Today
AM: push and carry toddler all around the National Zoo
PM:
20 minute GS (a set of something at the top of each minute for 10-20 reps)
then
5 minute row warm-up, each minute go up in rate (16-17-18-19-20) 1158m total
then
10x :25/1:35 rowing intervals
1: 128m/41 spm
2: 125/34
3: 127/36
4: 127/36
5: 127/34
6: 127/34
7: 126/34
8: 125/36
9: 125/34
10: 128/38
weird week. First time getting to train since Tuesday and promised my wife I’d be efficient. I like this format though!
W/U - 6 minutes
HBBS, no belt - 12 minutes AMRAP in sub maximal sets - 225 for 24 total reps (I ended up doing this as x2 EMOM)
Press 1.0, no belt - 12 minutes AMRAP in sub max sets - 95 for 48 total reps (ended up being x4 EMOM)
Pull-ups - 8 minutes AMRAP in sub max sets - BW x 4 EMOM, 32 total reps.
2 minutes transition to Rower
Rower 20 minutes, 4x5 minutes continuous light pressure/low intensity, each 5 minute split goes up in rate 16-18-20-22 spm. 4470m total
60 minutes total time, not including drive and changing clothes/bundling up.
I really like this format for time crunch situations. There’s no reason to do EMOM like I did, and there’s nothing special about the exercise selection either except that it cut down on logistical needs (i.e. 1 bar, 1 rack, only taking weight off, etc).
both concept 2 ergs were occupied for most of the time I was in the gym today. Done on a Lifetime fitness erg with water fly. Damper is different, feel is different, monitor is much more limited and it seems to be “faster” than the Concept 2 (as in, my split time looks ~8-10% faster than I expected).
Since the monitor is so limited/i didn’t have a chance to learn how to program it this morning, I scrapped my plan and did it like so:
5 minute w/u 1302 m
20 minute piece, done as :30 work/:30 recovery 4548m (some of these 30 second pieces were up to 175m - I’ve never sniffed 160m for 30 seconds on a concept 2, so… shrug)
1:57 open damper cool down 331m
for a total of 6181 m in 26:57. Just odd, is all.
Meh.
DL 295-275-280-285x4, rpe @9,7,7,8, respectively.
BP 165x4, 175x4, 185x4x2
pull ups 6x3
super meh today. Out of practice mostly.
w/u 10 minute build 2276m
30 minute steady state 6893m / 21 spm
5 minute c/d 953m
10122m
the lone squat rack occupied by the 15 year old bean pole quarter squatting at 550am. the bench opened up first, so…
plan C:
Close Grip Bench 135-145-155-165x6
Leg Press Myo Reps (2 plates + 25 each side) 16+5+5+5+5+5+5
Back Extension 10x4
Lat Pull down 10x3
Biceps 12x3
crunch 25x3
Need to remind myself that doing something is always better than doing nothing, that I can’t wait around for perfect conditions, and not to take myself so seriously.
5 min w/u
Inverted pyramid (19:00 active time, 4799m cumulative)
4:00 on 999m/23spm + 4:00 rest
3:00 on 762m/23spm + 3:00 rest
2:00 on 517m/24spm + 2:00 rest
1:00 on 268m/25spm + 1:00 rest
2:00 on 523m/24spm + 2:00 rest
3:00 on 755m/23spm + 3:00 rest
4:00 on 975m/25spm + 4:00 rest
5 min cooldown
9x :20/1:40 935m total
1: 105m
2: 97m - let up too early.
3: 102m
4: 103m
5: 107m
6: 103m
7: 105m
8: 105m
9: 108m
weird morning in that I had to wait for one of the concept 2 ergs and that I didn’t get in a proper w/u or c/d. might do some “make up” meters later this week for the holiday challenge.
finished with 6x :30/:30 push-up position plank
Solid sesh.
DL - 45x10x2, 135x4, 185x4, 225x4, 255x4, 275x3@6.5-7, 285x3@8, 295x3@8.5, 300x3@9 - 9 mostly because I’m out of practice. heaviest DL since 6/29 of this year.
BP - 45x8x2, 95x6, 135x4, 165x3, 185x3@7.5, 195x3@8.5-9, 185x3x2 - hey, these were great. heaviest bench since 6/22.
Pull-ups 8,8,5,3
make up meters on the erg 1375m / 5:54.6 / 19spm. Takes me to 30km even on the 100km holiday challenge (100km between 11/22-12/24, and Concept2 donates to one of 4 charities on your behalf. if you row over 100km, every 1000m they donate an additional 4 cents, up to 45000.00 ). Next week for this workout I just want to DL 315x1@8 and BP 205x1@8, take ~15% off and hit a few back off sets and get out of there, as it’s test week. These are both very doable and will give me confidence going forward.
10 minute w/u build (16-17-18-19-20spm) 2189 m
25 minute main piece, 20spm avg.
5 minute splits:
1143m / 18spm
1148m / 19spm 2291m cum
1156m/ 20 spm 3447m cum
1180m/ 21 spm 4627m cum
1165m/ 22spm 5792m cum
25 minute PR (by 358m), 5k unofficial PR (21:36), and only 7m shy of tying seasons’ best at the 20 minute mark.
2019m c/d to get to an even 10k on the day (9:27.1/17 spm open damper).
today takes me over 200km for the “season” (indoor rowing seasons are 5/1 to 4/30 the next year).
Pushed yesterday’s session back to today.
HBBS, no belt 45x5x3, 95x5x2, 135x5, 165x5, 185x5, 195x5@6, 205x5@7, 220x5@8, 225x5@8 - believe it or not these were the best any squat variation have felt since the meet.
Press 45x5x2, 65x5, 85x5, 105x5@6, 110x5@7, 115x5x2 (@8, each).
Pull-ups - 36 in 8 minutes.
short on time and energy, DOMs from yesterday and determined to get something in.
5 min w/u 1117m
:30 work/ :30 rest x 20 rounds - 2787m cum in the work periods (1:47.6/500m avg, 28spm avg) Goal was 140m per work period but this was pretty close and pretty good. 748m in rest periods
1348m cool down to get to 6k on the day (in 35 minutes, including rest periods).
Latkes and Brisket tonight!
Latkes and Brisket tonight!
I’d say you’ve earned that meal!
500m time trial.
Did not tie previous time, nor set a seasonal or personal best. 
splits
100m 18.3 (46 spm)
100 - 200m 19.3 (40 spm) (37.6 cum)
200 - 300m 20.9 (35 spm) (58.5 cum)
300 - 400m 21.8 (36 spm) (1:20.3 cum)
400 - 500 21.3 (37 spm)
Splits from 10/28 time trial:
0-100m 18.1 (53spm!)
100-200m 18.5 (39spm)
200-300m 19.9 (39)
300-400m 22.3 (35)
400-500m 22.5 (32)
only positives from today: splits more even than last time trial. RPE was less too. Indicates that Aerobic capacity has improved.
4500m of w/u, c/d, and sprint start practice meters.
BP 45x6x2, 95x5, 135x4, 165x3, 175x2, 185x1,195x1, 205x1@8 with comp press and rack commands. Very Good. 190x3 backoff (@8.5)
DL 45x6x2, 135x4, 185x3, 225x2, 255x1, 275x1, 295x1, 315x1@EZ8, 300x3 back off (@9)
in out and done.
5k time trial tomorrow.
Time trial did not happen.
Lots of school/home stress right now. kiddo is waking up right after I do, no matter how early I get up, which just adds a layer of time and attention to life I don’t need right now.
Still, one of the things I like about rowing is that you can always find a way to “win” a workout, even if it isn’t the absolute result you might have planned on or desired. Knowing I needed to do something, rather than not doing anything, I decided to just do a 5 minute w/u, 20 minute continuous piece (as a rate build, every 5 minutes going up from 16 to 18 to 20 to 22), and 5 minute c/d.
5 minute w/u 1116m, but more importantly the rates were correct (16-17-18-19-20, for each minute)
20 minute continuous 4639m - PR meters for this duration, splits were “almost” correct, 17-19-21-23, last 5 minute split @ 2:01.8/500m.
5 minute c/d 1083m.
that’s two “wins” today when doing nothing would’ve been zero. Based on the average for the entire piece (2:09.3/500m), there’s no doubt in my mind I could PR my 5k now (record is 21:40, or a 2:10.0/500m)
The longer I train, the less i’m finding it necessary to put a lot of weight on results at the end of programs and more and more on these tiny wins. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that the more I condition myself to think in terms of peaking, the worse my performance and psychological state actually becomes. Life is long, so you have enjoy the process of training more than the fruits.
That’s where I’m at, at least.
I still have a marathons worth of meters left to go on the concept 2 holiday challenge (a marathon is 42195, and I have 42162 left). I have 9 days left (10th is a flight and 11th I won’t get a chance to row.) I don’t know exactly how I’ll finish it out but I am planning on it.
little sleep, no food, lots of stress + confusion
HBBS no belt 45x5x2, 135x5, 175x5, 205x5@6.5, 215x5@7.5, 225x5@8,8.5 - felt ugly, with compressed rest.
Press 45x5, 85x5@6, 105x5@7, 115x5@8,8 - also ugly, also with quick rest.
all of the above ~20-25 minutes, which sucked.
Row 2162m - 9:21.2 2:09.7/500m 19s/m. avg. Catch up meters for holiday challenge. at 60k now.
will do 5k total tomorrow, and then
Monday 5k total
Tuesday - 60 minute row (13500 goal)
Wednesday 2500m total
Thursday - 11000 ish (adjusted for tuesday’s performance to get to 97k on the challenge)
Friday - 3k total to finish it out.
1250 m w/u 5:33 15 s/m
then 15 x 1:00 work/1:00 rest. Goal was to average 2:00/500m with as low a rate as possible.
totals: 3824m, 21 s/m rate 1:57.6/500m average
1: 252m/20spm
2: 251m/20spm
3: 252m/20spm
4: 254m/21spm
5: 254m/21spm
6: 255m/21spm
7: 254m/21spm
8: 255m/21spm
9: 256m/21spm
10: 256m/21spm
11: 257m/22spm
12: 256m/22spm —> here’s where shit began to get real
13: 253m/22spm
14: 255m/22spm
15: 266m/25spm —> empty the tank.
THAT EFFICIENCY!
HBBS 45x5x3, 135x5, 175x5, add belt, 205x5@6, 215x5@7, 225@7.5 230x5@8 amazing how much better these go after a day of rest.
Press 45x5, 65x5, 85x5, add belt 105x5@6, 115x5@7, 120x5@8, 120x5@8
Running short on time, wanted to capitalize on feeling strong.
8x:30/1:30
1: 146m/ 30s/m
2: 148m/ 30s/m
3: 147m/ 30s/m
4: 144m/ 30s/m
5: 147m/ 30s/m
6: 145m/ 30s/m
7: 147m/ 30s/m
8: 147m/ 32s/m
1171m total (+352m/ recovery) 142.4/500m average. the last time I did this work:rest, I did row more meters (i.e. I was faster), but I was also way less efficient and consistent, and that was fresh - not after weights.
pretty solid, just wish I had been able to get a few more meters on the challenge.
New block is pretty basic due to travel. this week will be the “toughest” in the sense that I’m also trying to get the challenge completed, but not b/c of the lifting.
1 hour row:
13537m.
2:12.9/500m
19 s/m
PR.