Newbie after a little guidance

[Joshua Hobbs]

Good Afternoon Everyone,

Brand new to indoor rowing due to starting a competition with friends. Fastest 2k time within the month of August wins. My goal was to get my time under 7min or as close to as possible within the month and ideally take first prize.

I did my first attempt last week and I was so far off the pace, with a time of 7:41.8.

Over the weekend I did some reading and changed my drag factor to a more appropriate level(130ish). I am 6.3 in height and 85kgs. I also read most of the effort should come from the legs which I feel like I wasn't doing right in my first 2k attempt. Yesterday I did 8 x 500m all between 1:45 to 1:50 pace which seems like a huge increase in pace from my first 2k time. I was pretty tired after this but felt great with the faster splits.

Any other tips for a newbie?
Im keen for another 2k attempt today or tomorrow with my new found form(push not pull).

[lindsayh]

welcome
a 2k TT is a long term project and you will a lot of improvement over the next 12 months if you train well - you just need to concentrate on getting fit with mostly long steady pieces and some harder interval training along the way - look at the beginner and regular Pete plan
There is a huge amount of new rower information on the Training sub-forum
Start with this thread and you will get a good start
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=185257

[Dangerscouse]

It's possible you could go sub 7 by end of August, but it will be very tough to make that much progress in such a short period of time and I'll say it is unlikely, but there's no reason to not try and do it, not least as confidence is a big part of what you need to succeed. Watch some C2 technique videos and make sure that you're rowing properly as it's all too easy to leak power.

At what stroke rate are you rowing at? What is your background fitness and age? Your height and weight lend themselves to rowing so you will have a benefit there.

Do you have any data from your 2k attempt? A photo of the screen will be really helpful as you may have done a classic 'fly and die', which we are all guilty of at one time or another, and you will possibly get faster simply from a better strategy.

[jamesg]

I also read most of the effort should come from the legs

True, since the rowing muscle is in hips and thighs and the slide lets us use them, if we learn how:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0dzPz0tD5I

Two thousand meters is quite a long way, so as well as technique for speed, endurance will also be needed; both are acquired by pulling long distances with a good stroke but at low rating.

[winniewinser]

Welcome aboard!

From 7:41 to sub 7 in 1 month is a reach but it sounds like a fun challenge amongst friends that will spur you on. You have the height for it and if you a fit you may well have a head start on many.

Have a look at the Pete Plan 2k training schedules and use some of those sessions to build your fitness and strength. Obviously you don't have time to do all the sessions and iterations but it may well help. 8x500/2'R is a good starting place for the interval sessions and often a reasonable barometer of what your 2k pace could be.

A full on 2k TT can be a beast of an experience so be prepared to go deep into the pain cave if you want to maximise your performance. Pacing it right will help prevent a blowout too. so if you manage to do 8x500's at say 1:45 then you could look to start at say 1:46/47 then drop each of the next 500m saving a little for a big sprint finish.

Most of all, enjoy it!

Alex

[hjs]

If its only about August, just do a 2k every 3/4 days, on other days maybe an easy 20 min paddle.

Use, long full strokes, do no start out fast, go for even pacing, if possible speed up in the last 500. You have three weeks, so you could 5 orso pieces.

[mitchel674]

As Stu said, technique and strategy will likely pay your best dividends over such a short amount of time. I'd be concerned about a novice pushing too hard with poor technique causing injury. Take some time to make sure you have a proper stroke. As to your strategy, it's best to go into your 2k test with a plan.

[hjs]

As Stu said, technique and strategy will likely pay your best dividends over such a short amount of time. I'd be concerned about a novice pushing too hard with poor technique causing injury. Take some time to make sure you have a proper stroke. As to your strategy, it's best to go into your 2k test with a plan.

Maybe he should wear a helmet

Common, think this is a young guy, pulling 7.40, about time he will hurt a bit, cause you can only pull this if you don’t hurt much ever. Plenty of 60 plus guys are faster.

Modern life is way to easy.

[Tony Cook]

I’ve done similar in the past - decided to enter a 2k race with 4 or 5 weeks to prepare.
IMO you are not going to get noticeably fitter so there are two things you can do:
1. Improve technique as the guys with more knowledge have already said; and
2. Have a race plan.
The plan that worked for me was even splits that means a naturally slightly faster first 500, as you go off quick for the first 10 strokes, and (hopefully) a slightly quicker last 500 as you have just enough left to go hard for the last 250.
I wanted a sub 7 and did similar to what Henry said - a hard 2k twice a week. If you really think you can go sub 7 then I would try the next one at a very strict 1:48 pace all the way - that will bring you home in 7:12. If you can manage that then go 1:47 pace - you’ll do it in 7:08.
I got to the 1:45 all the way 7:00 dead on a week before the race and with the adrenaline of race day came home in 6:56.
It could work for you too.

[Joshua Hobbs]

Thanks All for the replies and tips.

I had a look at Pete's plan and there are some great pointers there.

Im 31 years old with a sporty background so relativity fit. As many have mentioned seems my biggest time gains in such a short period will be from improving technique so I have been watching videos online(dark horse rowing etc.) and excited to attempt my next 2k with my new knowledge. If I don't hit the sub 7 in August its still a goal I want to achieve in the short term.

Looks like the best training strategy, without going into much detail going forward for the month of August is to do speed intervals twice a week and some longer rows once or twice a week(I play sport and lift weights on other days).

Stats for first attempt are:

Time: Meter /500m S/m
7:48.2 2000 1:57.0 27

1:55.5 500 1:55.5 26
1:57.0 1000 1:57.0 27
1:58.3 1500 1:58.3 27
1:57.4 2000 1:57.4 28

Josh

[Dangerscouse]

Stats for first attempt are:

Time: Meter /500m S/m
7:48.2 2000 1:57.0 27

1:55.5 500 1:55.5 26
1:57.0 1000 1:57.0 27
1:58.3 1500 1:58.3 27
1:57.4 2000 1:57.4 28

Josh

They are decently paced splits, what you will benefit from, if you're able to, is to increase your stroke rate. If possibly aim to get it up to 28 as a minimum and preferably 30+, but it might be a struggle to adjust your breathing sequence to fit to start with, so don't worry if it's counter productive, and just try and get comfortable with r28 (r is shorthand for stroke rate)

[hjs]

Stats for first attempt are:

Time: Meter /500m S/m
7:48.2 2000 1:57.0 27

1:55.5 500 1:55.5 26
1:57.0 1000 1:57.0 27
1:58.3 1500 1:58.3 27
1:57.4 2000 1:57.4 28

Josh

They are decently paced splits, what you will benefit from, if you're able to, is to increase your stroke rate. If possibly aim to get it up to 28 as a minimum and preferably 30+, but it might be a struggle to adjust your breathing sequence to fit to start with, so don't worry if it's counter productive, and just try and get comfortable with r28 (r is shorthand for stroke rate)

At 6.3 at that pace, rating 30 would be high, there is not much power in the strokes, that would be nmr 1 to work and could go up rapidly even in a few weeks.

[iain]

As HJS says to get close to 7 min you will need to do much more work with each stroke. This will only come in 3 weeks with technique improvements. When you have looked at technique videos, try and produce strokes as powerful as possible at a low rate. If you change the monitor to watts and divide the watts by the stroke rate, you will need to be close to 10 (600J per stroke). The secret is in thinking "squats" pushing off and accelerating fast, then a slow recovery crawling up the slide while you inhale twice and exhale. To go sub 7 you will also need to rate higher. If you can't get near the 600J, I would put sub-7 to a medium term goal. As well as short fast intervals, longer ones (try 4 x 2k with 4 min rest between) help getting you used to the 2k distance and build fitness. All out 2ks will take it out of you and require a day off before and after (or very light recoveries), so with limited time I would limit the number. If you are serious about this challenge, I would cut weights to a single session lighter than normal as you need to concentrate on the rowing.

Best of luck.

- Iain

[Dangerscouse]

As HJS says to get close to 7 min you will need to do much more work with each stroke. This will only come in 3 weeks with technique improvements. When you have looked at technique videos, try and produce strokes as powerful as possible at a low rate. If you change the monitor to watts and divide the watts by the stroke rate, you will need to be close to 10 (600J per stroke). The secret is in thinking "squats" pushing off and accelerating fast, then a slow recovery crawling up the slide while you inhale twice and exhale. To go sub 7 you will also need to rate higher. If you can't get near the 600J, I would put sub-7 to a medium term goal. As well as short fast intervals, longer ones (try 4 x 2k with 4 min rest between) help getting you used to the 2k distance and build fitness. All out 2ks will take it out of you and require a day off before and after (or very light recoveries), so with limited time I would limit the number. If you are serious about this challenge, I would cut weights to a single session lighter than normal as you need to concentrate on the rowing.

Best of luck.

- Iain

Good advice. If all out 2ks are too demanding, which they probably will be, doing 4 x 1k on 5r (five mins rest) is a great indicator of your 2k potential. This is also very demanding but not quite as bad. Five mins rest sounds like a lot, but it goes very quickly when you're pushing your limits and on the last rep.

Maybe adding 30r20 (30 mins capped to 20 spm) will be useful too, as it will encourage a fast powerful drive without the help of a higher stroke rate to keep up the pace.

FYI, when I first tried a 30r20 it was circa +14 seconds on my 2k PB average 500m pace, so don't underestimate it as it will creep up on you at about the 20 minute stage.

Prepare to get comfortable with being uncomfortable as the 2k is a horrible session and if you get to 1k and you don't doubt that you can finish, you're not going hard enough

[hjs]

Maybe a good training is the following.

Row 500m reps, set the rest on 2 min. Use 24 strokes per minute.

Start the first at 2.00 pace, so set the pace on average.
Nmr 2 at 1.59.0 av
3 1.58.0
Etc

Do this untill you can’t reach the next average goal. Aim for 10 reps.

When you can do this over 10 reps, with 1 second speeding up, the next time start out 2 seconds faster.

To reach 7.00 level you roughly need to get to 1.40 on a tenth rep.

Always do a warm up first, some easy rowing with a few faster pieces. Take 5 rest, set the timer right and go...