Pete Plan 2017

[jans]

Re pace, bit depending on age/height, but still its slow if you are very untrained this will rapidly get better.

Well, 30 and 1m78 or 5' 48". Not a real sportsman, but I play a bit of soccer and I ran about 2x a week (10K). Still hope it had to do with finding the right sitting position, grip, etc. We'll see for the next sessions

Welcome to the forum and to the Pete Plan thread Jans. Always nice to get a new addition.

Thanks!

My advice: unless they tear leave them to dry out naturally, if they do tear then use plasters to protect the exposed skin whilst rowing. In my experience you tend to stop getting blisters quite quickly with indoor rowing (on the water rowing is a completely different matter) and you'll start forming calluses where there's the most friction. I also use hand moisturiser before going to sleep every night to keep them healthy: some people will no doubt criticise this, but having seen the state of my dad's hands after years of abuse I'm okay with that.

Thanks for the info!

@jans - welcome aboard. Don't worry about your paces yet if you are just starting. Just stay with it.

But I'm competitive

@Jans Welcome to the thread! One piece of advice I've heard on blisters is they can be caused by holding the handle too tightly during the recovery. I dunno if that's true but I've always made an effort to relax my grip between strokes .

Thanks for the tip! Found this info somewhere else too. Will keep that in mind for next session today.

@jans - welcome, ease your way into the routine and you'll be hardened up in not time

Thanks!

[jans]

Pete Plan 1.2: 6 x 500 m

500m 1:56.4 28 s/m
500m 2:01.5 26 s/m
500m 2:05.6 24 s/m
500m 2:07.8 24 s/m
500m 2:07.0 24 s/m
500m 2:09.7 24 s/m

I paid attention to:
(1) not lifting my heels to much so I could use my legs from the middle of my feet
(2) 60% legs 30% back and 10% arms doing the work (hard on the core!) during the drive
(3) respecting the same % during the rest
(4) trying to stay between 20 and 24 s/m; so more power during drive and more recovery during rest in stead of more s/m
(5) loosely gripping handle with top of fingers > much better!

Thoughts:

Probably started way to quick in first 2 500m (too much s/m?) but time is ok i guess? Then payed more attention to technique (drive/recovery) and fatigue kicked in like a mule This was hard.

Also tried to vary the height of the foot "things"; found it easier to keep heel down on highest setting ("0")... Any experiences/thoughts on this?

[JerekKruger]

@calalli - thanks, I am really happy with that 6k. That's a solid pace for a 11k that felt good. I think that doing those 2ks after a strength session probably explains why they weren't as fast as you wanted. I don't think I'd want to do them after strength work.

@barrec - yep, the thought of doing a 2k test feels a lot less daunting as a result. Sure, it'll hurt like hell, but only for 7 or so minutes.

@Derek - I agree about the PB. I'll probably try a 5k after the end of this cycle of the Pete Plan. Did you succeed in your goal to feel tired on that 10k?

Pete Plan 2.6: 45mins strapless
9:00 2162m, 2:04.8 at 19SPM, HR 150
18:00 2149m, 2:05.6 at 19SPM, HR 153
27:00 2142m, 2:06.0 at 19SPM, HR 157
36:00 2157m, 2:05.1 at 19SPM, HR 164
45:00 2191m, 2:03.2 at 20SPM, HR 171
Total: 10800m, 2:05.0 at 19SPM, average heart rate 159

Nice steady state, and I almost avoided speeding up at the end

[JerekKruger]

But I'm competitive

So long as this doesn't lead to you becoming demoralised and giving up, this is no bad thing

(1) not lifting my heels to much so I could use my legs from the middle of my feet
(2) 60% legs 30% back and 10% arms doing the work (hard on the core!) during the drive
(3) respecting the same % during the rest
(4) trying to stay between 20 and 24 s/m; so more power during drive and more recovery during rest in stead of more s/m
(5) loosely gripping handle with top of fingers > much better!

All good, though I would say that for intervals like this you can up your stroke rate past 24. The main place to keep it between 20 and 24 is on the longer, slower rows.

Probably started way to quick in first 2 500m (too much s/m?) but time is ok i guess? Then payed more attention to technique (drive/recovery) and fatigue kicked in like a mule This was hard.

Pacing an interval session that you haven't done before is hard. For next week's 4x750 I'd suggest going at a 2:04/500m split time at 24/25 strokes per minute for the first three, then seeing if you can speed the last one up a bit. That'll give you a slightly better average speed than this session but I wouldn't be surprised if it feels easier since you'll have paced it better.

Also tried to vary the height of the foot "things"; found it easier to keep heel down on highest setting ("0")... Any experiences/thoughts on this?

My legs are so long I have to use a fairly low setting to allow my arms to go over the top of them. My only thoughts would be to play around and see what feels most comfortable/allows you to perform best.

[derico]

@jans - make sure to row on a lowish drag factor whilst building technique - should also help with blisters!

[derico]

Another Edinburgh gym row - 30 minute hard distance - avg pace 2:00.4 for 7474m - a PB was on the cards at 20 minutes but then I backed off for comfort!

[jans]

Thanks for the tips guys, very helpful!

@jans - make sure to row on a lowish drag factor whilst building technique - should also help with blisters!

Now between 5 and 6 with dragfactor 119. Read somewhere that for men, between 115 en 125 resemble drag on water. Should I go lower?

[lindsayh]

Now between 5 and 6 with dragfactor 119. Read somewhere that for men, between 115 en 125 resemble drag on water. Should I go lower?

No I think that you can safely work in that range for most stuff and as you become more confident try some higher drags for shorter sprinting things as an experiment.
for <1km you could try some 130-140 df just for fun

[jans]

Pete Plan 1.3: 5.000m

5.000m 2:14.7 at 21 s/m with 143 W

1.000m 2:11.0 at 20 s/m with 156 W
2.000m 2:18.7 at 20 s/m with 131 W
3.000m 2:14.5 at 22 s/m with 144 W
4.000m 2:15.8 at 21 s/m with 140 W
5.000m 2:13.6 at 23 s/m with 147 W

Put the pace boat on 2:15 pace and followed through, so that's a first step forward. Did 1m43 from my first 5k. s/m are constant (20-23). Put my footstraps on level 2, but felt like I couldn't give enough power on my feet, so will try on level 1 again next time. My 8 blisters did NOT help

Paid attention to:
(1) early catch
(2) giving power from feet
(3) hitting it hard on the drive > HARD! < and trying to recover better

So I guess the drive is where the magic happens. More power = more watts = faster pace. Key = recovery and balance with DF and s/m.

Motivation: getting under that 2:00 pace. Not sure if I should proceed to Pete Plan 2.x or just keep practicing (also technique) at Pete Plan 1.x

[barrec]

@Jan - great job! Seems like you are focusing on all of the right things. I meant to ask, which plan are you following?

@Derico - great job! That 30' is one tough...well...row

PP 3.1.1 - 8x500m, 3:30' rest - Goal: 1:45.0
Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
13:57.1 4,000m 1:44.6 305 1350 31
1:45.0 500m 1:45.0 302 1339 31
1:45.0 500m 1:45.0 302 1339 31
1:45.0 500m 1:45.0 302 1339 31
1:45.0 500m 1:45.0 302 1339 30
1:45.0 500m 1:45.0 302 1339 31
1:45.0 500m 1:45.0 302 1339 31
1:44.9 500m 1:44.9 303 1342 31
1:42.2 500m 1:42.2 328 1427 32

OK so maybe I've been holding out on myself?! I knew going in I wanted to challenge myself, but that last rep surprised the heck out of me. The whole workout gave me some insight into how I've approached sprints vs endurance rows: with endurance rows, I feel it's more of a mental challenge because I'm rowing at a pace I know I can do; with sprints, I've erred on slower paces because I'm not sure if I can physically keep up such a fast pace. I also figured out it has everything to do with the start - after my first 5 pulls on the last rep, the average was @1:42 and it was so much 'easier' maintaining pace rather than inching up throughout the row.

PP 3.1.2 - 5x1500m, 5' rest - Goal: 1:53.0
Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
28:06.1 7,500m 1:52.4 246 1147 28
5:39.0 1,500m 1:53.0 243 1134 28
5:38.5 1,500m 1:52.8 244 1137 28
5:38.3 1,500m 1:52.7 244 1139 28
5:37.6 1,500m 1:52.5 246 1144 28
5:32.6 1,500m 1:50.8 257 1183 28

Another speedy finish! So here's how I approached this session - my previous row said my target was 1:53.4, but I wanted to push myself because of the blood donation thing and because I'm preparing for a 5k TT (5k is the recommended pace for the 5x1500m). Since the general wisdom is that a one's 5k pace is 2k+6, my 5k would be tentatively be 1:52.0 (what I hope to row at my next 2k TT). I split the difference and aimed for 1:53, but half way hrough the session I felt great and realize I could really push it. I feel confident I could have hit a target of 1:52.0.

Anyway, exciting start to the week. I hope to keep up with everyone else's great work!

[jans]

@Jan - great job! Seems like you are focusing on all of the right things. I meant to ask, which plan are you following?

Thx! But no plan aside Pete Plan. Am I missing something here? Just trying to watch the Dark Horse and other videos and reading this forum

[derico]

@jans - some of the guys on here are signed up to BPP (Beginner's Pete Plan). This might be better suited to your needs as it is progressive over 24 weeks from a reasonable start point and as it is more prescriptive removes decisions about which workouts to do when!

[JerekKruger]

@barrec - very nice interval sessions. From the speed of that last 500m I agree that you could probably push up the speed a bit, and you're definitely right about the importance of starting quick in a sprint. I look forward to seeing your 5k PB soon

@jans - some of the guys on here are signed up to BPP (Beginner's Pete Plan). This might be better suited to your needs as it is progressive over 24 weeks from a reasonable start point and as it is more prescriptive removes decisions about which workouts to do when!

Based on the workouts Jans has posted so far (5k, 6x500m, 5k), I think this is the program he is following.

Not sure if I should proceed to Pete Plan 2.x or just keep practicing (also technique) at Pete Plan 1.x

If you feel up to it I'd recommend trying to do one or both of the additional sessions each week, but play it by ear. Make sure your main focus is on doing the three main sessions, and doing them as well as possible. If you feel overly tired on a day you planned to do a session, give yourself a day off, do it the next day and skip one of the additional sessions.

I wouldn't keep repeating week 1 though. The best way to get your 5k time down at the moment is to row lots of kilometers and therefore the progressive increase in distance that comes with the Beginner Pete Plan is a good thing.

[derico]

@barrec - amazing 5k suggests sub 7 minute 2k is well within your current fitness level!

Another 30 minute hard distance yesterday - avg pace 2:00.8 for 7450m - this time I had a slower start and a stronger finish. Will do some kind of interval session tomorrow!

[JerekKruger]

Pete Plan 3.1: 4x1000m/5:00r
3:26.1 (1:43.0 average) at 29SPM, HR 177
3:25.7 (1:42.8 average) at 29SPM, HR 184
3:26.5 (1:43.2 average) at 30SPM, HR 185
3:31.5 (1:45.7 average) at 29SPM, HR 185
Average: 1:43.7 at 29SPM
r: 2117m

I'd forgotten how miserable this session is: four intervals seems much more manageable than seven or eight of the other two speed sessions, but keeping up pace for 1k is a lot harder than for 500m or even 750m. My aim was to go sub 1:44, which I got, but I am annoyed at myself for the last interval. It was definitely unpleasant, but I should still have been able to push through the pain and stay under 1:44. Still, session done, which is the main thing.

This session does demonstrate why I am not entirely confident in a sub 7 minute 2k though: my speed drops off rapidly as the distance does up.