Doing a 2k test following the end of competition season.

[trap_star]

June 10th will be the final regatta of my schools spring season, the one which we train towards and taper for. I believe I will be in my best physical shape and want to see what kind of 2k i could pull, but I am not sure how I will go about doing it. Race is on the Sunday, so should I take a day or two off and do the test wednesday, thursday? Any thoughts? Also, would a few drinks after the race affect my 2k score a few days later?

thanks for any ideas

[mikvan52]

Sarcastically: Which are you first: a drinker or a rower?

Seriously: We don't know much from what you've stated in the way of your level of fitness or your background.
a couple of thoughts:


1>Elite athletes race over a protracted period of days and weeks on a major taper: You may not have to take much time off to have a peak performance. As a novice the whole picture changes~extra-time off required

2>Do you have heats & finals for your on-the-water regatta? How much will it take out of you? What does your coach say?

3> Consider what your goal is for the erg => pull an even paced effort for an easier PR.

4>Ask your coach for a couple of taper/sharpening erg workouts.
(as you might guess, I'm a rowing coach too)

5> sample session, to be pulled on the erg three days before:
500m at race pace/3' off
250m at race pace/3' off
500m at race pace/3' off
250m (final strokes simulation)
whole workout at anticipated stroke rate

6> two days before: just loosen up with 10's, 20's, and 30's w/equal strokes off and a 20'warm down (v. slow)

7> the day before, take off completely (no drinking on any of these days. Why do anything that has a chance of compromising your goals?)

Mike van Beuren
(pr'ed at 2k yesterday w/this plan)
54, lwt (6:47.5 for 2k)

[mikvan52]

...and don't forget to warm down for 10-20 min after the 500-250-500-250 series mentioned in the last post.

[igoeja]

Twenty or so years ago, I read an article published by the American College of Sports Medicine showing that, among the young, the heaviest drinkers had the highest aerobic capacities. It was less so with age, so that by 40 years of age, the highest VO2 was in the non-drinkers. The relationship between alcohol could be simply correlative, or there could be some causal relationship...

[trap_star]

I'm not an alcoholic, I was wondering if a few celebratory drinks with my teammates after the regatta will hurt a 2k score done 3-4 days after

[igoeja]

A bit tongue-in-cheek, but I was implying that a few drinks would likely improve your 2K performance.

[almostflipped]

Define a "few drinks". I've read research that states alcohol consumption will decrease oxygen uptake for ~24 hours. If this is the case, then yes it will hurt your performance in the short term. That being stated, I've also heard that a glass of wine can improve performance as it gets the metabolism running high to clean your system out (haven't read a paper on this, it's anecdotal). Biggest issue really is how well you rehydrate and replenish lost electrolytes after drinking.

Sum it up, if you keep everything in moderation, you will be fine in a few days. If you get rip roaring blitzed, then there may be some detrimental effects, but with 4 days rest probably not many.

[mikvan52]

trap star:
Let us know how it turns out.
Best of luck in both events, June 10 and the erg piece!

-Mike

[ajohnston]

For myself I know that it helps to take a few days off. Especially if there is long amounts of travel. I had two days off then a long steady state piece and then the 2k. It seemed to work for me

[pommery]

i raced friday, saturday, and sunday this past weekend and then did a 2k today, which is wednesday, taking monday and tuesday completely off, and i felt good and rested but still in racing shape.
my situation seems basically the same as yours, so you should be fine. except i have no idea about the drinking thing. seems to me you might as well celebrate in some way, it feels good to end the season. what regatta were you at?