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2k before the 2k
Posted: November 30th, 2006, 11:49 pm
by gmac121
I'm doing an indoor race in JAN. I'm at the end of WK 1 of 4DPP (4 day Pete Plan) A few questions for the masses:
How long before Race day should one do the no s**t, redline, gas tank empty, 02 mask effort on a 2k? Or should you do one at all?
The taper/peaking: Thoughts?
I'm planning on taking the week prior and just doing easy 1k's, some hard 250s, and keep up w/ my olympic lifting and Crossfit.
Looking for some opinions of race veterans in general.
Posted: December 1st, 2006, 2:34 pm
by njsurfboats
If you're interested in training seriously (and I imagine if you've got lifting fitted into your plan then you are) I'd suggest buying "Rowing Faster" by Volker Nolte. It's got a lot of on-the-water stuff, of course, but also real good sections on training and lifting.
Last year, by sheer chance, I had Crash-B's one sunday, a surprise 2k test the following Saturday, and an official 2k test the next Saturday. The Friday before Crash-B's my teammates and I (the ones that were going) did probably 6-8' at faster-than-2k-pace (2k-2 or 3 seconds) but with a lot of rest in between, I think something like 45 seconds on and 2:30 off, that sort of thing. Anyway, I felt pretty fresh at Crash-B's and PR'd. I continued to chop a little bit off my 2k the next two weekends. I guess the point is that you definitely can do pressure close to a race, just make sure you throw in a lot of rest. But the bigger picture view of those three weeks is that the taper is more imporant. Taking a few easy days before a race probably won't gear you up quite as well as scaling down your training in the 2 weeks or so prior to the race (which we did for the last 2k test.)
I also remember something about "Supermax" from Brad Lewis' "Assault on Lake Casitas" (worth a read). The idea being, and I have no idea what the physiological logic behind this looks like, for a Saturday race, go super hard Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday and pretty much nothing Thursday-Friday. That's only my vague recollection and worth looking more into.
Posted: December 1st, 2006, 5:54 pm
by Nosmo
If it was me, I would make sure it is at least 24 hours.
But seriously, it really depends on what you are trying to do and what
kind of shape your in. If your recovery is good and you have a lot of endurance and are not over trained then it won't hurt to do a 2K test very
close to the race--even the previous day. A long taper is helpful
if you have been training hard and are trying to peak. If you are
still building and can tell that you are getting faster each week, then I would take it easy for only two or three days before the race. In this case one or two 2K tests say 6 and 4 days before the race may really help
you esablish what pace you want to set.
It also depends on how good you know yourself and how well you can judge how you are feeling during the row. Someone with a lot of experience can tell early on if they are feeling good and can set a personal best. They can also tell if they going are not feeling good, and will know to back off slightly so they don't fly and die.
So in summary if you need to gain self knowlege, there is more to be gained by testing yourself then from resting. However if this is the case, I would also modify your training plan to do a 2K test once a week.
Posted: December 1st, 2006, 6:32 pm
by Bob S.
In OTW regattas, it is normal to have a couple or more heats in the course of one or two days. For many events, like Masters regattas, it is common to sign up for more than one category of race, like singles, doubles and quads. I have heard of participants having as many as 6 or 7 races all in one weekend.
Even in erg racing, this used to be the case, at least the heats part of it. I was rather dismayed at my first C-B in 1995 to find that I had to do both a heat and a final.
Bob S.
Posted: December 1st, 2006, 10:12 pm
by gmac121
Solid Word all around. I ordered the book today. Yes, it sounds like I really need some more experience in the seat and then some decisions can be made w/ how I am feeling/recovering/performing. After reading a little bit on the board and knowing my times, I need to build up my aerobic base. My power is there, (1:26 500m, 3:06 1k) some time on the stick is needed to drop from my current 6:39 to 6:30. The 6:39 was done w/ minimal training. The 8-10ks should cure that.
Lots to chew on.
Thanks for the gouge.