Easier But Faster and Wilder

Today's 10K was supposed to be the same as yesterday's:  keep the heart rate in zones 1 and/or zone 2.  But the pace turned out to be quite a bit faster, 2:12.4 vs 2:14.2 yesterday.  Average watts today was 149.1 vs 145.0 yesterday.  Calories today was 600 vs 595 yesterday.

It felt easier as far as effort was concerned, but heart rate was noticeably wilder, with a lot more variations for the same effort, especially in the first half of the 10K, than yesterday. During the first few thousand meters, the heart rate display went blank several times also, but it doesn't show as having done so on the session report.

The only thing that comes to mind which might have made a difference is that I had breakfast and  two cups of strong coffee before rowing.  Usually, I do the rowing first and then have coffee and breakfast as a reward afterward.  If caffeine made that much of a difference then perhaps caffeine should be considered a "drug" and not allowed during Olympics and other races.

Just joking, of course, about coffee as a drug that should be disallowed.  The results of today vs yesterday aren't radically different, but mentally/subjectively speaking.... it felt a lot easier.

RowPro finish screen

Session report