Pete Plan 2017

[rlboyles]

Saturday was my last day of the 2nd 3 week tour of the PP with one recovery week in between (so 7 weeks total)

I am going for a 2000m PR this coming Friday 5/26

Below is my plan for taper before Friday. If anyone has a suggestion please feel free.

I rowed an abbreviated 3x1500m on Saturday instead of 5k time trial.
1500m @ 1:50.6
1500m @ 1:48.6
1500m @ 1:45.4 (I got carried away... I was at 1:47.6 average with 500m to go and just wailed on it. It was a good finish. My HR max was 178 BPM which is the highest recording I've had since I started the PP back 7 weeks ago. Remember, I'm 51 yrs old, my HR doesn't appear to go into the 180's any more...)

Sunday - Off

Monday - Last lifting session - squats & deads + 3500m warm up (with sprint bursts included) + 5k time trial at a moderate pace (1:54 to 1:55... below my 1:51.6 best)

Tuesday - 2x1000m (@ 1:44 1st one and 1:42 2nd one) - like a mock 2000m but with a break in between

Wednesday - Off

Thurs - 3500m warmup with spring bursts + maybe 1x500 at 1:44

Friday - Go for it!

[mdpfirrman]

@ rlboyles - I either didn't remember seeing that you're 51 or I had forgotten. Makes your times especially impressive! As for the taper, I don't know if I can give you advice or not. What I've read is that mostly you want to keep work fast but brief the week prior (just like you're doing) and reduce your SS by around 40% roughly. About the only thing I saw is that you're lifting this week. I've seen some that say don't lift for an entire week before a race or PB attempt. But if you're like me, I would rather lift (not lose the session), even if that means risking perhaps going just a tad faster. I don't know if I believe the non lifting crowd advice the same week. I do think volume reduction is the most important thing.

[mdpfirrman]

SS Day - 10K in 42:52.5 (2:08.6). A bit faster but felt controlled throughout. 21 SPM (need to work on that still).

[rlboyles]

Thank you Mike for your encouragement and insight. Yes, I did my leg workout today before my 5k. Did my 5k at 1:53.7 pace today.

Dyson - you are doing some great work on the longer rows! Nice! I am the same as you in that I find that it's largely mental to get to your goal on the long stuff. I am always telling myself to stay focused on the moment and keep to my goal pace.

[Street]

It looks like my rowing might be sidelined for a bit as I think I've done my achilles in. I took the missus and dog out for a traverse of the Rhinogs over the weekend. It's about a 25 mile hike over one of the mountain ranges. Towards the end I felt a pain around my achilles and it hurt to walk. Two days on and I can't put pressure through my toes and my ankle is swollen and bruised so It looks like a trip to A&E is on the cards for tonight. I just hope I've not ruptured it!

[mdpfirrman]

It looks like my rowing might be sidelined for a bit as I think I've done my achilles in. I took the missus and dog out for a traverse of the Rhinogs over the weekend. It's about a 25 mile hike over one of the mountain ranges. Towards the end I felt a pain around my achilles and it hurt to walk. Two days on and I can't put pressure through my toes and my ankle is swollen and bruised so It looks like a trip to A&E is on the cards for tonight. I just hope I've not ruptured it!

Andy, that's horrible news to hear. I hope it's not a rupture either. That would seem, odd, without an event you remember but I suppose possible. I hope it's just a really bad strain and you'll be able to get active again soon. Being inactive will drive you crazy, even if temporary.

[Rowan McSheen]

Mike: nice pyramid. I'm guessing that to record 1:45 on the final split you would have been showing low 1:40s on the monitor? You deserve a pizza after that.

sdr and cal: great stuff, nice and steady with negative splits ... what's not to like?

Tip of the hat to Dyson, Dietmar and all the speedsters: excellent work chaps!

Street: oh no! If you mention the Rhinogs that locates you in Snowdonia ... tough terrain. Positive vibes in your direction for it to be not what you fear.

So here we go on BPP week 13, session 1: 10,000 metres, improve the pace on last time with a neg split. Last time's overall pace was 2:13.3 so the paceboat held that to the halfway mark and then moved on to 2:12 and 2:11. Overall pace 2:11.9 at hr just edging out of UT1 towards the very end. Felt good but was a sweaty session. I took a day off after the road race on Sunday (which went well enough although I suffered a bit on gradients and in a warm sun; however, to be in the 55+ category but still finish comfortably in the first half of the field is good enough for me!)

[mdpfirrman]

@ Stu - really nice work on the SS piece and the road race! That's impressive. I never finished in the top half any time I ran! I was a terrible runner...

From the log today:

PP W2 D3 (4X 2000)

7:47.5 / 2000 / 1:56.8 / 25
7:45.9 / 2000 / 1:56.4 / 25
7:49.9 / 2000 / 1:57.4 / 25
7:54.4 / 2000 / 1:58.6 / 24

1:57.3 Avg / 24 SPM

If it weren't for the group, might have been tempted to HD on last one. Rough.

End of log.

Pretty much sums it up. Probably a bit too aggressive (for me where I'm at currently) but stuck with it and finished it. Lungs are shredded.

Looked up my PB on this workout last Fall - it was a 1:56:1, so I have a ways to go still. On the bright side, the PP says a "good" pace is PB 5K + .5 seconds (that would be 1:57.2 for me, I just missed this).

[mudgeg]

PP W1 D1 (8 x 500 r 3:30)

14:59.4 / 4000 / 1:52.4

1. 1:54.5
2. 1:53.7
3. 1:53.4
4. 1:52.8
5. 1:52.2
6. 1:51.8
7. 1:51.1
8. 1:49.9

Just a bit of a marker really as I feel I have lost quite a bit over the last six to eight weeks after finishing the BPP then being sick and very busy. To compare on BPP W23, I started at1:51 was at 1:50 by halfway and did the final leg at 1:43 and with a shorter rest. So a bit of work to do although not to beat myself up too much it felt OK until interval seven when I began to tire and I was holding back a bit.

[calalli]

scott: good job on the 8K, keeping the stroke rate under 20 is tough to do. Your comment about the 9min 2k had me laughing. When I first got my Model E I thought something was assembled wrong because my times were so slow compared to everything I see here. Now I know it is just a lot of meters.
Dyson,: Congrats on the 10K! Keep plugging on the weight. I had a bad week last week as well, actually gained a bit; just gotta keep doing what I know is right.
rlboyles: good luck on the 2K. I don't have any input, just pulling for you
Mike: busy man again! Good job on the pyramid, the 10K and the 4x2K. Looks like you are getting back to form quickly
Andy: Wow, I hope the injury is not as serious as you fear.
Stu: Great news on the road race! I would be in the first half sitting sown with a beer somewhere. Good job on that 10K, negative splits and improving.
mud(?): Still looks like a nice 8x500M to me. It is a shame the way our training slips so much faster than we gain.


22/5/17 BPP 9.1 9000M - just trying to stay in that 2:11.5 range - felt pretty good even after 60 min the day before
Time Meters /500m Watts Cal/Hr s/m
39:15.4 9,000m 2:10.8 156 837 21
8:00.0 1,800m 2:13.3 148 807 21 127
7:57.2 3,600m 2:12.5 150 816 21 129
7:49.4 5,400m 2:10.3 158 843 21 135
7:47.8 7,200m 2:09.9 160 848 21 139
7:41.0 9,000m 2:08.0 167 873 21 143


23/5/17 BPP 9.2 4x800M 2'r - last time on this workout was 158.5 - went a bit faster than intended. The last split left me completely gassed.
Time Meters /500m Watts Cal/Hr s/m
12:10.6 3,200m 1:54.1 235 1109 27
3:04.8 800m 1:55.5 227 1081 28 146
3:02.9 800m 1:54.3 234 1105 26 151
3:02.2 800m 1:53.8 237 1115 26 154
3:00.6 800m 1:52.8 243 1136 28 158

[mdpfirrman]

@ Gordon - you and I are in the same boat! Just recovering from illnesses (though I think you were off the rower a bit longer than I was this time) and getting back to the PP. Yeah, don't be too hard on yourself with these numbers the first time especially. Your numbers look fine to me. Plus, how many 60 year olds could even do the PP? Honestly, most 20 somethings couldn't do the plan at all, much less with respectable times. Fitness is a continuum. When I'm coming off of illness, I always have to remind myself of that. Me today would destroy me of 10 or 15 years ago in a race! I'll take that for now.

@ Cal - You continue to progress. You do your SS the way I do. I don't force the issue early on and just let the warmup happen and speed come to me. Though I don't post most of my SS splits, they are similar to yours. Those 800s look hard. That's a distance I'm not that familiar with never having done the BPP. Nice work on those!

[mdpfirrman]

SS day -- 40' @ 2:11 Didn't push too hard today. Tried to control myself and not get over UT2.

[Street]

Phew, not as bad as I'd feared. Luckily I've only badly inflamed my achilles and haven't done any real damage to it. I went to see a physio tonight as well and he said lots of ice and keep it moving. I'm fine to row and lift as long as I keep the intensity down and it doesn't hurt while I'm doing it as those movement shouldn't aggravate it, however no climbing. He did also say I have a muscle imbalance as my left hamstring is noticeably weaker than my right and my left hip mobility is poor, which could be why all the injuries I've had have been on my left side. Hopefully now I can fix the root of the problem. No PP for me for a couple weeks but I can crack on and do some low intensity SS rows so at least I won't go too crazy!

Street: oh no! If you mention the Rhinogs that locates you in Snowdonia ... tough terrain.

Liverpool actually, but I'm out in Snowdonia/Lakes most weekends. The Rhinogs are fantastic, you can spend a whole weekend there and not see another person! Good work on the race and then the 10k the day after!

@Mike - Those 2k intervals are horrible.. Well done for not bailing on the last one, I know that feeling all too well and how tempting it feels!

[sdr2017]

@Andy, I am glad to hear the achilles tendon is not the problem. Good luck recovering.

@Stu, good 10K with the improved pace.

@Mike, it looks like you are coming back quickly. Those 2000 M intervals sound painful.

@Cal, nice work on the SS and the 800 M intervals. I agree that the distance is too long to be a sprint, but it feels like one should be able to hold on to a 500 M pace and tough it out. That leads to pain.

BPP week 10.1
9500 M 43:00 2:15.8 18 spm

I was dragging a bit at the end--not as much energy as last week.

Week 10.2
3 X 2000 M /r 4
8:36.5 2000 2:09.1 20
8:35.9 2000 2:08.9 20
8:27.1 2000 2:06.7 21

The pace is just enough faster than my comfortable SS pace to hurt at the end. They are probably good for me. The last interval is a PB for me at 2000 M.

[mdpfirrman]

@ Andy - that's fantastic news actually. Now just to solve that muscle imbalance issue! I have a bit of that myself because of a devastating right knee injury years ago. Hopefully they can give you some exercises specifically to work that weaker side and open up that hip more.

@ Scott - congrats on the PB on the 2K. That's going to be very fluid, though, for you. You're going to be destroying that in a few months.