The Sub-7 Experiment

Tag: Low rate power

  • A Better Kind of Sunday

    It is a few days into this phase of remembering what it feels like to look after myself, and it is actually pretty good.

    It is Sunday today. I got up, had some breakfast and watched a bit of telly. I have a presentation first thing tomorrow morning, so I knew I had to do some work today as well.

    It would have been very easy to sit on the sofa all day. It is raining outside, the rest of the house are happily relaxing and doing their own thing, and the path of least resistance was right there.

    Instead, I reminded myself what it feels like to look after myself properly.

    I went out to the shed and did 45 minutes on the rower. Now I am set to sit down and do a couple of hours on the presentation so I am ready for nine o’clock on Monday morning.

    All checked in, all good. I am rowing well, cruising well, pulling decent speeds at a low stroke rate and generally getting faster with better technique. The Sub-7 goal is still there, and it is coming along. It is probably time to do a 2K test soon and see where things are.

    For today, though, I am just glad I did not spend the whole day on the sofa. I moved first, then I worked. That feels like the right order.

    This is The Sub-7 Experiment.

  • Harder Than It Looks on Paper

    /i

    OK, that was a good session. I didn’t think it was going to be.

    My recovery, according to WHOOP, was down in the yellow at around 47%. Not terrible, not great. CoachGPT’s prescription for today was simple enough on paper: three 6-minute intervals at a pace between 2:02 and 2:05/500m, with a stroke rate of 22–24.

    I looked at it and thought, what’s the point? It didn’t sound like there was going to be much effort involved.

    Turned out I was wrong.

    I did my warm-up and then got into the first 6 minutes. Holding 2:02 at 22 strokes per minute is actually a fair bit of work. It ties straight back to what we were talking about the other day: lower stroke rate means you have to put more power into each stroke.

    By the end of the first 6 minutes I was puffing. I took the 2-minute rest, started the second 6-minute block, and I was definitely working by the end of that one too.

    The third set was the most interesting. I couldn’t find a rhythm at all to start with. I was either rowing too fast or too slow. Pace drifting, stroke rate drifting. It took me nearly half of that final 6-minute interval to settle into the groove of 22 strokes a minute at around 2:02/500m.

    Once I locked it in, it felt solid, but it was a much more intense session than it looked on paper.

    Feels good. Off to work now.

    This is The Sub-7 Experiment.