Mike's training diary - 2013

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Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Mike Channin »

Have been meaning to get round to posting a least something about my training on here for ages, having followed many other similar threads and found them of great value (especially Stan's marathon training one), and with the recent conversations about adding value to the forum, I've finally found the motivation to post something.

I hope it gives some value to someone out there...

I'm using a Suunto T6 (when it deigns to record my HR), and most of my HR traces are on MovesCount (s3mjc). They all go into FirstBeat, which I'm still learning how to get value from (anyone want to do a how to get the best out of FirstBeat thread?)

I'm 'supposed to be' following a three week cycle in terms of intensity, but the monthly nature of the CTC and C2C (and Alan's WAARC) tends to make a mess of that. I'm only able to train three times a week (Mon, Wed, Fri) at the moment, so generally they are all harder sessions with recovery days of complete rest. It will be interesting to see how this goes, compared to the 5 week days I trained for most of last year. It gives less room to have an off day, but this can be both good and bad... As for the actual sessions; I'm trying to favour longer distances to rebuild a solid aerobic base, but the shorter CTC/C2C/WAARC competitions are making sure I'm not totally neglecting shorter distances. I'm favouring single distance pieces at the moment, but will mix in some intervals as soon as I feel they will benefit me.
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Mike Channin »

[Placeholder that I'll edit to put in the background to set the context]
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Mike Channin »

[This one will have a brief summary of training in Jan and Feb 2013]
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Mike Channin »

March 8th: Plan: 60mins all out attempt.

Wasn't feeling quite right today, even after doing an easy piece Wednesday, so having had a relatively long time to recover this week. Still have a cold hovering in the background, and hoping it is not going to impact my training.

Warmup was a short 1013m and HR was much higher than recently, which was another warning sign.

Aim was to hold 1:57 and shorten to a 10k if it turned out that this was too big a jump from a recent (not-flat-out) 15092.
Got settled on 1:56.7 from very early on, and just stayed there. Kept looking at the HRM and the news was not good. Over 160 within 2 mins, and over 170 within 6mins. This told me I was not going to make 60mins at this pace, but I decided to see how long I could hold onto it. Power felt like it was there, but the HR was uncomfortably high, and reached 180 at around 28mins, which confirmed I'd have to shorten to 10k. The last 11/12 mins was a struggle, but in the end completed 10305m at 40mins (10k @ 38:53) with a moderate sprint and a max HR of 186. Recovered for next 8 mins, then did another 4 mins on 1:56 split again (I try to add some more work at the same pace, even if I've had to cut short), then another 4 mins rest, and then progressive sprint in for the last 4mins (av 1:51.2).

Some good value in this (and a scary EPOC in the 270s and well over the TE 5.0 line), even though I didn't have the form I was looking for. If I can clear out this cold and get the HR back down again, I think I can manage this next time.

Still a very long way to go to even get back to last year's form, let alone PB-territory, but making progress at the moment, and still feels like a form improvement is there to be taken.
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Wolfmiester »

Nice one Mike, good luck with it.
Are you training for anything specific?
The 3 x hard per week should not be a problem. At least it will prevent overtraining :-)
I look forward to you regaining some proper form and whacking me at some of the challlenges again.
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Mike Channin »

Hey, Mr Wolf, my fellow amigo!

My first aim is to get back to SB form by the end of the season and maybe try to get my Nonathlon score up to 8000. Not much hope of this, but something to aim for. Second aim is to get back onto PB form and at least improve my softer times. Third is to improve my harder PBs, but that one is a stretch target.

Have given up on making lwt, and am now hoping to introduce weight-training to build a bit more power as the bulk will not matter. Have also been doing the 100 press-ups plan, although it is taking me a lot longer than the plan suggests ;-)

I will do my very best to find enough form to make you work for your victories on the CTC. I'd love to chase you down on the C2 challenge, but I'll struggle to match you on the last three. We may have to find ourselves a new third amigo as the drag-obsessed one has gone all independent on us! OldHornet is on a very similar form level, and Thomas is in the same range too.

(And to avoid any doubt: I have absolutely nothing against competition of any nature based purely on absolute performance values - it's just that there is a relatively small window of (competitive) opportunity before people get out-of-reach, and a relatively small pool of people to compete with)
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Mike Channin »

March 11th 2013. Target HM!

Original plan was a positive or flat split around 1:52.5 with the meter on 30mins, but expecting to run out of steam earlier but still get form indicators for 5k and 6k.

But then I had an opportunity to squeeze in another HM, so went for it. Not quite ideal, given that I still have a sore throat and a bit of the cold, but was watching the warmup HR to see if I was ok to go for it.

(Had to help remove a fallen tree from the road by hand, in order to get to the gym, so that was a bit of added excitement).

HR in warmup was noticeably lower and felt good, despite being on an unfamiliar machine with only PM2 and unknown drag (set by feel).

Decided to go for HM at 2:00 flat and see if I could make it through. Pretty early on, it was obvious that this was on, as the HR stayed well under control, as a total contrast to Friday when it went through the roof straight away. Concentrated on leg drive and keeping relaxed and breathing evenly, and saving it for later when it would get harder. Initially was staying on plan on 2:00 (average split around 1:59.8 as a consequence of being a little quick at the start while getting the rhythm), but once I figured that I had reserve capacity, I started pulling 1:59s and some 1:58s, and by half way I had the av split down to 1:59.0, and HR still only at 165, and holding 24-25SPM (started at 22-23). Started upping the pace a bit more, which made it a bit tougher, but didn't top 170 until around 6k to go. Switched to est. time display which showed I was on for around 83:30 if staying on 1:59, or maybe 83:20 at 1:58. This was a bit off-putting, so I switched again to elapsed time, and concentrated on taking a few more meters than the 2:00 split each minute. Rate was sliding up (26+ now) as I was getting tired, but the core stroke power was still there so I knew I should make it through. Last 5k was pretty tough, up to about 5 mins out, where I knew I would make it and could afford to start thinking about how to finish. Got down onto 1:56 and generally stayed there, then started winding up from 500m out into 1:55, 1:54, then down into low 1:40s from 200m, before finally going all out for last 100m and seeing a set of 1:34s. (In honesty, the HR was telling me that I could have wound up much earlier, but as this wasn't for anything ranking or competition related, it was better to keep at 98%, rather than doing a full maximal piece and risking taking too much out, especially as the cold is still lurking.

Finished on 1:23:07.4, so gained a good few seconds on the estimated finish in the end. Don't know what HR was doing (yet - will upload later), but it was only 173 within last 5k, so I knew I had good reserves, and I may not even have topped 180 until right at the end. Suspect that the EPOC number will be slightly scary, and I would be shocked if this wasn't a TE5.0 by a long way. Was pretty tired by the end, and am pretty sure that the rest of the gym users now have me labelled as a nutter, but at least I managed to find the step up in form that I felt was there, but hadn't delivered last week. In fact, I must have been pretty close to pulling the same split for the last 10k of today that I did for the first/only 10k last Fri, despite having already done 11k at pace, and with a lower HR too. At least this is all positive!

Now it will be a case of waiting to see how the system copes/reacts, and plan to have a relatively easy session Wednesday to give chance to recover. Have the std-HM-blisters on middle finger first joints, but not too bad this time...
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by AlanS »

=D>

Well done on a great HM, Mike. Fingers crossed you don't get any bad reaction from it.

Must admit to feeling rather jealous while reading it. Low heart rate, feeling good during a row. It's been a loooong time since those applied to me! :fswink:
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Mike Channin »

EPOC value was 326 in FirstBeat (with a value of ~220 for the TE 5.0 boundary). HR only hit 180 for the last 30 seconds, topping out at 182. Feeling fairly tired now, but the HR data actually showed that the system coped better with this load than it had done previously, suggesting there is still a bit more headroom in there for a truly maximal HM.

The form analysis shows that this is a big jump forwards in performance, and puts me potentially within reach of SBs in the middle distances (if I can replicate this level of form down in the shorter stuff).

To be honest, Alan, it's been a while since they've applied to me too (apart from possibly the 60mins on my birthday (which I eclipsed by a good 60m+ today on the way to the HM)). As you can see, I like to train hard when my system will tolerate it, and I get good gains provided things go well. It's the rest of the training that is harder.
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Thomas W-P »

Well done Mike. That's way better than I could do, or indeed have ever done!
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Mike Channin »

Thanks Thomas. One of the things that I wonder though, is whether you do actually have such a time in you right now. I'd love to see HR data on comparable pieces from you to see what it says. I'm still not certain if I can match your recent times on the shorter stuff.

It is hard to know exactly how hard anyone can push themselves - my data from Monday, compared to similar full maximal pieces actually suggests that I had a bit in reserve, still. The counter is knowing how often you can get away with training really hard before you breakdown through injury, illness or over-training.
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Thomas W-P »

Post me your t6 for a week and I'll give you all the data you want...
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by millie »

Good job on the HM Mike =D> =D>
Interesting reading too!
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Mike Channin »

Can't live without the HRM, Thomas - you should know that!

Thanks, Millie. I've been meaning to post up the inner workings for ages, so that people can see the whole picture.

Back to earth with a bang today. Was toying with the idea of a go at the 920m CTC or the 2k C2C/WAARC as a relative rest day, but at the back of my mind I had concerns about whether I'd be asking for trouble, if I'd have recovered sufficiently, and how the lurking cold might impact this.

Decided to do something a bit Pete-Plan-ish (having been inspired by that thread, and the training benefits behind the shorter intervals) and use it as a pace test. Didn't feel like 2k intervals so set up for 4 or 5 x 1k with 5 min rests. (Not sure if this is proper PP or not, and didn't have time to check, but it is hopefully close enough).

The longer sprints are my weakness, but the HM result from Mon was still suggesting a sub 7 2k might be on (on a good day), so elected to use 1:45 as the pace boat, and maybe do a little faster on the first interval to get a placeholder for the CTC.

Did a longer warmup at 2513m, and HR was getting a bit high considering by the end at 130. (My warmup is done at ~2:20 and lowish rate, and this relatively constant load gives me a hint as to how things might go).

First interval was four strokes old, and I knew this was going to be a bad idea. Could feel the legs were still heavy and not fully recovered from Monday. Another ten strokes, and the lungs were also starting to hint that they weren't happy with this load. Steadied myself and held pace, and upped the rate a little to protect the legs. By half way was not feeling happy and the steady 1:45s were increasingly being punctuated with 1:46s and the odd 1:47. Fast start had given me around 1:44.7 av split, and a quick glance at the HRM showed high 170s. Not encouraging signs on the first interval of 4 or 5, and only half way in. Hung on in there, and then opened up for the last 100 to at least get a good time on the first interval (in case it proved to be the only one!)

#1 3:26.9 1:43.4 28 SPM

Second interval went as feared - held pace for first 500m, then blew out and had to have a breather for the next 100m or so. Got annoyed with myself and put the power back on for the last 400m, to pull home in

#2 3:39.5 1:49.7 29 SPM

One thing I try to do on a 'failed' session is to complete at least a certain amount at the planned target pace, as the failure obviously shows a weakness there, which needs work at that pace to rectify. So went out on third interval with the plan to hold 1:45 til half way, and then back down to 1:55 and come in around 1:50 av. Knowing it was only 500m helped, but was still struggling by half way, and saw a load of 2:00+ before steadying and getting back onto the power to stop the average sliding too much. Ended up pulling 1:48 steady to come in on:

#3 3:38.7 1:49.3 29 SPM

Having done 2k @ 1:45, albeit in bits, now the exercise was just to complete the intervals. Aim for 4th set was to hold a steady 1:48 right through. I usually use a faster start for the first 100m which gets the split ahead and then 'stride' to desired pace, so I was ahead all the way, and then found some 1:47s towards the end. Flat split is much easier than fly-and-die ;-)

#4 3:34.7 1:47.3 30 SPM

Last set now, so time to empty the tanks and see what was left. Went out on the same plan, but aiming to power in at the end. Good first 100 to get split at 1:45, then holding 1:47s and rating higher. Got to 250 out and was feeling surprisingly ok (last interval syndrome) so started to wind before going full out for the last 100 and seeing a set of low 1:30s. Finished in a haze of pain, wheezing and high rating having not looked at the av split since half way. Pleased to see

#5 3:31.1 1:45.5 33 SPM

So I decided to do a lower power 6th @ around 1:50. And blew up again around half way losing the average up to 2:01 before dragging in to the finish holding 1:55 R 24 for

3:56.7 1:58.3 25

That's enough - 2k cooldown and out.

So today I reminded myself that a hard HM will take more than 2 days to recover from, that I still have a big weakness at the shorter distances (and maybe I need to work on a higher stroke power to overcome this). Looking like I may have to have several more uncomfortable PP sessions to try to improve this area.

Can post a placeholder CTC of 3:10.3 from the first interval pro-rata-ed down. Plenty of hard work required before trying it again, and a proper 2k later in the month...

last point - I'm not using HR on the PM currently, which is a mixed blessing in that I don't know how bad things are apart from the occasional glance at the wrist, which stops the very high HR numbers intimidating me. Will be interesting to see the HR data from today...
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Thomas W-P »

To your mantra "pacing" add "recovery".
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Mike Channin »

Forgot to mention - I was a Mud Season Madness winner on the 11th!
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Re: Mike's training diary - 2013

Post by Mike Channin »

Yes, Thomas, you're definitely right there.

Had a sore throat and swollen tonsils for the last two mornings, so decided to have an easy day today and do a HR comparison piece.

Got to the gym, and HRM had other ideas. Watch found HR Belt every time (10x +) but refused to actually register the HR. Looks like (yet) another battery needed in the chest strap - this one has lasted all of about 6 weeks.No wonder Suunto stuff is user serviceable - if you had to post it back like Polar, you'd never have your HRM/Belt at all.

So with no HR, there was no point in doing a HR test, so did a 2k warmup and one last attempt to make the HRM work. No luck. Quite humid today too.

SO I decided to have a pace test at the CTC 920m. (It's _only_ 920m) Having read the CTC thread, I decided to set for 1k with 230m splits to see if I could get a 1k time too. Plan was to go out at 1:40 and hopefully sprint the end.

Set off, and went out far too quick, holding sub 1:35 for the 1st 100. Trying hard to back down, and got 'settled' on 1:37 @ 35. It is weird how some times you can 'settle' on a pace that is not what you'd expect - like a little island of (relative) calm. (Conversely, I have aborted a number of the shorter pieces last year because I couldn't get settled, so I won't complain.) Came through the 1st 230 in:

230 0:44.2 1:36.0 35

Knowing all the way that this was going to be an epic fly-and-die, but not wanting to back out.

Second 230 was 1:37s fading to 1:38s as the pain started to come, but still less than I would have expected. (That said, this is under 500m, which I know I can do in ~1:32, so maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised.) Know I'm gonna pay for this...

460 0:44.9 1:37.6 35

Cleared 500m and it started to hurt a bit more - still no lactate burn, but definitely something starting to fail. And then the lungs went at 600m. And I couldn't get any air in, and the power per stroke started to really drop. But the split is so far ahead of plan that I have to hang on, so I up the rate and wheeze like a set of old bellows. People are looking...

690 0:45.1 1:38.0 43 (yes 43)

End is in sight, and I'm barely certain if I'll make 920m without having to stop, and frantically trying to calculate that the PM will show 80m left at the end of the CTC - the distraction passes another few seconds, but everything is hurting and I cannot get any air in. 200m to go and falling apart big style but still don't want to let the split slide. Lots of 1:40s, and now fading away. 100m left, and finally know I'll make it, and the battle is not to lose too much time. But I'm on empty and no air and the split is falling apart. Mercifully 100m to go comes up, then finally 90m and I stop, going past 80m on momentum. Have-to-get-feet out. Ow, ow, ow. Still can't breathe. Finished off rowing arms only and feet on the floor to complete 1k in 3:50.9. More quiet dying then finally got enough energy back to look at the splits.

920m 0:46.8 1:40.0 48 (!!) -

so despite fading disastrously (classic fly-and-die) I just about made it, and hung onto a better time than I'd dreamed of. Amazing what you can get away with by upping the rate frantically while not really able to inhale.

Added up the splits - 3:00.2 added them again. Still that pesky 0.2. Looks like I will have to go again (but not today, or any time soon).

Took about 14 minutes of very slow rowing to get lungs back online and able to take a full breath. Then finished off with some low rate form work.

My big achilles heel of lungs not wanting to play has surfaced again, not helped by classic fly-and-die pacing. Definitely something to work on there!

Should be able to find that 0.2s by pacing better (as this was a great example of how not to do it)

One other training point - I'm doing the 100 press-ups as well, trying to get better balance now I'm no longer trying to lose weight. Have gained a fair bit of muscle for relatively short sessions (I gain easy on weights and stuff these days, totally the opposite of my (distant) youth), not good for WAARC or rowing in general, but definitely more balanced, and less chance of developing rower's hunch. Anyway, I finally managed to complete one of the days fully on week 4 level 3. I'm having to repeat the weeks multiple times, but at least there is progress...

Next job is to replace the chest belt battery and see if I can get the HRM going again. Would have been interesting to see what it did today, but suspect it would be flat at the point the lungs failed, as it did last time this happened. Still have to upload wednesday's HR data, too. Anyway, now have a weekend to recover...
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