New Wolverine Plan Thread

[wjschmidt2]

Strayed a little from the WP tonight. 30' 8000 meter row. Had dinner plans to celebrate the selling of our house and had only a short time to get the workout in.

This is the first time I had a low df 115 and broke 8000m. Normally I use 120 to 125df. I increased the sr to 27 - 29 for this session and felt great the whole way. Last year,I believe my sr would have been about 30 spm for the same workout. So, I really believe the WP has given me better stroking power which I hope will get me under 6:40 for the 2k one more time. Also, went strapless and barefoot which kept my sr below 30.

Tomorrow a nice long L4, may go for 70' and a few 184s.

Bill

[gregsmith01748]

2 Oct - L4 2x40min

176/172/176/200 x 2
ref pace: 1:42, avg spm: 18.1
+225 m, +8 strokes

[gregsmith01748]

@Nosmo:
Why so fast? Basically, pacing is my biggest challenge. I start off feeling so strong, I have trouble holding back. I know intellectually that I should stick to the plan, but I never do. Hopefully, a year or so of WP will beat me into submission
weekly posting? Sounds like a good idea. I'll try it.

[wjschmidt2]

L4 today 14990+3 df 120 spm 18.13
184, 180,178, 190, 176 182

Today was the first time trying a 190, and I can tell you all a year ago there would no way I could pull these rates. All of the low rating is really paying off.

I did the C2CTC last night and was able to keep a a good steady pace just below 1:45 and sr 32 for all the intervals above 500m and had good speed for the 400m and below with the spm up towards 36 and higher.

Bill

[gregsmith01748]

10/2 to 10/9 Weekly wrap up

10/2: L4 2x40 min, 19753m, 18.2spm
10/3: L2 3K/2.5K/2K/1.5K, target split 1:50, actual:
1:50.0,1:49.7,1:49.2,1:48.2
10/4: L4 60 min, 14465m, 17.7spm
10/5: L3 30’ / 5000m / 20’, new PB for 5000m (1:53.9)
10/6: Took the day off, fighting a cold
10/7: L4 60 min, 14571m, 17.7spm
10/8: L1 8x500, target split 1:40, actual splits: 39.8, 39.5, 39.1,
39.7, 39.7, 39.2, 40.8, 39.8. I was holding it together pretty
well until the 2nd to last interval.
10/9: L4 2x40min, 19706m, 18.4spm

Comments: It was a tough week, I had an overnight trip out to Pheonix and I was struggling with a head cold. I was able to get 6 good sessions in. I continue to have trouble keeping my stroke rates and splits on target in L4’s, but I’ll keep working on it. Overall, the goal is a sub-6:45 2K by the time the CRASH-Bs roll around, and I think I’m on track for that.
I'm off to Korea on Monday night, so next week will be mostly running.

[gregsmith01748]

10/10 to 10/17 Weekly wrap up
10/10: L3, 60:00, 15204, 1:58.3
10/11: L4, 2 x 40 min, 176/172/176/200, 19532m, +4m
10/12: Off, flying to Korea
10/13: 7.5K run
10/14: 10K run
10/15: 10K run
10/16: L4, 80 min, 176/172/176/172/186/182/186/182, 19499m, +48m
10/17: L1, 8x500m, target pace: 1:42, actual pace: 1:43.5 (due to 6th interval at 1:47.3)

Comments: Taking 4 days off the erg has not helped, and I was fighting a cold and sore knee. I think I am on a bit of a plateau. I hope just sticking with the program is the right thing to do.

I don’t have any trips scheduled for the next few weeks, so I think I will be able to keep the desired workout sequence going. Ideally...
Day #1: L4
Day #2: L1
Day #3: L4
Day #4: L3
Day #5: L2
Day #6: L4
Day #7: Off
That way I have maximum recovery before the L1 and the L2.

[Nosmo]

Greg,
Are you trying to do the same workouts in the same order each week? Generally that is what you should do--it makes it much easier to track progress--of course flying halfway around the wold will mess everything up and require some improvisation.
Thanks for the weekly listing. It makes it much easier to follow your training.

[gregsmith01748]

The goal is to follow the same 6 day sequence, and vary the specific workout within each type. So for L1s, 8x500, 4x1K, 250/500/750/1K/750/500/250, etc. For L2s, 4x2K, pyramid around 2K, 5x1500, 3x3K. For L3s, either a HM or 60' depending on how much time I have. And of course the L4s.

When I travel, I basically try to start a new 6 day cycle when I come home, unless I can find an erg on the road. I try to run or workout every day that i can, just to maintain an aerobic base.

Something is wrong since my last trip. My times suck. In every workout, I am underperforming where I was before I left. My best HM was at a 1:56.1 pace, and today, I was sucking wind doing 60' at 1:59. In the L4 yesterday, I couldn't maintain the reference paces in the 2nd half of the workout, I needed to slow down my splits by about 2 secs. And the L1 session I did, the wheels totally came off in the sixth interval.

On top of it all, I think I am start to get Ostero-arthritis in my knee (At least that's what Dr. Internet's diagnosis is). It gets pretty painful at night when I try to sleep, and is incredibly stiff and painful in the morning, but after warming up and erging it feels much better.

So, I it feels like I am in some kind of a slump. I'm not sure what the best course of actions is. My objective is to be able to pull a 6:40 2K at the CRASH-Bs, but I feel like I am starting to go in the wrong direction. I've only been at this about a year, so I'm not sure whether giving myself a pep talk and sticking with the plan or changing things up is the right way to go.

Any suggestions or thoughts would be much appreciated.

[KevJGK]

Hi Greg

I think one of the easiest mistakes to make with the WP is building up the workload too quickly because it will catch up with you.

From some of your earlier posts it looks to me as though you are just doing too much too hard and I believe you would get a big benefit from easing back quite a bit for a while. The way you are attacking it is pretty hard core and your knee may be giving you a big clue. I think your 6 sessions per week are fine but the L1 & L2 don't always have to be at max, the L3 doesn't have to be a half marathon and 40' for the L4s is plenty for a while. If you reduce the workload you are likely to get your strength back and will be able to build again from a stronger base.

I am convinced you are going at it much too hard at the moment and a temporary step back will really help you in the longer run. You will feel much stronger with your sessions and progress will occur naturally.

Best of luck with your training.

[gregsmith01748]

Kevin: thanks for the feedback. I am suspicious about whether I am overtraining.

To figure it out, I will keep the 6 sessions, but I will modify as follows for a couple of weeks to see if I feel better.

L1 - increase target splits by about 2 sec, so about 2K race pace
L2 - about the same, so about 2K race pace plus 10 sec
L3 - Go by heart rate and keep it in UT1 range (less than 150)
L4 - reduce avg SPM down to around 17 from 18, do shorter sessions

I am also toying with the idea of doing either an L1 or an L2 each week instead of both, as is suggested in the WP.
What do you think?

[KevJGK]

Personally I would keep with a weekly L1, L2, L3 + 3 L4s if you feel you can manage them for a while but at an intensity that taxes you but leaves you wanting to come back the next day. That's probably all you need to recover.

Reducing the L4 spm down to 17 and building from there will obviously make a big difference as well. Concentrate on getting the pace and transitions right for your reference pace rather than going faster as well. The discipline in getting the L4 sessions accurate is a big part of the overall plan. Finally are you sure your reference pace is correct. MC says the L4 pieces should be tough but do-able. That's obviously subjective but IMO it's better to err on the side of caution for the long term.

By the way all this stuff is obviously just what I found works for me based on my own experiences. I have followed the plan for a few years and once made the mistake of pushing it too hard. Easing back and rebuilding was the right thing for me to do.

[Nosmo]

The trip to Korea could have also taken more out of you then you realize and caused everything to catch up with you. A large part of the WP plan (and really any successful training) is figuring out how much training and how intensity you can maintain. Pushing up to the edge and occasionally overstepping it is part of that processes. It is going to happen if you are serious about training. The more experience you have the easier it is to recognize when you are getting close to or overstepping that line. So don't be hard on yourself, stuff like this happens, especially when your routine is interrupted and you get less sleep or travel or stress at work increases. If you could control everything it would happen less often. I have no doubt you will do very well at the Crash-Bs.

I think Kev's advice is spot on.
I did have the impression that you were pushing it too hard on the L3s and L4s. I'd think about backing off on the pace of the L3 and L4 considerably. Then building back up the distance on those fairly quickly and then pay a lot of attention to what happens to your L1 and L2 as you build the speed back up on the L3s and L4s. Make sure the L3s and L4s aren't having much impact on the L1 and L2. (Impact not just your times on those but the rate of improvement and your desire to do them.)

PS When I said "I'd think about" I really meant think--not necessarily do it this way. You need to do what make sense to you.

[gregsmith01748]

Hi,

Since I want to get on a cadence aligned with the 6 workout cycle, and I finished a cycle today, I thought I'd post a summary now.


Weekly wrap up 10/16/10 – 10/21/10

10/16: L4, 80 min, 176/172/176/172/186/182/186/182, 19499m, +48m
10/17: L1, 8x500m, target pace: 1:42, actual:
1:43.3
1:42.9
1:42.5
1:42.0
1:41.6
1:47.3
1:44.5
1:42.9
10/18: L4, 60’, 176/172/176/172/186/182, 14452, -94m
10/19: L3, 60’, 15107m, Target pace: 1:55, actual pace: 1:59.1
10/20: L4, 60’, 168/172/176/168/172/176, 14599, +186m
10/21: L2, 5x1500, target pace: 1:50, actual:
1:49.6
1:49.3
1:48.8
1:48.5
1:47.1
10/22: Off

Comments: The week ended a lot better than it started. I was probably overtired and jet lagged in the first half of the week, but it really impacted my workouts. I got some good advice to back off a bit and I think that helped me take some pressure off of myself. On 10/20, I pulled the avg SPM down to 17.2, from where I was aiming for before (around 18), and I felt awesome throughout. My rates were on the money and I was pulling about 1.5sec faster than the prescribed splits on average (especially at 16). Today, on 10/21, I did the dreaded L2, and purposely picked a workout on the shorter side. I beat my target for all intervals, negative splits, and really killed it on the last interval. I think I will stick with 60min L4s and L3s next week and keep my interval paces about the same as this week.

[ThatMoos3Guy]

Great work on that L2! You can really tell that the first couple of workouts were struggles, one of your 500m pieces was slower than your fastest 1500m. I bet when you're fresh for next weeks L1 it's going to be a lot faster.

[wjschmidt2]

Sun 26 Sept L1 8x500 1:39.7ave df 120 3:30 rest sr ave 34

Felt stronger than last week.

Today______ Last week
1:40.8r34___ 1:41.0r35
1:40.6r33___ 1:40.8r33
1:40.3r35___ 1:40.6r33
1:39.8r34___ 1:40.4r34
1:39.5r34___ 1:40.0r34
1:39.3r35___ 1:39.8r33
1:39.0r36___ 1:39.3r33
1:38.4r36___ 1:39.1r35

Still looking to break the 2k 6:40 barrier one more time.

Bill

A month later Sun 24 Oct L1 8x500 1:39.6 ave df 120 3:30 rest sr ave 35

1:40.7r33
1:40.5r34
1:40.2r34
1:39.7r33
1:39.4r35
1:39.3r36
1:38.8r37
1:38.2r38

Last L1 session was the CTC earlier in the month.

Also, I managed to do some time trials for the 5k & 10k this month as well both went very well.

Bill