The Road to Boston 2007

TomR · Post by **TomR** » December 17th, 2006, 9:19 pm

TR 6x2'/2.30 recovery

1.49.0/154hr/32 spm
1.49.0/158hr/31 spm
1.49.0/162hr/30 spm
1.49.0/164hr/31spm
1.49.0/167/hr/32 spm
1.47.9/169/hr/32 spm

Even w/ a 23-min warm-up, the first interval felt tough compared to the 2d, 3d, and 4th.

Next week 8 x 2'.

seat5 · Post by **seat5** » December 17th, 2006, 11:30 pm

Nice set of TR intervals, Tom! So consistent and nice kick on the last one. What is your 2K PB pace? Is 1:49 faster or slower?

Still trying to recover a bit so haven't rowed since Tuesday. I'm planning to do a 5K on RowPro to try the software out and get another CTC time in so I'm not sure exactly where I'm jumping back on the IP. Kids are home from college and things are getting very jolly around here!

George Dunning · Post by **George Dunning** » December 18th, 2006, 3:46 am

TomR wrote:
GeorgeNZ wrote:
unless you face the possibility of coming up hard against your limits in your training you will never really know where they are in a race
This is true, I believe, but I would qualify the statement.

In training by heart rate, I know that I will be able to do all the UT1 and AT sessions w/out any difficulty. I have to concentrate and work, and I may lose a couple of pounds of sweat, but I don't feel anxiety before a session or exhaustion after. They are simply good work. I note that Rick reverted to HR to help "manage" his recent UT1.

The 30r20 is a bear mentally and physically. So are TR sessions. Both are done w/out regard to heart rate, so my performance is limited by my willingness to push myself.

That means out of 5 sessions a week, only 2 cause physical distress. Physically I don't believe I could recover from more than 2. Mentally I think 2 is also about the limit.

Tom

Tom I would further qualify the statement by saying I don't think you need to be doing these workouts more than 4 weeks before the race and that allows for a 3 day taper. They would be TR or An sessions or maybe a 5k PB attempt which I think is a great distance to prepare psychologically for a 2k

george

ps hope I am not intruding

zubeldia · Post by **zubeldia** » December 18th, 2006, 8:27 am

Hi all,

Think I'm going to take a week from the IP. Since I'm fairly new to erging and I've been following the IP very closely I'm beginning to feel really fatigued. Ack, hope to feel better soon. That said, I've met 200K Holiday Challenge so I feel pretty good about that!

I'll still post my paltry sessions here, though: Just 6K yesterday and 5K today

Z

Yankeerunner · Post by **Yankeerunner** » December 18th, 2006, 9:33 am

2 X 8' AT (4'r)

2415m w/u in 11'

8' 2068m 1:56.0 26spm 148hr (recovered to 70hr during rest)
8' 2076m 1:55.6 26spm 154hr (rec. to 72hr)

1233m c/d in 6'

Standard erg, 120df, 59 degrees, 47rhr. Still feeling a bit blah. Raised the spm to 26 from the 24 that I did last week to hit the same splits, but still it was about 10 meters per stroke and strapless, so not too bad.

192,569m in the Holiday Challenge. Should make it tomorrow.

Rick

TomR · Post by **TomR** » December 18th, 2006, 11:07 am

seat5 wrote: What is your 2K PB pace? Is 1:49 faster or slower?

My best 2k recently was 7.21+/1.50.4 avg/500. I did that as the test at the start of the IP.

So I'm working to improve on that. I'm still not sure how fast I will get (although I am not going to reach my pb of 6.59+). I figure anythng under 7.15 is good. Under 7.12 would be a great success. I don't know how much time I can realistically expect to shave at this point, but I expect it's mere fractions.

Rick, I trust the shoes et. al. are flying off the shelves.

Tom

whaskell · Post by **whaskell** » December 18th, 2006, 1:16 pm

Several rough training days for me lately. I'll post the results when I get a moment.

-Last Saturday UT1 3x15min - legs felt dead. I completed the workout, but really struggled.
-last Sunday AT 2x 15min - only completed 1 rep.
-Today AN 6x1.5min - completed 4 reps but got up later than normal so did not have time to complete.

The good news is that I have achieved the Holiday Challenge and now stand at 225,622m.

Bob S. · Post by **Bob S.** » December 18th, 2006, 1:22 pm

GeorgeNZ wrote: george
ps hope I am not intruding :?:

For goodness sake, George, you founded this thread. We all appreciate that and, not only are you welcome to contribute to your own thread, I feel that you owe us an occasional visit. I suppose that I should be putting in a smilie here, since I don't mean that "owe" seriously.

Bob S.

TomR · Post by **TomR** » December 18th, 2006, 5:41 pm

Seems like lots of folks are reporting fatigue. I think the IP is deceptively hard. And looking at upcoming workouts, I see longer sessions ahead.

Whose idea was this training plan, anyway?

whaskell · Post by **whaskell** » December 18th, 2006, 7:47 pm

I agree Tom. I see the workouts for this week as very difficult. I think I am going to have to slow down my UT1 workouts even more to finish them. Right now, even my UT1 workouts feel hard.

Bob S. · Post by **Bob S.** » December 18th, 2006, 8:53 pm

Last year, I did 300+k for the HC with no problem, but at only three training days a week this year, it is going to be tight to make the 200. I still have almost 32k to go. We are taking off on a trip, perhaps as early as the 22nd, so I have only 3-4 days to get it in and only 1-2 of those are scheduled workouts. I have made up for to some extent by increasing my usual 10’ wakeup piece (2’ea@12/15/18/20/12spm) to a 21’ piece (3’ea@112/15/18/20/18/15/12spm). This brings in 4200-4400m per day instead of the usual 1900-2100m. Even so, with only four of these left at the most, this is only about 17k total. Well, I will just have to see how it goes.

Today called for a 3x14’UT1. The erg room is still cold, so I did a pre-warmup with a jacket on first, then a regular warmup with only a T-shirt for a top.

Pre-warmup: 10’ - 2’ea@12/15/18/20/22. 2140m, 2:20.1, 127bpm ave.
6’ break.
Warmup: 12’ - 3’ea@15/18/20/22. 2631m, 2:16.8, 141bpm ave.
4’ rest.
1st piece: 14’@20spm. 3059m, 2:17.3, 144bpm ave.
5’ rest.
2nd piece: 14’@20spm. 3063m, 2:17.1, 142bpm ave.
4’ rest.
3rd piece: 14’@20spm. 3100m, 2:15.4, 144bpm ave.
1’rest.
Cool down: 10’ - 2'ea@20/18/15 and 4’@12spm. 1971m, 2:32.3, 130bpm ave.

Of course my pace band was supposed to be 2:18.3-2:23.2 and my rate was supposed to be 22-24spm, but I just can’t adjust to that. It always feels just right at 20spm and when I take a proper length stroke, the pace generally goes below 2:18. Most of the time it was 2:17.x, but in the last part of the 3rd piece I pulled it down below 2:10.

I must have been tired, however. I screwed up in setting the cool down. I had intended to do 12' - 3'ea@20/18/15/12.

Bob S.

Anne · Post by **Anne** » December 18th, 2006, 11:07 pm

All the fatigue could also be the extra meters from the Holiday Challenge....plus the actual holidays, extra food, etc. We all may be able to catch our breath next week with the lull between Christmas and New Years.
I did a 2x18' UT1 workout today ---2:13.1 was doable (boring without the music)...I got to 140K of the Holiday Challenge. For a moment I wondered if I could get to the gym and row 10K each day this week. Reality overtook desire.

and I admitted defeat.

RR1 Kirk · Post by **RR1 Kirk** » December 19th, 2006, 12:51 am

Anne wrote:All the fatigue could also be the extra meters from the Holiday Challenge....plus the actual holidays, extra food, etc. We all may be able to catch our breath next week with the lull between Christmas and New Years.
I did a 2x18' UT1 workout today ---2:13.1 was doable (boring without the music)...I got to 140K of the Holiday Challenge. For a moment I wondered if I could get to the gym and row 10K each day this week. Reality overtook desire. and I admitted defeat.

You shouldn't feel defeated by not completing the 200K. You are trying to stick to a training plan to compete in a race. If rowing 200K wasn't part of that plan then you are succeeding in your plan of reaching race fitness when you want to, not when the HC tells you to.

Yankeerunner · Post by **Yankeerunner** » December 19th, 2006, 9:35 am

3 X 12' UT1 (3'r)

2141m w/u in 10'

12' 2976m 2:01.0 22spm 137hr (recovered to 71hr during rest)
12' 2987m 2:00.5 23spm 144hr (rec. to 76hr)
12' 3001m 2:00.0 23spm 148hr (rec. to 85hr)

1041m c/d in 5'

Standard erg, 121df, 56 degrees, 44rhr. Given that the stroke rate and heart rate were solidly in the UT1 zone, by interpolation the paces would indicate that I'm about where a 7:12 2km'er would be when ready to try to improve to 7:08. Given that 7:08 is what I did at BIRC, I guess that I'm about back at that level.....Theoretically, anyway.

Passed 200km in the Holiday Challenge. Which makes me feel like singing:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBBqOTd5qzE
Those three girls (the 5, 6, 7, 8's, from the movie Kill Bill) prove that you don't need deep lyrics and don't have to have much skill in playing your instruments in order to make music that feels good.

Rick

whaskell · Post by **whaskell** » December 19th, 2006, 8:22 pm

Tuesday Morning
5min WU 1104m
UT1 3x15min/max pace 1:54.5/22-24spm
Target: 3x15min/avg pace 1:58/23spm/3min rest
15min/1:57.9/23spm/3816m
15min/1:57.6/24spm/3826m
15min/1:57.4/24spm/3832m
Total: 13149m

Slowed things down a notch today so I could complete a workout. This went well and I felt good. Tomorrow is a TR 6x2min.