Workout 78 - RowErg - Step Down

Workout 78: (Few Medium Length Hard Intervals) You can speed things up, but can you step them down AND stay under control? Control is tricky when speed changes. How hard you push shall be our constant. Try to keep the intensity the same throughout the entire 5 minutes. Aim for a 6-8 on the RPE scale. 
 
4 Sets of 5 Minute Intervals with 2 Minutes Rest (113 Drag)
 
5 Minute Interval Breakdown:
5-3 Minutes: Build to a Fast Stroke Rate
3-2 Minutes: Drop 2 Beats and Hold Stroke Rate Steady
2-1 Minutes: Drop 2 Beats and Hold Stroke Rate Steady
1-0 Minutes: Drop 2 Beats and Hold Stroke Rate Steady

Set 1: Build to a 26 then drop down to 24-22-20 (this should be used as a warmup)

Set 2: Build to a 28 then drop down to 26-24-22

Set 3: Build to a 30 then drop down to 28-26-24

Set 4: Open Rate - I chose to stay with the 30-28-26-24 

Set 5: Cooldown at a slow rate/pace for the entire 5 minutes
 

Row 4x 4:15 work /3:15 rest 

*during each rest period, perform one round of the following
10 half-kneeling one arm KB press (each side; 35lb KB)
20 abmat butterfly sit-ups

Intervals 1-2: 24spm @ 2k plus 12
Intervals 3-4: 26spm @ 2k plus 8

Finished with 3 sets of: 

30 banded pull-aparts
30 banded push downs

Easy 3x 2k at r18 sitting around 2:15/500m the whole way through. Took 90 seconds between rounds. Get comfortable and forceful at this low stroke rate. Speed does not have to come from high stroke rates -- try using the Reverse Pick Drill to improve force per stroke and overall rowing strength.

This rowing drill consists of the following: 
Stroke rating: 16
Damper Setting: 10
Legs Only: 5
Legs and Body: 10
Full Slides: 15

This is the perfect drill to help you do an analysis on your mental and physical rowing game because it's gonna get reallll tough to keep your spm right at 16 when your body wants to give in. But we promise, this drill works and will only make you a stronger athlete and rower! 

Row Conditioning 
6x 1:45 on / 1:15 off
Intervals 1&2: 26spm @ 2k plus :10
Intervals 3&4: 28spm get faster
Intervals 5&6: 30spm get faster

The first round was garbage. It took me too long to settle into a 26 rate and I was too fast for what was prescribed. Decided to just stick with this pace and get faster each round. Find a pace that will challenge you but is sustainable. Drag was 106.

3 x 6 min with Level Change
Pre-set the monitor for a work time of 6:00 and a rest time of 3:00. Let your stroke rate vary as follows per interval: 

First and second interval: 2 minutes @20, 1 minute @24, 2 minutes @22, 1 minute @26 
Third interval: 1 minute @20, 2 minutes @24, 1 minute @22, 2 minute @26

The change in rate helped me to stay locked into what I was doing and made the time go quick. Found it easier to stay on track by setting monitor for variable intervals rather than 3 6-minute rounds. 

ENDURANCE | WEEK 22 | 05/23/2021 

Row 5,000 meters  

Didn't have any expectations coming into this one - my goal was to just keep it under 22 minutes. Used the pace boat from my last 5K (21:26) to keep on track and set the drag to 112. Sprinted the last 500m home to get in under my previous PR for the second time this year. 

SCORE: 21:42.4

6 x 3:00/1:00r

Test @ damper setting 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7

Some good ol' fashioned damper testing! We are going to row at 6 popular damper settings in an effort to discover one or more that jump out at us. Sometimes we get locked into a routine and there's only one way to find out if something else works better. 

I have gotten in the habit of rowing at a lower drag (105-110) lately, especially with some of the longer steady state stuff. Some of the higher damper settings felt real heavy. 

Drag factor for each damper setting: 2 @ 83, 3 @ 94, 4 @ 105, 5 @ 121, 6 @ 139 and 7 @ 161. These numbers are lower than I expected - may be time to clean the grille. 

Workout 65 - Ride The Wave
As The Flywheel Spins Podcast

Workout 65: (Active Recovery Workout) This rhythmic ride today will have us rolling through waves of intensity at a variety of different rates.  Our focus is off of maximum power, but finding a different way to build up our stroke count. 
 
Warm Up:
Easy Rowing without Straps @ 20 Strokes per Minute 

Technique Note: The Dollar Bill Trick and Rowing without Straps

 
Workout:
100 Strokes* @20 
100 Strokes* @24
100 Strokes* @28
100 Strokes* @24/@28/@32
*Accumulating 100 strokes by 3 Rounds of 10 easy, 10 moderate, 10 hard; finish out the last 10 strokes easy. There is a brief rest period between each 100 strokes (~60-90 seconds).

This was a fun one to row along with and the waves of 10-10-10 made the time go by very quickly. Paying attention to the overall stroke count really helped me dial in at these different rates. 

Assault Bike Conditioning
For Calories
2 Rounds
:10 Assault Bike for Cals
Rest 2:50
then, 
3 Rounds
:20 Assault Bike for Cals
Rest 4:40
then,
1 Round
:30 Assault Bike for Cals

Total: 79 calories (19 | 46 | 14)

Pulled this one from @misfitathletics. It's only 110 seconds of total work with loads of rest which means SEND IT! Touched 100 rpms during each of the :10 and :20 second rounds but fell off hard during the last round (max RPMs were only 86). 

Workout 40 - A Tale of The Charles

As The Flywheel Spins Podcast

So many short rest intervals, at high stroke rates and low damper settings aid our quest to find the "Magic Catch".  Can we make the point at which the Recovery and the Drive meet, disappear? 
 
18 Rounds of...
 
1:40 @28 Stroke Rate at Race Pace with 20 Seconds Rest 
Stroke Rate: 26
Damper: 1 (Drag 82)
Suggested Pace: 2K + 10-12s (2:06.7-2:08.7)

I rowed while watching Modern Family and was more concerned about holding the 26 stroke rate then my pacing. This was slower than intended, but still felt pretty good. 

Morning Mono 

2 minutes on / 2 minutes off x 5 rounds
-max average calorie row

*use first interval to set average to maintain and hold above average for remaining efforts

*bonus: try to increase average calories each round without sandbagging the first round

3 Rounds 
4 strict handstand push-ups
30 weighted sit-ups (held 14# wall ball across chest)
40 calorie row

*Rest 2 minutes between rounds

19:34

This was the first metcon I have done in some time because of my knee issues. These are all strong movements for me and I moved pretty well throughout. Good one to dip back into the metcon pool. Row was around 2:30 each round @ 900 calories per hour.

Row Series III - Event 2 - Deep Blue Sea

Row 3,750m
Rest 2 minutes
Row 1,250m

Scores:
2A: 3,750m time (15:58.8)
2B: 1,250m time (5:11.0)

Notes: My plan going into this was to hold my 5K pace for a majority of the first 3750. With about 700 meters to go I jumped to a 2:03 to sneak in just under 16 minutes. For the 1250, I made my move right around 500 meters to go. Drag was 110. 

Row Conditioning

3X 2000m 

Rest 4:00

I set my target around 2k +10 today. 

1st set - 8:37.0

2nd set - 8:30.7

3rd set - 8:30.5

Row Series V - Event II - A Million Ways To Die In A Vest
6 ROUNDS :
Row 1,111 meters, no rest

 
Scores:
2A: First 1,111 time (5:09.3)
2B: Total time (30:10.4)

I wanted to log some rate-capped (22 s/m) distance today with negative splits. I didn't follow the workout directive and my first split was the slowest.

AMRAP 18 Minutes 
12 Calorie Row
Rest 2:30
Pacing: Send

What can you ramp those calorie per hour numbers to without logging rounds of crappy movement? I finished 3 cals from the seventh round before the buzzer. DF was set to 129. To finish the seventh round, you need to hold the previous six rounds at :25 or below. 

Cooled down with a 20-minute recovery video from Darkhorse Rowing. Intensity was kept low with a stroke rate between 16-19 and the focus was on a different drill every 3 minutes. Logged about 4000 easy meters in the 20 minutes. 

5 Rounds
21 GHD sit-ups (to parallel)
14 single-arm KB push jerks
Use a single, heavy KB and alternate arms each rep. I chose a 53-pound KB and switched arms after 7 reps. 

Recovery + Midline
25 minute bike recovery
On the 5, 10, 15 and 20:
20 abmat butterfly sit-ups

Row Conditioning 
500m/1:00r x 15
This is a preset WOD on the C2 Rower. Choose “Select Workout” then “Standard List” then “500m/1:00r”.

For pacing, target your 2K pace + 6 - 10 seconds with the goal of consistent and sustainable efforts. Overall I am pretty happy with the consistency here. 

Workout 76 - RowErg - Even Better

As The Flywheel Spins Podcast 

Warm Up into Workout:

10 Minutes (Warm Up)
RATE: Starting at a Stroke Rate of 16, increase by two every minute
 
8 Minutes
POWER: 30 Seconds Work / 30 Seconds Rest with Stroke Rate @24 
 
6 Minutes
POWER: 3 Minutes Easy; 2 Minutes Moderate; 1 Minute Hard
 
4 Minutes
RATE: Starting at a Stroke Rate of 22, increase by two every minute
 
2 Minutes
POWER AND RATE: Starting at Stroke Rate 24 Increase by two every minute and increase power along the way!

April 2021 CTC
Row 10 minutes at r20
Rest 5 minutes
Row 10 minutes at r20

Restricted to r20, score is least distance rowed (slowest) 10-minute piece. This was remarkably consistent. Held the same pace throughout, never really getting to a stressful place. Watts = pace, no matter the rate. Use those legs to generate some more power. 

SCORE: 2266m