Rowing Bleep Test Event.

[[old] Sir Pirate]

OK, need your ideas/thoughts on this one. I am organising an event in South London that I hope will be something different to what we normally have over here.<br>It is a rowing version of the running bleep test.<br>The event will be mixed ages and sex. Competitors will be competing against people of around the same ability as themselves.<br><br>For example, if we have 10 people (any age/male/female) with a 2K time of 7:00 – 7:05 what do you think we should start the bleep test at? We need a few “free” goes, so after the first few go’s everybody is still in, then we start knocking the target split down till only one is in. In the case of more than 1 person being left in, we will then go for a tie breaker (we are also thinking of setting a maximum time limit on each bleep test). The tiebreaker will consist of who can row the furthest in 1 minute.<br><br>So what I need is a formula or a guide to what splits we should start at for different abilities.<br><br>Something like- 7:00.0 – 7:05.0 2K time, the bleep test will go something like this-<br>1st minute - 1:48<br>1 min off<br>2nd minute - 1:47<br>1 min of<br>3rd minute - 1:46<br>1 min off<br>4th minute - 1:45<br>1 min off (When you reach 2K pace split, you jump 2 secs/500m)<br>5th jump to 1:43 split<br>1 min off <br>6th minute - 1:42<br>Etc…<br><br>Does this make sense?<br><br>Any ideas/comments good are bad would be appreciated.<br><br>Thanks<br>Sir Pirate<br>

[[old] derm]

I row a 7:02 2k and this sounds just right to me, and challenging. I'd like to try such an event over here and may even use your parameters for a training session!<br>thanks,<br>Hank

[[old] jus gray]

This sounds a very good idea Sir Pirate but no good for me I`m afraid as I dont row that quick.<br><br>I do row sprints though, 2k at 1 hundred fast - 1 hundred slow and find this is a good way to get the heart pumping.<br><br>

[[old] Ash]

Perhaps the other way round, i.e jump 2 secs/500m at above 2k pace starting at +6, and then going 1 sec/500 quicker below. As for bands perhaps jumps in 16 secs? so 6:00-6:16 average pace = 1:32, starting pace 1:38<br><br>1 minute 1:38 - 306m<br>1 minute rest<br>1 minute 1:36 - 313m<br>1 minute rest<br>1 minute 1:34 - 319m<br>1 minute rest<br>1 minute 1:32 - 326m<br>1 minute rest<br>1 minute 1:31 - 330m<br>1 minute rest<br>1 minute 1:30 - 333m<br>1 minute rest<br>1 minute 1:29 - 337m<br>1 minute rest<br>1 minute 1:28 - 341m<br>4 minute rest<br>Anyone left goes flat out for 1 minute to decide the winner<br><br>Each race lasts 20 minutes, for all the brackets up to 8:40 2k there are 10 catagories, with 5 minutes inbetween races you can finish in around 4 hours, a few extra bands maybe needed, but you can decide that based on the times submitted on the entry form. Thats assuming you race both lwt/hwt - men/women together in the same race, i.e Cath Bishop turns up and beats Roy in the 6:32 - 6:48 band, so gets the overall gold, Roy silver, Joe Bloggs the LWT bronze.<br><br>The first 8 average out at 1:32.1, so pretty close to the average pace of the band, and should make the final sprint for those who are left pretty tough.

[[old] AussieTaff]

Phil,<br><br>Sounds like a really fun idea and would make it interesting to watch too.<br><br>On the 'fine detail' side -<br><br>1. For a 1 minute piece would they HAVE to hold the split in question for each stroke or could it vary ? I guess doing lower splits would be OK - they may pay the price of 'extra' energy expended when it comes to doing later pieces but some people have trouble holding a split exactly and probably would 'wander' up a second or 2 occasionally. Would this 'disqualify' them? If yes then maybe the fear of being disqualified may cause them to aim for a pace one or 2 secs LOWER that the designated pace for the piece ?? If no then need to convert designated pace for that 1 min to an equivalent distance and elimination occurs if distance exceeded ??<br><br>2. Is 1 min rest time enough time to get everyone organised for the next piece (esp. if distance rowed is the elimination criteria for each piece) ?<br><br>Hope this helps and is not off on a tangent,<br><br>Martin