Real winter temperatures are swooping into town, bringing a higher focus on proper clothing layering, fire-making, and additional bed covers. Phil Henson has offered me the use of his space heater which has changed my outlook on life over the last couple of days. The space heater has changed my sleep attire from socks, sweatpants, and sweater, to just underwear! In exchange, Phil can use my keyboard whenever he wants.
One of the best ways to keep warm is to exercise. It's a great deal really. Push the Heart rate over 130 or so, and the fire starts burning. The last few days we have been doing a lot of easy distance on skis along with speed on the erg. We started the week off with 8 x 1 min/4 min rest. This workout is meant to be done well below 2k pace and introduces a lot of quickness, power, and lactic acid burn to the system. Right now the idea of our training is to either be going extremely easy or extremely hard, nothing in the middle. I have either been at 135-140 HR or at Max HR. I enjoy this style of training because I think it is the most applicable to rowing a 2k fast. 2k speed= x % of MAX. Pretty simple. The question is what is A. what is your max power/pace? B. what percentage of it can you hold for 2k? I don't think anyone would debate that. The debate lies in how best to train A and B. Things get complicated when mixing power training and aerobic training. It has been something I have struggled with for as long I have been trying to get fast in rowing. What is the right balance? It's not black/white and it is certainly different for each person. I think there is a sweet spot for everyone, but it takes great awareness of your body to find it. It takes a lot of guess/check and trial/error. A training plan is just a piece of paper or a computer document. It is just a guess at what might create the desired stimulus to the athlete's body, but it is not law. I think its most important that the coach and the athlete are in agreement about the purpose of each type of training session; therefore, a smart, motivated athlete and a wise coach can come to an agreement on when they have achieved the goal of the workout and move on. I am definitely a believer that smart training is a mosaic and does not look much in the myopic view. But at the end of a week, month, year, or whenever its designed to be completed; that collection of seemingly innocuous tiles and colors will combine to make something spectacular. Some tiles are colorful, some are bland, but each of them are important in their own right. Each workout has a purpose to the whole, even if it feels like a monumental failure. Just keep laying tiles.
In my own 2013-14 Mosaic, I am trying to trust the process, but of course there are times when it doesn't flow, feels wrong, or doesn't go to plan. Those may be the most important times. In fact, I know they are. After all, the only thing I know for certain is that things WILL go wrong. So, we prepare for it.
One of the best ways to keep warm is to exercise. It's a great deal really. Push the Heart rate over 130 or so, and the fire starts burning. The last few days we have been doing a lot of easy distance on skis along with speed on the erg. We started the week off with 8 x 1 min/4 min rest. This workout is meant to be done well below 2k pace and introduces a lot of quickness, power, and lactic acid burn to the system. Right now the idea of our training is to either be going extremely easy or extremely hard, nothing in the middle. I have either been at 135-140 HR or at Max HR. I enjoy this style of training because I think it is the most applicable to rowing a 2k fast. 2k speed= x % of MAX. Pretty simple. The question is what is A. what is your max power/pace? B. what percentage of it can you hold for 2k? I don't think anyone would debate that. The debate lies in how best to train A and B. Things get complicated when mixing power training and aerobic training. It has been something I have struggled with for as long I have been trying to get fast in rowing. What is the right balance? It's not black/white and it is certainly different for each person. I think there is a sweet spot for everyone, but it takes great awareness of your body to find it. It takes a lot of guess/check and trial/error. A training plan is just a piece of paper or a computer document. It is just a guess at what might create the desired stimulus to the athlete's body, but it is not law. I think its most important that the coach and the athlete are in agreement about the purpose of each type of training session; therefore, a smart, motivated athlete and a wise coach can come to an agreement on when they have achieved the goal of the workout and move on. I am definitely a believer that smart training is a mosaic and does not look much in the myopic view. But at the end of a week, month, year, or whenever its designed to be completed; that collection of seemingly innocuous tiles and colors will combine to make something spectacular. Some tiles are colorful, some are bland, but each of them are important in their own right. Each workout has a purpose to the whole, even if it feels like a monumental failure. Just keep laying tiles.
In my own 2013-14 Mosaic, I am trying to trust the process, but of course there are times when it doesn't flow, feels wrong, or doesn't go to plan. Those may be the most important times. In fact, I know they are. After all, the only thing I know for certain is that things WILL go wrong. So, we prepare for it.
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