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[wittengenstein]

Hey C2-people around the world!

I'm a 23/5'9 (god, I dont even know how to write this feet, inch stuff)/70kg(I finally gave up ) woman from Austria who started to row in late August of this year on the water. At the beginning of winter training about one month ago I had my first ever 2K which made me feel incredibly excited, but I was still satisfied with my 7:55. Yesterday I was tested again and did a 7:40-test after 5 months of rowing. I think I couldn't ask for more.

Now there is an indoor rowing competition coming up on the 19th of january.
As for my training, I'm quite unspecific now, mainly trying to improve my technique, as I didn't do that many sessions on the C2. I can hold a 2:15 pace for one hour very easily while talking to my teammates and if I try really hard a 1:46 pace for 500m. I do about 3 - 4 sessions a week on the erg, one on the water, one in the gym, because my philosophy is to increase frequency slowly rather than to have backache which is my problem sometimes.

My question is: Is 7:30 a realistic expectation for the 19th? Should I be more specific than just doing two longer pieces, one interval session and a 3x4km (or something similar)? Or will progress at this point come naturally as I started rowing only a couple of months ago?

Thaaaaanks,
wittgenstein (I misspelled my name, I know )

[jamesg]

Well done, your approach looks perfect. Don't worry about feet and inches, they're only used in remote corners of the world nowadays, and the erg is fully ISO.

A 7½' 2k is 245W (pace 1:52.5) so no joke even for very tough 70 kg ladies like yourself. The Interactive http://therowingcompany.com/training/interactive can give you an idea of the work to do in the last month. Suggest you get into it double quick, time is short. There's lots of fast stuff which will give you the extra edge for a race.

I'd do some of the work at 245-250W, checking the rating at which it feels doable; say 30?

[hjs]

In the run up to a race specific work helps. Stuff like 4x1k rest 5 minutes, 8x500 rest 3 min. You have a good base, working on your race race and piece will build a nice peak. Difficult to predict the outcome but if it is important for you should work on peaking and base building anymore.

[wittengenstein]

Thanks for the advice! I'll definitely consider your tips!

Wow, stroke rate 30? I did all of my 2ks at a stable 23-24, will such a high frequency make me faster?

And: yeah, 1:52 is quite intense -- but I can keep that up for about 900m now, so who knows.

[hjs]

Thanks for the advice! I'll definitely consider your tips!

Wow, stroke rate 30? I did all of my 2ks at a stable 23-24, will such a high frequency make me faster?

And: yeah, 1:52 is quite intense -- but I can keep that up for about 900m now, so who knows.

Rate 23/24 is never the most efficient rate, at races almost nobody will rate below 30, no even the tall man. Working on those rates will give you a lot of extra pace, but it takes some time to get used to.

You could try a session like 1 min on 1 min off, start out at your usual rate and per rep rate 1 pip higher and see how that turnes out. All in all plenty of room to improve left, enjoy

[jamesg]

Wow, if you did your 7:40 2k (230W) at rate 24, that's quite a hefty stroke. If you can do that, then 250W at say 28 should not be a problem. It's soon tested.

Keeping the rate a little higher means you don't have to pull so hard. If you look here you can see what other women do. http://therowingcompany.com/birc/results

[wittengenstein]

Once again thank you for the advice.

Yesterday I rowed 4x500 to see at what rate and split I feel comfortable and I wanted to ask what you think of the results: My average split time was 1.50,8 which makes the 2k a 7:23 -- is 7:30 possible considering that I didn't recover/trained the day before I rowed this time? I#m going to test a 2k on thursday, but I still don't really know how to pace it...

[jamesg]

I suggest pace constant as if for 7:33-5 (so 1:53) for 1500m, then wind it up.

This protocol can help with both pace and strategy. All that's needed is a single 500m test:
http://therowingcompany.com/birc/training_race_strategy

[wittengenstein]

Hey guys!

I thought I'd give you all a short update about my situation before engaging as a regular user in other threads. Last sunday I missed my goal by about 4 seconds, which makes a 7.34. I didn't feel well for the entire day, especially before the test, and became ill immediately after the training session (but not because of it). Hence this and the fact that the other girls at the tournament range mainly from 6.53(!!) to 7.11 (which would be the 5th or so place) I decided to alter my goals a little bit:

12 Months from now I'll participate and just see where I am going. I am completely aware of the fact that I still will be able to only become about 15 seconds faster in that year, but at my age I rather think about becoming a fast masters-rower by working constantly for the next 3 years instead of competing with the tough girls anyway. So my plan would be roughly speaking:

-) Take three months to wind my total kilometers up to 90km/week in a moderate way, throw in an interval session each week and precisely track my times - final 2k test in late March
-) Starting in the spring season (April), to focus on technique on the water and gain experience with my first regattas (alongside with doing "fun" things like Vogalonga) -- I would do two erg sessions every week additionally to being on the water 5 times
-) September to January: Wolverine Plan

Does that sound reasonable?