Noob would like some feedback please

[Psychopasta]

Hey HJS,

Thanks! Is ~2k the difference between short and long, or is it more like 500m?

- M

[Psychopasta]

One other question. Since I started using PainSled, the C2 logbook no longer breaks my pieces down into splits. Am I doing something wrong?
- M

[Ombrax]

Thanks! Is ~2k the difference between short and long, or is it more like 500m?

I'd say it varies from person to person. For some folks around here the dividing line is probably around 10k, others 5k.

I think most folks would consider anything less than 2k pretty short.

[hjs]

Hey HJS,

Thanks! Is ~2k the difference between short and long, or is it more like 500m?

- M

2k is around 500m rating for reps, a standalone 500 would be a lot higher, more around 40spm, very fast guys sometimes around 50.

[Psychopasta]

Thought I'd post an update on how I'm doing, and how my strategy is working out.

I'm doing the Beginner Pete Plan, and just finished the 5.3 stage, a 7000m row. Here's my result



My approach is

1. Stick to 21 SPM, then
2. Keep the average power in the range 106-110W

I came up with the power range because my first 7000m (BPP5.1) was done at an average of 106. I didn't want my second to be slower, so I set that as my lower limit, and I thought a few more Watts wouldn't hurt, so I set 110 as my upper limit. In fact, I was able to row the whole 7000m at an average of 110 on the PM5, with it only dropping to 108 once, being at 109 a few times and at 110 pretty solidly. That translated to an average pace of 2.26.9. At the end of the row I was definitely tired but not exhausted.

What I'm pleased with is the stability of my cadence, and the relatively flat pace curve. Believe me, my earlier rows had a lot more variance, pace was all over the place from rowing my heart out to dog tired and slow. My goal now is to keep the pace constant throughout and maybe have enough left to give it a bit of a nudge in the final 300 meters. I'm aiming to reduce the variance in my pace, more than increasing my average pace.

My plan for week 6 (7500m) is to stay at 21 SPM, and aim for an average power of 101-112 so I nudge the pace up very slightly over the longer distance. I prefer targeting power rather than pace, as power is what the Erg really measures, and I believe that my technique is still the limiting factor. Certainly I don't perceive much difference in the exertion of a low power stroke compared to a higher powered one, but I do feel my back and arms kicking in better when I'm more powerful, as well as feeling the power going through my heels rather than the plates of my feet.

Really happy to get suggestions,

- Pasta

[Allan Olesen]

I am certainly no expert in rowing or training plans for rowing. Specifically, I have no idea what the BPP plan is. This is also my first post on this forum.

However, I have lately looked a lot into both heart rate based training in general and more specifically training of aerobic fitness - and I have recently bought a D for exactly that purpose. So I will offer some comments from that - non-rowing -
perspective.

I can't help noticing that you have a quite high heart rate drift during your session at constant power. This is usually a sign that you haven't developed the aerobic fitness for what you are trying to do, so the anearobic system is doing too much of the work.

There are two basic rules for training the anaerobic and aerobic systems:
1. If you want to train your aerobic system, train slow (at low heart rate). If you want to train your anaerobic system, train fast (at high heart rate).

2. Most peoples' slow training is too fast, and their fast training is too slow.

The consequence of #2 is that neither the aerobic nor the anaerobic systems develop as well as they should.

Based on this, I wonder if you would benefit from aiming for a lower power than those 110W during some of your sessions. One idea could be finding a power where your heart rate will only drift 10 BPM over the entire session (excluding the first minutes of course). To make up for the lower intensity, you could increase the duration.

And then mix in some (not many) sessions where you go considerably higher than 110W to also develop your anaerobic system. For beginners like us, this should probably not be our first priority, since there is not much point in developing the anaerobic system without having a good aerobic base.

Any thoughts from the experts on this?

[warnie]

Nice one Pasta, I'm starting back with rowing after a number of years away and feel your pain - three weeks in!

Did my first 5k on BPP last night and doing 1.2 tonight. I never realised about low SPM and other factors before joining this forum and every thread I read I learn something.

Keep going, you're doing amazingly well

Warnie.

[Psychopasta]

Agree, this is a great forum to learn from.