered rowing with the pace boat option? I find this to be a great way to row without feeling like I am trying to PB on every session.

First I set my intention for the workout. More often than not I am going for a steady state row and know my target pace. If I am going to row for 1 hour, I will typically set the pace boat at 2:22 and just maintain my pace for the piece. Give it a try.

[Willy.VdW]

Have you considered rowing with the pace boat option? I find this to be a great way to row without feeling like I am trying to PB on every session.

I have still to explore some features of the PM5. I wil try it. Thanks for the tip!

[Willy.VdW]

Gave it try today. Not entirely with eyes closed since had a look at the clock now and then.
By counting the strokes I knew how many s/m I did... It was relaxing and fun.
I wasn't going for any kind of PB anyway since I had a Dobutamine Stress Echocardiogram
this morning that ended with a beta-blocker dosage to bring my HR back to normal.

[jseymour]

I find eyes closed rowing helped / helps me [keep] HR down too.

I had just the opposite experience yesterday.

Started my watch, closed my eyes, and started rowing at what felt like a good, sustainable rate. Once I was well in the groove I took a look at the PM. 2:26 pace. Ok. Felt good. Kept going. Glanced at the PM from time-to-time to check my elapsed time, HR, and pace. (Funny thing: My pace tended to be faster with my eyes closed than if I watched the PM for a bit.) Anyway, all was well until somewhere past the twenty minute mark. Until then my HR had settled-in to around ±147 BPM. Then it started climbing. By the time I hit twenty-five minutes it was hitting 150 BPM, then 151... 152...

I backed-off until it got down to under 150 again. This was only my tenth row since I resumed my weight training and cardio, after most of two years off. 150+ BPM is new recent territory.

Good thing I did (back off), too. Took me five minutes to walk it off (HR stabilize at a walking rate and breathing return to normal) and felt mildly dizzy a few times while I did. Too much, too soon. I've never experienced that before--even back when I was doing HIIT.

Funny thing is: Felt fine during the row. Felt like I could've kept going forever at that rate.

[Dangerscouse]

I find eyes closed rowing helped / helps me [keep] HR down too.

I had just the opposite experience yesterday.

Started my watch, closed my eyes, and started rowing at what felt like a good, sustainable rate. Once I was well in the groove I took a look at the PM. 2:26 pace. Ok. Felt good. Kept going. Glanced at the PM from time-to-time to check my elapsed time, HR, and pace. (Funny thing: My pace tended to be faster with my eyes closed than if I watched the PM for a bit.) Anyway, all was well until somewhere past the twenty minute mark. Until then my HR had settled-in to around ±147 BPM. Then it started climbing. By the time I hit twenty-five minutes it was hitting 150 BPM, then 151... 152...

I backed-off until it got down to under 150 again. This was only my tenth row since I resumed my weight training and cardio, after most of two years off. 150+ BPM is new recent territory.

Good thing I did (back off), too. Took me five minutes to walk it off (HR stabilize at a walking rate and breathing return to normal) and felt mildly dizzy a few times while I did. Too much, too soon. I've never experienced that before--even back when I was doing HIIT.

Funny thing is: Felt fine during the row. Felt like I could've kept going forever at that rate.

Ime, HR can be a bit random, with most sessions being as you'd expect, and others being higher or lower than you expect for no apparent reason.

I assume there's so much going on 'behind the scenes' that it will occasionally not go according to plan. I've had days of palpitations and random spikes, but they are usually just isolated incidents, so hopefully it's nothing for you to worry about.

[Willy.VdW]

I don't know if rowing can be compared to running/jogging, but if I start jogging after a period
of inactivity, my HR is all over the place and quite high.
It seems as if my body forgets how to operate under stress, only after a number of runs is my
HR back to normal.

[jseymour]

Ime, HR can be a bit random, with most sessions being as you'd expect, and others being higher or lower than you expect for no apparent reason.

I've experienced this, inexplicably high or low HR during training, in the past, but not to quite this degree. I don't think that's what was going on here, though. I'd done my first half-hour session two days before and hit 142 BPM. My pace then was 2:33. My pace yesterday was 2:28. Average HRs 132 and 146 BPM, respectively. I think I just pushed a little too hard, a little too fast, for my current CV condition is all.

... hopefully it's nothing for you to worry about.

Well, I lived through it

Next session I'm going to back it off a bit, though. Maybe split the difference and aim for a ±2:30 pace and keep the HR down under 150 for now.

Last time I did any consistent cardio, doing HIIT, I'd hit 162 BPM w/no problem. By the time I was half-way in, my HR wasn't so inclined to drop much on the low portions of the intervals. By the time I'd get to the last ten minutes it'd hardly drop at all. But, still, I never felt anything like I felt yesterday. And my recovery was remarkably fast.

But that was then and this is now.

[p_b82]

I found HR creep was one of the more challenging factors to try to account for when deciding on a pace - in the end I'd just go with HR and ignore what the pace was - Took a bit of time to disconnect the ego and not to chase what the monitor is telling me.

Most my steady state rows slowly drop in pace as a result still (but not as much as before) - I found it was easier to do it this way that try to set the pace to start with and then hold it.

[jseymour]

I found HR creep was one of the more challenging factors to try to account for when deciding on a pace - in the end I'd just go with HR and ignore what the pace was - ...

Yeah, that's what I'm going to do today and going forward.