Pete Plan Group - Startup Aug 20th thru 22nd

[gregsmith01748]

I interpret Greg's words as possibly allowing permission to obtain a valid PB baseline early in the period of participation in the plan. Ideally, there should be a 2k test prior to ergtriculation as is the case in the IPP 2k programme.

If you allow me to stipulate that we are all grown ups who can do whatever the hell we want without permission. I do think that starting off the Pete Plan (or any other training plan) with some kind of a baseline test is a great idea. The baseline test is ideally similar to the thing you are training for, so if you are training for a 2K erg race, a 2K baseline test is a terrific idea.

Also, I would avoid putting the words "PB" and "Baseline" together. For me, my 2K PB is a few years in my rear view mirror. My winter training objective for the past two years has been to equal or better it without success. If I set my training goals using my awesome, ancient PB, I wouldn't make it through the first rep of a 4x1K.

[jackarabit]

Wk3: SS
8k strapless
HR cap: 140bpm
Df 115

69% 2kWatts on 70% HRR + RHR (top of UT2 HR zone. I must be getting in shape.

[jackarabit]

You have my retroactive permission to say anything you wish, Greg.

[gregsmith01748]

You have my retroactive permission to say anything you wish, Greg.

That's a relief!

[Pie Man]

This week i started on Sunday had to skip Monday did a SS on Tuesday then my waterfall on Wednesday. It looks like I am going to have to miss my steady state today (Thursday) Should I do a SS tomorrow then my hard distance on Saturday. Or should I skip it and just do my hard distance tomorrow? If I do the hard distance on Saturday should I go straight into the next week or should I have a rest day on Sunday and slip the start day to Monday?

Confused you will be

[jackarabit]

I have kept to the schedule, done the suggested minimum weekly volume, and roughly adhered to pacing guidelines. I apologize to all who, in fact rather than by imputation, based their pacing prognostication or strategy on my unorthodox example and either failed to complete a workout or became fatigued or ill as a result of so doing. I have not once emphasized correlational pacing recommendations to the neglect of applauding what's possible today. If I had done so, I would have quit long ago. I started with no technique, no power and very low aerobic fitness. I have respect for those who helped me understand and improve and those who made the passage with me. Altho I do have a sense of humour about my struggles and yours, I am not really responsible for your successes or your failures. I am not the only chappie here doing exactly as I please. I did not claim to be a worthy or normative example but I did claim to have training insights worth sharing. I withdraw that claim. There are others here willing and able to share their experience.

[Pie Man]

I read all your posts with great interest Jack but all my choices are my own influenced by a huge range of factors but trying to stretch myself probably being the main one. I will continue to read your posts with interest and take from them some useful information.

[mudgeg]

PP Beginners Week 2 Optional Day 4

20 min row same pace as days 1 and 2 this week (5500m rows). Did those in 2:13.4 and 2:14.5 so target around 2:14 mark. Actual for today was 2:12.3 in 20 mins so 4536m covered.

Small improvement but quite hard work. Rowed at a 2:10 pace for most of the piece but it drifted down in the mid section. I have one optional session left this week. May take a rest day tomorrow and Sunday. Chairing a tedious meeting for most of the day today and drinking copious quantities of bad coffee, was not the best prep for a training session, so feeling very tired.

Gordon

[JohnAd]

This week i started on Sunday had to skip Monday did a SS on Tuesday then my waterfall on Wednesday. It looks like I am going to have to miss my steady state today (Thursday) Should I do a SS tomorrow then my hard distance on Saturday. Or should I skip it and just do my hard distance tomorrow? If I do the hard distance on Saturday should I go straight into the next week or should I have a rest day on Sunday and slip the start day to Monday?

Confused you will be

I think the priority of sessions is a rest day, intervals, hard distance then SS so I'd say do hard distance tomorrow and have a rest before the 8x500m on Sunday.

[JohnAd]

drinking copious quantities of bad coffee, was not the best prep for a training session, so feeling very tired.

Why is the coffee always so bad in meetings? Good work getting the optional sessions in as well and a nice improvement.

[G-dub]

I'm in a similar boat Pie and Gordon, I have, yet again, a day of driving and meetings tomorrow in a city a couple of hours away with the 8 X 500's tomorrow. Probably should do them in the morning, which sounds horrible. Or I may need to decide to leave the road burgers, milkshake and fries off the menu this time!

[Bloodbuzz Corio]

Sorry a few pages to catch up on here!

@ John r.e. paces in spreadsheets - I do like to be able to just type in something like '1:46.8' so in the spreadhseet I use to track my workouts in more detail I have a lot of formulas of the form '=left(C4,1)*60+mid(C4,3,2)+right(C4,1)/10' to convert a text field of that format into a number of seconds, and then places where I'll have formulas like '=C13/60/60/24' to convert seconds back into a time format!

@ Jack - defo concur on looking forward the imminent new additions in particular Lindsay - and also completely agree with Piers - Jack I sometimes need to read your posts twice to catch your drift - but I'd always happily read them three times. Don't go changing - particularly if by not doing so you'll come up with more words like 'ergtriculation'.

@ Gelnn/Greg/Mike/John/Jack - absolutely gold contribution on pacing, targets, rates of improvement etc. (John thanks for including that Mike C quote - I had thought of it also when I saw some of the initial posts heading in this direction). It's absolutely the case that the #1 benefit for me from participation on this forum and in particular this thread is the unquestionable health benefits the actual ROWING(!) delivers but I love all the questions it raises - how far should I row today and how fast - how hard should I push myself? Will I break 7:00 this year? Ever? Personally, I think as long as we don't lose sight of the good the actual time spent staring at the PM3/4/5 is doing us all these other ruminations just add to the fun and should be encouraged!

But enough about all of you ...

PP Cycle 1 - DONE! SS 8,000m, 2:09.4 pace (34:30.8) 20spm

A very slightly strange ending to cycle 1 for me - I found myself in the gym without any suitable footwear but with a laptop with the C2 utility on it so updated the firmware on the erg's PM4 (not the one I'd previously had trouble with but was showing errors) and hooked up my old phone for my first experience with ErgData.

• Interesting to see the stroke count tick over - but I don't seem to have the stroke chart I've seen Jack and others post in my logbook now - is that perhaps because I'm on Android and not iOS - or something else I need to do to get that?
• First time rowing in socks (and strapless) was an experience - for the first half my left heel (but not right) was popping out of the heel cup on every stroke - pointing my toes in slightly as I went on allowed me to maintain some better contact though not something I'll be rushing back to I don't think!
• Bit quicker than my other SSs in the last 3 weeks, and also lower spm - HR average of 144 matches my last 3 SSs (albeit over different distances) but despite a max of 158 only 75 seconds in UT1 - defo happy with it as an appropriate way to end cycle 1

Looking forward to a day off tomorrow before kicking off Cycle 2 with an 8x500 on Saturday with some thoroughly overthought targets and pacing strategies!

[G-dub]

Good stuff Blood. On to the next cycle.

[S-man]

Great discussion on pacing and so much useful information on this thread!

W3D4 - A nice steady 8k SS @ 2:25.4 r20 - felt comfortable, but looking forward to tomorrow's hard distance, followed by OTW on Sat
Sanz

[JohnAd]

@ John r.e. paces in spreadsheets - I do like to be able to just type in something like '1:46.8' so in the spreadhseet I use to track my workouts in more detail I have a lot of formulas of the form '=left(C4,1)*60+mid(C4,3,2)+right(C4,1)/10' to convert a text field of that format into a number of seconds, and then places where I'll have formulas like '=C13/60/60/24' to convert seconds back into a time format!

I find that if I create a custom format in Excel of mm:ss.0 and always enter the decimal then Excel will handle the paces fine as times without the need for the string manipulation. Google sheets doesn't like the times with decimals but I've created some functions to handle them and am in the process of creating a cycle comparison tool see the Analysis tab, at the moment it's going to show pace improvement and percentage power improvement.

Great work throughout cycle one! I'm looking forward to my last session before a weekend off.