The Road to Boston 2007

njsurfboats · Post by **njsurfboats** » December 5th, 2006, 12:41 pm

Anne wrote:
njsurfboats wrote:
That said, I did find an indoor race at Lehigh University on 1/27 which I'm pretty excited about; should be a nice benchmark before Boston.
There is an indoor race in Cincinnati on 1/28 which you could use as a benchmark. Are you back in the states in 2007?

Yeah I return to the states 12/19. The Lehigh race is convenient because it's close to home, and I'll be home from school that weekend. I really like the smaller indoor races - I went to the Villanova Main Line Slide when I was in high school and had a great time. A lot more low-key and less pressure, but you can still go just as fast.

Does anyone know about the "8th South Mountain Erg Sprint "? It's listed on the CII online calendar for 1/27 but Lehigh Crew's website doesn't have any info on it.

Anne · Post by **Anne** » December 5th, 2006, 11:31 pm

Did the AN 8x 1.5' row today- Goal was 1:59 and I hung at 1:58.9 - 32sr and an average of 185 HR- The rest was 3 minutes and HR went down to about 105 every rest period. Too tired to write much more..

Work is getting in the way of the holiday challenge as I don't have an erg at home. The time commitment to get to the gym for the IP and distance is a bit much; particularly since I am trying to continue running outside and do some needed strength work.

seat5 · Post by **seat5** » December 6th, 2006, 1:48 am

Excellent AN workout, Anne! I haven't had to do one yet --the first one is 10 workouts off.

Today was a hard day for me--it was supposed tobe an easy workout, I think (4 x 11 UT1) but I was really tired when I started--legs felt like lead. Must have been from the hard 5K yesterday. I didn't think I'd even be able to hit the target at first, but did manage to do them faster. Each interval felt worse than the last and I thought I was going slower and slower but it turned out pretty much the other way around. It was really hard to make myself stick it out. Tomorrow I think I'll take off because the next session is 2 x 6 TR.

Max target 2:05
2671 2:03.5/22
2689 2:02.7/22
2701 2:02.1/22
2695 2:02.4/22

I'm about 12K behind on the HC and don't know if I'll ever catch up.

whaskell · Post by **whaskell** » December 6th, 2006, 7:09 am

Great AN workout Anne. Way to stick with it Carla. Anne, I agree with you about work getting in the way. I'm still on or ahead of target for the holiday challenge, but have been feeling very tired during my workouts lately. I've got a couple project deadlines around Christmas which just add to the stress and tiredness. If needed I'll back off on a few workouts.

I did a TR workout this morning that went pretty good. I'll post the results later when I have time.

TomR · Post by **TomR** » December 6th, 2006, 8:26 pm

30r20/2.04.8/HR 165 (approx 95%)

Bob says we're training not racing, so I consider this one training. About 2 secs/500 slower than last week's session, although final HR was higher.

I have excuses ready though. I did it after flying to Phoenix. (Cities in the desert are weird. Christmas trees w/ decorations and lights among the palms are weirder still.) I also did the session on an old model C that could use maintenance.

Carla--What makes you say a 4x11 UT1 is "easy"? Not altogether, especially if you push the paces. I think the IP is sneaky tough. No one workout is too terrible (except a couple of those TRs sessions), but cumulatively the program gets to you, especially in the hard week of the cycle.

Tom

Anne · Post by **Anne** » December 6th, 2006, 10:07 pm

As for having excuses ready....

In the midst of almost every session, my mind wanders and instead of counting strokes, I begin to count excuses instead. This can be a bear some days!

I did today's UT1 workout 2x12' and then raced out the gym door with wet hair and very little time. Hence I can't report the exact times, but they were OK. Tomorrow I am going to try a slow, technique row to accumulate some distance for the HC.

whaskell · Post by **whaskell** » December 7th, 2006, 6:51 am

Wednesday Morning
10min WU
TR 5x3min / max pace 1:44 / 30-34spm
Target 5x3min / avg pace 1:46 / 32spm / 3min rest
Actual 3min / 1:46.1 / 31spm / 848m
Actual 3min / 1:45.9 / 31spm / 850m
Actual 3min / 1:46.0 / 30spm / 849m
Actual 3min / 1:45.9 / 30spm / 850m
Actual 3min / 1:45.9 / 30spm / 850m
Total: 7255m

Happy with this one. Worked hard to stay on target pace. Stroke rate was a little lower than planned, but I don't worry too much about that.

Thursday: Off

Yankeerunner · Post by **Yankeerunner** » December 7th, 2006, 9:43 am

3 X 8' AT (4'r)

2405m w/u in 11'

8' 2060m 1:56.5 24spm 146hr (recovered to 68hr during rest)
8' 2068m 1:56.0 24spm 151hr (rec. to 77hr)
8' 2078m 1:55.5 24spm 153hr (rec. to 80hr)

1237m c/d in 6'

Standard erg, 120df, 55 degrees, 45rhr. Strapless, and still working on keeping the right shoulder down on the drive, keeping the arms straight and getting the hands away quick on the recovery. It should be easy, but when I get tired or my mind wanders so does the technique.

Passed the halfway mark in the Holiday Challenge, reaching 107,610m.

Rick

seat5 · Post by **seat5** » December 7th, 2006, 8:20 pm

dreading my 2 x 6' TR targ 1:53/30. This is going to be awful!

TomR · Post by **TomR** » December 8th, 2006, 12:26 am

Carla,

Did you do the 2x6'? It looks to me like you were planning to do them at2k pb pace. That's almost 2 consecutive pbs. No way I would consider attempting that. I'd aim for 2k+ a couple (at least) for the first one. The second one would depend on the first.

Tom

seat5 · Post by **seat5** » December 8th, 2006, 12:55 am

Yes, and it WAS awful. The first one was faster, exactly 1 second faster than my 2K PB. The second one really hurt. I couldn't do 1:53 or under at all but it was still a good effort. Only 0.3 slower than the 2K. I've never experienced lung burn before and I actually got what I think might have been lactic acid in the last 2 min of the 2nd one. Anyway I thought TR was supposed to be faster than your 2K or at least on it, which is why I was dreading this. 6 minute intervals are the longest TRs I've done. 4 minutes rest.

1596 1:52.7/30
1578 1:54.0/30

This is only 8.87 mps. I would like to be doing 10.

Standard erg, 5K warmup and 2500m cool down. It was supposed to be 5K cool down but I had to go pick up my daughter. Then we ate I I tried to practice my violin and after 45 minutes just couldn't hold the instrument upp any longer. It only weighs about maybe 2 lbs? Oof.

Rick that was a good AT workout. Do you ignore the HR during the interval but use HR to see how well you recover? I am hopelessly behind on the HC....following this plan is making me work harder and I just don't have the energy to do the extra meters.

Bob S. · Post by **Bob S.** » December 8th, 2006, 2:18 am

Yesterday was my second AN workout and it went far, far better than the first one a week before. I did play around with it, however. First, inspired by a comment from Rick about my fly and die interval session last week, I decided to slip in a 500 meter time trial in place of the middle two intervals. The recommended workout was 10x1’AN. Instead, I did a 4x1’AN, a 500m time trial, and another 4x1’AN. For all of these, I tried to hold a good AN pace and let my rate find its own level. I also took 2’ passive rests. I have found that the one outstanding characteristic of aging is the increase of needed recovery time from just about anything, so I chose to take rather long recoveries between intervals.

IP recommendations: rate 36-46, pace 2:00.3 or less.

I started with a 21’ rate pyramid warmup and had about a 7’ break before I got started on the intervals. There was some delay because I was checking my blood pressure.

Results:
1st: 255m/1:57.6/29spm/129bpm
2nd: 260m/1:55.3/31spm/153bpm
3rd: 261m/1:54.9/31spm/155bpm
4th: 266m/1:52.7/33spm/156bpm
4’rest
Time trial: 500m/1:52.7/32spm ave./151bpm ave. A best for this season.
10’rest
5th: 266m/1:52.7/35spm/155bpm
6th: 263m/1:54.0/34spm/154bpm
7th: 272m/1:50.2/35spm/155bpm
8th: 263m/1:54.0/32spm/155bpm
1’rest
Cool down: 10’@12spm

The consistency was not all that great, but after last week’s disaster, I was happy with it. The stroke was nowhere near what the IP calls for, but I am trying to keep the stroke as long as possible and I don’t like the idea of rushing the recovery. For that reason, I have quit trying to follow the IP recommended rates.

At this point I have over 88k towards the Holiday Challenge and am less than 12k short of my fourth million on my logbook. I have entered only the meters for the last three years in the logbook. It was too much work to dig up my old exercise data from prior years and enter the results.

Bob S.

whaskell · Post by **whaskell** » December 8th, 2006, 7:06 am

Carla, I think the TR 2x6min is the toughest workout in the IP. The program goes from a relatively short TR session the week before to these 2 longer repetitions. It tricks you into thinking "I can hold the TR pace for both of these". That session did me in.

My schedule has been all messed up this week with work and night meetings. Was supposed to do UT1 3x15min this morning but could not get out of bed. Also had to shovel snow. I will have to do the UT1 tomorrow, followed by AT 2x10 on Sunday.

Yankeerunner · Post by **Yankeerunner** » December 8th, 2006, 10:12 am

Carla, well done. As Will says, 2 X 6' TR is some tough and I'd attack it on the slower end of the TR band myself. Good on you for maintaining such a fast pace. I think that it indicates an improvement in your 2km next time that you are mentally prepared for one.

And yes, I'm currently letting the HR go above the recommended levels in order to maintian pace, and checking the recovery as some gauge to whether or not I'm overdoing it. So far I'm recovering to better than 2X resting heart rate while using the shortest recovery periods recommended in the IP, so I think I'm OK.

Good 500m Bob! I do a similar thing when trying for a 500m season best. I'll do it as part of an AN workout, usually the second piece.

Today:3 X 18' UT1 (4.5'r)

2168m w/u in 10'

18' 4481m 2:00.5 22spm 142hr (recovered to 66hr during rest)
18' 4500m 2:00.0 23spm 148hr (rec. to 73hr)
18' 4520m 1:59.5 23spm 150hr (rec to 78hr)

1019m c/d in 5'

Standard erg, 120df, 55 degrees, 48rhr. My lower back got more achy than any other workout since I started up again. Also had to let the stroke rate rise to 23spm. While 24spm is acceptable for UT1 I'd like to save that for faster paces if possible. Tough workout, but manageable.

124,300m in the Holiday Challenge.

Rick

Bob S. · Post by **Bob S.** » December 8th, 2006, 2:30 pm

seat5 wrote: Anyway I thought TR was supposed to be faster than your 2K or at least on it, which is why I was dreading this.

1596 1:52.7/30
1578 1:54.0/30

I am hopelessly behind on the HC....following this plan is making me work harder and I just don't have the energy to do the extra meters.

Carla,

You are trying to work on the wrong side of the TR. It is supposed to be at or slower than the 2k pace. For your 2k time of 7:35.1, your TR range would be from just under 1:54 to just under 2:00 — and, as Rick suggested, you could be doing them at the slow end of the band — perhaps at 1:58-1:59. the only workouts that are to be done at or faster than the figure in the column are the AN workouts. (There is a misprint in the IP Glossary that leads to confusion on this point. A sentence says: "Training in the TR band should be equal to or less than TR pace, but not less than the figure in the AN column." That should read the AT column, not the AN column. Notice that the previous statements indicate that figures in the UT1, AT, and TR columns are at the top end of each of these bands and that each band is between its column and the column to the left of it.)

In regards to the HC, are you logging your warmup and cooldown meters? They are just as valid for the HC as the regular workout meters. In fact, I consider them to be part of the workout.

Bob S.