Pete Plan Group - Startup Aug 20th thru 22nd

[G-dub]

Dang Piers, now you are blowing past me too!? That is a super effort and great result.

And now John is below 1:50?! And Luke is blowing past 19 for 5. And we already discussed Rohan.

I feel like an immovable object at the moment.

8K SD r21 2:09. HR was dramatically low. End of first 1K was 95. End of workout 121. It was about 30 beats off. I hope it was the strap.

[Kxthor911]

Hey guys, whats up? I know it seems like I do this often but really I'm not trying to, apparently stuff just comes up. Last Wednesday I rowed week 7 day 1 and took thursday off. Well at about 3 am friday I woke up with food poisoning or something of the sort, and ended up having to go to the doc and get fluids administered. Well today was the first time I have ate real food since then so I decided to give the rowing thing a shot again too. Just going to redo week 7.

[Kxthor911]

IMG_0063.JPG (70.98 KiB) Viewed 6203 times

Week 7 Day 1 goal 2:22 (same as always).

Feel good after, excessively tired but I guess I'm still not 100%, only one way to get there though. Cheers to everyone and let's keep churning.

[Kxthor911]

Gordon, I took a week off awhile back. Not completely off but no hard work during the week. I came back and felt stronger than ever. I'm by no means a pro though. Just trying to help.

[mdpfirrman]

Piers - nice work! You're pacing to do a sub 19 5K. I honestly think I could do a 19:15, maybe a 19:10 if I push but you are way ahead of me at this point. If your power keeps picking up, you're going to do amazing! Your power has already improved but I think your cardio is a tad stronger (same with me).

[S-man]

Nick – pretty good session after food poisoning. Glad you’re back on the seat.

Glenn – That heart rate either means you are super fit, or comatose Anyway, good SS session.

Piers – that’s another huge chunk off your time. Amazing that it’s coming down so much this deep into the PP. Suggests there are still plenty of untapped reserves still there.

Gordon – definitely yes to an occasional rest week. I took an unintentional week off with just 1 SS session during it and came back faster!

Street – that’s a strong comeback after a week off and perhaps proves the point I just made to Gordon.

Mike – good to see you back in action. Take it easy though, time off with illness is very different from time off due to work/holidays etc.

John_A – another storming session, with a big drop in the average. Shame you’re off now, how long are you away, and will you get any training in during that time?

PP 4.1.1 8 x 500 - I’m terrible at longer distances so this is one of my favourite sessions. Last time I averaged 2:01.8 r27 so plan was to start at 2:02 and work down from there.
1. 2:01.8 r28
2. 2:01.8 r27
3. 2:01.6 r28
4. 2:01.4 r27
5. 2:01.5 r27
6. 2:01.5 r28
7. 2:01.3 r28
8. 1:59.3 r28
Avg 2:01.2 r27
Felt solid, as if there is more to come if I increased the rate, but for now happy to stay at 27-28 and just push harder. One question however, if 5 out of 8 intervals averaged r28, while the other 3 were r27 then how does the overall average stay at r27?
Sanz

[mdpfirrman]

Good work Sanz. Regarding SR average - my guess would be that the PM (the rowing computer) figures stroke rate down to the tenths but doesn't show it on the monitor. Perhaps all your 27s were really close to 26s and the 28s were barely 28s and with the tenths figured in, you were closer to a solid (or high) 27

[aussieluke]

Mike and John, wish you both a good break and hope you come back refreshed.

On a similar subject, I've done two months now on the BPP with five sessions each week. I am enjoying it still (apart from the odd busy work week), but I am thinking maybe I need a short break. I was toying with the idea of taking a week off maybe at the half way stage of 12 weeks. Possibly not a complete rest from excercise, but maybe a week of gentle SS rows or skip the erg altogether and perhaps just do some cycling or something.

Any views on the advisability of this?

Think it's a great idea. I find when you feel like you need a break you most likely REALLY do

A week of purely easy steady state would help. Times like these are when a HR monitor can be really useful. Work out your ut2 band and stay well within that the whole time. If you can keep your stroke rate, and drag factor low, and find out what consistent pace you can sit at while keeping your HR within UT2 the whole time, then you will be continuing to develop your stroke skill and building aerobic fitness without requiring any real recovery - like going for a brisk walk.

I find it helps to do training like that by time rather than distance - it cuts down the urge to rush or push harder.

[john_n]

@lindsayh Thanks for the explanation Lindsay. How it feels is a trustworthy gauge.

@paul45 More progress in your 5K training Paul; very short rests!

@aussieluke Great going on the 5K Luke! Only 500m warm down!

@Pie Man Maybe the one who recommended a defibrillator is the woman who jumped when you “exhaled explosively” Very nice 5X1500, Piers! The finish had a real flair to it, reaching out to 1:40 at the last.

@Bloodbuzz Corio Quick work on the 4x1K, Rohan! Smart to make adjustment for jet lag. Best sign is that it felt good and you had more energy than you anticipated.

@mudgeg Good work on the 3x1K and 9K Gordon! A few days rest could be “the pause that refreshes;” like Street, who said his rowing felt “surprisingly good” after a little time off. You can continue to do some gentle cardio of any sort if you don’t want to totally neglect it. Even 20 minutes of the slowest possible jogging has good benefits. Or… you can row so slow that someone comments that the session report looks like the mother of all warm downs or (warmups). Its cardio, even if it isn’t hard-charging.

@JohnAd Impressive 5x1500 John!

@mdpfirrman That’s the kind of advice that’s easy to take, Mike; thanks. Nice 5x1500 with acceleration from first to last and a strong final interval.

@Street Very consistent pace and perfectly consistent rating for each split. Its surprising what a difference a few days rest can make. Picturesque.

@G-Dub Nice 8K Glenn. You’ve got a turbocharger on your heart with those low RPMs and that pace.

@Kxthor911 Food poisoning is the pits! I had an episode from a restaurant about six months ago and swore I’d never eat there again. They closed a couple weeks later… so that’s a promise that is easy to keep. Re-doing the week before you were poisoned sounds exceedingly logical, Nick. Your 8K looks healthy!

@S-man Snappy looking 8x500m at rating of 27 to 28 Sanz!

Oct 25 PP Cycle 1 Week 3 Day 3
1K warmup
waterfall 3K R5:00 2.5K R5:00 2K
Targets
1. Pace = 2:01.7 for the first two and then a little faster on last.
2. Rating = no target
3. HR = no target
Straps loose
DF 135
2500m warm down
waterfall report
Blogged: http://etherealrowing.com/pete-plan-cyc ... waterfall/

[lindsayh]

pp 2.3.3
A bit of a switcheroo and did a SS session tonite but used it to do a 1mile as well for the Indoor rowers league (with terry).
The mile is tricky of course and you don't get to do them often enough to get a clean run at it in a race or a good TT so happy enough.
2k @2:10
1k @2:00

1609m @1:41.8 = 5:27.9 (that is a PB by 0.2 from '14)
sr31 df138 mhr160 331w
1:42.2
1:42.7
1:42.1
1:40.6

then 5km @2:09 sr24 mhr144

(BTW Terry followed his 4x1k/4:40r @1:51.5 with 1609m @1:50.0 so travelling well and close to 7:20 we think)

[Street]

On a similar subject, I've done two months now on the BPP with five sessions each week. I am enjoying it still (apart from the odd busy work week), but I am thinking maybe I need a short break. I was toying with the idea of taking a week off maybe at the half way stage of 12 weeks. Possibly not a complete rest from excercise, but maybe a week of gentle SS rows or skip the erg altogether and perhaps just do some cycling or something.

Any views on the advisability of this?

I've been on the plan for 10 weeks but haven't had a break from climbing or lifting for ages before that. I took last week off and felt really good getting back into it. I felt much more refreshed and stronger, I think the time off just gave my limbs a much needed recovery week!

BPP Week 10.2 - 3 x 2000m (4mins rest)
8:07.0 / 2:01.7 / 27
8:06.0 / 2:01.5 / 27
8:07.4 / 2:01.8 / 27

I gave the intervals a crack this morning. Possibly not enough time in between my long session last night as my legs were burning by the end but I went slightly quicker than my planned pace and managed to keep it consistent.

[mdpfirrman]

Nice work Street on the intervals!

John N - Great waterfall! That final 2K was smoking!

Lindsay - PB on the mile! Very nice! That's like the 2nd or so PB you've beaten since working on the PP. Glad that you're back from the back tweak! Terry is another amazing specimen! You guys (and John N) as well as Jack are all inspirational. To keep working hard over 65 the way you do is very impressive. I hope I can do the same. I wouldn't want it any other way. I'm sure I won't be nearly as strong as you all are, but I'll certainly work as hard as capable.

[G-dub]

Mike - there is no doubt about your work ethic.

[Slacker]

It's interesting to see where everyone is at this point a couple months since the thread has started. The BPP guys have been sticking with it and the posted times and distances are getting serious for us. Then again the BPP runs 24 weeks, so we aren't yet halfway through. The PP guys have done a few cycles and everyone there is faster and thinking about what is next to come, continue sharpening or move on to the next stage of the process.

BPP 10.1 9500m
43:38.5 @2:17.8 r20

I am back at it again after being away for a few days with travel. The legs felt well rested with the extra rest days, but I think the poor eating and bad sleep patterns didn't do me any favors. That made the finish tougher than it should have been. Also, the last 1500-2000m I developed a wrist pain pulling the handle that I haven't had before. I adjusted my grip and position a couple of times to allow me to finish. I'll do some wrist stretches today and hopefully it doesn't turn into a recurring issue.

[Litewait]

Also, the last 1500-2000m I developed a wrist pain pulling the handle that I haven't had before. I adjusted my grip and position a couple of times to allow me to finish. I'll do some wrist stretches today and hopefully it doesn't turn into a recurring issue.

@ Ben - I've had this happen on long rows as well. I have noticed late in the game as I try to make sure I lengthen my drive my arms have a tendency to "chicken wing" as I lean back and try to reach my sternum. I am sure the pros will say this is a no-no, and it certainly puts my wrists at a weird angle.