what training have free spirits been doing today?

[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 3783 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 3667 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 3653 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 3388 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%

[spidermac]

Thanks Iain & no not a typo an alzheimers moment!! Will have to do another one sometime!!!
Easy session after last few days.
Wup - 1k
Time dist spm HR split
06:00.0 1333 20 124 02:15.0
06:00.0 1333 20 129 02:15.0
06:00.0 1333 20 131 02:15.0
06:00.0 1333 20 134 02:15.0
06:00.0 1334 20 136 02:14.9
30:00.0 6665 20 130 02:15.0
CD - 1k
Pleased with that as HR average the lowest since I started treatment - have been averaging in the 140s.

[Iain]

Spider, That's a long session to test out the pace!

[spidermac]

Short wout before the blowout!!
Cough a bit worse so no heroics.
Wup - 1k
Time dist spm HR split
06:00.0 1334 20 134 02:14.9
06:00.0 1334 20 135 02:14.9
06:00.0 1334 20 137 02:14.9
06:00.0 1335 20 140 02:14.8
06:00.0 1334 20 141 02:14.9
30:00.0 6668 20 137 02:14.9
CD - 1k
HR 7 beats higher than last time despite no rowing yesterday so the right decision not to push it!!
Happy xmas to all.

[Iain]

Well done getting a row in despite festivities and your cough.

I did an LSD in the limited time before my in-laws arrived, HR high for this session, possibly the PP session the previous day. Then today started 5kr1' session without any sugar (out of an ingredient), not sure how many I could do, had to give up because could only just see the monitor (didn't occur to me to switch light on in the break so only 30km at slow pace although I dropped rating to 16 and HR lower again despite eating & drinking too much. Still enough to bring average since I agreed to do this challenge to >100k / week.

Time Distnc Rate Pace Hrmax % HRmin %
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 149 81.0% 091 49.5%
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 155 84.2% 142 77.2%
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 156 84.8% 138 75.0%
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 155 84.2% 143 77.7%
1:20 17201 17.0 2:19.5 156 84.8%

23:59.2 5,000 16 02:23.9 140 76.1% 071 38.6%
23:59.3 5,000 16 02:23.9 143 77.7% 105 57.1%
23:58.9 5,000 16 02:23.9 141 76.6% 115 62.5%
23:59.3 5,000 16 02:23.9 142 77.2% 118 64.1%
23:59.4 5,000 16 02:23.9 143 77.7% 114 62.0%
23:58.9 5,000 16 02:23.9 145 78.8% 117 63.6%
2:23:54.9 30000 16 2:23.9 145 78.8%

[Iain]

Today decided on 60R20 done hard. I basically kept the maximum strokes I felt I could manage throughout. Not the most efficient, but definitely good to build resilience for fighting to keep a reasonable pace up on tired legs!

Time Distnc Rate Pace Hrmax % HRmin %
10:00.0 2,383 20 02:05.9 156 84.8% 78 42.4% - initially 2:04 splits that slowly faded, amused that this was faster than R24 first interval of 10k SB!
10:00.0 2,348 20 02:07.8 165 89.7% 154 83.7% - fading and breathing hard, surprised HR plateau's at threshold, seeing occassional 2:10
10:00.0 2,332 20 02:08.6 167 90.8% 160 87.0% - fight starts here with H/D Demon changing from "Stop now" to "no disgrace in hard 30R20", realised 14k a possibility, 3rd highest 30' of season
10:00.0 2,321 20 02:09.3 169 91.8% 164 89.1% - prediction dropping below 14k, glad for the target
10:00.0 2,312 20 02:09.8 169 91.8% 166 90.2% - saw 3 2:12s, really hard now but not curtailing consecutive Hour attempts, helped as 14k still on
10:00.0 2,317 20 02:09.5 169 91.8% 166 90.2% - ending boost limited without option of upping rating, only really raised in last 2'.
1:00:00 14,012 20 2:08.5 169 91.8%

83M beyond previous SB, first 14k hour since HM PB 1/1/21, but only 3 nonathlon points so still 2 short of 7600.

[spidermac]

Well done Iain that looks very tuff!!! Positive splitting hard mentaly at least for me!!!
Something a bit longer for myself as well. 5k/4k/3k/2k/1k R90s @ 18/20/22/24/26spm
Wup - 1k
Time dist spm HR split Prev
21:37.8 5000 18 161 02:09.7 - (2.10.1)
16:53.7 4000 20 163 02:06.7 - (2.07.1)
12:32.2 3000 22 160 02:05.3 - (2.04.7)
08:15.1 2000 24 161 02:03.7 - (2.02.7)
04:02.1 1000 26 160 02:01.0 - (1.59.6)
01:03:20 15000 20 161 02:06.6 - (2.06.5) - missed target by 0.1s
CD - 2k
Blew my legs by going hard in first 2 rounds but hung on to -ve split & hit spm targets. Missed my best on this session pre treatment this year by 0.1sec. Last time doing this average was 2.07.8/hr av 166 so can`t complain. Happy enuff.

[Iain]

Well done Spider, that looks much tougher than mine and lower HR and >1S/500m improvement since last time huge. You will have your best next time!

[plummy]

Got to admire you for that one Spider.. ouch!

[Iain]

After the 60R20 did an LSD, although I didn't find it as easy as should have been. I think my keaness to push pace below 2:20 makes this a little fast for me after a hard row at the moment as drifted above at beginning of second hour. Then today really lethargic (later found I hadn't drunk my coffee, what it is to be so dependent on drugs!). After much procrastination tried a UT1, but couldn't settle with pace fluctuating 4S/500m, so gave up 25 min in and did positively split 5k down from current pace down.

Time Distnc Rate Pace Hrmax % HRmin %
20:00 4,302 17 02:19.5 142 77.2% 102 55.4% - Careless after a faster start
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 144 78.3% 139 75.5%
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 143 77.7% 095 51.6% - after call of nature
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 149 81.0% 137 74.5% - exceeded UT2
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 149 81.0% 142 77.2%
20:00 4,301 17 02:19.5 165 89.7% 144 78.3% - 4 HR spikes 3 at end of this interval and one just afterwards, strange. Otherwise 151(82.1%) HRmax
2:00 25803 17.0 2:19.5 165 89.7%