Training Update: Some days you just feel tired

Last week we spent up in Queensland in the four and did some good work. It rained pretty much all week and so much training was done in outside and in. Outside on the water was pretty basic with 16 - 22km of paddling. Inside we spent most time on the watt bike or ergo. My best session came on the watt bike on the second last day with 2 x 20min efforts at 422w and 446w with lactates 4.1 and 7.6. It was solid week with plenty of threshold work in the mix on the ergo and watt bike. My favourite water session involved 3 x 8min of power strokes at 20 strokes per minute. Felt great to drive the boat along for an extend period as a crew. We had some good skill development session too and some very positive match up within the four providing some exciting insights into what we can use as a standard of our on water rowing. By Sunday I think we were all pretty tired and then came the whack. Thats right after a solid week in Queensland and our Jan camp I final felt very tired and there would be more to come.

The whack came in the form of the National ergo testing week this week. Sure we knew it was coming up but being focused on having a great week in Queensland was not about saving anything for this week but about continuing to lay the work for long term improvement. Yep after flying back to Melb Sun afternoon and settling back in it was off to the VIS today to have a crack at the 6km test. I felt pretty positive about it, but once I started the signs of accumulated fatigue over weeks was showing. My splits began to slip from my target and at one stage I was looking down the barrel of a 19min 10sec ergo score. Almost a minute slower than my last test. I hung in there and with Josh driving away beside me I was conceding that it was not going to be my day. I waited it out until I found a way to create some drive and with it came some better splits. With 2km to go I started to make inroads and started to get back on track for a sub 19min score. At the same time Josh's early pace was now showing signs of taking its toll. He had been chugging away on 1.31 splits while I had slipped to 1.36-37. The contrast was huge and yet by the 1500m mark I was back on 1.32's and I started to feel better. Wow it took 3500m to get going. Coming into the last 500m I was now feeling better than almost the whole ergo and step on it to see 1.25 for a bit before fading back to 1.29's. It did really hurt so much as frustrate that I felt heavy and tired almost all the way. Now I will turn my attention to a good days training tomorrow before a 2km test on Wed.

After this on Thur I will be flying to Sydney again to join the four for another camp before the NSW State Championships where we will be getting the chance to have our first race in this combination. I am looking forward to the month ahead and to be focusing on continuing to make gains individually and more importantly as a group. So today I was tired and it made the test hard. Still, doing 18min 43sec was ok it was not great and I am planning on better next time. It is however part of the process and a part of what will create great performances in the months to come.

Comments

RoCoach said…
Interesting. Much recent literature seems to indicate it's better to stay away from too much threshold work...
rudderfish said…
Would love to see that so if you can point me in the right direction. Funny thing though I believe from personal experience and all research I can find it is the best way to get greatest gains. We are all different but I am still finding ways to improve and getting PB's in most things and threshold training which is a broad-ish term has been a key contributor to that. An new break throughs in thinking or studying of performance I am always interested in so it would be great for you to share this RoCoach. Thanks for heads up.
Unknown said…
http://highperformancerowing.net/journal/2011/9/29/intervals-thresholds-and-long-slow-distance-the-role-of-inte.html