Pete Plan Thread

[mdpfirrman]

Adam, welcome! That 500 X 6, you started like shooting out of a gun! That must have been a very brutal workout at the end! Way to stick with that one!

[mdpfirrman]

A bit off topic, but related to the PP Thread. I attended a webinar the other day and they mentioned some research studies that reminded me of why the PP combined with this thread is so effective. The presenter mentioned research about how when people recorded production (in any endeavor) they do significantly better. However, those results were significantly less than when they recorded AND reported. Recorded is your log, reporting is committing to a plan like this and reporting to others. In my "offseason" this year, I can't tell you how many times that I bailed on a harder, long row because I knew I was the only one that would know. I certainly do much better when I know I have to put down a failure in this thread. Definitely something to it!

[Gaucho1]

very true Mike, would I have only recorded yesterday I probably would have quit after the third rep. Knowing I would post it made me to finish the last one.
And by the way the greatest effect you gain in an interval training is in the last rep.
Best regards,
Dietmar

[livingkennedy]

Agree 100% about recording and reporting - it's definitely motivating

In the past I've always been more into weight lifting because it's so easy to track progress over time. Endurance sports, however, are generally a little bit more challenging to record. Enter the erg and all of a sudden you've got a machine recording every ounce of energy you're using, down to the force curve of an individual stroke. I work in supply chain and one of our mantras is "if you can't measure it, you probably can't improve it." What's great about the BPP for me so far is you absolutely CAN measure progress and objectively quantify improvements.

I started on the first 5k of the BPP on Christmas morning and was around a 2:26/500 pace. Yesterday I did the same row at a 2:11.6 pace and finished the last 1,000 m at 2:06 with 22 SPM, which was an all-out sprint for me about 3 weeks ago.

Right now tracking performance is all positive, but in the coming months I'm expecting I'll hit a plateau and will need to start looking a little harder at some of the numbers and factors that might be influencing my performance (did I get enough sleep, did I warm up enough, did I eat right, etc). I'm not cutting another 20 seconds off my pace in less than a month again, so as returns diminish the tracking will be critical.

[jbhop5857]

Good Day,
This thread keeps growing, its awesome!!

Cycle 5/ Week 1/ Day 3
8x500 on 3:30r and >30spm

10/12/17 11/02/17 11/23/17 12/21/17 01/11/18
1 201.7 151.0 148.5 146.0 144.0
2 201.4 150.0 147.9 145.9 144.0
3 200.3 150.1 147.5 146.2 144.0
4 156.8 149.8 147.1 145.9 144.0
5 158.9 149.1 146.0 145.8 143.0
6 158.6 148.7 145.9 145.7 142.0
7 158.5 147.8 145.4 145.6 140.9
8 150.3 143.0 141.6 138.9 136.7

Avg 158.3 148.8 146.2 145.0 142.3

It was obvious from the 2k TT that I needed more stamina in the last 600 meters. So I decided to really push this and decline the second half of it. It was painful, but hopefully will pay off a bit. I also only plan on doing one more round of this, so I figured I'd get in going as fast as I could.

Thanks

David

[hjs]

David. If I saw that session, without comments, I would think that guy took it really easy and had lots left. Thats what I ment yesterday. In the end this session should be 7 reps with a second and a last 2/3 seconds faster. Paced like this you still are nowhere near a 2 k pacing. It could be 3/4 seconds below 2k pace.

[RowerGal]

Welcome @Brandon and @adamfred! Glad to see more folks jumping in here.

@Brandon - David is on point. Stick to the BPP and you will see some of the weight fall off (obviously there is a dietary component too) and your level of fitness rise. You are correct as the gains will be big in the beginning and then you will be fighting for tenths as your fitness improves. Stick with it, keep posting and reading. Everyone is different so see what works best for you. Looking forward to seeing you progress.

@adamfred - Looks like you are well on your way with the BPP. Congrats on completing your first sessions. Great fight on those 500s!

Funny, that the group is talking about posting/recording/support. I came in here earlier this morning to see what was going on as I was lacking motivation to do my workout this morning. That is all I needed and off I went. So yeah, for me ... this is working. Happy rowing, all!

PP Week 17: 5x1500m 5:00RI. Last average pace = 2:07.9. Was glad to see the last rep showing an :06!

[jbhop5857]

@hjs - Totally agree. I have been trying to follow the advice of keeping the first 7 based on the average from last time. Even with that, I went out a second faster than the last times average. However, in the first 4, I had to slow down in the last 250 to hit the number. Honestly, I have never rowed this fast (for me). I look at the number and barely believe I am going to be able to pull it off. Then, I pull it off and wonder if I should have gone faster.

David

[hjs]

@hjs - Totally agree. I have been trying to follow the advice of keeping the first 7 based on the average from last time. Even with that, I went out a second faster than the last times average. However, in the first 4, I had to slow down in the last 250 to hit the number. Honestly, I have never rowed this fast (for me). I look at the number and barely believe I am going to be able to pull it off. Then, I pull it off and wonder if I should have gone faster.

David

Only positive, you are still a newbie, you will pull this one sub 1.40 soon

Re races, it could help, imo, to use the speedsessions to mimic your races. The 4x1 on 5 is by far best for this. 5x750 on 3 min is also a good one. Newbies not seldom mess up races, going off way to fast is seen often. It feels like it going by itself, but its not the start but the second half that makes or breaks a race.

[mitchel674]

@hjs - Totally agree. I have been trying to follow the advice of keeping the first 7 based on the average from last time. Even with that, I went out a second faster than the last times average. However, in the first 4, I had to slow down in the last 250 to hit the number. Honestly, I have never rowed this fast (for me). I look at the number and barely believe I am going to be able to pull it off. Then, I pull it off and wonder if I should have gone faster.

David

Interesting for me to read your observations as I struggle to find my correct pacing on my BPP intervals and SS pieces. Keep posting your musings!

[mitchel674]

Welcome @Brandon and @adamfred! Glad to see more folks jumping in here.

@Brandon - David is on point. Stick to the BPP and you will see some of the weight fall off (obviously there is a dietary component too) and your level of fitness rise. You are correct as the gains will be big in the beginning and then you will be fighting for tenths as your fitness improves. Stick with it, keep posting and reading. Everyone is different so see what works best for you. Looking forward to seeing you progress.

@adamfred - Looks like you are well on your way with the BPP. Congrats on completing your first sessions. Great fight on those 500s!

Funny, that the group is talking about posting/recording/support. I came in here earlier this morning to see what was going on as I was lacking motivation to do my workout this morning. That is all I needed and off I went. So yeah, for me ... this is working. Happy rowing, all!

PP Week 17: 5x1500m 5:00RI. Last average pace = 2:07.9. Was glad to see the last rep showing an :06!

Nicely done!! I've found this thread and the BPP format very motivating and inspiring. I simply cannot miss my required rows. The optional rows are another story.

[mdpfirrman]

@ Brandon - you'll hit walls, that's fine. If you love stats/tracking, you'll love rowing more and more. It's easy to lost in the minutia of it though! Nice progress in a short period of time!

@ David - whether or not you had something left (perhaps too much), you're still progressing each round and that's a great sign. I think you'll push yourself a bit harder in the race and have the stamina to pull it out. Do agree with Henry that starts don't win races, second halves do!

@ RowerGal - That's a very solid 1500 X 5, brutal row. Is it me (I'm bad at math) or is your 5K PB time a soft target?? I know my 5K PB time is around 8 seconds higher than my 2K PB time. I'm looking at that performance and thinking you could improve your time on that workout!

Well, today I just said, I'm going to do a 2K TT and no regrets like last year. Last year, I was rowing even a bit stronger than I am currently and never did a 2K TT during my race training. Was supposedly saving it for my race. By race time, I had already peaked, gotten sick 3/4 times and just limped to around tying a PB (just tenths of seconds off, but I called it a tie to have some sort of moral victory). I've regretted since Fall of 2016 that I didn't do a TT when I was testing really well (like now) on the full PP.

My plan was go out and do 1:49/1:50/1:50/1:46 (you know, really hammer the last split!). That would give me a 7:16 and a strong PB. Like Mike Tyson famously said, "everyone has a plan until they get hit in the nose...". Well, this one hit me.

Actual Times

500 / 1:48.0 / 28 (woohoo, a little excited here. First 15 strokes way too pumped up, settled in OK)
500 / 1:50.0 / 27 (plans working out nicely here! I'm happy so far).
500 / 1:50.6 / 28 (Geez these things suck so badly! Hanging on by a thread here, wanting to HD!)
500 / 1:49.5 / 29 (actually had more left in the tank and could smell the PB!).

1:49.5 / 28 / 7:18.0 Avg. PB by 1.1 seconds. My PB (by tenths of a second) was in early 2016, so this is a 2 year old PB! I was thinking at 53, I might not ever PB again. Was beginning to doubt myself.

The really positive takeaways are I typically suck at home/gym TTs. My races have been (on average 7 to 12 seconds better than I do on TTs). Last year, I did a TT before my 7:19 something race and it was like a 7:30 at this stage. The other positive is this is the first time since 2016 that I've managed to carry at least a 27 SPM average (28 today!). It still need to be 30 plus, but I'm pretty stoked with the improvement. My last 7:19, I was at 25, way too low!

Thanks for the inspiration David/RowerGal/Tom! You all had me pretty pumped up to go after a PB on the 2K too. Not as big of an improvement (or as fast as some) but I'm pretty happy about it!

[jbhop5857]

Mike,
AWESOME - so you did that without planning for it. No taper, no race, no fans in the stands. That is great. Any PB at any distance is an accomplishment at any age, but even more so as the age increases. Do you have a time target in mind?

Congrats again, put that up on the PB board!!!

David

[mdpfirrman]

@ David - my original plan was just PB and get second if I can. If the one guy shows up to the race that raced last year, he's a crew coach and sub 7, so I can't compete with that but I'm going to Indianapolis where (last year at least) they had several rowers in the 7:18 to 7:30 range if they mix the 40s through 50s rowers like they do at many races.

Sub 7:15 and I'd be over the moon, though I'd love to go a bit lower. Just not sure that can happen but I won't rule it out either. When I did my first 7:19, I was thinking 7:23 to 7:25 and I would have been fine with that. I seem to pull out a lot more from just adrenaline and the crowds. Yes, even the small races have people cheering and it's fantastic! Last year, in Cincy I was the ONLY guy between 50 and 60. They ended up racing two solid 60+ rowers against me. The guy to my right was massive and had amazing form (one of the best strokes I've seen) but he hadn't trained all that much for the 2K. I think he ended up around 7:30 (which for a guy over 60 not training, pretty darn impressive!). His son was his coxswain and him constantly barking at his Dad to catch me ended up motivating me even more!

Indianapolis Rowing Club has a strong contingent of Masters Rowers and Dayton usually travels there too (and sometimes a lot from Chicago too). It gets quite a few really solid Masters rowers. The crowd will be significantly larger than anywhere I've raced and that just fires me up.

[Gaucho1]

Congratulation Mike! That will give you confidence for your race. i´m looking forward what PB you will accomplish there.
Regards, Dietmar