Free Spirits Rowing

I am testing a solution right now. If all works out fine you can consider this solved in a few days

I thought I'd drop a note on this thread - as much as a commitment to myself as anything else - that I'm 99% sure that I'll switch to the Fletcher plan for the full 12 weeks as variation to the Interactive Plan. I think I can stretch to the full sessions required, and hope that the rest days (can I sneak low pace recovery rows in??? ) will help progress.

I've been reading the plan, and the step tests to define pace which look delightful, and will look to complete these tonight/tomorrow so I've a logical position to start the plan properly as of next week.

Well, I tried the step test and somehow missed a step - in my defence it was early.....

Anyway, the slightly truncated test (which did finish on all out) resulted in the following:



As much as I was treating this with a pinch of salt, the FM and HM were pretty close matches to my current pace, but not heart rate.

Irrespective, I now have a logical basis to start - perhaps tomorrow.

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Hope it goes well. Out of the plans I've tried it was the most enjoyable. I felt aerobically fitter and was able to do half marathons for the first time but I didn't feel like I was over-training. The only things I noticed were a) the time commitment on some weeks was hard and b) my power seemed to reduce so next year I'll add a few squats. Using Rowsandall was also interesting because, over time, I could see that I was able to go faster at the same average HR .

Thanks for the thoughts Max - I do think stretching to 90 minutes in the morning (Inc rest, wu, cd) is pushing it, so I'll have to see if I need to adjust.

It's the rest days that are probably (psychologically) going to be hard even though I've read the text and can absolutely see the logic....

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First heart rate restricted session this morning - 4x 15 minutes, 4r. Restricted to 171 bpm.

I had thought that 1.58 was feasible (at least under normal conditions), but as it turned out my pace needed to be slightly more modest:





I initially didn't keep a very close eye on my heart rate, with the result that during the first rep I exceeded my limit. The subsequent two reps were more controlled and I backed off to keep within the threshold. By the 4th rep, I was a little fatigued and the wheels fell off.

The reality is that - even this shorter session - was a total of 18.4k, or a good 3k more than I would typically do in the morning.

It's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

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Impressive start but no wonder you found it hard. 4x15m @5k pace! You only had to alternate 6m @5k pace and 9m @marathon pace . I realise 5k pace on the programme is a training pace not a SB pace but still, that is a mighty challenge.

MaxMacLaren1 wrote:Impressive start but no wonder you found it hard. 4x15m @5k pace! You only had to alternate 6m @5k pace and 9m @marathon pace . I realise 5k pace on the programme is a training pace not a SB pace but still, that is a mighty challenge.

Read once.
Think.
Read again.

I had a reason for thinking it said *alternatively*, but that was clearly a figment of my imagination. Next time through will be markedly more tolerable.

Assuming I've not erred again, today was 3x20, paced variously against marathon, 10k and half marathon pace.



The heart rate trace includes 4 minutes wu at the start.
The two minutes rest was rather shorter than I've become accustomed to with other plans. First rep, again, showed a heart rate spike, while the remainder was pretty much on target without having to meaningfully back off. Pace was a few tenths off what would have been ideal, but a good session to get a feel for the plan.

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First day proper of the plan : 2x 30 minutes, 3r. Marathon pace (2.07) and capped to 151 bpm (80%).

The below includes a quick warm up at the start....


Aside from a brief blip over the heart rate cap (which some deep breaths put paid to), this was a pleasant way to start the week. I can see that in due course I will need to lower the bpm or raise the pace to make this more effective, but some nice metres to log if nothing else.

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Let's see if this works! - grab the session structure from my table.....



A repeat of my test run of last week, now with proper pacing, went like this:



I knocked back the 5k pace to my previous PB rather than the '58 suggested as this struck me as too soft even for the first run through.

The heart rate cap even with that was pretty generous aside from a blip in the first 5k phase. This is certainly emerging as a pattern. Is it excitement or fear of finding pacing rhythm I wonder as on subsequent reps, the spike isn't present.

Fairly pleased overall and a good distance logged again. Will have a rest day tomorrow given work commitments but back to the table on Thursday.....




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The blip in the first is most likely caused by inadequate warmup. If you dive into the 5k pace without enough warmup, your major muscles aren’t fully purfused with blood. The blood vessels dialate over about a 10 to 20 minute period. Since, the blood flow is constricted, the muscles use the oxygen in it more quickly and scream for more. Lactate goes up and heart rate does too. By the second rep, you are all warmed up and you don’t get the blip.

If you make you warmup a little longer, and through in a few power tens to wake things up, I bet you won’t see the blip anymore.

Thanks Greg - I appreciate your explanation greatly!

I typically do 5 minutes row at low intensity as a warm up, but will try your suggestion.

Thanks again.

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So, more time that expected this morning to stuck to the plan and had a slightly longer warm up leading into:



On the face of it, should have been quite straight forward - it felt so last week on the test run - but (drum roll for excuses) circuits last night was tough, it's warm etc etc....



There's a spike early in the first rep, so my warm up still isn't optimal. Worse, I had to back off during the 2nd rep after clattering through my heart rate cap a couple of times. Nowhere near the pace required. On the positive side, MP and HM reps were more controlled.

Looking forward to a rest day tomorrow!

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A quite atrocious 6:9 minute session this morning. Couldn't hold rate or stick within heart rate cap whatsoever! Could be a hangover from the CTC plus circuits yesterday, so I'll chalk that up to experience.

And my pm5 crashed and lost the verified log

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After a couple of long steady state rows:


Wasn't sure what to expect from this given the last run through this piece (now with slightly longer 5k elements).

But:


The good news: pretty much on pace aside from the last rep (which was interrupted by a slightly alarming burning smell from outside.....), and my heart rate was within the cap throughout.

Not breaking any records, but a little progress to be proud of.

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Well, this was a shock to the system. I've never done more than an hour and 20 in the morning before work, so even at this steady pace it looked quite harsh. Left df at 148 as normal.

I set the grand prix highlights going and hoped for the best....

My heart rate trace was pretty peaky throughout so even with a slightly too short warm up, there's work to be done - my cap of 152 was exceeded a couple of times (could have been the 3 or 4 instances of F1 excitement but I doubt it ). Saying that, felt fine and I can comfortably view this as a low level CV workout.

Pacing was OK at meandered between 2.07 - 2.08 aside from moments of technology crashes (erg data does not like my phone) and battery problems (note to self, 30% charge is insufficient to entertain my way through a long row).

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Wasn't looking forward to this one as I'm finding the '55 pace to be a bit awkward and feeling beyond a natural heavy cardio (even though my heart rate trace only once strayed outside the cap) :



The faster elements were reasonably controlled and spm was about right, but the slower elements....... Can't help but feel that the spm was too high. The average presented conceals the initial rate. I'd normally see this as 22 at most.

Something to work on.

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Second session of Week D (or the rerun of Week A).

I've been fiddling with the Krew app which holds a great deal of appeal for this plan as I can programme all the workouts in advance and avoid the frustration of missing a figure etc on the Pm5. That's all fine, but the niggles yesterday distracted me from my heart rate cap and today I couldn't work out how to upload the result automatically (I have a cunning plan for tomorrow).

Leaving that aside, today's result:



A couple of instances of pushing the heart rate cap, but overall (perhaps just in my head) it felt a little easier than Week 1. Though after Week C, it probably should.

Lunch break task is to reread the instructions as to what to do about targets as I move through cycles.....

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Ian Bee wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2019 9:54 am Lunch break task is to reread the instructions as to what to do about targets as I move through cycles.....

I know what I did, increase pace to keep hr at same level, but was that correct based on the instructions?

MaxMacLaren1 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 02, 2019 9:01 am

Ian Bee wrote: ↑Tue Jul 23, 2019 9:54 am Lunch break task is to reread the instructions as to what to do about targets as I move through cycles.....

I know what I did, increase pace to keep hr at same level, but was that correct based on the instructions?

I've been leafing through the plan document, and it doesn't explicitly say anything - but a little pushing on pace seems like the best thing to do.....