Training on Australia Day
What a great thing to be woken by your children. Well being jumped on by the kids certainly got my attention. I felt like I was a surfboard and the two of them were attempting to ride a dona wave. Thought I would make a quick entry before I head out to train. Today is Australia Day, a public holiday so I thought I would have a sleep in and enjoy breakfast and morning with the kids before getting into a bike ride and then and ergo.
We have a club regatte tomorrow in which I will race the single scull and a four. It has been a pretty full week of training and the result is clear when you look at my hands. Due to our Queensland camp being in a pair. With one oar each the grip on the handle is very different to the scull, and so with a few intense session the blisters that formed in my right hand we amazing and very painful. It is luck that my boat went on the traillor with my coach a day ago which meant that I trained on the ergo yesterday and I will train on it again today.
Training today will be a ride and ergo and I thought I would share what will be involved. In 30min I will head off from home down Beach Rd, Port Melbourne. It is a great streatch of road for cycling considering how close to the city we are. It is not going to be a long ride, but fairly intense. It will be 60km and during the ride I will do some interval work, where I take off as fast as I can go see what max speed I can get to, then hold for 30sec after which I back off say 5% effort and maintain for 3-5min. The speed are not all the important, but I use a rough guide of 65-50km top speed, down to a speed range of 55-40km. It depends on wind conditions and any small rises or hills in the road. With the number of set, I really go by my level of fatigue and I find that between 3 & 8 sets is the range for me. Again if I feel tired before then 3 sets is more than enough and I use it to get things moving at a speed which stimulates, but won't flatten me all together.
The ergo this afternoon will be done on feel and my focus will be to do some power work where I increase the resistance with the fan setting. I like to do this because it is a challenge to create ease of movment when the load is increased. I certainly don't want to though form out the window as I work to stay attentive with using a sensation of hips back and swing. The duration will be around 40min all up and I will break it up into 10min blocks to ensure I get off the machine and streatch and keep my back free and loose. The way I prefer to do each 10mins is by starting out the first minute will a real driving rhythm and then transfer into an easier movement that flows more. I will keep that stroke rate around 20 to start then settle down to 18-19 strokes per minute. After 5min I will work to create the driving rhythm again and allow the rate to climb back to 20spm. I find it it fun to let go a bit in the last 2mins and feed on the pressure gradually and let the rate move up until I start to find I am loosing form. This is the tipping point and most times I can hold this for a good 50sec with all my attention on efficency while close to max output. The scores on the ergo will range from 1.28/30 at best to 1.45/48 and I am very conscious of not being to hard on myself is at times the split slips further.
So that's the plan for today, it is not a normal day but does give some insight into the way I train. The biggest factor in determining the outputs I aim for come from all the years of training and that sense of what works to assist my preparation. Obviously heart rate is taken into account as well, and I am a big fan of the subjective feeling I have and use them to monitor progess and level at which to perform. I am certainly not as consistent as some, but I have learn over the year that self monitoring is essential in maintaining and improving.
We have a club regatte tomorrow in which I will race the single scull and a four. It has been a pretty full week of training and the result is clear when you look at my hands. Due to our Queensland camp being in a pair. With one oar each the grip on the handle is very different to the scull, and so with a few intense session the blisters that formed in my right hand we amazing and very painful. It is luck that my boat went on the traillor with my coach a day ago which meant that I trained on the ergo yesterday and I will train on it again today.
Training today will be a ride and ergo and I thought I would share what will be involved. In 30min I will head off from home down Beach Rd, Port Melbourne. It is a great streatch of road for cycling considering how close to the city we are. It is not going to be a long ride, but fairly intense. It will be 60km and during the ride I will do some interval work, where I take off as fast as I can go see what max speed I can get to, then hold for 30sec after which I back off say 5% effort and maintain for 3-5min. The speed are not all the important, but I use a rough guide of 65-50km top speed, down to a speed range of 55-40km. It depends on wind conditions and any small rises or hills in the road. With the number of set, I really go by my level of fatigue and I find that between 3 & 8 sets is the range for me. Again if I feel tired before then 3 sets is more than enough and I use it to get things moving at a speed which stimulates, but won't flatten me all together.
The ergo this afternoon will be done on feel and my focus will be to do some power work where I increase the resistance with the fan setting. I like to do this because it is a challenge to create ease of movment when the load is increased. I certainly don't want to though form out the window as I work to stay attentive with using a sensation of hips back and swing. The duration will be around 40min all up and I will break it up into 10min blocks to ensure I get off the machine and streatch and keep my back free and loose. The way I prefer to do each 10mins is by starting out the first minute will a real driving rhythm and then transfer into an easier movement that flows more. I will keep that stroke rate around 20 to start then settle down to 18-19 strokes per minute. After 5min I will work to create the driving rhythm again and allow the rate to climb back to 20spm. I find it it fun to let go a bit in the last 2mins and feed on the pressure gradually and let the rate move up until I start to find I am loosing form. This is the tipping point and most times I can hold this for a good 50sec with all my attention on efficency while close to max output. The scores on the ergo will range from 1.28/30 at best to 1.45/48 and I am very conscious of not being to hard on myself is at times the split slips further.
So that's the plan for today, it is not a normal day but does give some insight into the way I train. The biggest factor in determining the outputs I aim for come from all the years of training and that sense of what works to assist my preparation. Obviously heart rate is taken into account as well, and I am a big fan of the subjective feeling I have and use them to monitor progess and level at which to perform. I am certainly not as consistent as some, but I have learn over the year that self monitoring is essential in maintaining and improving.
Comments
As a keen indoor rower myself i will be reading your progress.
My blog is on line at http://www.concept2.co.uk/forum/weblog.php?w=61 if you've time.
Best of luck with your training.
Michael.