The Road To Boston 2008

[Bob S.]

2380m 206.0 / 24spm
2380m 206.0 / 24spm
2381m 206.0 / 24 spm

2001m 159.9 28spm
2001m 159.9 28 spm

For some unrelated back issues I had also had to take some Vicodin the night before both of these workouts, and have no idea what or how this affects your body's power or stamina the following morning

Anyone have any thoughts on what that would do to a person's ability on the erg?

Deborah,

Fantastic consistency! You are rivaling Gregory as a metronome. (Just so there is no misunderstanding, I must say that is intended as a strong compliment.)

I am not familiar with vicodin, but I took a look at one of the many Google hits that I got on it. It was much too long to really go over, but the main thing that I got out of it was taking care in driving or operating other machinery on account of drowsiness or reduced mental capacity. Since you took it the night before, it seems unlikely that you would have any problem with drowsiness. As far as mental alertness is concerned, it certainly didn't reduce your ability to control your rate and pace. I envy that ability. I can hold rates quite well at the exact seconds (12, 15, and 20 spm) just by using the monitor clock, but not so well at 18, 22, and 24. Other rates are worse and even 30, which would be at every other second, does not go so well. The 2 second stroke time is too short and I don't concentrate as well on keeping steady when the rate is that high. As for paces, they wander all over the place.

Bob S.

P.S. Does your OTW coach put you in as stroke? I sounds like you would qualify well for that seat. It has been said that the stroke of a crew should be a metronome.

[seat5]

Nice work, Deborah, just about right on 10mps--I'm looking forward to hearing about your Christmas Eve 2K!

I had to take of Th, F, and the weekend--should be ok to row Monday but not expecting anything great--stuffed up, dragged out, etc. I feel like my missed workouts are huge black blots on my record but last year I had missed about 3 weeks of workouts due to illness and bounced back ok so this should be no real problem.

[Rowmaniac]

Merry Christmas, everyone.

I've been sick for the past few days with some sort of stomach bug, which made me increasingly anxious each day about the 2K test I was supposed to do on Dec 24. I thought I'd just get out of bed today and do the darned thing, but obviously it was not meant to be or else I am a bigger wimp than I thought.

I did a 3K warm-up and the first thing I noticed was that my HR was about 145 even though I was paddling. Normally my HR might be around 130 rowing a 2:25 paddle, so something was wrong and I should have listened to myself, but I really wanted to try. I started the 2K and rowed about 1300 meters before realizing I could not go on. I am extremely upset, because I really, really wanted to see an improved 2K score for the past 5 weeks' work. I feel like a total failure right now.

I rowed the 1300m at a 151.5 pace, which would have been a 7:26 2K, but I am so upset right now that I could not go on. I have not felt that weak (physically) in a very long time and I am not sure how to handle it.

As I lay on the floor disgusted with the whole incident, I was not sure I wanted to continue training for this race. My dear husband offered the "I told you that you were sick and perhaps over-trained, Deb" condolences, but I am going to have a hard time moving past this.

Not know how much going all out for a 2K test takes from you, I do not know whether I should just carry on with the next IP workout and see how things go or is it really important to do the test again? My goal today was 7:24 to be perfectly honest. It would have been just a few seconds faster than the one on Thanksgiving, and my recent intervals show I was more than capable of doing that time today. Needless to say, this sucks.

I'm sorry for the long winded whining. This is a big disappointment. I have felt so strong over the past month, especially when I could do the 3 x 7' AT intervals at solid, fast, and even splits. Darn.

Sometimes I hate the erg. Today is one of those days I'd like to just take the thing apart and go stick it in the attic.

2 months until the CRASH Bs. I think I better dig deep and find some motivation to keep going and not let today's disappointment undermine my confidence in what I know I can do. Gosh this is not going to be easy...

Sorry to post such a downer message on Christmas. I hope everyone is enjoying good cheer, family, and fun.

[Bob S.]

Merry Christmas, everyone.

I started the 2K and rowed about 1300 meters before realizing I could not go on. I am extremely upset, because I really, really wanted to see an improved 2K score for the past 5 weeks' work. I feel like a total failure right now.

I rowed the 1300m at a 151.5 pace, which would have been a 7:26 2K, but I am so upset right now that I could not go on. I have not felt that weak (physically) in a very long time and I am not sure how to handle it.

Not know how much going all out for a 2K test takes from you, I do not know whether I should just carry on with the next IP workout and see how things go or is it really important to do the test again? My goal today was 7:25 to be perfectly honest. It would have been just a few seconds faster than the one on Thanksgiving, and my recent intervals show I was more than capable of doing that time today. Needless to say, this sucks.

Merry Christmas Deborah (and all the forumites),

Your message surely did resonate with me. I was debating with myself whether or not to send out a similar cry of woe. The problem is that I can’t blame it on illness, at least as far as I know. After the so-called workout, I was wondering if I had some problem that I didn’t know about yet. Nor can I blame it on my trying to attempt an improved 2K.

To get to the specifics, it was the Pete Plan fourth day: 4X2K @ 2K +5, 5’ rests. I was using (I thought) a soft 2K as a base, so I thought that it should go with no problem at all. I also had high hopes of a grand finale for the HC. I started the day with well over the 200K, actually 230K+. I was expecting to do the following:

Daily wakeup, about 2K.
Eddie Fletcher warm up, about 4K.
4X2K workout, 8K.
3X5’ active rest, a bit under 3K.
20’ cool down, a bit under 4K.

This would have been a little less than 21K, but well over 20K, enough to get me over 250K for the Challenge.

What actually happened was:

Daily wakeup, 1961m
Warm up, 4026m.

At this point, I was right where I wanted to be. I took a short break for water and a pit stop and began the interval set with the rests programmed in. In the first 2K, I was staying right where I needed to be at 30 spm and pace of close to 2K +5. I had forgotten to switch the monitor from the large print setting to the more detailed setting, so I didn’t know the cumulative average pace, just the pace for each individual stroke. I was in trouble by the end of the first 1K. My pulse was too high, and I just did not feel right. I handled down at just a bit over 2/3 of the way through and knew that I had had it for the day. I stopped the monitor and set up 10’ for a cautious cool down.

Workout, 1365m.
Cool down, 1910m.
Total for the day, 9262m.
Total for the HC, 239,360m.

Since that was just supposed to be the first of 4X2K at a relatively slow pace, I hate to think what it would have been like if I had been trying to do a real 2K time trial.

Bob S., who is still wondering what hit him. Did anybody get the license number of that truck??

[Bob S.]

Since I am rowing only on alternate days, I drove to the local high altitude road head yesterday to check out the trail for snow. I had brought snowshoes in case they were needed, but it was not all that deep. The snow was not very dense, but the cover ranged from occasional bare patches to a maximum of about twelve inches. Part of my route had a ski track and a few boot prints, but the rest provided a fair amount of breaking fresh trail, which gave me a bit more exercise.

Today I started a repeat of the 4X2K, which ended up in such a fiasco on Monday. This time, I just gave in and went for a slower pace than 2K + 5. I did manage to complete them and the 2nd interval, at least, was under the rather modest 2K + 5 goal (2:10.5).

Results:
E.F. warm up, 3936m
2K 8:46.5 (2:11.6) 26spm 154bpm
5’ar 898m (2:47.0) 12spm 108bpm
2K 8:40.1 (2:10.0) 27spm 154bpm
5’ar 908m (2:45.1) 12spm 113bpm
2K 8:43.9 (2:10.9) 27spm 150bpm
5’ar 893m (2:47.9) 12spm 111bpm
2K 8:46.8 (2:11.7) 26spm 148bpm
20’ 3622m (2:45.6) 12spm 108bpm

The total distance was over 18K, so, with my earlier 10’ wakeup of about 2K, the day’s total was over 20K. That had been my plan for Monday, but it just did not go that way.

Bob S.

[seat5]

I'm sorry you guys had such downer workouts--I would be posting the same if I had made myself row Monday and Tuesday but decided not to--just not at all well & I knew it, so decided to let myself get well and rest. I am very bummed out that I didn't finish the HC-- it was so in the bag last week!! So tired Christmas eve and Christmas I could hardly stay awake to celebrate--falling asleep between meals and visits--but we had a nice holiday and I hope to make up all but one of my missed workouts between now and Sunday ( I won't take this next weekend off, as I normally do, and will only be trying to make up the IP workouts, not my optional Thursday sessions (since I'm only officially doing a 4 session IP schedule.)

Bob, you sound like you got yourself together better after Monday's melt down! Sometimes it doesn't take much to upset the applecart. But you seem back on track now.

Deborah, you are NOT a bigger wimp than you thought. If you are really going to do a 2K the very best you can, for the state of training you currently are at, you have to be prepared on the day of the test as if it were a competition. You wouldn't expect to race well after several days of being under the weather, so you should not be surprised to test poorly under the same conditions. Trying to force yourself to perform at that level when you know you are not ready for it because of illness is risky, because the resulting likely failure is about the worst thing possible for your self confidence. First of all, if you really think you are still unwell, it's not wise because a real 2K test pretty much empties the tanks and needs recovery time even if you're healthy. The last REAL 2K I did I couldn't even hold a water bottle afterwards. To succeed in a race you have to be certain you can push yourself to the limit and finish the distance. For me, every time I handle down in training or testing makes it harder for me to trust that I'll be able to take it when it's "for real". And if I try to test or race under the conditions you describe, it is hard to tell if it's physical weakness that causes the handling down or the fact that I have an excuse to fall back on that allows me to stop. The mental debate that goes on during the event because of this is extremely distracting at the very least and can completely destroy your focus.

Don't let one lousy workout destroy what you have built up. It was not the right day for you to test-- and in your heart, you knew it. This is what people mean when they say that plans have to be flexible. You tested on 12/24 because that is what you had decided to do, when you should have postponed the test a few days, maybe did some gentle rowing, UT2 or something, if you felt you must. Then you would have tested well, and your confidence would be up.

The reality is that nothing is truly different today, after your bad test, than it would have been if you had waited a few days and tested well. The training behind it was the same either way. The only thing that is different is what you are saying to yourself and believing about yourself now as a result of testing when you were not well enough to do what you really can do.

Check that workout off the chart and go on as if everything had gone well. Stick to the paces etc. on the plan and next time TEST shows up on the chart, schedule it for that week on the day you are the most rested and certainly not if you were ill right before. You will perform well because you have been training well.


I will row tomorrow for the first time in a week--I feel fat, slow, deyhydrated, and lazy--but well at last and hope to have a decent report.

[tdekoekkoek]

Well I'm new to this forum (actually new to all the forums) so I thought I'd put my 2 cents in. I see a lot of people doing testing and fast interval work. My own approach at this stage of the game is to keep working on base and strength and to do AT pieces (5 mins, 10 mins or greater).

I'm holding off doing any 2K testing till mid January, although I do throw in some hard core sprinting and power rowing (resistance at 10) to build strength and speed.

Cheers,

Trevor

[seat5]

Welcome, Trevor, you should do very well in Boston! Very fast times.
We are doing the IP plan which has you test several times throughout the training season and adds TR and AN stuff, more and more of it, as you get close to the race date.

Are you following a plan, or just winging it?

[Rowmaniac]

Carla,

Many thanks for the truly kind and encouraging post. I am feeling better about everything already, and can look back at my attempt to do the ridiculous with more clarity now. I realize you were ill last year for a few weeks, and had some setbacks and yet you did so well in the end. I'm sorry you have been sick for so many days again this Christmas. Perhaps you get run down this time of year and the added IP demands put you over the edge.

Thankfully I am feeling much better and am about to join a few teammates on the water for a light row in a Quad. I don't expect to do much of anything aerobic (we're no sculling role models--well the woman sitting bow is far, far above our league but that's why she'll be steering, God bless her!), but I didn't turn down the invitation because I thought it might be good for the soul to go out in the sunshine (although it is chilly here) and remind myself firsthand why I ever picked up an oar or sat on an erg to begin with. Perspective, perspective, perspective.

I plan to do my 3 x 17" UT1 workout later this afternoon. I, too, feel, somewhat fat, lazy and sluggish from the lack of consistent efforts on the erg while I was recovering. And of course there is the consumption of what for me, anyway, has become the rare sweet and heavy meal. I did enjoy some treats, but enough is enough and it's time to focus.

Bob, you seem to have recovered and rowed well yesterday. Good job.

I will stick to the paces and carry on with confidence. It helps to look back at my log and realize that the numbers and meters are not figments of a hopeful imagination, but rather the end product of lots of training and at least a modicum of ability to get this job done.

Good luck with your first row, Carla. I hope you are feeling much better and soon able to resume your training.. Thanks again for making such a kind effort to lend me a bit of kind encouragement.

Ho Ho Ho, I have to let it all go and push on for a great and hopefully well-trained new year!

[tdekoekkoek]

Thanks for the welcome Carla,

I do have access to lots of structured training here in Boston, but alas at the moment I have to admit I'm winging it. Although I do have a fair amount of rowing racing experience and self-training to go by. I also have some semi-organized challenges for testing for 60mins, 10K, 6K and 4K. And we may start testing 2K soon.

I may look into Xeno's workouts for getting a bit more structured.

[seat5]

Hey Deb, I hope the OTW row was pleasant and inspiring!

I looked over the missed workouts and figured out how I'd "catch up." First of all, skip the "extra" 5th sessions, so here are the official IP ones I missed:

3 x 7 AT
8 x 1 AN
3 x 17 ut1
8 x 2 TR
3 x 10 AT

I have 4 days, so I have to either double up or skip yet another. Compromise: Start today with 3 x 17 UT1 as that is obviously the easiest one. Then do 3 x 7 AT Friday, 8 x 2 TR SAturday, 3 x 10 AT Sunday, and on Monday, which would be 8 x 1.5 AN, sort of combine the AN workouts and do 4 x 1.5 AN and 4 x 1 AN. Then go on with life as usual, putting the 5 session back in on Thursday.

So far so good, did the 3 x 17 UT1, 3 sets 10 sq (95 lbs), situps etc., and it went fine.
4095 2:04.5/22
4086 2:04.8/22
4079 2:05.0/22

[cynthia]

Carla

You've been working hard (as usual you maniac!) and seeing some very positive results from your work. I've always been told that once you miss a workout, you've missed it and you should just carry on with your plan. I think it is good advice and you can trust that the work you've already put in will help you achieve the result you are looking for. Just start from today and move forward.

Of course, if it were me, I would probably be trying to catch up on all the workouts too....

Cynthia

[seat5]

Thanks, Cynthia--what are you up to these days? How did your biking go this summer? Do you like the clipless pedals?

I'm cutting out 4 of the missed workouts, but the ones I have left I really want to do because I hate to jump right into some AN stuff I haven't done yet from a dead stop. I don't think I can even hit my AN paces right now.


Are you going to row Boston this year? I'd love to meet you! Of course, if you do, I will be automatically shoved down a spot on the magic list, no matter how hard I train, Ms Superwoman!

[cynthia]

Hi Carla

Thank you for the compliment, but I certainly don't deserve it! I have been working hard but am not training for a 2k at the moment and I expect to be away at the end of February so I won't make it to Boston.

I enjoyed the bike this summer, particularly after I figured out how to detach my shoes from the pedals and stop tipping over at stop signs. I spent more time on the water than on the bike but hope to add some miles next year. I also learned to actually take the spare tube with me instead of leaving it on the *** DELETE - SPAM *** counter.

Hopefully we can catch up in Boston sometime....if not in the winter, maybe in the fall.

Cynthia

[TomR]

Did the 15 min CTC tonight. Despite desultory training of late, was 0.9/500 faster than previous effort.

Carla--

My experience tells me, don't sweat a few missed workouts. Just pick-up with the plan. If you have to back off the pace for a couple of days, no big deal. You'll be back where you were in no time.

Deborah--

At this time of year when doing a 2k test, I always make sure I finish. Having a decent result and building confidence are far more important than discovering how fast I could go if the grim reaper were after my ass.

Doing a 2k test after being sick is a perfect recipe for failure and discouragement.

Next 2k, set out at a pace you know you can do. 1000 meters in, speed up if you can. With about 250 to, pick it up again. The purpose is to a establish some reference points, so you can go slightly faster next time, and the time after.

If you don't expend everything during the trail, you will recover faster and be able to train harder. Train now, race in Feb.

Gotta go plow the snow.