I started Friday morning with a gym session, then headed down to the river under a sunny sky and a Fahrenheit temperature in the high 30s. The workout was two sets of eight 10-second sprints with 50 seconds recovery. Maks described it as a "sprint endurance" workout in which the power and stroke rate should be consistent throughout. He told me to take flying starts, and "don't go overboard" with the stroke rate because "power is dominant during sprinting." So I aimed for 90 strokes per minute (15 strokes per 10-second sprint). At first I was tending more toward 96 to 100 spm, but by the second set I had settled in and was hitting 90 every time. I put all the power I possibly could into each stroke while keeping the boat running smoothly. The workout went by in the blink of an eye, it seemed--it was over just a half-hour after I'd left the dock. I spent the rest of my hour in the boat working on my stroke, trying to make the improvements I talked about in my last post. It was during this period that I started to feel the muscle fatigue from the workout.
I got some good news Friday evening: the United States Court for the Western District of Tennessee will not need my services as a juror any sooner than February 15. So I have two more weeks in which my schedule depends on nobody but me.
Yesterday morning I paddled for 50 minutes, during which I did eight 4-minute pieces with one minute recovery. Maks said these pieces should be "calm, technical" efforts in the "A1" stroke-rate range (60-75 spm). So I tried to stay relaxed while focusing on the forward stroke components I'm trying to improve and taking solid strokes that generated smooth glide. Whenever I checked my stroke rate it was in the mid 60s, but I didn't think too hard about what my rate was as long as it was in "A1" territory.
The weather forecasters had predicted yesterday would be a rainy day, but in the morning I didn't see anything more than a light sprinkle. The real precipitation arrived a little after 2 o'clock, and I did most of my afternoon session in a light but steady rain. I did three sets of six 1-minute pieces at 80 spm, with 1 minute recovery. The first and third sets were done with resistance on the boat, the second without. Maks urged me to apply the same amount of power throughout the workout, regardless of the presence or absence of resistance. He said I should feel like I'm flying in the second set, and he was right. The hardest part of the workout was the third set, with the resistance back on.
I was thoroughly worn out after yesterday's work, and still felt some weariness this morning. It took a little extra gumption to get moving, and the weather wasn't helping: though the rain had moved out and the temperature wasn't that cold (50 degrees), a swirling northwest wind was making a blustery mess of things and out on the water it had the feel of a more oppressive winter day.
Today's workout was a 75-minute distance paddle for which the only instruction was "be efficient." Since starting this new training regime I've been staying mostly in the harbor because many of the workouts are so technical that I don't need the distraction of the swirly currents out on the Mississippi. Today I was hoping to do this relaxed endurance session on the river, but after five minutes fully exposed to the howling wind out there I retreated to the more sheltered environs. I tried to focus on my stroke, keeping my top hand near my head and searching for the water pressure against my blade.
As soon as my 75 minutes expired I was out of the boat and making a beeline for my dry clothes on the dock. Chilled to the core, I felt grateful to be off until Tuesday. Maks tells me the coming week will be "the hardest one yet" but promises an easier week after that.
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