Concept2 Forum

I registered for the mens heavy 45-49 at the world police and fire games in Fairfax, Va. in July. I haven't rowed a 2K for time in a while, but do regular intervals in the low 7s. In fact, I've never actually rowed a 2K for time as it sucks too much I tried once and stopped at a 1K (2:56.9). The normal winning times for my age group the past few competitions range from the winner in the 6:30 range, to 5th place in the 7-7:10 range. The outright record is a 5:47 from an obvious pro who happens to be a cop or firefighter on the side. I think I have a decent chance at a podium finish; a heck of a good time if not.

So, I've got five months to train. I assume lots of intervals with time tests (weekly, bi weekly?). I dont want to get too serious about it though (paid coaching, etc) as my family responsibilities are more important.

On a side note, I may also compete in the 1500m swim event and the four man tuff man competitor event, depending on other buddies who go.

Thanks,

Morgan

Hi Morgan,

I'm considering entering as well. Would be same age/weight category as you. I'm a FF from NY.

Your 1k PB is very impressive. Fast 500 and 1k's don't always correlate in to equally fast 2k's as there is a much larger aerobic component to the 2k but if you can get your aerobic base anywhere close to your power your 2k would be very fast. I would continue doing your regular intervals but also mix in some longer aerobic rows.

The one interesting thing I noticed about the schedule is that you will need to row twice in the same day. A qualifyer in the morning and the final in the afternoon. Most events (Crash-B's) only require you to row once. At this point I have no idea -pace wise - how I would approach two really hard 2k's in one day. Something I will definitely want to figure out before I get to Fairfax.

Best of luck in your training.

Dan

Well, I signed up today, so hopefully we'll get a chance to meet. Thanks for the tips. I'm sure things will change, but my plan right now is 2-3 days of rowing, a day of weightlifting (snatch and or squat), and a day of swimming intervals with an air restriction snorkel (mainly cuz swimming doesnt suck like rowing does ). Maybe a day of running when the rowing is light. I'm not really sure about actual rowing training yet. I have access to a couple of ex hardcore rowers (national team and olympic trials level), so I'll definitely pick their brain. Mainly, I just want to focus on having fun as I generally am too obsessive about stuff and miss out on the fun or get injured.

mg6682 wrote:I registered for the mens heavy 45-49 at the world police and fire games in Fairfax, Va. in July. I haven't rowed a 2K for time in a while, but do regular intervals in the low 7s. In fact, I've never actually rowed a 2K for time as it sucks too much I tried once and stopped at a 1K (2:56.9). The normal winning times for my age group the past few competitions range from the winner in the 6:30 range, to 5th place in the 7-7:10 range. The outright record is a 5:47 from an obvious pro who happens to be a cop or firefighter on the side. I think I have a decent chance at a podium finish; a heck of a good time if not.

So, I've got five months to train. I assume lots of intervals with time tests (weekly, bi weekly?). I dont want to get too serious about it though (paid coaching, etc) as my family responsibilities are more important.

On a side note, I may also compete in the 1500m swim event and the four man tuff man competitor event, depending on other buddies who go.

Thanks,

Morgan

Sub 6.20 should not be difficult. Doing only short interval work would be wise. Rowing is mostly aerobic, so you need to improve that. Second you need a strong stroke, so do you basetraining at lower ratings.

Have a look at the interactive plan of c2 and read up on the wolverine plan. It will give you an idea whould you could. If you can pull 2.56 with not much serious training, 6.20 should be pretty straightforward.

Morgan,

I'm pretty sure most of the people reading this would be just a bit amused at someone pulling 1:28.4 pace for 1K wondering if they can get to sub-7minutes, or 1:45 pace. You could literally do 1:35 for 1K and 1:55 for the last 1K and do 7:00. Lower both by 5 sec and you've got 6:40. Of course, I don't advocate that kind of difference. You should be able to do 1:40 - 1:45 for the entire 2K. Of course, you do not state when you last did 2:56. Can you still do that?

The rules for training for any race are the same. One must do shorter, faster work and longer, slower work. I don't really think you need to do the mega-meters that some plans advocate. You definitely need to do some 5K's and not at a slow, lazy pace. I can see intervals ranging from 250-500m with enough rest to keep the pace high. Access to someone who was a decent rower helps, assuming they have the right perspective for your case. You'll have to judge that.

mg6682 wrote:In fact, I've never actually rowed a 2K for time as it sucks too much

Morgan I would highly recommend doing one very soon. It will give you a baseline for your training and get you accustomed to the 2k experience.

If you've been doing intervals regularly you should be able to come up with a realistic pacing target.

"Of course, you do not state when you last did 2:56. Can you still do that?" (2013 IIRC - dunno now)

"Morgan I would highly recommend doing one very soon. It will give you a baseline for your training and get you accustomed to the 2k experience."

You guys bring up great points about how the world (especially the net) talks too much and performs too little. I'm going to give a 5K a shot tonight (cuz I think its where I need the work) and see how it turns out. Put up or shut up, right? I recently treadmill ran five miles in 37:56 (7:35 pace) if that's any help with my current aerobic fitness.

This is gonna suck.

Which brings up a bigger issue for me: mental toughness.

Lol, anyway, thanks for the tips

A fair amount of mental and physical toughness doesn't hurt when going for a max effort 2k. But what I think is more important is having a realistic - based on interval training data -target. Without that you're flying (and possible dying) blind. Having the numbers to back me up always provides confidence and helps overcome and row through the pain.

I've found the Pete Plan speed intervals to be pretty accurate predictors - within .5 second.

My recent 2k was 6:38 - 1:39.5.

500x8r3:30 = 2k -3 - Prediction based on this one was 1:39.7

4x1kr5 = 2k +1 Prediction based on this one was 1:40.0

Thanks, I'll check it out.

The new photo that's going to sit in front of my erg. Respect, man!

Did the 8 x 500m w/3:30 rest between rounds. 1:34.1, 1:32.4, 1:33.3, 1:33.4, 1:34.6, 1:34.3, 1:34.5, 1:34.7 (1:33.9 avg).

First four rounds were too bad; the next two pretty hard; and the last two very hard. I'm not sure I buy this being a good tell of my 2K time? I'll just have to get some more rows under my belt. Good drill though.

mg6682 wrote:Did the 8 x 500m w/3:30 rest between rounds. 1:34.1, 1:32.4, 1:33.3, 1:33.4, 1:34.6, 1:34.3, 1:34.5, 1:34.7 (1:33.9 avg).

First four rounds were too bad; the next two pretty hard; and the last two very hard. I'm not sure I buy this being a good tell of my 2K time? I'll just have to get some more rows under my belt. Good drill though.

This is a good tell, around 6.30 right now.

Nice work! You're clearly in pretty good form already. For most people that split plus roughly 3 is pretty accurate.

Try the 4 x 1k with 5 minutes rest at about 1:38 pace. On paper it never looks that bad but it's pretty painful. Gives you a better since of the 2k "experience".

dnf0929 wrote:Nice work! You're clearly in pretty good form already. For most people that split plus roughly 3 is pretty accurate.

Try the 4 x 1k with 5 minutes rest at about 1:38 pace. On paper it never looks that bad but it's pretty painful. Gives you a better since of the 2k "experience".

The only thing that I've managed to learn in my short erg career is that anything of effort is going to really suck about halfway through.

I'll try out the 4 x 1000 the next hard row. Thanks.

Was planning on 3 x 10 min sessions, which turned into 2 x 15 min sessions, which became 2 x 2000m w a 5 min rest in between: 6:45, 6:42.5. I need to get some more miles under my belt for a while - the suspense of not knowing what to expect before ea row is killing me Thanks agin for the tips.