Pete Plan 2017

[jans]

@hjs: well... no argument there... I just hate that my fitness level is apparently so low!

Make sure to experiment with drag factor - lowering it might challenge and in turn improve your timing!

Hmm, I'll try this exercise tonight and see if I get any wiser. Now on 120 which should be comparable with drag of water, which seemed like a nice standard to use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rySeSi9 ... EJ&index=2

[hjs]

@hjs: well... no argument there... I just hate that my fitness level is apparently so low!

Make sure to experiment with drag factor - lowering it might challenge and in turn improve your timing!

Hmm, I'll try this exercise tonight and see if I get any wiser. Now on 120 which should be comparable with drag of water, which seemed like a nice standard to use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rySeSi9 ... EJ&index=2

The less trained you are, the more you can improve! Keep that in mind, if you have patience and put in the work you will improve a lot! Be possive

[jans]

@hjs: well... no argument there... I just hate that my fitness level is apparently so low!

Make sure to experiment with drag factor - lowering it might challenge and in turn improve your timing!

Hmm, I'll try this exercise tonight and see if I get any wiser. Now on 120 which should be comparable with drag of water, which seemed like a nice standard to use.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rySeSi9 ... EJ&index=2

The less trained you are, the more you can improve! Keep that in mind, if you have patience and put in the work you will improve a lot! Be possive

Patience. Possitive. Check

[nhopkins]

@nhopkins: wow, good start! How fit where you when you started? I'm struggling more to get some decent results

BPP 2.1: 5.500 m

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal S/M HR
23:42.4 5,500m 2:09.3 162 856 18 169
4:40.9 1,100m 2:07.6 168 878 17 155
4:45.7 2,200m 2:09.8 160 849 17 166
4:46.7 3,300m 2:10.3 158 843 18 168
4:46.0 4,400m 2:10.0 159 847 18 173
4:43.2 5,500m 2:08.7 164 864 20 183

Still struggling to connect with legs. Feels like I can't put the power through (= low Watts), even after watching a 1000 of Dark Horse videos

Looks like you are doing pretty well. you're hitting the same average as i did. I'm a fairly big guy, recovering from knee surgery, but i spent most my life reasonably fit. I have only been rowing for 2.5 weeks now. I find that a large part of "fitness" is mentally being able to push yourself a little bit further when your body says no more. Just keep rowing it will come.

[nhopkins]

BPP 2.3 5500m @ 2.07 pace

This is the same as 2.1, I had trouble on the first one this week. I don't think i warmed up properly as i had a major leg cramp that had to power through. This session went really well i think. Im still having some trouble keeping pace around the 3000-4500m mark but its getting better. I don't know if it means much but i got new shoes for my training, I had been using some good quality running shoes previously. these new shoes are a flat sole and really feel more connected to the machine.

I really need to work on a constant pace, Im really all over the map still as far as pace goes.


23:23.9 5,500m 2:07.6 168 879 19
2:06.7 500m 2:06.7 172 891 24
2:05.8 1,000m 2:05.8 176 904 21
2:06.3 1,500m 2:06.3 174 897 19
2:06.2 2,000m 2:06.2 174 898 20
2:08.6 2,500m 2:08.6 165 866 18
2:08.2 3,000m 2:08.2 166 871 18
2:09.3 3,500m 2:09.3 162 856 18
2:10.4 4,000m 2:10.4 158 842 19
2:09.2 4,500m 2:09.2 162 858 18
2:07.6 5,000m 2:07.6 168 879 19
2:05.8 5,500m 2:05.8 176 904 21

[barrec]

As always, great job all! @nhopkins just keep erging and the fitness and pace and comfort will pick up.

Thanks to those who read the blog and for your kind words . I'm just as inspired by everyone in here!

Due to work and travel, my workouts have been sporadic and I haven't started the PP 5k yet. I need to email Pete for passing suggestions, anyway... Planning on starting next week!

[jans]

I tried this exercise from Dark Horse to get an idea of my "perfect" damper setting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PV2kRY9m ... e=youtu.be

• damper = 4 > 361 Watts
• damper = 8 > 319 Watts
• damper = 2 > 282 Watts
• damper = 6 > 319 Watts
• damper = 10 > 319 Watts

At the end, the fatique began to kick in, but will adjust damper setting from 5 to 4 and see what happens.

I don't know if it means much but i got new shoes for my training, I had been using some good quality running shoes previously. these new shoes are a flat sole and really feel more connected to the machine.

I use flat indoor soccer shoes with thin sole and I also find it important to "connect". I can imagine that running shoes with thicker and damping soles give less of a connected feeling.

[JerekKruger]

@jans - you needed to display the drag factor for your best damper setting to finish this test. Damper settings aren't transferable between machines, and the drag factor of a given damper setting will change depending on ambient conditions and over time. Drag factor, on the other hand, is a transferable quantity, and is what you should be setting before your rows.

That said, I really wouldn't worry about optimising your drag factor right now. Go with something between 120 and 130 and stick with it and your fitness will improve. If your drag factor isn't optimised then you might not be going as fast as you otherwise would, but the difference will be minimal (unless you're doing something daft like rowing at DF 200 or 80) and you'll improve your fitness regardless.

@nhopkins - I row without shoes at the moment (since it's my own machine so I can), but when I do have to row with shoes I usually use an old pair of converse all stars for exactly the reason you give: the thick padded heel of running shoes seems to result in worse connection, and isn't necessary on the rowing machine since it's so low impact.

I've been doing a bunch of shorter rows to work on my technique. I did go on a 20km bike ride a couple of days ago, but it aggravated my bad knee so it seems that's not currently an option for me. I have some ideas how to cycle without knee pain, but they include buying a better proportioned bike and adjusting the way I cycle which, given I am only cycling to work my aerobic fitness whilst working on my rowing technique, I don't want to invest in. I suspect I'll just have to accept a loss of fitness whilst I get used to my new technique. It's not the end of the world, and I can work on other things with the extra time/energy it gives me.

[jans]

@jans - you needed to display the drag factor for your best damper setting to finish this test. Damper settings aren't transferable between machines, and the drag factor of a given damper setting will change depending on ambient conditions and over time. Drag factor, on the other hand, is a transferable quantity, and is what you should be setting before your rows.

That said, I really wouldn't worry about optimising your drag factor right now. Go with something between 120 and 130 and stick with it and your fitness will improve. If your drag factor isn't optimised then you might not be going as fast as you otherwise would, but the difference will be minimal (unless you're doing something daft like rowing at DF 200 or 80) and you'll improve your fitness regardless

Thank you for your input! I did wrote down the drag factor that went with my damper setting 4 at home (it was 109), but forgot to mention it in my post. I just find it nice to do such "technical" exercises that will help me further as a "go between" exercise between the BPP steps. I found this one for exemple also very nice to do: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WvgyiBTDqI.

[nhopkins]

BPP 2.4 20min at 2:07 pace

Todays session was a terrible. Between a sleepless night (thank you 1 yr old daughter) and a week of heavy smoke in the air from wild fires, I barely finished. i don't even want to post my times because that means i have to look at them again... oh well I have to own it i guess

20:00.0 4,584m 2:10.8 156 836 21
4:00.0 944m 2:07.1 170 886 20
8:00.0 944m 2:07.1 170 886 21
12:00.0 929m 2:09.1 162 858 20
16:00.0 904m 2:12.7 150 814 22
20:00.0 863m 2:19.0 130 747 24

I took everything in me to not just stop for the day.

can only go up from here is guess (maybe )

[Anth_F]

BPP 2.4 20min at 2:07 pace

Todays session was a terrible. Between a sleepless night (thank you 1 yr old daughter) and a week of heavy smoke in the air from wild fires, I barely finished. i don't even want to post my times because that means i have to look at them again... oh well I have to own it i guess

20:00.0 4,584m 2:10.8 156 836 21
4:00.0 944m 2:07.1 170 886 20
8:00.0 944m 2:07.1 170 886 21
12:00.0 929m 2:09.1 162 858 20
16:00.0 904m 2:12.7 150 814 22
20:00.0 863m 2:19.0 130 747 24

I took everything in me to not just stop for the day.

can only go up from here is guess (maybe )

A positive way to look at it would be at least you finished the piece so fair play, and the right mentality! Which is more than can be said for me on my 6k yesterday. Insufficient sleep really does making rowing a struggle. Everything seems fine until you get a certain distance in then bam comes the wall. I need to get out of this putting the handle down mentality. This is not usually in my nature and i am mentally tougher than this.

[mdpfirrman]

@ nhopkins - you finished. Finishing a bad row is always better than quitting and teaches you a lot!

Been lurking the thread a bit. Some really great times posted. I'm probably not going to drop in and do a round (yet) because I have a vacation coming up. Would make sense to do after I'm back and do a few more meters first.

Like Barrec, I was really unfit too at one point. Nothing to be ashamed about getting back in shape. It's more embarrassing to not try. I got up to 245 or so (and I'm not very tall) and had a knee that I could barely walk on when I got serious again about working out. Took a lot of small steps, patience and at times pain (with the knee) to get where I am now -- just a bit better than average! Yet I'm 187 now and 15% body fat (not 245 and 35% or so body fat). It took me 10 years if you include the one year having to learn to walk again after my knee pretty much blew up. I'll never be the fastest but I'll certainly make a decent run at 7:10 or so on the 2K before I'm done (if not 7:00). For an average guy with a bad knee, I'll take where I'm at right now.

Fitness is like lifting. You hit plateaus that frustrate you. But the guys that lift the most are those that don't ever stop doing it. They've always lifted. The ones that can't understand why they can't lift as much lift for 3 months when warm weather is coming up and take the rest of the year off. I'll never hit the fitness levels of some of the people on here because I took around 12 years (altogether) pretty much off from working out. And when I did workout, I didn't really know how to push myself before.

Be patient with your pacing. It will come. Just be persistent. When you can't walk for a while and have to learn each step over again, you learn how far determination can take you. Then I look at guys that don't have a leg or arm at the gym (from war) and some of them are built better than I am! Hard to complain when you see that. Pacing comes to you over time. Don't force it and don't compare yourself to others. It just ends in frustration. That's what's so great about these forums. I've never once heard someone be told that they're too slow to post or contribute. Very supportive forums. They've certainly helped and encouraged me.

[barrec]

@nhopkins - good on you to do the workout and finish! That is what matters. I'm curious, where are you located? I'm just outside Portland, OR and have also been affected by smoke from wild fires. No babies, though

Has anyone here done the PP5k? Or have ideas about pacing? I looked through the workouts and cycles and am thrown by 1' rest on the shorter distances...

[jans]

BPP 2.4 20min at 2:07 pace

Todays session was a terrible. Between a sleepless night (thank you 1 yr old daughter) and a week of heavy smoke in the air from wild fires, I barely finished. i don't even want to post my times because that means i have to look at them again... oh well I have to own it i guess)

Good for you on finishing! *thumbs up*

[Slacker]

Has anyone here done the PP5k? Or have ideas about pacing? I looked through the workouts and cycles and am thrown by 1' rest on the shorter distances...

Good starting place would be a 5k TT or at least a hard 5k row. Slowly build the plan pace from a pace you can actually maintain and finish.