[In]decent Intervals

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I keep on doing 1ks r20 on 1'.

6 x 1k r20 again today:

01] 3:44.9 1:52.4 pace
02] 3:44.8 1:52.4 pace
03] 3:44.7 1:52.3 pace
04] 3:44.9 1:52.4 pace
05] 3:44.5 1:52.2 pace
06] 3:37.3 1:48.6 pace

6k total work distance in 22:21.2 net elapsed work time, 1:51.7 pace 251w r20.0. Meh. Much sweat.

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8 x 1k r20 on 1' today, 1:52.8 average.

I experimented with sipping a no-sugar-added yogurt drink in between work intervals. Blood glucose went from 123 mg/dl prior to the row to 103 afterwards. I could have carried on for several more reps at least at that pace but was out of yogurt after the 7th rest interval....

Hot in the gym. I sweated a lot....

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Managed to push up to 10 x 1k r20 on 1' today, yogurt fueled, 1:51.6 pace.

Switched the monitor display to show the force curve on the last one and tried to concentrate on front-loading the drive. Meh.

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40' on the stationary cycle today at about 255w, cadence 49. Much sweat -- it was 34.5C outside and the heat carried down into the gym.

Hopefully it will be a bit cooler tomorrow.

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It hasn't been any cooler the last few days... I've stayed on the recumbent cycle in the gym. 55' UT2 at ~220w yesterday and 2 x 18' UT1 at ~250w today. Blergh. I created small lakes of sweat....

[H2O]

What would happen if you mixed a small amount of sugar into the yoghurt?
Woudn't you burn that off immediately?

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Not necessarily. My problem isn't a lack of insulin per se. Rather it's insulin insensitivity. My body produces the stuff, but it doesn't use it effectively in metabolizing blood glucose. One of the potential problems this presents as far as exercise is post-workout hypoglycemia, i.e. blood-sugar crashes. They can happen up to 48 hours after a hard workout, and while the mechanisms behind them aren't fully understood, it's likely that the exercise stimulates insulin production and also insulin sensitivity. At some point after you stop, these can become problematic. Basically, it looks as though you may continue to metabolize blood glucose as if you still needed it to power the exercise. You can put yourself in the hospital fairly quickly if this sort of crash happens. I'm extremely reluctant to take on carbs during prolonged exercise out of hard-earned respect for this 'fast-forward signal' mechanism. Instead, I prefer to structure my workouts differently to try to preempt such complications.

On the off chance that any other diabetics or pre-diabetics are reading this, here is a link to a summary of the key points from the latest position statement from the American Diabetes Association re diabetes and exercise: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5317029/

[bob01]

fasting ... fasted training MAY help with insulin sensitivity

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In my case, fasted training is likely to put me six feet under following a hypoglycemic coma.

[bob01]

Sorry mate ... I thought it might help with insulin response... which you sight as a problem

I wish you well

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Been absent from the Forum for a week or so due to returning to the US for a bit. Suffered from jet lag, from the 110F heat indices much of the week, and from attempts at a Team Oarsome August challenge that was 15 x 1k on 1' rest. I couldn't manage more than 10 reps before plunging my blood glucose levels (measured via finger stick during the rests) to potentially worrisome numbers. Pace didn't seem to have all that much to do with it, as I got to 10 reps at about 1:50 r20 and to 10 reps at 1:54 r20 and 10 reps at 1:57 r20 at essentially the same glucose concentrations. Sigh.

I have ordered a bike erg, which will allow me to drink, eat, and test while working continuously in ways that I can't on a rowing ergometer.

CTC today in honour of my friend and colleague, the late great George King. 2818m in 10:24.0, 1:50.7 pace r20. The last minute was at about 1:43 pace.

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I endeavour not to hate anyone or anything. But that's a two-way street, and TO challenges like the September "clock face" (or however we're spelling it) aren't endearing themselves to me....

1200m 4:08.9 1:43.7 pace /2'
1100m 3:48.6 1:43.9 pace /2'
1000m 3:27.4 1:43.7 pace /1'
0900m 3:06.3 1:43.5 pace /1'
0800m 2:45.4 1:43.4 pace /1'
0700m 2:24.8 1:43.4 pace /1'
0600m 2:04.2 1:43.5 pace /1'
0500m 1:42.7 1:42.7 pace /1'
0400m 1:19.4 1:39.3 pace /1'
0300m 0:58.4 1:37.3 pace /1'
0200m 0:37.9 1:34.7 pace r25
0100m 0:18.4 1:32.0 pace r26

7800m total work distance in 26:42.4 net elapsed work time, 1:42.7 pace, 323w r24 [PM3]. All r24 except the last two.

For want of a better strategy, my approach of trying to do the reps from 1200m down to 600m at roughly the same pace/rate and going harder on the shorter pieces seemed sensible enough. It will be interesting to see how others try to pace/rate this. In theory it ought to be possible to work out targets for the shorter reps such that you're effectively trading rate for pace....

Yesterday I did 12 x 500m r24 on 1:40 rest in 1:42.7 average pace, plus 10 x 1' r24 on 1' in 1:37.2. The heat index today is roughly 97F so I dunno what I'm going to be capable of. The erg room is air conditioned, but....

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8 x 500m r24 on 1:40 just now, negative-splitted.

01] 1:42.7 323w r24
02] 1:41.9 331w r24
03] 1:40.9 341w r24
04] 1:40.4 346w r23
05] 1:39.3 357w r24
06] 1:39.1 360w r24
07] 1:38.8 363w r23
08] 1:35.9 397w r24

4k total work distance in 13:18.9 net elapsed work time, 1:39.9 average pace, 351w r24 [PM3]. Humid as a Turkish Bath outside today; the air conditioners in the apartment had trouble coping. As did I.

My Bike Erg should arrive tomorrow..... Watch this space....

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13 x 1' r24 on 1' just now, negative splitted:

01] 302m 1:39.3 pace 357w
02] 302m 1:39.3 pace 357w
03] 303m 1:39.0 pace 361w
04] 304m 1:38.6 pace 364w
05] 305m 1:38.3 pace 368w
06] 306m 1:38.0 pace 371w
07] 308m 1:37.4 pace 379w
08] 308m 1:37.4 pace 379w
09] 309m 1:37.0 pace 382w
10] 305m 1:38.3 pace 368w
11] 309m 1:37.0 pace 382w
12] 308m 1:37.4 pace 379w
13] 311m 1:36.4 pace 390w

3979m total work distance in 13:00.0 net elapsed work time, 1:38.0 pace 372w r24.0 [PM3].

In my defense, my hands were very sweaty and on rep 10 I had trouble holding onto the handle....

My ErgBike has arrived. If I get sufficiently inspired I will try to uncrate and assemble it this afternoon.

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I have uncrated and assembled the ErgBike, and dinked around on it to get some sense of 1) what it feels like at various DF settings, cadences, handlebar and/or seat positions, etc.; and 2) how noisy it's going to be vis-a-vis the neighboring apartments. With regard to 2, it's remarkably quiet. As for the feel, it's going to take me a bit to settle on favorite parameters.

In addition to a bunch of short sprints, e.g. 1' or 500m pieces, I essayed 5 x 1000m on 1' rest at maximum DF.

01] 1:44.2 309w
02] 1:43.0 320w
03] 1:41.9 331w
04] 1:41.7 333w
05] 1:41.3 337w

5000m total work distance in 8:32.1, 1:42.4 pace per 1k, 326w, cadence 68.