Some help with the 2k please
Some help with the 2k please
i've had two 2k tests this season and have been a little more than disappointed with my times. the first 2k was at 8:00 flat, but i was very sick so iwasn't worried. however, the second 2k, about 2 weeks after my first one, i only dropped 13 seconds. comparing my second 2k to last years times, i went up about 10 seconds. what's confusing me most here is that i've improved drastically during my swim season so i expected to have great 2k times. I did a 1k at an avg 500m split of 1:44, and i was looking to add 5 seconds for my 2k split but instead added about 10 seconds. is it just my mental toughness? if it helps, i'm 16, 5'11, and weigh 140 lbs
Re: Some help with the 2k please
Swimming will help with the lungs, but you also need more power to drop your 2k times.
2:10/500 159.3watts
2:00 202.5 +43
1:50 263.0 +61
1:40 350 +87
Each 10 sec improvement in pace took more and more watts(power) to drop the same amount of time. I suggest squats, deadlifts, cleans, rows, etc to increase your strength.
2:10/500 159.3watts
2:00 202.5 +43
1:50 263.0 +61
1:40 350 +87
Each 10 sec improvement in pace took more and more watts(power) to drop the same amount of time. I suggest squats, deadlifts, cleans, rows, etc to increase your strength.
47-5'11"-178-180lbs
Concept 2 certified trainer
PB's 100-14.2(2017) 500 1:21.8(2016) 2k 6:29(2015)
Concept 2 certified trainer
PB's 100-14.2(2017) 500 1:21.8(2016) 2k 6:29(2015)
Re: Some help with the 2k please
Were you rowing regularly during your swim season? It sounds like you weren't. Specificity matters a lot; your first time back to rowing after a while off is never going to be able to show your real potential, and if you don't row 2Ks then you're not going to be good at 2Ks. The very idea of a 2K time goal being based on hope and the result being a surprise says to me that you're doing it wrong. 2K pieces, or the specific training for them that so many people favor, should be a regular part of your workout rotation.
Personally, I just work 2Ks directly, and I make a point of deliberately either tying my previous or setting a new, regulated training-speed PR each time. If I did X watts last time, then I'm going to do X watts or better etc this time. Then when I do an actual 2K test I have an extremely good idea of what I can pull off--usually about X+5 watts, with a barely-able-to-go-any-faster "sprint" finish.
People seem to have an irrational fear of training specifically to the race distance, but imo if the program is designed around making sure you have recovery time then it's just another intensity level that should be trained. The training should focus on deliberate, systematic, patient improvement. Small gains each time add up over time. I suggest setting the monitor to watts instead of split time, both in training and in testing. Effort increases linearly with power, so adding 1 more watt is always the same, while improving by a second can feel like an impossible wall. Picking numbers based on your test time, a 1:57 split is 218.5 watts, while a 1:56 split is 224.2 watts. As the split times go lower the power jump to change by 1 second increases even more. It's reasonable to try to improve by a watt or three each time, but trying to jump by big amounts makes failure more likely.
At 16 with a swim season you probably don't have your own rowing machine, and you're probably hosed for time during the school year, but unless you make some time to row and regularly train the test distance, you should expect that it's going to be miserable and probably disappointing. The lifts dwalk suggests are good--they're the most applicable to rowing, they should help your swimming, and they're good for general fitness and quality of life. You should do those anyway whether you're rowing or not, but they aren't a substitute for time on the seat.
Personally, I just work 2Ks directly, and I make a point of deliberately either tying my previous or setting a new, regulated training-speed PR each time. If I did X watts last time, then I'm going to do X watts or better etc this time. Then when I do an actual 2K test I have an extremely good idea of what I can pull off--usually about X+5 watts, with a barely-able-to-go-any-faster "sprint" finish.
People seem to have an irrational fear of training specifically to the race distance, but imo if the program is designed around making sure you have recovery time then it's just another intensity level that should be trained. The training should focus on deliberate, systematic, patient improvement. Small gains each time add up over time. I suggest setting the monitor to watts instead of split time, both in training and in testing. Effort increases linearly with power, so adding 1 more watt is always the same, while improving by a second can feel like an impossible wall. Picking numbers based on your test time, a 1:57 split is 218.5 watts, while a 1:56 split is 224.2 watts. As the split times go lower the power jump to change by 1 second increases even more. It's reasonable to try to improve by a watt or three each time, but trying to jump by big amounts makes failure more likely.
At 16 with a swim season you probably don't have your own rowing machine, and you're probably hosed for time during the school year, but unless you make some time to row and regularly train the test distance, you should expect that it's going to be miserable and probably disappointing. The lifts dwalk suggests are good--they're the most applicable to rowing, they should help your swimming, and they're good for general fitness and quality of life. You should do those anyway whether you're rowing or not, but they aren't a substitute for time on the seat.
Re: Some help with the 2k please
good advice
47-5'11"-178-180lbs
Concept 2 certified trainer
PB's 100-14.2(2017) 500 1:21.8(2016) 2k 6:29(2015)
Concept 2 certified trainer
PB's 100-14.2(2017) 500 1:21.8(2016) 2k 6:29(2015)