Last week I had a health screening performed. Here are the results:

Blood Pressure: 127/79
Pulse (resting): 40
Total Cholesterol: 169
HDL: 78
LDL: 81
Triglycerides: 49
Glucose (fasting): 84
Body Fat%: 24.9
BMI: 25

I don’t like to brag, but these are pretty good numbers, though my blood pressure is higher than usual. Some people may think my BMI is high, but I know I exercise regularly enough that I’m just not that concerned right now. If I stopped working out, stopped lifting weights, was no longer able to do sets of push-ups or something, then I might get concerned. Today, those two digits are not something I lose sleep about. (I’m justified…per this article from MSN Health & Fitness)

And, yes, my resting pulse is that low. I relayed this number (the pulse) to my rowing friends, many of whom also said their heart rate is low like mine. No doubt the low rates are attributed to the the types of workouts these women do, which, let me tell you, are pretty spectacular. Unlike some of these superwomen, though, I am still able to get my heart rate up high. Very high, like as high as 200. Kate, not just a super woman, but a superwoman, has suggested taking my heart rate on an erg while going at 75% pressure. That will indicate to me how hard I should be working, and what my target maximum heart rate should actually be.

So this morning at practice, while everyone else enjoyed beautiful flat water and clear skies, I sat indoors on the erg. According to “the chart” that is posted on the bulletin board of the boathouse (and, I will have to source that chart at some point but didn’t bother to check today), based on my 2K split, I should be rowing at 75% pressure if I row at around a 2:26 or so. Which seems very weird, because, to me, 2:26 is very slow. Molasses slow. But anyway, I gave it a shot. If you’re as interested in this as I am, read on. Otherwise, wait until I post something a little less mathy.

Today’s workout:

1st piece:
20:13 (included warm-up and other stops along the way to set up the HR monitor, take off clothes, etc)
4,175 m
2:25.3 avg/500 (I think I was really rowing at around a 2:20-2:25)
HR: 158ish (stupid HR monitor was not transmitting. Might be time for a new one)

2nd piece:
20:00 (also included some stops along the way to adjust the stupid HR monitor)
3,881 m
2:34.5 avg/500 (this is deceiving, since I did stop several times to try to get my HR monitor to transmit. I’d say I was rowing at around a 2:25ish)
20 SR
HR: 150-155

3rd piece:
10:00
2,012 m
2:29 avg/500
23 SR
HR: 148-ish

I did the last 10′ piece because, truth be told, in my most recent timed 2K, I scored a 7:57 thus my split was around 1:59. My PR was a couple of years ago, and that was the golden 7:47 (at least, golden for me). According to “the chart”, the 75% pressure for a split of 2:00 is 2:30, so I thought I should at least attempt to row at what is truly, as of April 22, 75% pressure of my 2K split, and not the 2:26 I quoted earlier and covet to this day.

However, it’s REALLY hard for me to row a 2:30. Not because it is hard. Quite the contrary. It’s super easy. I learned today that I can row forever at a 2:29. I just don’t feel like I’m going hard enough. When I think I’m rowing “steady state” at 75% pressure, I most definitely am not. A quick flip through my log book (and now I know why I write every workout down), shows that what I think is steady state is erging anywhere between 2:12 and 2:18, far faster than the 2:23-2:29 that the chart tells me.

So, lessons learned today:
1. Rowing at 75% pressure, per ‘the chart’, is a true steady state, and I should strive for it when I can, even if Byrl sitting next to me is pulling a 1:47 as a “warm-up”.
2. If I do row at 75% pressure, per ‘the chart’, then indeed my target heart rate, in the low 150s, is approx 75%.
3. I want to be faster, and I want to keep up with my superhero friends, but it plays with my mind and I should be erging within myself (how’s that for dorky and sappy)
4. Erging is actually, dare I say it, enjoyable if you row at a rate that is sustainable for long periods of time. Go figure.