'Tour de SkiErg' mystery

[estragon]

The February SkiErg Challenge on the C2 logbook site (https://log.concept2.com/challenges/tour-de-skierg) is puzzling me. Is there any logical reason for the weekly events being in this order? 5,000 metres is a moderately tough task to start on, but then we drop down to 500 metres the next week, then 2,000, and finish up on 10,000! Is the idea that we simply have to do the workout once during the week? If so, why this weedy 500 metres in Week 2? Would it not make more sense to build up -- 500, 2000, 5000, 10000? Any thoughts?

The Tour de SkiErg runs from February 1–29 and features a different event each week. The Details
Using the Concept2 SkiErg, complete each of the following four events during the timeframes indicated and log them in your online logbook:
Week 1, Feb. 1–7: 5000 meters
Week 2, Feb. 8–14: 500 meters
Week 3, Feb. 15–21: 2000 meters
Week 4, Feb. 22–29: 10,000 meters

[hjs]

The February SkiErg Challenge on the C2 logbook site (https://log.concept2.com/challenges/tour-de-skierg) is puzzling me. Is there any logical reason for the weekly events being in this order? 5,000 metres is a moderately tough task to start on, but then we drop down to 500 metres the next week, then 2,000, and finish up on 10,000! Is the idea that we simply have to do the workout once during the week? If so, why this weedy 500 metres in Week 2? Would it not make more sense to build up -- 500, 2000, 5000, 10000? Any thoughts?

The Tour de SkiErg runs from February 1–29 and features a different event each week. The Details
Using the Concept2 SkiErg, complete each of the following four events during the timeframes indicated and log them in your online logbook:
Week 1, Feb. 1–7: 5000 meters
Week 2, Feb. 8–14: 500 meters
Week 3, Feb. 15–21: 2000 meters
Week 4, Feb. 22–29: 10,000 meters

The idea is to do the distances at full speed. Doing it in one month makes it impossible to specific train for any distance, changing the order would not matter much, if at all.

Btw, if you think a 500m is weedy, you clearly never done one at full speed. A max 500 is very very tough.

If you only want to do the tour and not care much about speed I see your point, but thats not the way its ment to be, after all its a kind of competition.

Re workout per week, no you can do it as often as you want, the best one you log per week for a given distance thats the one that counts.

[estragon]

Well that's the thing -- I missed any reference to it being a competitive challenge. The intro says "In the Tour de SkiErg, your goal is to use the SkiErg to complete the specified events during the timeframes indicated. Good luck!" Then it adds "Participants who meet the challenge can enjoy..."

So it doesn't say the goal is to do better than others, just to 'meet the challenge'. Usually the challenges are just something like 'do 5K this week, then 10K, 20k, 30K' in successive weeks', which I've always taken as a personal challenge for myself to build up metres rather than a contest against others. They nearly all (from what I can see) go upwards in a linear fashion.

But anyway, thanks for enlightening me. If the challenge is to do your 500K faster than anyone in your age group / geography (whatever) then sure, that's a quite different ball game. Still not sure about the logic of the step-back to 500 though. No problem.

[hjs]

Well that's the thing -- I missed any reference to it being a competitive challenge. The intro says "In the Tour de SkiErg, your goal is to use the SkiErg to complete the specified events during the timeframes indicated. Good luck!" Then it adds "Participants who meet the challenge can enjoy..."

So it doesn't say the goal is to do better than others, just to 'meet the challenge'. Usually the challenges are just something like 'do 5K this week, then 10K, 20k, 30K' in successive weeks', which I've always taken as a personal challenge for myself to build up metres rather than a contest against others. They nearly all (from what I can see) go upwards in a linear fashion.

But anyway, thanks for enlightening me. If the challenge is to do your 500K faster than anyone in your age group / geography (whatever) then sure, that's a quite different ball game. Still not sure about the logic of the step-back to 500 though. No problem.

C2 wants to be inclusive, so they don,t want to put people off. You can look at the results of last year to have an idea. Its ofcourse up to you how you do this and how much effort you put in.

Don,t overthink the logic, its a copy from others sports with multiple events.

And in general, when c2 has a challenge with fixed distances, look at it as a race, other challenges are much more flexible without a race element involved.

[johnlvs2run]

Is there any logical reason for the weekly events being in this order?

Having completed the Tour de Skierg this past year, I feel that the order of events is ideal.
The most draining event the 10k is last, which is logical, because it takes more time for recovery.
Thus, the 5k being first, puts the longest time between the two longest events.
Following the 5k with the shortest event, the 500m, allows for a quicker recovery going into the 2k.

"your goal is to use the SkiErg to complete the specified events during the timeframes indicated."

Completing the events in the specified time frames is my primary goal.
My second goal is to better my times from last year, which I should be able to do.
My third goal is to better my PBs, set within the past year. This one will be harder to accomplish.

[estragon]

Fair point about the logic of separating the two longest events. Good luck for this year.