what training have free spirits been doing today?

[Iain]

Excellent session Spider, 45' at that Work per stroke looks impressive to me! Best of luck with remaining Chemo.

[Claudius]

lvl 100 row DIRT XLR.jpg (82.54 KiB) Viewed 1749 times

I am often surprised by your detailed descriptions. I can't keep up with them. My English isn't the best either. I see very interesting training reports. I often read between the lines in the attempt to achieve an almost perfect stroke rate and pace. Or literary, how close you often are to these goals. We are good TimeTrialers. Congrats to you all. Today for me a 'just row' @LT1 'off the maap'. Yesterday a baseline workout test as a 'just row'. The day before yesterday a simple 'just row' for a Scottish riding badge. And to test these nifty new Confetti Socks = Z1-Z2. We did the big thing on Sunday. 'Just row' of course, mainly Z2 and some zone 3. DIRT XLR with...after the end of time - reaching level 100.

[Iain]

Impressive distance on your row Claudius. Not at all sure how the rowing gets converted to cycling. I can see that work can be converted to a cycle, but how do gears work, is this essentially "automatic" to the appropriate gear or does the pedalling get very slow or high? In any event I am in awe at the rates that you achieve on the erg, my technique goes to pieces if i drop the power per stroke (although you were still producing similar work per stroke to me over the 33km just on rates I would only aim for for 5km at very high HR!) so rowing at R24+ for me puts me at or above threshold fairly quickly!

[spidermac]

Impresssive pace at those HR`s Claudius.
Saw your CTC Iain well done after the previous efforts.
Another long day skiing on Cairngorm on tuesday so rested yesterday as cough pretty bad again.
Too cold to go to the climbing wall & 1 degree in the conservatory so decided on something a bit longer rather than intervals with rests where I would rapidly cool off!!
12x5min intervals - 4min@20spm + 1min@24spm
WUp - 1k
Time dist spm HR split
05:00.0 1124 21 145 02:13.4
05:00.0 1125 21 149 02:13.3
05:00.0 1128 21 152 02:12.9
05:00.0 1130 21 154 02:12.7
05:00.0 1132 21 156 02:12.5
05:00.0 1134 21 158 02:12.2
05:00.0 1136 21 159 02:12.0
05:00.0 1139 21 162 02:11.6
05:00.0 1142 21 162 02:11.3
05:00.0 1147 21 162 02:10.7
05:00.0 1150 21 164 02:10.4
05:00.0 1152 21 163 02:10.2
05:00.0 1161 21 164 02:09.1
01:05:00 14793 21 157 02:11.8
CD - 2kor
Doh! did an extra 5mins as lost count. Probably a UT1 wout felt I was working but no HD demons or gasping for breath.

[Ian Bee]

So much to catch up on!!!! I've been bimbling away in between pesky work commitments and will digest all the good results.

Claudius - as others have noted, hold that spm for such distances (and so consistently) is somewhat outside of my comprehension.

Iain - impressive distances still under superb control. I'm sharing your general suspicion of HR reading of late - cold temperature impact?

Spider - as well as good training, very pleased to hear you're at the end of treatments (and hope your chemo period passes swiftly).

Aren - good training and I shall look forward to seeing LWT CTC times this month

Today's was afflicted by my schoolboy error over not charging my Garmin so I've missed half the readings:

20241212_120301~2.jpg (86.34 KiB) Viewed 1696 times

To take the long term view, my relative effort to sustain the 5k sessions has improved as has recovery which is a huge bonus and really hits home for me that I should have trained more consistently earlier (the rotation of sessions may have been less monotonous but clearly didn't hit the spot for results). It really showed up with last month's CTC being a PB without that distance being a part of my training regimen and this month's first go reflecting others ideas of target pace on the first attempt through (though that means Aren will kick me down a boat I'm sure ).

[ArenT]

Great to see the updates on here. Plenty to digest.

- spidermac, awesome you're continuing to train so effectively through such an unpleasant medical treatments.
- Iain, absolute monster endurance efforts at the weekend, awesome
- Ian, strongly consistent as always! Now that I'm back to 100%, got no excuses for this month's CTC, think we will likely be very close.
- Mat, great work.
- Claudius, impressive pacing accuracy.

I've had a very busy week or so, hence little in the way of updates here, but I've had some extremely good training, and am absolutely back to peak health and fitness. As I indicated around December 2nd/3rd, could feel everything returning to back to where it should be in terms of HR and HRV, and indeed the data has since corrobated this feeling (see first screenshot).

Too many workouts/too much to go into detail, but here is a quick summary of last few days.

Thursday 5th

BikeErg

- Three efforts of about 7-10 minutes near FTP, i.e. in the 230-250W ballpark

Code: Select all

1:05:04.5  31,467m 2:04.0  183 930  87  142
5:00.0     2,083m  2:24.0  117 703  87  121
10:00.0    2,199m  2:16.4  138 774  86  130
15:00.0    2,380m  2:06.0  175 901  89  133
20:00.0    2,425m  2:03.7  185 936  87  140
25:00.0    2,513m  1:59.3  206 1008 87  142
30:00.0    2,584m  1:56.0  224 1069 91  153
35:00.0    2,709m  1:50.7  258 1186 90  169
40:00.0    2,528m  1:58.6  209 1020 88  144
45:00.0    2,420m  2:03.9  184 932  89  144
50:00.0    2,612m  1:54.8  231 1095 88  164
55:00.0    2,473m  2:01.3  196 974  87  151
1:00:00.0  2,502m  1:59.9  203 998  88  152
1:05:04.5  2,038m  2:29.4  105 661  81  108

Saturday 7th

RowErg

This was a somewhat longer "beast-mode" workout inspired by Iain, but probably still a "short" workout by the standards of his endurance efforts! Was exactly two hours including rest time, and was basically a mostly UT2 workout with some intensity variations for a bit less monotony/more interest. Felt very, very good.

See second screenshot.

Code: Select all

1:48:00.0 24,925m 2:09.9 159 848 22 152
15:00.0   3,361m  2:13.8 146 801 21 148
r: 2:00   49m                    
15:00.0   3,438m  2:10.8 156 837 21 150
r: 2:00   66m                    
15:00.0   3,514m  2:08.0 167 873 23 154
r: 2:00   19m                    
15:00.0   3,440m  2:10.8 156 838 22 150
r: 2:00   32m                    
15:00.0   3,470m  2:09.6 160 852 22 149
r: 2:00   21m                    
15:00.0   3,514m  2:08.0 167 873 23 155
r: 2:00   23m                    
15:00.0   3,585m  2:05.5 177 909 24 162
3:00.0    605m    2:28.7 106 665 18 134
r210m           

Sunday 8th

BikeErg

A medium effort/mid-aerobic workout. A few brief efforts but nothing too intense. Anyway, good hour spin.

Code: Select all

1:05:04.5 31,467m 2:04.0 183 930  87  142
5:00.0    2,083m  2:24.0 117 703  87  121
10:00.0   2,199m  2:16.4 138 774  86  130
15:00.0   2,380m  2:06.0 175 901  89  133
20:00.0   2,425m  2:03.7 185 936  87  140
25:00.0   2,513m  1:59.3 206 1008 87  142
30:00.0   2,584m  1:56.0 224 1069 91  153
35:00.0   2,709m  1:50.7 258 1186 90  169
40:00.0   2,528m  1:58.6 209 1020 88  144
45:00.0   2,420m  2:03.9 184 932  89  144
50:00.0   2,612m  1:54.8 231 1095 88  164
55:00.0   2,473m  2:01.3 196 974  87  151
1:00:00.0 2,502m  1:59.9 203 998  88  152
1:05:04.5 2,038m  2:29.4 105 661  81  108

Tuesday 10th

RowErg

Easy 30 minutes at a steady 2:10 ish pace, nothing too interesting or structured, just a basic Z1/Z2 workout.

Wednesday 11th

RowErg

See third screenshot.

This was a pretty hard row at or around my "rowing FTP", with a couple of "2K pace" 500m intervals to finish. Though the intervals were fairly hard, the rest was generous, allowing good recovery, and I felt like I was recuperating well between intervals.

Code: Select all

37:40.8 9,000m 2:05.6 177 907  24 157
5:30.5  1,000m 2:45.2 78  566  26 116
5:54.9  1,500m 1:58.3 211 1027 24 164
r: 3:00 39m                   
5:55.2  1,500m 1:58.4 211 1025 24 170
r: 3:00 91m                   
5:54.4  1,500m 1:58.1 212 1030 24 171
r: 3:00 131m                   
5:54.9  1,500m 1:58.3 211 1027 24 172
r: 3:00 75m                   
1:51.2  500m   1:51.2 255 1176 28 174
r: 1:30 62m             

Thursday 12th

BikeErg

Was a bit hungry/late starting this workout, so opted to go for the Concept 2 "Medium WOD". Was perfect: 3x8:00, 4:00r

This was a fairly short but pretty high intensity workout, my heart rate peaked at 191, so not too far off my max (which is almost exactly 200).

Code: Select all

24:00.0 12,430m 1:55.8 225 1074 90 166
8:00.0   3,691m 2:10.0 159 847  90 161
8:00.0   4,299m 1:51.6 251 1165 90 158
8:00.0   4,440m 1:48.1 277 1253 90 181
r4,809m     

Pushed pace on last one, managing to average > 275W for the 8 minutes. So beginning to edge back towards my previous cycling numbers from some years ago. Probably still 50W or so off my previous best FTP. But it takes time.

[Iain]

Spider, impressive neg splits on R21 for 65'

Ian, another good session, you have definitely settled into quicker paces now

Aren, great training. Will be good to watch you and Ian fight over the boat 1 seat in CTC 2hr ergs are not to be taken lightly, although I am surprised that you take rest breaks. Intervals fast and great neg splits.

Another UT1 for me after a day off yesterday, but woke earlier so pushed a bit longer.

Time Distnc Rate Pace Hrmax % HRmin %
20:00 4,451 19 02:14.8 155 84.2% 73 39.7% - low starting HR went up higher than expected, probably work stress effecting sleep
20:00 4,451 19 02:14.8 159 86.4% 148 80.4% - felt easier than HR suggests, although 20' felt long!
20:00 4,451 19 02:14.8 160 87.0% 153 83.2% - HR creeping up but still not quite threshold (162)
20:00 4,451 19 02:14.8 159 86.4% 153 83.2% - Glad HR settled as thought might have to back off
10:00 2,172 17 02:18.1 153 83.2% 149 81.0% - start of C/D, HR dropped and comfortable
1:30 19972 18.8 2:15.2 160 87.0%

[spidermac]

Thanks for the comments guys hoping for steady improvements healthwise from now on.
HR fairly steady Iain over that distance well done LSD paying off.
Arent got a bit confused reading your post mistaking your bike workoust for erg wouts - looked well impressive!! Great training.
Ian - too modest hardly a bumbler!! & a good improvement between sessions.
Still freezing here a hard frost on the cars - intended to do power strokes but back a wee bit tweaky after sone deadlifts yesterday so another longggggg wout LOL!!. 10x1500mR1min @ 24spm.
Wup - 2k
Time dist spm HR split
06:22.9 1500 24 149 02:07.6
06:21.1 1500 24 155 02:07.0
06:20.1 1500 24 158 02:06.7
06:18.0 1500 24 158 02:06.0
06:16.7 1500 24 159 02:05.5
06:15.4 1500 24 161 02:05.1
06:13.9 1500 24 161 02:04.6
06:12.9 1500 24 159 02:04.3
06:11.7 1500 24 161 02:03.9
06:12.2 1500 24 158 02:04.0 - bo....cks
01:02:44 15000 24 157 02:05.4
CD - 2k
Annoyed to miss the -ve split on last interval but overall good wout. Did this in June - av was 2.05.6 pre treatment so a wee improvement.

[spidermac]

Not the best timing but overdue a power strokes wout.
5x4minsR90s see blow for spm. First 4 sets @DRF 170; Last set @DRF 115.
Wup - 2k
Time dist spm HR split
04:00.0 997 23 157 02:00.3 - 2min ea @ 22/24spm
04:00.0 1006 24 163 01:59.2 - 2min @22spm 1min @ 24 & 26spm
04:00.0 1020 26 168 01:57.6 - 2min@24spm;1min ea @26 & 28spm
04:00.0 1024 27 168 01:57.1 - 1min ea @ 24;26;28;30spm
04:00.0 1020 31 168 01:57.6 - 1min @ 28;30;32;34spm always - hard to beat last set at 170 drag.
20:00.0 5067 26 164 01:58.4
CD - 2k
Managed to beat or match last pstroke wout at similar spm which were 3min intervals not 4min at same rest periods.

[Iain]

Spider, great to see you back improving, power strokes the day after a bad back

Was intending to do an EF inspired workout yesterday as haven't done much AT work for some time, warmed up, HR fine and got down to pace Ok, but legs felt tired so decided to do LSD & did similar today:

Time Distnc Rate Pace Hrmax % HRmin %
20:00 4,300 17 02:19.5 146 79.3% 090 48.9% - shame missed metres at start, unsure on target for first 10 min.
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 146 79.3% 138 75.0%
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 144 78.3% 089 48.4% - brief break dictated by nature before
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 148 80.4% 141 76.6% - HR shows that straying beyond UT2, also too many R18s
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 149 81.0% 142 77.2% - Glad to finish felt harder than Friday's UT1!
1:40 21500 17.0 2:19.5 149 81.0%

20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 140 76.1% 070 38.0%
20:00 4,300 17 02:19.5 146 79.3% 135 73.4% - not sure whether HR really that low or missed a beat or 2
20:00 4,300 17 02:19.5 148 80.4% 142 77.2% - Feeling it now
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 149 81.0% 141 76.6% - Fight to maintain R17 and pace inconsistent
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 148 80.4% 141 76.6% - Glimmer of light, glad I didn't try anything harder
20:00 4,300 17 02:19.5 148 80.4% 142 77.2%
2:00 25801 17.0 2:19.5 149 81.0%

[Iain]

Despite "only doing LSDs over last 3 days, far from recovered so did UT1 session, added slightly slower 10' at end as it is the holiday challenge and day off tomorrow:

Time Distnc Rate Pace Hrmax % HRmin %
20:00 4,451 19 02:14.8 150 81.5% 094 51.1% - Struggled to settle and averaged too high at start so last 6' at 2:16
20:00 4,451 19 02:14.8 157 85.3% 146 79.3% - Starting to get tougher with too many R20's when increasing pace
20:00 4,451 19 02:14.8 157 85.3% 151 82.1% - R19 starting to feel fast and now R18s creeping in as well, glad settled on 60 min
10:00 2,175 18 02:17.9 152 82.6% 145 78.8% - extra as quicker start to integral C/D
1:10 15526 18.9 2:15.3 157 85.3%

[Ian Bee]

Spider - watch that back! Amongst other things, r1 between 1500m reps is a tough session

Iain - good UT1 session, particularly with the mentally taxing element of holding the SPM

Didn't feel particularly ready for today's sessions, so quite glad it was relatively mild.

20241216_092200~2.jpg (55.92 KiB) Viewed 1532 times

On the one hand, bit faster pace than last time, no SPM breach and (just) within the HR cap. Really would have liked to have seen £18k+ for the overall session though

[Iain]

Nice session Ian, especially if not feeling up to it. Great to see lower HR at a slightly higher pace on the second rep and nearly 1S faster. Maybe next time for 18k!

[Iain]

Again felt very lethargic with streaming cold, so abandoned thoughts of an interval session for an LSD:

Time Distnc Rate Pace Hrmax % HRmin %
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 141 76.6% 71 38.6% - chose the right option as know I am working
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 148 80.4% 137 74.5% - HR already exceeded UT2
20:00 4,300 17 02:19.5 149 81.0% 144 78.3% - Glad to see finish
10:00 2,129 17 02:20.9 150 81.5% 144 78.3% - extra 10' to show I could!
1:10 15028 17.0 2:19.7 150 81.5%

[spidermac]

Ian - a 1sec improvement not to be sniffed at!!
Iain I am in the same boat have had this cold/cough thing for almost 1 month - not totally incapacitated but definitely affecting my performance! See below!!
Intended to do a 10x min on min off.
WUp - 3k
Time dist spm HR split
01:00.0 268 32 158 01:51.9
01:00.0 274 33 163 01:49.4
01:00.0 275 33 167 01:49.0
01:00.0 276 33 167 01:48.6
01:00.0 277 34 168 01:48.3
01:00.0 278 34 168 01:47.9
06:00.0 1647 33 165 01:49.2

After 6 intervals legs were gassed & HR hi - too greedy as usual!!! Had a word with myself & decided to get something done. So :
Time dist spm HR split
06:00.0 1333 20 149 02:15.0
06:00.0 1335 20 147 02:14.8
06:00.0 1334 20 144 02:14.9
06:00.0 1334 20 142 02:14.9
06:00.0 1334 20 140 02:14.9
30:00.0 6670 20 144 02:14.9
CD - 1k
Splits a bit inconsistent but HR dropped throughout as I recovered from the 1min intervals!!

[Iain]

Great recovery Spider, hope you feel better soon.

[Mat]

Just popped in briefly for a catch up and to congratulate you all on such consistent training despite injury, illness and sheer volume of exercise

Aren's comment that his 2 hour rowing session may not be considered a long session when viewed in the context of this thread demonstrates the volume of training you're putting in, especially Ian and Iain Not to mention of course Claudius who thinks nothing of logging into Zwifty and rowing for hours at a time

Great to see Spider still jumping on the erg after a skiing / climbing session, and also battling through a cold at the same time
And just as I try to convince myself that my mix up of training can somehow match up, I read Aren's brief summary showing both volume and variety

So, news in brief: Little done towards the end of last week as we were in Loughborough for my daughter's graduation after completing her Masters in Sports Psychology. Weekend training was a mix up of rowing, and ski erg, with my usual Hyrox run through on the Sunday.
Monday saw a bit of a failed attempt at the CTC which I need to revisit before the month's end, and the last 2 mornings have been taken up with cycle racing on Zwift.

Back on the erg tomorrow with any luck

[Mat]

Back on the erg this morning as promised for a 3x12’
Came startlingly close to a solid OCD session despite being a free rate session!

IMG_2317.jpeg (47.33 KiB) Viewed 1416 times

[spidermac]

Bummer Mat with that last metre! Great consistency. Sounds like you have been making up for lost time on the training front.

[Ian Bee]

I think there needs to be a all round pat on back - there's definitely something in the air at the moment (not that I put huge credence in it, but HRV is all over the place and peak HR has been higher than it should be for the effort).

Spider - that type of rep when you're off colour

Iain - good lsd - tried 15spm for an hour instead of standard session this week and can't match your control

Mat - loving the Christmas image on top of a great session !!!!

I ditched Tuesday's planned session as a bad idea when my warm up didn't go as planned, and today's session was a little stressy:

IMG_20241219_081546.jpg (70.95 KiB) Viewed 1402 times

Quite a struggle on both elements and I think I'll be looking at consolidation for most sessions into the new year rather than any improvement on pace.

[Iain]

Mat, great session and consistency,

Ian, faster at lower HR, I think you are being hard on yourself. Much of my OCD sessions are made up in the last mins of each interval, although I do try and respond to rate changes straight away, I often oscilate 1 over and 1 under!

Tried hour of power, went out too fast and not confident I could maintai it so settled for 10k SB instead by 44S (see PP thread), happy t get into anR24 rhythm as little done between R21 & R25 for some time. Kicking myself as could have done a better 1hr based on ease with which I moved it up 3S in pace 800 out, or could have probably beaten best 10k since 2012 (less than 3S short). Shows that most of my SBs are not within my grasp

[spidermac]

Iain congrats on the SB.
Ian still an improvement bound to be some ups & downs - shows you are pushing!!
Decided to retry the 10x1min on/1off from a few days ago when stopped after 6 rounds.
Wup - 3k
Time dist spm HR split prev
01:00.0 268 33 151 01:51.9 - (1.51.9)
01:00.0 271 32 154 01:50.7 - (1.50.2)
01:00.0 274 33 158 01:49.4 - (1.49.
01:00.0 274 33 160 01:49.4 - (1.49.4)
01:00.0 275 33 161 01:49.0 - (1.48.6)
01:00.0 276 34 161 01:48.6 - (1.48.6)
01:00.0 277 35 163 01:48.3 - (1.48.3)
01:00.0 277 35 163 01:48.3 - (1.47.9)
01:00.0 278 37 164 01:47.9 - (1.47.5)
01:00.0 281 38 163 01:46.7 - (1.47.1)
10:00.0 2750 34 159 01:49.0 - (1.49.0)
CD - 2k
Last did this session in May pre treatment with identical average & HR tho spm higher this time. Pleased to see able to keep up relatively hi spm in the last 4 rounds. My aerobic capacity defo exceeds my leg power!!! it was a lot better when I did crossfit in the 2010`s/11 but I am not going back to that = far too much injury potential!!!

[Ian Bee]

Iain - 10k Sb???
Spider - really impressive reps

Thought I'd share a low spm session for a change:

IMG_20241221_105828.jpg (42.12 KiB) Viewed 1137 times

Should have been 15spm but for whatever reason, today 16 was on the menu so rather than fight against the tide I went with it. HR sensor decided I was particularly relaxed for the first few minutes, but otherwise a good low cardio session.

[spidermac]

Nice splis & HR at those spms Ian.
Thought I would join the stamlords for a session!!! Plugged in a HM into the PM3.
Wup - 2k
Time dist spm HR split Prev
08:35.2 2000 24 144 02:08.8 - (2.09.0)
08:33.3 2000 24 149 02:08.3 - (2.08.7)
08:30.6 2000 23 152 02:07.6 - (2.08.4)
08:29.0 2000 24 155 02:07.2 - (2.08.1)
08:27.1 2000 24 157 02:06.7 - (2.07.9)
08:25.7 2000 24 159 02:06.4 - (2.07.5)
08:24.7 2000 24 158 02:06.1 - (2.07.1)
08:23.7 2000 24 159 02:05.9 - (2.06.7)
08:22.7 2000 24 160 02:05.6 - (2.06.5)
08:21.9 2000 25 162 02:05.4 - (2.06.2)
04:28.4 1094 30 162 02:02.6 - (2.03.3)
01:29:02 21094 24 156 02:06.6 - (2.07.4)
CD - 2k
Only done 1 HM this year in may? so good to beat that average tho was doubting if I could keep -ve split going from 18 k!! Think I will leave this sort of thing to the Ian & Iain!!!

[Iain]

Spider, I hope that this was a typo as HM is 21097 Impressive HM neg splitting throughout! Also really good minutes showing your versatility.

Ian, impressively low HMs on that R16 session.

This weekend had family comitments and had to pick up a car so little time to row then son brought a friend back who is in my erg room so no rowing this morning either and average metres since I started distance training has dropped below 100k/week . Must try and get some decent sessions in over Christmas.

Only session a UT1 squeezed in yesterday. 10k took a lot out of me, not used to sustaining the higher rating so core muscles suffering DOMS, so R19 uncomfortable:

Time Distnc Rate Pace Hrmax % HRmin %
20:00 4,451 17 02:14.8 149 81.0% 091 49.5% - Kept slipping to R18
20:00 4,451 17 02:14.8 155 84.2% 142 77.2% - Starting to feel harder
20:00 4,451 17 02:14.8 156 84.8% 138 75.0% - Not sure of min HR or whether dropping out, bit of fight
20:00 4,451 17 02:14.8 155 84.2% 143 77.7% - Glad shortened session.
1:20 17801 17.0 2:14.8 156 84.8%