Tell me my 500 meters target time

[Heaviestuser]

Hi,
I've been indoor rowing since autumn 2005.
My first personal best was 8.40, rowing 2K.

Now it is down to 7.40.

I wonder what my PB rowing 500 meters could be ? It is at the moment
1.45.6. I start with a split of 1.40 but cannot keep up a split of 1.40, and than cannot even finish 500 meters.
What preparations coudl help ? I am more of an endurance athlete than an strenght athlete.

[johnlvs2run]

Three things help me with the 500 meters. First, doing some training at 500 meter pace. Secondly, doing a good warmup. This is especially important for the 500 meters. Third, setting the monitor on projected pace and keeping the same exact pace all the way.

Your 1:45.6 is good compared to your 2k and without special 500m training. I'd aim for a 1:44 the next time and keep the pace even all the way. If that seems too easy then aim for 1:43 the time after that. Whomp on the last 100 meters and that will tell you how much and if you have anything more in reserve.

[PaulS]

Hi,
I've been indoor rowing since autumn 2005.
My first personal best was 8.40, rowing 2K.

Now it is down to 7.40.

I wonder what my PB rowing 500 meters could be ? It is at the moment
1.45.6. I start with a split of 1.40 but cannot keep up a split of 1.40, and than cannot even finish 500 meters.
What preparations coudl help ? I am more of an endurance athlete than an strenght athlete.

It's quite usual to be 10 seconds in pace different between 500m and 2k PB's with balanced fitness. If you are more of an endurance athlete, it's not showing much at this point. Keep working on your overall fitness to bring both paces down, it appears you are doing a good job at it.

[johnlvs2run]

A 7:40 for the 2k divided by the conversion factor of 4.612 is equivalent to a 500 meter time of 1:39.8.

Thus Heaviestuser has excellent endurance for the 2k based on his 500m time of 1:45.6.

When my fastest 2k was 7:25.8, my 500m time was 1:44.3 and it took concentrated 500m training to get it any faster than that.

[stroke_seat123]

how did u figure that out?

[johnlvs2run]

By comparing the times for the top rowers for the 10 ranking evenings and world records.

[Ben Rea]

so if my 2k time is 7:47.6 (1:56.9/500m) and my 500m pb is 1:44.3 that means i better endurance than sprinting power?

[johnlvs2run]

Yes it does.

[jamesg]

HU,
To calculate a target 500m time (to be reached after N years studying technique and training) note that the best lightweights can pull around 7W/kg for a 500 test. My best is little more than 4W/kg; I'm 65, 87 kg. Presumably you can get nearer the 7W/kg target.

Another way of doing some sums might be to take the work/stroke index (power/rating) that you use in normal training @ 19-21, then extrapolate to rating 30-35; and then try it.

Note that 500m is not a flat out sprint. To see where flat out sprints end, try that too. Indeed when I get to 300m, especially on water, I start to think 500m is a very long way.

[PaulS]

so if my 2k time is 7:47.6 (1:56.9/500m) and my 500m pb is 1:44.3 that means i better endurance than sprinting power?

No, your 500m pace is 12.6 seconds faster than your 2k pace, meaning you need to work more on your endurance. (i.e. You are imbalanced in favor of sprinting/strength at the moment.) Obviously opinions vary, you choose who to believe.

[JimR]

so if my 2k time is 7:47.6 (1:56.9/500m) and my 500m pb is 1:44.3 that means i better endurance than sprinting power?

No, your 500m pace is 12.6 seconds faster than your 2k pace, meaning you need to work more on your endurance. (i.e. You are imbalanced in favor of sprinting/strength at the moment.) Obviously opinions vary, you choose who to believe.

Paul ... I assume this is based on the double the distance, add 5 seconds rule of thumb you have found holds true for most people? So a person with a gap between pace on a 500m piece vs a 2K piece greater than 10 seconds needs to work on endurance ... less than 10 seconds an they should work on speed???

JimR

[stroke_seat123]

so if i pull a 6 44 2k what should my 500 meter be?

[johnlvs2run]

Your 500 meter is fine.

If you were faster at that then your 2000m might not be as fast as it is.

[PaulS]

JimR,

Well, unless the individual is completely up against the Best performance level in the world, they should continue to work on both aspects, though they could use it as a guide as to what might get more emphasis so they remain in a good balance of fitness. There are very few instances I've seen where strength is the issue, and it seems to happen with those that only focus on endurance training, which is not really that bad of a thing, unless of course they really want to improve their 2k to a specific avg pace and they find it impossible to do a 500m time trial 10 seconds in pace faster than that avg. The strength work can be accomplished much quicker than the endurance work, so when someone wants to improve their 2k, I generally would go straight to suggesting they work on their 6k.

SS123,
Your 500m time trial should be as fast as you can possibly complete it, but with a 2k of 6:44, a target of 1:31 would be a good place to start, and press it from there.

[johnlvs2run]

so if my 2k time is 7:47.6 (1:56.9/500m) and my 500m pb is 1:44.3 that means i better endurance than sprinting power?

On the average, a 2k is 4.612 times the 500 meters.

Thus your 1:44.3 would indicate an 8:01.1 for the 2k but you are 13.5 seconds faster than this, showing your endurance is good. Of course if you improve your endurance more and your speed stays the same, your 2k time will be faster. A couple of years ago my 500m was 1:44.3 and my 2k was 7:25.8. After that I worked on the 500 quite a bit and got it down faster, still not close to being on par with my 2k but that's fine.

Heaviestuser's 500 of 1:45.6 indicates a 2k of 8:07.1 but he is 27 seconds faster than this, also showing very good endurance.

Paul Smith's 500 of 1:24.0 a few years ago times 4.612 indicates an on par 2k of 6:27.0. But the fastest he has done in the last five years is more than 6 seconds slower than that. Thus he is the one lacking endurance, if that weren't already quite obvious. Also he weighs in at 250 pounds so it's not surprising that he's lacking fitness.

The rest of us can be proud that we are taking much better care of ourselves.

The older we get, the greater the importance this has.