Wolverine Plan Discussion

[old] Mike Caviston · Post by **[old] Mike Caviston** » September 30th, 2005, 3:06 pm

Bill, The WP & L4 work especially well for people with an established 2K history. For people who have reached a plateau and are looking to build a foundation on which to reach a higher peak, I think Level 4 training can be very helpful. But the trickiest thing about the Wolverine Plan is determining the correct Ref Pace for a novice, or someone with rapidly advancing fitness. For someone with an established training history, the procedure may simply be to start a training season with a Ref Pace one second faster than the previous year. In my own case, I’ve been working with the same Ref Pace for four years, but I’ve been making small progress by starting each season with a slightly higher volume and/or at a slightly higher average stroke rate (and therefore advancing farther by the end of the season). You are in the position of someone whose fitness is improving at a rate that may be too great to be accommodated by a single Reference Pace. Your workouts indicate that you are getting close to a sub-7 2K. (BTW, to answer your question, I would wait the 8-10 weeks or so before attempting a full-out 2K. To break 7:00, I would suggest you can be pretty confident once your 4 x 1K gets to 1:45 or better; 1:44 would be great but I’m not aware of many people who can do 4 x 1K @ sub-2K pace. But I would also want your 4 x 2K to get down to 1:50 or better.) As for your Ref Pace, I don’t think you have mentioned what you are currently using. I would also want to know your weekly Level 4 volume (in minutes). Do the workouts you are doing now seem appropriately challenging (hard, but not TOO hard)? Given your current Level 4 workouts and formats, is there room to progress with the established L4 progressions for the next several weeks? If not, then you should readjust based on what you estimate your 2K to be based on your Level 1-2 training history. But if the workouts seem to be at the correct intensity, then just keep steadily building until this season is over and think about planning with more precision next year. For Levels 1-3, I propose guidelines for relationship between workout intensity and 2K pace. But I also encourage people not to become overly obsessed about the relationship (“If I pull x:xx for 2K, what should I pull for 4 x 1K, 10K, etc. etc.?”) The most important thing is to start where you can start and gradually, steadily, consistently build on that. Good luck! Mike Caviston

[old] mpukita · Post by **[old] mpukita** » September 30th, 2005, 3:07 pm

Mike: Thanks for the great information. I have a question on behalf of us folks that have jobs, families, marriages, and businesses that take priority (gasp) over rowing from time-to-time. When using the Wolverine plan, and unable to stick to the strict schedule of 9 workouts each week, how should one plan the next workout after a missed day (or two)? Is it better to add an additional day of L4/L3 to kind of "make up" for missing a day and keep one's aerobic fitness as high as possible, or is it best to just go to the next workout as prescribed by the plan as if the day was not missed? Also, with 9 workouts a week, there are two days (or maybe more with an "off" day each week) with double workouts without even considering weight work. How do you combine these rowing workouts? As in, L1 in AM, and L4 in PM? Or, L2 in AM, L3 in PM? Etc. Sorry if this is a redundant question, or if it's been posted somewhere and I missed it. Thanks again ... Mark

[old] Mike Caviston · Post by **[old] Mike Caviston** » September 30th, 2005, 3:26 pm

Mark, Yes – you are being redundant, and the answers have been posted before. But that’s okay, I’m sure a lot of people missed it the first couple times around. I’ll revisit all your queries in the upcoming weeks. But I will point out that by no means does the Wolverine Plan have a “strict schedule of 9 workouts per week”, though I would recommend a minimum of 5 (I even wrote out a schedule once based on 4). I keep my weights sessions short (15-30’) and fit them in at the end of my rowing sessions. I don’t count them as separate workouts. Mike Caviston

[old] FrancoisA · Post by **[old] FrancoisA** » September 30th, 2005, 4:33 pm

Mike, I have started the WP three weeks ago at 4 workouts/week, with the objective of eventually doing 6 per week. I am also doing 6 x 2 hours of swimming with the varsity, so I use erging as cross-training. I have found that swimming and erging complement each other very nicely. So far: L1: 8 x 500m at 1:40.6 (brutal! especially on same day as "L1" swimming) L1: 4 x 1000m at 1:44.8 (hard) L2: 4 x 2000m at 1:50.2 (a lot easier than L1) L3: 10K at 1:56 (easy) L4: 176,172,176,172 at 1:43 reference pace, adding 4 strokes every workout and 2-4 minutes every week to reach 60 min. I find the last 10 minutes hard, eventhough HR is low (< 140). I think that I have to work on strength since I have never been able to pull better than 1:36 for three consecutive strokes! Objectives for this year: 2K: 6:45, 5K:17:30, 10K:36:10 Am I on the right path? Any comments would be greatly appreciated. Regards

[old] mpukita · Post by **[old] mpukita** » September 30th, 2005, 6:47 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(Mike Caviston @ Sep 30 2005, 03:26 PM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>Mark, Yes – you are being redundant, and the answers have been posted before. But that’s okay, I’m sure a lot of people missed it the first couple times around. I’ll revisit all your queries in the upcoming weeks. But I will point out that by no means does the Wolverine Plan have a “strict schedule of 9 workouts per week”, though I would recommend a minimum of 5 (I even wrote out a schedule once based on 4). I keep my weights sessions short (15-30’) and fit them in at the end of my rowing sessions. I don’t count them as separate workouts. Mike Caviston </td></tr></table> Mike: Great, thanks. Sorry for the redundancy, I probably haven't searched the archives the right way to find the anwers! I look forward to the next few weeks to pull together a WP schedule that works for me. Warm regards, and thanks, -- Mark

[old] JimR · Post by **[old] JimR** » October 1st, 2005, 8:21 am

All - A snip from a previous posting made by Mike about possible WP training schedules ... found this while I was looking for something else. I'm posting this as useful information and if you don't know the whole context of Mike and the WP topic it might leave you with other questions. I would love Mike's thoughts on how he might change this now, based on what has been learned in the last year or two. Enjoy ... JimR (Below previously posted by Mike Caviston) ... PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER By far the most common question I get regarding the WP is something like, "Okay, I think I understand all this Level 1-2-3-4 business. But how the heck do I put it together into a weekly program? The Plan says something about 9 workouts a week, and I ain't doing that! So what gives?" Hey, the 9 per week is an ideal we've never really achieved at Michigan. Our team generally does 8 per week in season (that means during the fall and spring outdoor seasons, and includes 2 erg sessions along with 6 H2O workouts) and 6 erg sessions per week in the winter. I myself usually do 11 workouts per week for about half the year, and 7-9 per week the other half. At the lower end of the spectrum, I could see people making gains on 4 workouts per week. The first thing you need to do is decide how many workouts a week you will realistically commit to. A general rule is to always include a Level 1 workout and usually a Level 2, and then to supplement them with as much Level 3 & 4 as is practical or you are willing to do. Do them in roughly a ratio of twice as much Level 4 as Level 3. This refers to total meters more so than number of workouts. Now, bearing in mind the format can be flexible and these aren't carved in stone, here are some examples of possible plans using 4-8 session per week: 4 Workouts/Week: Day 1: Level 1 OR Level 2 (alternate each week) Day 2: Level 4 (40') Day 3: Level 3 (12K) Day 4: Level 4 (60') · Alternate the Level 1 or 2 workouts until about 4 weeks before your big race. Then, while keeping Level 1, replace the Level 3 or one of the Level 4s with Level 2. · You might occasionally use an interval format rather than a continuous format for Level 3 or 4 (see the Wolverine Plan for details). 5 Workouts/Week: Day 1: Level 1 Day 2: Level 4 (40') Day 3: Level 2 Day 4: Level 4 (60') Day 5: Level 3 (12K) 6 Workouts/Week: Day 1: Level 1 Day 2: Level 4 (40') Day3: Level 2 Day 4: Level 4 (4 x 10') Day 5: Level 3 (15K) Day 6: Level 4 (60') 7 Workouts/Week: Day 1, AM: Level 4 (40') Day 1, PM: Level 3 (10 x 3') Day 2: Level 1 Day 3: Level 4 (2 x 40') Day 4: Level 2 Day 5: Level 4 (4 x 10') Day 6: Level 3 (12K) 8 Workouts/Week: Day 1, AM: Level 4 (40') Day 1, PM: Level 3 (12 x 3') Day 2: Level 1 Day 3, AM: Level 4 (40') Day 3, PM: Level 4 (60') Day 4: Level 2 Day 5: Level 4 (4 x 10') Day 6: Level 3 (15K) · If doing more than one Level 3 or more than 2 Level 4s per week, do one using the interval format on a regular basis. · The amounts listed for Level 3 & 4 may need to be built gradually over several weeks. So the general idea is to separate the high-intensity workouts with slower, more continuous workouts. It is possible to work hard on a daily basis within the framework of each type of workout by alternating workouts of different type. Level 1 doesn't have to be at the beginning of the week (I personally do mine in the middle of the week), but it's a good place if you need some extra recovery to be well rested and ready to perform at a high level. You may also periodically want to do time trials (such as a 95%-effort 2K or an all-out 6K) in place of the workout scheduled for the end of the week, and doing Level 1 early in the week allows you to recover without compromising your training. (Alternately, you may want to do a time trial at the beginning of the week, in place of the Level 1 workout, but I prefer not to go that route.) A REGULAR FORMAT OR SCHEDULE IS KEY It is very important to develop a schedule you are comfortable with and then stick to it as closely as possible over the duration of your training cycle. I don't think that the exact order of workouts is a crucial factor but keeping the workouts in the same order on a weekly basis is necessary to allow consistent and reproducible improvement. Occasionally something will come up and you will have to use your best judgement about what alterations to make, but do your best to keep your schedule as consistent as possible. I don't have a hard and fast rule about which workout(s) to toss if you know you can't complete an entire week, but a couple general rules would be: 1) drop Level 1 if you are far away from competition and drop Level 3 if you are close to competition; and 2) all other things being equal, the workout you struggle with most is the last one you should drop. One of our biggest challenges at Michigan (and I imagine for all college crews) is to maintain a consistent schedule despite multiple variables like competitions and the associated travel, seasonal changes, facility availability, exams, class schedules, holidays etc.

[old] mpukita · Post by **[old] mpukita** » October 1st, 2005, 11:27 am

Jim: Bellisimo! That's exactly what I was looking for. Thanks & regards ... Mark

[old] Mike Caviston · Post by **[old] Mike Caviston** » October 1st, 2005, 8:47 pm

Creating Level 4 Workouts Let’s assume that you are working with an appropriate Reference Pace. The next step is to figure out a target weekly volume and a starting average spm. I never start a training season with my final weekly volume. My weekly goal this year is 342’ per week, but I started at 266’ and am adding 6-10’ per week (and some weeks, no added minutes) till I reach my goal (10’ more to go at this point). Some years I’ve started with “only” about 200’ per week, but this summer I kept up a higher volume of training than usual for the off-season and was ready to start my program with more minutes than I have in the past. Now, for someone else, the weekly goal might be a single 60’ session, or a couple of 40’ sessions. So to begin, you need to decide how many minutes per week you’re shooting for, and how you are going to break them up throughout your training week. Don’t forget that the main point of Level 4 training is to increase endurance by gradually and systematically covering more meters in a given time frame. Also, you want to develop the skills & concentration necessary to consistently hit your target rates and splits. You can also take advantage of the mental challenge of executing the workout to distract you from how long and difficult it may be. One of the things I love about Level 4 workouts is the chance to be creative and original in designing workouts. Some people complain about how structured and rigid the WP is (and in some ways, it is, for better or worse). But there are a wide variety of ways to reach a target number of strokes and meters in a given session. The choice of particular sequences and the order in which you put them give each workout a unique flavor and I find that after almost a decade of Level 4 training (doing more Level 4 minutes than anyone else in the history of rowing), I am still finding new things to try. Workouts can be more evenly paced (relative to other L4 workouts, that is), or radically uneven, or front-loaded, or fairly even but with a hard sequence at the end, or some unique challenge buried in the middle, or completely different rhythms for different sequences to maximize variety, or a gradual increase in intensity during the workout, steep climbs with sharp drops or slow steady up & down hills – it would be as if a cyclist could completely redesign the landscape to suit his purposes before every ride. It just takes a little imagination. Each workout, and each training week, can be quantified by average spm. (E.g., 1104 strokes in 60’ = 18.4spm.) The training season should begin at about 18spm (give or take a couple tenths one way or the other.) You would generally keep the avg. spm constant early in the season until you reach your full volume of minutes over the next few weeks. That is, build from say 40’ to 60’ @ 18spm; once you reach 60’, begin to gradually increase the number of strokes for each 60’ session. As an example, let’s say someone is going to increase from 30’ to 60’ for one of their weekly sessions. They might progress like this: 1st session, 30’: 176,178,180 = 534 strokes (avg. 17.8spm) Assuming that went well, proceed to a longer session (if not, repeat session 1). 2nd session, 36’ (using 6’ sequences): 104,110,104,110,104,110 = 642 (17.8) (Proceed to next session or repeat if necessary.) 3rd session, 40’: 176,178,178,180 = 712 (17.8) (Proceed or repeat.) 4th session, 42’: 112^,104,110,104,110,104,110 = 748 (17.8) 5th session, 46’ (combination 10’ & 6’ sequences): 176,178,176,180,110 = 820 (17.8) 6th session, 50’: 176,176,186,176,176 = 890 (17.8) 7th session, 54’: 104,110,104,110,104,110,104,112^,104 = 962 (17.8) 8th session, 60’: 176,178,180,176,178,180 = 1068 (17.8) Incidentally, someone with good general fitness who just needs practice developing their Level 4 skills might begin by doing shorter pieces with breaks, gradually fusing the workout into a continuous session (e.g., 3 x 20’, then 30’ + 20’ + 10’, or 24’ + 24’ + 12’, etc.) Now having reached a continuous 60’, add 4-6 strokes per week to each session. 9th session, 60’: 178,180,178,178,180,178 = 1072 (17.9) 10th session, 60’: 176,186,176,176,186,176 = 1076 (17.9) 11th session, 60’: 180,180,180,180,180,180 = 1080 (18) The rate of increase would depend on how easily you tolerate each workout. Based on the Level 4 tables, calculate the goal for your workout in total meters. If you easily meet your goal, or exceed it without really trying, you can increase by more strokes per session. If you miss your goal, or struggle to reach it, you may choose to keep your number of strokes the same, or increase by a smaller amount, or even decrease if you think you need to make sure you have enough fitness before proceeding. My general rule of thumb is to increase by 1 stroke per 10’ per week (i.e., add 4 strokes to a 40’ session or 6 strokes to a 60’ session.) Add more or less in a given week as necessary (as many as 8 strokes for 60’). My goal, over the course of 20-30 weeks of training, is to build my average stroke rate up from around 18 to as close to 20 as I can get (I’ve only made it as far as 20spm myself once.) Two strokes per minute may not sound like much for a season’s work, but it results in several hundred more meters per hour (all done under controlled conditions). Let’s look at another example of the WP’s variety, and see how many ways there are to construct a 60’ workout with 1116 strokes (an average of 18.6spm). Here are several examples using 10’ sequences (I won’t even bother with 6’ sequences, which would allow many more examples): 1) 186,186,186,186,186,186 2) 178,180,186,190,196,186 3) 180,190,180,190,186,190 4) 180,186,180,190,180,200 5) 184,186,188,188,186,184 6) 176,186,196,176,186,196 7) 186,178,186,188,192,186 8) 178,188,198,188,184,180 9) 176,188,188,188,188,188 10) 190,178,190,190,178,190 11) 180,184,186,188,188,190 These are all examples I have done or would do. Each includes the same number of strokes and would cover roughly the same number of meters (not exactly, because of rounding in various formulas used to calculate the totals). In my training plan I would consider each of these workouts to be equivalent to the others (number of strokes is the criteria), but (as Orwell might observe) some are more equal. Each workout or variation has a different feel. Each has its own unique challenges (being easier in some ways but harder in others). When I am building a workout from a previous session, sometimes I just change one sequence to add the number of strokes I want, but often I shake things up completely and do an entirely different format than what I’ve done recently, just to keep things interesting. My guidelines when designing a workout are to make sure that overall there is at least a variation of 4spm in the workout (lowest-highest), never increase rate more than 2 per shift (though I occasionally drop all the way from 24 to 16, which is an experience, I can tell you), and to generally make sure the workout is either symmetrical or that the second half is harder than the first. Still, occasionally I will make the first half harder by putting a particularly difficult sequence near the front. Here are examples from my training this year. I’ve been doing two 60’ sessions every week, and adding strokes at a conservative pace of 2 strokes per session. Here is what I’ve done so far: 1) 178,186,178,188,178,188 (1096 strokes, 18.3spm) 2) 180,180,180,180,188,190 (1098, 18.3) 3) 104,110,116,104,110,116,104,110,110,116 (1100, 18.3) 4) 180,186,180,186,180,190 (1102, 18.4) 5) 178,186,188,188,186,176 (1104, 18.4) 6) 176,186,188,192,186,178 (1106, 18.4) 7) 178,188,188,188,188,178 (1108, 18.5) 8) 180,190,180,190,180,190 (1110, 18.5) 9) 110,110,110,110,110,116,110,110,110,116 (1112, 18.5) 10) 180,186,188,186,188,186 (1114, 18.6) 11) 188,186,186,186,186,184 (1116, 18.6) 12) 110,110,116,110,110,110,116,110,110,116 (1118, 18.6) 13) 186,188,186,186,188,186 (1120, 18.7) 14) 184,186,188,186,188,190 (1122, 18.7) 15) 110,110,116,110,110,116,110,116,110,116 (1124, 18.7) 16) 186, 186,186,196,186,186 (1126,18.8) 17) 178,188,198,178,188,198 (1128, 18.8) 18) 110,116,110,116,110,116,110,116,110,116 (1130, 18.8) 19) 186,188,186,196,186,190 (1132, 18.9) 20) 188,190,188,190,188,190 (1134, 18.9) At this rate, I should be able to reach 20spm or more by Feb. and the CRASH-B. My meter total for the first workout was about 15,750 (1:54.3 pace), and I am approaching 16K per hour; I should finish the season at 16,300 meters or more (1:50.4), which is a pretty substantial increase in Watts (and multiplied over the 5 ½ hours of Level 4 work I do every week). As always, I am interested in improving slowly and steadily over the long haul, and I am not going to push things too hard too soon or try for sudden, rapid gains. In my training journal, prior to each workout I list the sequences (186,188,190 etc.) as well as the projected meters for each sequence (according to the Level 4 tables for my Ref Pace). I also calculate the total projected meters for the workout. At the end of the workout I record actual meters for each sequence as well as the total. Ideally, the goal and actual would match perfectly. I can and in the past have gotten goal and actual to match perfectly or within a couple meters. However, aside from an occasional exercise in control, I usually use my goal paces (e.g., 16spm @ 1:59, 17spm @ 1:57, 18spm @ 1:55, etc.) as an outside limit, or the slowest I’ll let myself go. My “natural” paces at the slower rates (especially 16-17), or what feels most comfortable and automatic, is a bit faster than the prescribed paces. So I go a little faster at those rates. But my overall goal is consistency, so I keep track of the distances I cover for each sequence, and I want all the totals for any one sequence (e.g., 190) to all be within a couple meters of the other sequences with the same number of strokes. I want to keep relatively the same level of performance across the entire workout. I don’t want to be well ahead of my goal during one portion but behind on another. For my totals, I divide my actual meters by my projected (goal) meters, and use the quotient as an index of how successful the workout was. (Exactly 100% would mean I exactly matched my projected meters; a greater number means I exceeded my projected meters.) I refer to this quotient as my “%+” (percent plus) and based on my own personal history it should fall between .4 and .5 (i.e., my actual meters are typically about half a percent more than projected). For someone else the value may be different. I’m not saying there’s an optimal value; the idea is to be reasonably close to your projected goals and to be as consistent as possible across all workouts within the framework of your own training. If I’m really fatigued or it’s an exceptionally hot & humid day, I might barely reach my goal or even fall short. If conditions are optimum, I might exceed my goal by even more than usual – but I try to maintain the sensation of working no harder than usual. NOTE: one of the features of the WP is that it includes checks and balances to keep me from working too hard too often, or from trying to increase my pace or workload too rapidly – but I don’t necessarily clamp on the brakes completely if I’m feeling especially good. (You do eventually reach a stage where you wonder if you’ll ever feel that good again, and you want to take advantage of it…) I have a set schedule (as everyone should who follows the WP) and do multiple Level 4 workouts per week. My current Level 4 schedule is Sunday – 2 x 40’; Monday – 40’ or 42’; Tuesday – 40’; Thursday AM – 4 x 10’ or 7 x 6’; Thursday PM – 60’; Saturday – 60’. I sit down before the week starts and plot out all my progressions for each workout for the week. I’ve tried different methods of balancing the paces for each workout (e.g, with some harder and some easier) but I’ve found it more productive to have a single base rate for the week. Based on my system of adding 2 strokes every time I do 60’, I calculate what the spm will be for Saturday’s workout (e.g., 18.6). I then work backward and calculate the number of strokes I need to do on Sunday (the beginning of my training week) to maintain the same average (e.g., 18.6spm x 80’ = 1488 total strokes on Sunday). The 2 x 40’ might feature two identical 40’ pieces, or two pieces with the same number of strokes but different sequences, or one piece with more strokes than the other (variety…) Then I calculate the strokes needed for the other sessions in the week and construct those workouts with the appropriate sequences. NOTE: Yes, this all takes some time spent planning & calculating (and also for the other WP training bands). I personally enjoy playing with the formats and crunching the numbers, but that is one of the things that turn some people off from the Wolverine Plan. (Maybe you can find a coach who will plan the workouts and crunch all the numbers for you.) A final note about the 4 x 10’ workout (or its cousin, 7 x 6’). These are meant to be more advanced workouts for people doing a relatively high volume of Level 4 work (at least two continuous sessions and at least 100’ per week, and preferably more). The rule of thumb is to add 2spm to your continuous (base) rate, so if the base is 18.6 the 4 x 10’ becomes 20.6, which might be accomplished with something like 204,206,208,206. (The 4 x 10’ recovery is 3:20 and the 7 x 6’ recovery is 2:00.) These workouts do require more power than normal, but with the short duration and ample recovery they are generally well tolerated. But I stress again the purpose is primarily to get you familiar with the higher rates before you eventually incorporate them into continuous workouts. The goal is NOT to create a high-intensity power per stroke workout. However, I have heard of people who have made this the basis of their training and have ultimately paid the price (burnout, injury, etc.) If you are really working with the proper Ref Pace, the sequences at the higher end of the Level 4 tables are very tough indeed. My track record for reaching my goal with the 220 sequence (4’/3’/2’/1’ @ 20/22/24/26) is barely 50% over the past several years. Hope this has been more help to those attempting to work with the Wolverine Plan. Let me know if I am forgetting to address any Level 4 issues or not making myself clear. Happy training. Mike Caviston

[old] arakawa · Post by **[old] arakawa** » October 1st, 2005, 9:21 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(Mike Caviston @ Oct 1 2005, 08:47 PM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>4th session, 42’: 112^,104,110,104,110,104,110 = 748 (17.8)[right] </td></tr></table> I've read through the WP only about five or so times, but haven't yet spotted the definition of "^". What does that caret mean when you put it next to a number of strokes?

[old] bmoore · Post by **[old] bmoore** » October 1st, 2005, 9:43 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(arakawa @ Oct 1 2005, 09:21 PM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(Mike Caviston @ Oct 1 2005, 08:47 PM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>4th session, 42’: 112^,104,110,104,110,104,110 = 748 (17.8)[right] </td></tr></table> I've read through the WP only about five or so times, but haven't yet spotted the definition of "^". What does that caret mean when you put it next to a number of strokes? </td></tr></table> Look at the Level 4 Sequence Format table. You'll see that there are 2 sequences with 112 strokes. The 112^ sequence is an ascending sequence that increases the time and rate of each sub-sequence. (1 min @ 16SPM, 2 min @ 18, 3 min @ 20).

[old] FrancoisA · Post by **[old] FrancoisA** » October 1st, 2005, 9:49 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(arakawa @ Oct 2 2005, 01:21 AM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(Mike Caviston @ Oct 1 2005, 08:47 PM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>4th session, 42’: 112^,104,110,104,110,104,110 = 748 (17.8)[right] </td></tr></table> I've read through the WP only about five or so times, but haven't yet spotted the definition of "^". What does that caret mean when you put it next to a number of strokes? </td></tr></table> I believe the caret symbolizes the fact that they are pyramids. For instance for a 200^, you do 1' at 16spm, 2' at 18 spm, 3' at 20 spm and 4' at 22 spm. They all start easy and become increasingly hard!

[old] bmoore · Post by **[old] bmoore** » October 1st, 2005, 9:56 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(FrancoisA @ Oct 1 2005, 09:49 PM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(arakawa @ Oct 2 2005, 01:21 AM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(Mike Caviston @ Oct 1 2005, 08:47 PM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>4th session, 42’: 112^,104,110,104,110,104,110 = 748 (17.8)[right] </td></tr></table> I've read through the WP only about five or so times, but haven't yet spotted the definition of "^". What does that caret mean when you put it next to a number of strokes? </td></tr></table> I believe the caret symbolizes the fact that they are pyramids. For instance for a 200^, you do 1' at 16spm, 2' at 18 spm, 3' at 20 spm and 4' at 22 spm. They all start easy and become increasingly hard! </td></tr></table> I'd reserve the term pyramid for a sequence that both rises and falls. There are pyramid intervals for both level 1 and level 2. (I always thought pyramids were my swim coach's sick way of getting a lot of meters in while he went inside and kept warm during the long winter morning workouts).

[old] FrancoisA · Post by **[old] FrancoisA** » October 1st, 2005, 10:25 pm

Bill, You are right! They are sequences with increasing time and rates. To construct pyramids we would need to create new sequences that are mirror images of the existing ones. For instance, we could create a 180# consisting of 1'/2'/3'/4' @ 22/20/18/16. Doing a regular 180 followed by a 180# would give a 20' pyramid.

[old] bmoore · Post by **[old] bmoore** » October 3rd, 2005, 11:02 am

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(Mike Caviston @ Sep 30 2005, 03:06 PM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>Bill, The WP & L4 work especially well for people with an established 2K history. For people who have reached a plateau and are looking to build a foundation on which to reach a higher peak, I think Level 4 training can be very helpful. But the trickiest thing about the Wolverine Plan is determining the correct Ref Pace for a novice, or someone with rapidly advancing fitness. For someone with an established training history, the procedure may simply be to start a training season with a Ref Pace one second faster than the previous year. In my own case, I’ve been working with the same Ref Pace for four years, but I’ve been making small progress by starting each season with a slightly higher volume and/or at a slightly higher average stroke rate (and therefore advancing farther by the end of the season). You are in the position of someone whose fitness is improving at a rate that may be too great to be accommodated by a single Reference Pace. Your workouts indicate that you are getting close to a sub-7 2K. (BTW, to answer your question, I would wait the 8-10 weeks or so before attempting a full-out 2K. To break 7:00, I would suggest you can be pretty confident once your 4 x 1K gets to 1:45 or better; 1:44 would be great but I’m not aware of many people who can do 4 x 1K @ sub-2K pace. But I would also want your 4 x 2K to get down to 1:50 or better.) As for your Ref Pace, I don’t think you have mentioned what you are currently using. I would also want to know your weekly Level 4 volume (in minutes). Do the workouts you are doing now seem appropriately challenging (hard, but not TOO hard)? Given your current Level 4 workouts and formats, is there room to progress with the established L4 progressions for the next several weeks? If not, then you should readjust based on what you estimate your 2K to be based on your Level 1-2 training history. But if the workouts seem to be at the correct intensity, then just keep steadily building until this season is over and think about planning with more precision next year. For Levels 1-3, I propose guidelines for relationship between workout intensity and 2K pace. But I also encourage people not to become overly obsessed about the relationship (“If I pull x:xx for 2K, what should I pull for 4 x 1K, 10K, etc. etc.?”) The most important thing is to start where you can start and gradually, steadily, consistently build on that. Good luck! Mike Caviston </td></tr></table> Mike, Thanks for this guidance. I'm using 1:49 as my reference pace, and I'll do 200' this week. (Last week sucked for me and I only did 80'). I've been concerned about overstroking these, since my accuracy is just now starting to get close to my targets. I consistently go over the distances by about 30 meters and have now been hitting the total strokes per segment. The workouts do seem fairly easy, but I start to feel the fatigue after about 50'. I was doing 70' sessions and the last 10' really got the glutes and hamstrings going, but the HR was still not over 150. Unless you suggest a change, I'll continue to go through the L4 progressions with a 1:49 ref pace. I'm pretty set on the L1 & L2 paces, since I've completed all of the workouts several times and have continued to increase the pace by at least 1 second every time. (I'm sure that will drop off eventually). For L3 pace, I'm using 2:01 and am up to 14.5k as my long workout and am doing 15x3' at the same pace. Should I increase this pace or just keep at it and add distance. Again, the HR doesn't ever get to 150. (I do get up to about 175 for the max exertions on L1 workouts, so there's plenty of room to work with on this.) I'm soaking up the L4 guidance you've put out so far. I just need to work with it more and see how the workouts go each time. Thanks again.

[old] vplatzer · Post by **[old] vplatzer** » October 3rd, 2005, 3:08 pm

hey mike i just read your plan and really like what you have to say. obviously, you are an excellent example of the wolverine plan but your examples with the women's team are also noteworthy i wanted to ask if you would share the "plan' with me? i am currently looking to go sub-7(masters women) in to make the indoor team and would like to get on a good plan. i followed the british concept 2 (interactive) training program and that was useful but it has its limitation cheers veronika platzer

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