What Was Your Work Out Today?

Stationary bike, 43 minutes.
100 push-ups.

MikePfirrman wrote: »

Djproulx wrote: »

@MikePfirrman - 90 is hot! I'm still riding indoors for a while. Will ride in Florida in April, but until then, cold weather gear will be needed. Re: sizes, I'm down a notch on the belt and a medium shirt size all day long, but in skin tight cycling/tri gear, I'll always wear the Single Big Boy size, lol.

Gym session this morning. Bunch of TRX, kb work, med ball stuff. Trainer gave me the March/April pep talk about my weight loss goals. I"m well on my way to racing weight, but can't slack off now or I'll regret it in July.

I'm looking forward and a bit nervous about my tri club Zwift ride tonight. It will be the first one I've done on the new Kickr SNAP. I"m still getting used to all the variables presented by Zwift, the companion app, and discord voice server and now the new smart trainer. Not to mention setting my garmin watch and turning on the fan!!

Riding was so much simpler when I used only a power meter and followed a structured workout sent to that device.

I've been considering getting EXR Rowing. It's a new app that's the rower's version of Zwift. For the same reasons you're talking about, at least currently, it's not worth all the set up. But EXR is still in its infancy. You can't interact with other rowers yet, though they are working on creating a simulated world much like Zwift. If they end up getting there, I'll be tempted. Good for you being down a size! Not me! My waist always gives me issues. Ongoing battle!

Did another 8 X 500m interval w/ 1 minute rests. Off from last week's pace but OK. 1:58.9 today average (1:58.1 last week). But last week I didn't do a 4 X 2K that same week and this week I didn't eat in the AM, something I typically do only on hard rowing interval days.

Had to do this one in the garage. Winds were 50 MPH today.

Also got some supersets in this AM too.

Hmm, I've never heard of EXR rowing, but I guess it makes sense given the rise in Zwift's popularity. Even though we are both self motivated, I must admit that the "group" aspect of Zwift provides a bit of a lift. While I'm not adept at real time interaction available via the Zwift companion app, I do like the voice interaction via the Discord app when riding with friends. I"ll be interested to hear more about EXR if you eventually go that route.

Sounds like you are in a decent training flow after Covid recovery, etc. I'm hoping to maintain a similar level of momentum for the next six weeks prior to a Fla vacation trip.

Enjoyed a brief dose of spring yesterday, so I got outdoors for twenty five miles on the bike with a friend. Snowmelt made for a few puddles in low spots, but for the most part, roads were fine. We kept it social, but managed a 17mph ave, which is fine for now.

Quick swim planned for tonight.

Just another 6K X 2/1' (one minute rest) on rower at lunch (roughly an hour). Let HR drift up to 70% max. I try to ideally keep it under 65% or 66% so this was a tad high for easy work.

Rowing machine again, but just 2 x (2500m on, 2' off/CD). 2:28.1 average pace on the 2.5k pieces, almost 8' of the overall time in Z4, remainder Z3 (mostly) and below, peak at about 77% reserve/85% max. Time for the 2.5k pieces was 24:41.9, 28:41.9 overall of course and 5,544m overall.

If anyone else is doing a Concept 2 workout tomorrow, check the Challenges page. If you do part of your rowing workout as *exactly* 5k (10k if bikerg), C2 will donate $5 per participant (up to $15k USD) split between the Women’s Sports Foundation and Women Sport International for International Women’s Day. (You don't have to be a woman to participate, but you must sign up on your C2 logbook homepage.)

@drmwc, that tyre swing looks pretty fun! It's so thoughtful of you to isolate before visiting your mother, too.

Did my indoor (online) rowing club's CTC (Cross Team Challenge) today. Was dreading it when I saw it originally because I hate longer distance timed rows. This was 30 minutes for meters. Ended up at around 6951, I think (a 2:09.4 pace). Was pleased with that. Anything right now under 2:10 pace would have made me happy. The last 10K I did was 2:15 pace, so I think I'm getting faster. I'm pretty sure I could have done a sub 2:12 pace on 10K, which would be a very nice improvement for only a couple of months. A 2:07.4 pace would put me back in the top half of rankings. When I injured my back a few years back, most of my timed rows were roughly in the 75th to 85th percentile (for my age group as a Male "heavyweight"). Way off that now but slowly clawing my way back.

I finished with around a 5K cool down. Oh, and registered it for International Women's Day fundraiser on Concept2's website.

Stationary bike (BikeErg), 10K single distance for the Concept 2 International Women's Day Challenge (participation in which far exceeded its charitable donation maximum - nice!), then a separate 3' CD for an added 1,020m. On the 10k, moderate pace (91W), topped out at mid-Z3 at about 64% reserve/75% max.

Just realized that after my previous stationary bike workout on March 5, I'd hit the C2 BikeErg Million Meter Club level, and sent for my free t-shirt. I only have 5,715,786 RowErg lifetime meters logged, but over the roughly 20 years I've been rowing/erging, there have been quite a few seasons where I didn't log many of my machine workouts on the site at all (did them away from home, didn't bother to log except for challenges/races some years, etc.), so I have no idea what the real total would be.

@MikePfirrman, nice pace on your 30' piece - congrats! You're making really good progress with pace!

6K and 3K on the rower today. Planned 12K but the back case of my PM5 (computer for the Concept2 rower) has had a crack in it that was getting progressively worse and I've been, admittedly, lazy about fixing it. Probably a combination of the Arizona heat with the fact that I put my rower in the shed and move it and set it up, put it away daily.

Well, anyway, got through the first 6K and adjusted the PM5 and crash -- PM5 fell right off the arm. Back of the case busted right in half. Set it on a bar stool and finished 3K more. Have to fix it this week. Doesn't look too complicated but we'll see.

When I had to stop, was rather pleased with the pace for the HR. Was going at around 2:26 pace and keeping the HR in check under 70% of max. I'm starting to think half of my pace issues were lack of strength/stamina, but also lack of really efficient form was the other half.

Slacking off but slogging along: Rowing machine day, back at 3 x (2k on, 2' off/CD).

2k pieces at 10:12.3 (2:33.0 pace/22spm), 9:50.5 (2:27.6/20), 9:47.9 (2:26.9/18), with 776 meters from the row in/out and CD. Moderate-ish pace, about half in Z3, a quarter in Z4, remainder below. Topped out at 155bpm, 1 beat above 220-age, which is about 86% max, 80% reserve.

First piece might have been a little quicker, but I didn't notice before I started that there was some tiny thing on the track or one of the seat-wheels (so annoying), and I made a couple of lame attempts to remove it blindly (it was behind me), while rowing. Not a good or productive plan! Eventually it either jumped off or smoothed out, because it became imperceptible. It doesn't take much to be noticeable, when you're use to a smooth rail. I usually check, thought I had, but obviously missed something. 🙄

Wanted to replicate what is becoming my normal Friday workout -- 8 X 500m sprints on the rower. My rower arm is still broke (waiting on the part to arrive) so the computer for the rower is temporarily sitting on a bar stool while I row -- not ideal!

I thought I had set it up properly and went off pretty fast on the first interval. Yet my I-phone, which can mirror the PM5 monitor wirelessly, wasn't showing anything. Turns out ErgData (the software that ties your phone into your rower) either dropped or I didn't set it up right. So here I am, rowing the first interval trying to gauge, without a screen, how far is 500m!

I counted strokes, guessed I had finished and turns out I was at around 450m, not 500m, but had gone off at 1:51.7 pace. At that point, I was frustrated and quite frankly already drained. But instead of packing it up, I set the rower up for 7 more intervals and completed the set -- at a 1:57.2 pace for the other 7, still faster than I've been averaging even without adding in what would have likely been at least a very fast first interval. My last set of 8 a week ago were 1:58.5 and the week before that 1:58.1, so I believe this was a pretty nice improvement.

Finished with a 5K in 24 minutes flat on a C/D and called it a day. Proud of myself for completing it. Can't wait to get the rower fixed.

Also did supersets this AM lifting. Nothing super heavy but hard enough for me.

@AnnPT77 -- I work my *kitten* off just to be in the top 50% of rowers and you throw down some times that would likely easily put you in the top 10 of your age group for lightweight women in the world. That's impressive!

MikePfirrman wrote: »

@AnnPT77 -- I work my *kitten* off just to be in the top 50% of rowers and you throw down some times that would likely easily put you in the top 10 of your age group for lightweight women in the world. That's impressive!

WOW! Knowing how difficult it is to go from the "middle of the pack" to the pointy end of the spear in competitive endurance stuff, I'll second @Mike's comment. Well done!

MikePfirrman wrote: »

@AnnPT77 -- I work my *kitten* off just to be in the top 50% of rowers and you throw down some times that would likely easily put you in the top 10 of your age group for lightweight women in the world. That's impressive!

That's very kind, @MikePfirrman (and @Djproulx), but I think not really the case. That 2nd piece's pace yesterday, at 2:19.4, would be somewhere in the low 70s percentile for F 60-69 lwt for a 2k. Subjectively, I've got a little more, I think - maybe giving myself too much credit here - but not a lot more, for a max effort 2k. I know myself pretty well. (Remember, I rowed into the piece, does make a difference.)

My best race pace ever was about 2:10 (so 8:40 2k) when I was a younger woman; I doubt for a variety of reasons that I'd be able to get back there if I trained hard for it (and could, without injury) . . . maybe close, but I'm not sure. It'd be under 90 percentile, for my demographic, if I did. Top 10 is 8:31-ish. I don't think I've got that. I 'm not sure I've even got a sub-2:00 500m anymore - should try sometimes, but dang, that's hard. 😆

I admit, I surprised myself with what I could do, early on, once I got engaged in rowing, especially as someone who'd been a "chosen last in gym" kind of kid . . . but I think a lot of people would find the same, both men and women, but especially women (for reasons that follow). I've been doing this for 20 years now, too - with the luck of having elite-level coaching to start.

I also know that many top on-water rowers don't rank machine workouts. Even in my local club, there's at least one woman around my age (hwt) who could put down a top-level CRASH-B (place, maybe win) - got a time that would do so, in a regional race, a few years back. She's not that rare. I know others locally who're capable of machine rowing at least close to my pace, who are my age or older, if they cared to train and compete.

My boat-moving ability is mid-pack, at best, realistically. (There's much more to on-water technically, of course - as we say, ergs don't float! - but the raw CV/strength performance is also a factor.)

Further, I'd note that your demographic is far more competitive than mine. I came up in a time when women's athletic opportunities were few, and athleticism for most women, in most places, was absolutely discouraged. By contrast, men have been rowing competitively (outside occupational contexts), in numbers, since the mid-1800s in the US. Men's rowing became an Olympic sport in 1900. Collegiate women's rowing started around then, but was very niche: It didn't expand dramatically until after Title IX passed in 1972 (because it was a way to add a huge squad in one go, to balance gender athletic opportunities to enrollment levels). Women's rowing entered the Olympics in 1976, when I was already 20 years old. First women's collegiate championship was in 1980.

That history creates a very different pipeline, for men vs. women, at your or my age. Women's rowing will catch up in relative competitiveness, I'm pretty sure, when those women who were young in the 1970s/80s and beyond reach the older rowing categories. It may take longer to fully even out, comparing within each gender (not across), because of some social factors that influence masters women's athletic participation and aspirations in adulthood. (Note to non-rowers: "Masters" means post collegiate adults, not high-achievers, necessarily.)

I think if you looked at the numbers of participants, and the comparatives of young-person (well into adulthood) race times with old-person race times in the C2 rankings, you'd see that your challenge to reach any given percentile is a tougher thing than mine. (Comparing the 80-90 percentiles would be more meaningful than comparing the top times, or the world records - those can always be unicorns.) Further, heavyweight is likely to be more competitive than lightweight, at any age, because rowing favors long levers, and tall people are more likely to skew above the lwt limit, especially if strong. That may be even more true in masters, because realistically many people do add a few pounds as they age, even staying at a healthy weight. Really muscular women my height (5'5") weigh above 135, let alone taller women.

Your results are excellent, especially for a late starter, and you earn them with hard work. You should feel really, really good about that, very proud.

MikePfirrman wrote: »

@ Ann -- you underestimate yourself, by a lot. I think you still might have a low 2:10ish pace in you on a 2K, based on that 2:19 10 minute row you did on your second interval. And if I'm correct, you're around 67. That's just really strong.

And here's the thing about the age ratings -- while you're right, a lot of folks don't rank, those that do tend to be early in the age group -- 60 or 61. I know 2K all out isn't your thing but I feel confident in saying you'd be certainly in the top 25 and likely top 2 at age 67 in the world.

If I'd ever be in the top 250 again, I'd be over the moon.

We have a lady in our online club that's a lot like you -- she mostly rows for enjoyment on the water but she lives in Florida and rows a special ocean rower. She rows roughly 8 or 9 miles most days OTW and she's like 58. She just rowed a sub 4 minute 1K. She's also a lightweight like you. Pound for pound, you are both very strong. Much stronger than me for my weight, which is a huge advantage in rowing, even though I'm a lighter heavyweight.

Thanks, Mike. I think I maybe/probably could go top 25 in the C2 rankings for W 60-69 lwt, if I trained. Right now, this year - with at least a fair number of formal race results in - that'd be 8:52-ish. But that's 25 out of 135 😆, a small field. Top 2, I don't think so: Requires 8:10. Maybe if I went single-minded on training, including lifting, but I'm not sure I could do that without injury. I do appreciate your confidence and generous evaluation, sincerely. But . . .

I know myself pretty well, have a healthy ego, am not underselling myself. I do OK. But I could go any pace at all, and be top 250 at C2 in F 60-69 lwt, y'know? Context makes a difference. There are only 440 in my F age group (all weights) on C2 rankings. Top 250 line is around 11:55, so a 2:58 pace. Pretty much any F rower my age that I know can row that, honestly. Top 250 in your demographic is around the 7:00 line, and it's 250 out of 2500-3000 guys, a much higher bar. Not comparable.

I rowed World Rowing Virtual Sprints the first year, without much training (though I'd been working out routinely) - it's a 1K. That first year, it wasn't very well publicized, so not super competitive. I'm semi-doxing myself when I say this, I know, but I pulled 4:10.3, which was good enough for 3rd that year - barely. By the next year, that would've been well off the pace. Other than that, which was a one-off for fun - with very unexpected results, for sure - right after weight loss, my first year as a lightweight - I'd competed as a heavyweight, was not nearly as competitive. My performance didn't change appreciably, heavy to light . . . my times were just more competitive in lightweight. The really fast rowers are hwt.

Being a shorter as well as lighter hwt - which I suspect you are, since the top guys tend to be really tall - is a tough thing.

I'm pretty strong for a li'l ol' lady, probably . . . but technique will get a person a good long way, too. (My lifts are profoundly underwhelming, pathetic even.) My erg technique is non-terrible, though. I was super, super lucky at first, with coaching - learned to row from someone who was Big Ten assistant coach of the year, later head coach with a Div I elite program that won back to back NCAA championships during her term (and got conference head coach of the year honors, too). Lots of masters rowing camps exposed me to coaching from Olympic medalists, other elite collegiate coaches, etc. Good stuff. Really helps, plus it's fun. I recommend it.

Elliptical session 306 minutes for 19.1 miles today.

Stationary bike, the usual 10k+3' CD SS, I'd call it easy/moderate-ish, hit the top end of Z3 but that's all (and only 55% in Z3, remainder below), average 98W in the 10k piece. 11,128m in 28:43.5 overall, playing games on my phone throughout. 😆

Rest day planned tomorrow.