I'm nearing the end of a much easier week. It's given my body a chance to recharge and internalize the benefits of the last several weeks' hard work. I'm pleased to add that the blister that made me miserable for nearly a week following the Ocean Springs race is doing much better now.
On Tuesday I paddled with Joe for the first time in many weeks. We did a loop of the harbor. I used resistance on my boat and aimed to paddle around 56 strokes per minute, and worked on keeping my top hand closer to my head.
On Wednesday I did six sets of (10-second all-out sprint/2 minutes rest/1 minute at 80 spm/3 minutes rest). I put as much power as I could into the 1-minute pieces, and they were just enough to get me breathing hard. The idea was to carry the power of the A2 stroke rate into my all-out sprints.
Thursday was a 50-minute "calm" paddle in the A1 stroke rate zone. Once again I worked on my stroke mechanics. It's hard to work on your stroke during a hard training week; ideally, overhauling your stroke is something you do in the offseason. But this easy week is giving me a chance to tweak the small details that have been giving me trouble.
Yesterday all I had was a gym session to do. I focused on strength work and addressing the ailment I discussed in my last post.
This morning I did two sets of (4 times 1 minute at 60 spm with 1 minute recovery and 5 times 45 seconds at 76 spm with 75 seconds recovery). It was the latest variation on the sort of "contrast" workout that Maks likes to assign--the idea is to paddle with power and precision at the lower stroke rate, and then carry that into the higher rate. I did this workout with some extra weight in the boat: Maks specified 5 to 10 kilograms, so I put some barbell plates in the footwell that amounted to 13.75 pounds, or 6.24 kg. The weight adds to the inertia you have to overcome with your stroke but it also enhances the boat's glide.
I'm out of the boat again tomorrow. I think Maks sensed that I was ready for a mental break from paddling, and he wasn't wrong about that. I haven't decided yet what I'm going to do, but it'll be some kind of easy and fun aerobic activity like riding my bike or going for a hike. Monday will be a day off as usual, and I expect I'll be back to some more substantial training on Tuesday.
For more information on what this blog is about, click here.
No comments:
Post a Comment