[In]decent Intervals

[NavigationHazard]

Still hanging in there, still attempting to get going again after essentially losing a month on account of my last medical setback. I had a consultation with my neurologist after returning from holiday, and he's cleared me to resume hard training. It's one of those deals where there may be an unavoidable tradeoff between the benefits from the workouts (basically, remission of the underlying diabetes) and the occasional (possibly hypoglycemic) neurological episode....

Yesterday, for example, I essayed the December Team Oarsome challenge: 8 x 500m on 2 mins rest. I approched the session as a rate ladder, starting at ~ 1:45 pace r29 and dropping the pace/upping the rating by ~ 1 spm (1 stroke overall) every interval. I ended up averaging something like 1:41.2 pace r23, with the last rep at 1:36.4 r30. On that one I was at 1:40 pace r30 until the last 100m, which I finished on something like 1:22 pace....

[MPx]

Good to read you back Nav. I'm a bit confused with your numbers - maybe just me, or maybe a couple switched? I'm guessing you started at r23 (not r29?) and went up to r30. But not if the avg is right... Whatever, trademark power at the end, so no compromise there....nice!

[NavigationHazard]

Actually I started r20 and tried to add 1 additional stroke every rep. Fat phone fingers led to the typo. PM rounding is why the progression doesn't look as orderly as it could.

The last rep I blasted the finish, which is why that rating ended up at 30....

[NavigationHazard]

Same old same old through Crimbo, though with rather more done on the BikeErg than on the rower due to nasty weather. The rower is outside on the 17th floor balcony, and it's not really usable when it's snowing and there's a 50 kph wind....

Boxing Day I did 34 x 1' on 1' on the BikeErg, with the original intent of sitting on age-group row-erg 5k WR pace. The BikeErg is double the distance of the rowing erg for the same input, so 34 reps at 1:42 pace would get me to 10k work distance (equal work/rest). It turned out to be somewhat faster:



Trademark fast last rep.

Yesterday was a snappy 16 x 500m on 45" rest on the BikeErg, pretty much flat out for 8k net work distance on slightly more work duration than rest. FWIW the age-group all-time best ranked 4k is 6:39.1/1:39.7 pace. Here's what happened:



Trademark fast[er] last, although I was pretty much out of juice in the kiwis at that point. Off to the gym later this afternoon with Ms. Nav, who last time there was actually seen on an ergo herself

[NavigationHazard]

Survived the New Year's holiday, which is celebrated in Wroclaw by the explosion of several million Euros worth of private fireworks. Theoretically at midnight on New Year's Eve, but in practice on both sides of the mark....

Did 20 x 500m on 45" on the BikeErg on 12/31, 1:36 pace with the last at :43.3/1:24.4 pace.

Did the Jan 2020 CTC yesterday on the BIkeErg: 2000m/ 2' + 1040m/ 1' + 1000m (on the rower it's half the distances), after a bunch of 500m reps on 40" rest.



Rep 2 was the more consistent of the three in terms of pace/cadence. I didn't track HR as I need to swap in a new battery on the chest strap....

As for goals for the year, they start with staying alive and kicking. Everything after that is a bonus.

[NavigationHazard]

Found out today that the 2020 Polish Erg Championships are going to be about 12 minutes away (by tram) in Wroclaw, where I'm living.

Naturally, the organizers haven't yet posted any rules/regulations for the event, or anything about entries. But even though I'm horribly far from racing form I may try to compete anyway....

More of the same old same old since my last post, generally trying to reinvent myself in terms of distance/volume over raw power/speed....

Today however was 14 x 1' on 1' on the BikeErg. Trademark fast last rep....

[Yankeerunner]

Found out today that the 2020 Polish Erg Championships are going to be about 12 minutes away (by tram) in Wroclaw, where I'm living.

Naturally, the organizers haven't yet posted any rules/regulations for the event, or anything about entries. But even though I'm horribly far from racing form I may try to compete anyway....

Polish Erg Championships, eh? Not this year, but maybe sometime in the future. I'd like to do that.

[NavigationHazard]

More of the same mix of erging, gym work and ErgBike sessions. I also have started working with a personal trainer to improve my almost total lack of flexibility. Eventually that should pay dividends in terms of things like increased compression at the catch, less tension in the shoulders, etc. etc. etc.

The last couple of days I have been doing fairly fast 30' ErgBike sessions. I've been alternating work at 1:40 pace or better with active recoveries at 1:50-52 pace or so. Yesterday for example was about 90' of supervised stretching -- bloody hard work -- followed a bit later by 30' of 2' @ ~1:50 + 1' @ ~1:40, rinse repeat. I ended up with 16,684m and something like 1:47.9 pace on average. Which would be third in this year's rankings, behind me and one other.

The erging has been rather difficult. I don't exactly know what's going on, but I suspect it has something to do with objectively rotten air quality hereabouts. Sigh....

[NavigationHazard]

Addendum to my last post. Another age-group all-time BikeErg best tonight. This one was the 1000m piece:



1:29.5. Cadence was 80; maximum DF. Dead-flywheel start, i.e. no 'go on the calibration verified' screen to give yourself a rolling start. I think I might be able to do 1:26.5-1:27 given some actual sprint work on the ErgBike.

Edit: here's the PM5 screenshot:



The fly-and-die is obvious. I cost myself maybe half a second by not pedaling through the finish....

[H2O]

I use the assault bike on occasion. On this my maximum power output for durations 2-10mins is about 20%
higher than on the rowing machine. Do you notice something similar comparing the rower to the bike erg?

[NavigationHazard]

I am slower on the ErgBike. I will have to compare similar workouts to see how much slower. But 20% might be a reasonable guess... Truth is I don't really know without looking at my logs.

[NavigationHazard]

More of the same since my last post. I was unable to compete in the Polish Ergometer Championships as I lack membership in the Polish rowing federation and also couldn't secure the necessary medical clearance in time to register. I have been working with a personal trainer on flexibility, of which I have zero. There's something to be said for increased compression at the catch and less tension in the shoulders....

Today I just broke my own 60+ 40,000m unofficial BikeErg WR by about 1 minute. I also was well under my own 1 hour unofficial WR along the way, but can't rank it as it wasn't a stand-alone piece...

This currently ranks 10th among everyone for the season. And currently is just 18 seconds behind no less than Eric Murray (!) Who probably did it as a cooldown, but WTF, I'll take what I can get....



Here's the actual ErgData graph:



I submit that it's pretty good pace consistency.....

[DavidA]

More of the same since my last post. I was unable to compete in the Polish Ergometer Championships as I lack membership in the Polish rowing federation and also couldn't secure the necessary medical clearance in time to register. I have been working with a personal trainer on flexibility, of which I have zero. There's something to be said for increased compression at the catch and less tension in the shoulders....

Today I just broke my own 60+ 40,000m unofficial BikeErg WR by about 1 minute. I also was well under my own 1 hour unofficial WR along the way, but can't rank it as it wasn't a stand-alone piece...

This currently ranks 10th among everyone for the season. And currently is just 18 seconds behind no less than Eric Murray (!) Who probably did it as a cooldown, but WTF, I'll take what I can get....

Woo hoo!!
Congratulations!

David

[NavigationHazard]

Haven't posted in a bit, been busy. Back on Jan 17 I'd broken the unofficial 60+ M 1000m record on the BikeErg, dropping it to 1:29.5. The former record holder, my mate Royce Banks (the beast from Wigan) promptly regained it on Jan 28 with a 1:29.0. I couldn;t let that go unchallenged, so I lowered it on Feb 2 to 1:28.5. Royce promptly responded with a 1:27.9, which is where it now stands....

Meanwhile, I have been doing other training both on and off the rower/bike erg. Today I was inspired by the World Rowing Indoor Championships in Paris to have a go at the unofficial 60+ M 4000m BikeErg record....



I took about 6 seconds off the previous best reported time. It's probably also +/- 1-2 seconds off of what I could do for 2k on a rower, given current form....

[NavigationHazard]

Same old same old going on. I did manage to snap the shock cord on my rowing erg a few days ago, in the middle of a multi-rep interval workout. If you've never had this happen during a drive, it's more than a little disconcerting.... Perforce I've been restricted to the BikeErg and to rowing in a gym setting, where lately it's been inordinately hot and dry.

The only real highlight of note was a 2-hr BikeErg ride a few days back to see if I could keep my HR under 50% of HRR [heart rate reserve]. I averaged 2:08.5 (56,015m) with an overall HR of 115 (smack on target). One of these moons I may try a 100k ride, just to see what happens. I think that if I monitor my blood glucose during the ride and keep myself drinking protein shakes along the way I should be able to do it. If I don't bonk I'm pretty confident I can end up with a respectable result....

Yesterday was 20 x 1' on 1' on the BikeErg, the first 17 at exactly 1:40 pace and 74 rpms. I let my focus wander on #18, which was 1:40.1 pace (2 metres short), and resumed normal service on #19. #20 was 673m/ 1:29.1 pace @ 83 rpm. Later I added leg weights and stretching....