Pete Plan 2017

[mudgeg]

PP W1 D2

SS 8000 / 35:48.9 / 2:14.3 / 25spm

Yesterday first SS day for me. Tale of Two Gyms. Divide my rowing between home and office gyms both part of the same leisure group. The 'office' gym has had money spent on it and is cool and comfortable and was where I did the 8x500 on D1. By contrast 'home' gym was very hot and airless and I struggled through the 8k - was intending to do 10k but just couldn't face it.

Spent my life working in hot countries but for rowing it's just awful. I reckon it knocks a couple of seconds off my 500m split time.

[Rowan McSheen]

Greetings all.

Mike: tough 4 x 2k session but for context, you did all reps faster than I did my 1k's today so not all bad ...

Gordon: welcome back! Great initial session.

Street: excellent news and good luck with the rehab. Long slow ss rows are good for the soul.

sdr: well done on the new pb, and from what you say of the pace I guess there's plenty more to come.

Cal: nice going. Those 800m intervals are tough, it's the short 2 min rest that gets me. But you reap the benefits when it comes to 1000m reps with 3 min rest.

Speaking of which ... BPP week 13 session 2: 4 x 1000m / 3min rest, instrux to hold pace from previous 800m reps (which had 2 min rests) and do final rep fastest. So target pace mid-1:59.x. Turned in 3 x 1:59.1 and 1:58.9 on the final rep.

The omens were poor. The 1000m reps I dread the most and it's the hottest day of the year so far. OK, so 25 deg is nothing for some of you but here in foggy damp Albion it's little short of a national state of emergency . The erg is in a south-facing conservatory. And I have to shut the windows to avoid annoying the neighbours with my loud erging music. So I sweat bucketloads.

But it all went fine, beat the target pace by a smidge, was fading a little on the final rep but gritted teeth and hammered it in the last 200m to home. A good session, I'll take it and put it in the bank.

This is the first time I've followed the BPP properly to this stage. I think my paces are still a bit soft on some of the distances but on the whole - it's paying off. Glad I'm here.

[mdpfirrman]

@ Stu - that's awesome work! Especially with the heat and humidity! I suffer when it's hot too. My gym sounds much better than the sun coming in when you workout, but their A/C is a mixed bag in the Summer months. It does get a bit hot. Nice job on keeping pace despite and even negative splits!

@ Paul - Glad that you're doing so well on the sprinting. 1:33 is an awesome time for a minute. I'm not sure I'll ever hit that. I've never really tried to see what I can do on the 500, but I have a feeling it's around a 1:39 for a 500m (maybe) right now. I'm no where near a 1:33. Even for a 1' time, that's outstanding! I know you can train it a bit but I'm not sure how much power I could ever generate being relatively short with a gimpy right knee. Who knows, but I doubt I'll ever hit that rate. I think if I was going to do sprinting, it would be closer to a race. I think sprint training is learned and can be somewhat trained too. I think integrated with my current training, I need to work on meters more, then come back and do some sprint work after my aerobic base is a bit stronger. I agree with you on stepping away on occasion from the PP. It's not meant as a year round plan.

[hepting]

@Paul - Congrats on the great progress! Clearly the last 7 weeks have been time well spent.

[calalli]

Mike: On the SS I just do a quick 1000M warmup to get the joints lubricated, then start the session. Then I start pretty easy and try to keep pulling just a bit faster than the average pace displayed on the PM.
Paul: Congrats on the new PB and thanks for the kind words. I have been following you on the sprints a bit. I am not ready to work that hard
Andy: great news all in all. With the new knowledge you may be able to take a leap forward in the future.
Scott: great job on those 2K intervals, a new PB is awesome. I don't want to do them next week
Stu: yeah the 800s are no fun, even a 30 sec longer rest would make a big difference. Congrats on the 4x1000 session - grinding it out leads to improvement.

I see all the talk about the heat and erging, I guess I am lucky. My C2 is in the basement where it seldom gets above 65F (c. 18C) . I work down here too, so I may be chilly most of the day, but it is a comfortable place to train.

24/5/17 BPP 9.3 8000M - just trying to stay in the 2:10 - 2:11 range for these SS sessions. Felt good today messed up the negative split due to inattention. Mostly UT1 but last split higher.

Time Meters /500m Watts Cal/Hr s/m
34:46.2 8,000m 2:10.3 158 843 22
7:02.5 1,600m 2:12.0 152 823 22
6:58.4 3,200m 2:10.7 157 838 22
6:56.6 4,800m 2:10.1 159 845 22
6:57.4 6,400m 2:10.4 158 842 22
6:51.3 8,000m 2:08.5 165 866 22

another 8000 today - hope to basically match this.

[Rowan McSheen]

As shown on the monitor/

1:00.0 @ 324m @ 1:32.5/38
1:00.0 @ 324m @ 1:32.5/38

Good grief! You, sir, are a monster

[mdpfirrman]

@ Cal - nice SS work again! Great negative (but gradual) pacing.

PP W2 D5 (hard distance row) - 5K for me (that's the minimum PP suggests)

1000 / 1:58.5 / 25
2000 / 1:58.3 / 23
3000 / 2:00.2 / 23
4000 / 1:59.9 / 24
5000 / 2:00.4 / 24

19:54.4 / 23 SPM

1st time in a few months breaking 20 minutes on the 5K. Didn't push too hard. Just didn't lift before it. No warmup. Got in a 20 minute lift afterward, mostly legs. Have to work shoulders and chest a bit more tonight still. Only had time for so much at the gym in an hour (and could only handle so much after the row). Nice CD on the Stairmaster.

[calalli]

Mike: looks like you are getting back to where you want to be.
Paul: I'll be looking for the results from Sam Loch tomorrow; fingers crossed for him

25/5/17 BPP 9.4 8000M - again looking for the 2:10 range - did a bit better. I kinda like these.
Time Meters /500m Watts Cal/Hr s/m
34:35.1 8,000m 2:09.6 160 851 23
7:00.6 1,600m 2:11.4 154 830 23 131
6:57.4 3,200m 2:10.4 158 842 23 137
6:55.9 4,800m 2:09.9 159 848 23 139
6:53.4 6,400m 2:09.1 162 858 22 145
6:47.9 8,000m 2:07.4 169 881 22 150

[Street]

As shown on the monitor/

1:00.0 @ 324m @ 1:32.5/38
1:00.0 @ 324m @ 1:32.5/38

Leaving it there, back to the graft, want to leave on a high note.

Nicely done, at 38SPM too.. I never moved that fast on the erg in my life!

1st time in a few months breaking 20 minutes on the 5K. Didn't push too hard. Just didn't lift before it. No warmup. Got in a 20 minute lift afterward, mostly legs. Have to work shoulders and chest a bit more tonight still. Only had time for so much at the gym in an hour (and could only handle so much after the row). Nice CD on the Stairmaster.

That's a good sign if you're doing sub 20 and not pushing too hard, plenty more to come.


@Cal, nice and consistant there, I find those pieces are quite relaxing in a weird way.

[mdpfirrman]

Week 2 of PP complete. Knock on wood. Got sick on the 3rd week last time. Hopefully, I'm over all those blips. Feeling pretty good today.

W2 D6 - SS row

10:00 / 2301 / 2:10.3 / 21
20:00 / 2331 / 2:08.7 / 21
30:00 / 2356 / 2:07.3 / 22
40:00 / 2318 / 2:09.4 / 22 (tried to back off a bit here into UT2 again)
50:00 / 2359 / 2:07.1 / 22

11666 / 2:08.5 / 21 SPM (not quite 22)

[calalli]

Mike: You are coming along great, awesome that you can do that at UT2. Fingers crossed for you cruising past week 3 with no issues.
Andy: these 8-10K sessions are what convince me I might stay with rowing. I have tried running and other cardio but never had a good feeling after any of it. I feel good after most of these SS sessions.

26/5/17 BPP 9.5 2x10 min - I did one 10 min then a 2000 for time, then another 10 min
first 10 min - 2,318m 10:00.0 2:09.4
second 10 - 2,133m 10:00.0 2:20.6

2000 M - new PB finally broke 8 minutes, at about 90% effort. This was about 18 seconds faster than my last attempt a month ago; I've learned a bit about pacing myself since then
7:53.5 2,000m 1:58.3 211 1025 26
2:01.3 500m 2:01.3 196 974 26 140
2:00.0 1,000m 2:00.0 203 996 25 148
1:57.7 1,500m 1:57.7 215 1038 25 152
1:54.5 2,000m 1:54.5 233 1101 26 156

[Street]

Andy: these 8-10K sessions are what convince me I might stay with rowing. I have tried running and other cardio but never had a good feeling after any of it. I feel good after most of these SS sessions.

That's what I found, it's one thing I actually enjoy doing and don't mind bashing out 10km. I used to run, but I never enjoyed it, it was just for the sake of keeping fit. Rowing is also a lot easier on your body!

[rlboyles]

Today I did a 2000m time trial. This is after 2 complete 3 week cycles of PP with a recovery week in between plus this past week as a taper week.

I rowed a 6:51.9 which is a PR. I had done 6:57.3 back 12 days ago. My other two time trials were 7:11 last July and 8:44 the day I started rowing on 3/17/15.

I surprised myself with how aggressive I was in the 1st 500m (about 1:40.? avg), but it felt so easy I didn't want to slow up, so I kept the pace up and figured I'd probably fade at the end, but had confidence I could make it the whole way.

Then I glided through the next 900m at somewhere around 1:44.+, then hit it hard again in the last 600m.

For some crazy reason I thought I could sprint to the finish for 600m, but found out different. I ended up in the last 250m with the wheels coming off as I turned to complete Jello! My PM3 said my last 500m split was 1:42 but it felt much slower.

What I found may be helpful to others. Yes, the last 500m were super hard, but to be honest, it's only 2000m total, and the tough part is very short at the end... so it's not as tough as trying to maintain a pace for say - the last 5 minutes of a 5000m test. Yes, IMMEDIATELY AFTER I was completely seized up and unable to move, but bottom line, there was way more pain AFTER the test than during! It makes you realize you have to go for it during the 2000m, and pay the price after you're done...!

Rowing on & off for 2 years 2 months
Age 51
5'10" 205 lb

[hepting]

@riboyles - fantastic effort and time! Have to say when I did these a lot if I went out too hard I paid the price in the 3rd 500 - so clearly you had a great effort both physically and mentally. You say the last 500 "felt" slower than a 1:42 but for better and worse the numbers don't lie...


I have suffered from a lack of motivation with a lot of travel the last few weeks - so went off plan and did a straight 5k today. Did a 19:12.0 (155.2/avg). When a started the BPP 3 month ago my 5k pace was 2:05.9 so am pleased that I have clawed back to a certain level of fitness. With some focus at this length, I am confident I can go under 19 mins - but will go back to BPP this weekend and keep at the longer 10k+ SS for the next few months.

Weight loss has stalled. I still have about 18 pounds to lose - and will be focusing on some diet changes to shake things up this next week.

[Rowan McSheen]

Congratulations to cal and rlboyles for those pb's. And from the look of that last rep, cal has more to come!

And well done Mike, seems you're getting back in the groove.

I too am a fan of the longer slower ss rows. Back and forth, brain in neutral but half an eye on technique, some calming music like classic ska or rocksteady, and I can sink into a kind of zen state.

Today's workout was BPP week 13 session 2: 2 x 15 minutes, improve on pace from last week's 3 x 10 minutes. Fail. It just wasn't happening today. Five minutes into the second rep the legs were burning and giving up although hr said all was fine. I could have slowed right down and coasted home but instead I HD'd and wrote this one off. I'll have to come back and redo it before moving on to the next week. Oh well, stuff happens. I'll hammer it next time ...

Onwards and upwards, chaps!