Week 6: 6-12 Feb

Monday
PM. Erg 15km (3x5km, 2min rec.) steady HR145(159)
5km intervals were:
19:33.9 __ r23
19:31.9 __ r22
19:32.3 __ r23 = average 1:57.2 at r22
With all this concentration on the Challenge Series and so on, this was the first steady row of more than an hour I’ve done all winter.

Tuesday
PM. Turbo 34km inc. 8x3min @ 320W (3 min rec. @ 220W)/1:03:58 (31.9km/h), hard __ HR139(159)
Average power 260W, cadence 90, Tacx gradient +3.
Last 3-minute interval done at +325W

Skipped my morning swim to bid on a couple of things on eBay. Couldn’t just leave a couple of bids on – they were the same thing and I wanted to win either of them (which I did). There used to be a “Bid Assistant” on eBay for multiple bids on similar items but I couldn’t find it yesterday – maybe it’s not there any more. Decent short interval session on the turbo in the evening.

Wednesday
Rest day. Had to faff about at the beginning and end of the day getting my car to/from a garage for a service. Although cold outside it would have been perfectly possible to go out for a run but I settled for a rest day instead, I’ve lost my mojo a bit. Did a half hour of stretches/core in the evening.

Thursday
AM. Swim 3200m steady plod
PM. Run 13½km/66 steady, HR140
Two or three inches of snow fell overnight.

Friday
Lunchtime. Erg 15km (5k + 4k + 3k + 2k + 1k, 1 min rec.) __ brisk, HR149(162)
5km 19:31.9 (1:57.1) __ r22
4km 15:32.0 (1:56.5) __ r23
3km 11:36.8 (1:56.1) __ r24
2km 7:43.0 (1:55.7) __ r25
1km 3:48.4 (1:54.2) __ r26 (average 1:56.4)
Done with a +1 rate  increase every interval to try to get used to the idea of trading a bit of rate for pace at the end of race rows. Mind you, if I was a half-decent rower, this would’ve been done 22/24/26/28/30!

Saturday
PM. Turbo 37km, inc. 2x12x1min @320W (1min 220W rec.), 7min between sets. Brisk __ HR140(158)
1:10:24 (31.5km/h). Average power 257W, cadence 92, Tacx gradient +3
We went out for dinner and a few beers to celebrate our 5th anniversary last night. A late night, so I didn’t feel like getting on the turbo until later in the afternoon. Although this is 24 minutes’ work like Tuesday’s 8×3, it’s chopped up into smaller segments and much easier to deal with physiologically. I should probably have done the hard bits at +330W. Still a good session though. Freezing outside again.

Sunday
AM. Run 12km/59, steady, HR145
PM. Weights 50min. A bit of a thaw happened today so I took the opportunity to get on my bike and go to the gym. Plenty of abdominal exercises, plus 4×15 on stations for my shoulders – presses, lat pull down, tricep push down. Did 2x3x10 on pulley flyes, light weights, working on the rotator cuff.

Hours 8:10
Wobbled a bit this week. It’s barely got above 0°C during the day, which hasn’t helped my motivation much, and my ankle’s been sore where I twisted it last Sunday. I’ve managed to press on with the interval training though – essential for building some speed coming into the new racing season, and something I missed out on last year.