New Personal Best! Brag About That New Pb!

[max_ratcliffe]

https://imgur.com/gallery/fle7HyX

I’m nowhere near fit enough to even think about a solstice HM, having not gone over 4K yet, but decided to get in the spirit at least and try my first 5k. I’m pretty happy with it for my first time!

Congratulations. You just went 25% further than you ever have before. That's quite a step up.

[max_ratcliffe]

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Nice 'paddle' Max!
Looking at your signature PBs I reckon with that 10k time, you should easily be able to break 14k now for the hour
...no rest on this forum... on to the next one!

https://imgur.com/THn2W17

My last 2 efforts at the hour have ended in an HD, but yeah, it's pretty obvious which is the Ramsey Bolton in this season's times. There's a lot of ranked workouts around 14.2k, though, so I don't think I'll be making much impact on the percentile any time soon.

[Dangerscouse]

Currently I'm doing two intervals sessions (one short, one longer), a faster ss and a long ss row per week. I'm getting fitter, but I haven't got my head round the physiological effects of the training mix yet. When I did a bunch of slowish 10ks in March, that just made me better at slowish 10ks. To get faster at these longer pieces, I will need to be as comfortable at, say 2.08 as at 2.10. I guess that'll come with time on the seat, but no real idea which of the four pieces per week is most important.

I think I've had a bit of an epiphany about my technique (lots of strokes to think about during an HM). I've been using the arms a fraction too early, so arresting my momentum without my feet yanking on the footstraps has been hard. Basically, I think my arms have been 3rd lawing against my feet, so by the time I need to stop myself, the handle's already at my chest. I think some extra core work (which I hate) leading to a stronger lay back as well as mentally trying to cue myself to pull on the handle to stop my body will be the go for a bit.

I think all of the sessions are important, but if you want to progress the shorter harder sessions are your primary focus. When you say you got better at slowish 10ks, was this lower HR, or just felt easier? You will need to nudge up the pressure on these sessions as you progress.

It's a very easy trap to fall into, when you become too comfortable doing slower sessions and then your harder sessions aren't as tough as they should be as you are more used to doing slower longer sessions and your inner chimp talks you out of the pain and suffering of a short sharp distance.

What can be useful for a 10k is doing some short sprints within the session, for example a 500m r28+ 'sprint' after 1500m of steady pace, or a rate pyramid for the whole 10km.

A strong core is very useful and can only help your stroke and lower back health

[max_ratcliffe]

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I think all of the sessions are important, but if you want to progress the shorter harder sessions are your primary focus. When you say you got better at slowish 10ks, was this lower HR, or just felt easier? You will need to nudge up the pressure on these sessions as you progress.

Was focussed on getting to 25x10k in the month. I couldn't motivate myself to do 10k a day at that point without taking them more easily. Probably should have put a plan together, but took the easy option. I was also thinking about the Pete Plan guidance: "when in doubt, go slower".

What you're saying makes perfect sense, though.

As I'm not doing six or more sessions a week, I'm not sure I need any slow sessions. In the limit, Usain Bolt would be training for 100m by going for a 20 mile hike, and I'm sure that never happened.

What can be useful for a 10k is doing some short sprints within the session, for example a 500m r28+ 'sprint' after 1500m of steady pace, or a rate pyramid for the whole 10km.

This looks good. Will give it a crack.

[RayOfSunshine]

Progress. Prior PB was 3 months ago. Aerobic capacity is still an issue.

[Dangerscouse]

Was focussed on getting to 25x10k in the month. I couldn't motivate myself to do 10k a day at that point without taking them more easily. Probably should have put a plan together, but took the easy option. I was also thinking about the Pete Plan guidance: "when in doubt, go slower".

I have two observations. Only train as hard as you can rest and recuperate. I only row four times a week at most, sometimes three, so less can be more sometimes.

Secondly, as good a piece of advice as that is, it's also a trap to allow your inner chimp to win when it's getting tough and you realistically could push through, albeit it would be a real effort.

It takes a lot of practice to identify a weak moment from genuine exhaustion. You will grab the easy way out every time if you're not mentally prepared. Expect, and almost look forward, to the pain and discomfort. It's not a bulletproof solution but it definitely helps nudge your progress forward.

I have become too used to the longer slower rows recently and despite it being against all accepted wisdom, I find some upper grey zone training to be useful for me when I then do increase the pain. For example, I should do my 10 miles at circa 1:59/2:00 pace for a UT2 session but I think I get better all round results if I do it at 1:54/55. I assume it's more of a 'resolve galvaniser' and makes me more inclined to increase the pace. Throwing a few of these grey zone pace sessions in every now and again might be beneficial for you too.

@ Ray, well done mate. That's a big improvement in PB

[Anth_F]

Cheers Anth,
Glutes/hammies junction cramped up about 5 min after the end. Getting into the car wasn't fun!

Cramp in the legs is the worst feeling ever! I used to suffer a lot with it in my hammies... simply because i was not taking enough water onboard to rehydrate

[Anth_F]

Progress. Prior PB was 3 months ago. Aerobic capacity is still an issue.

That emoji

Well done tho... thats a tough slog for an hour. Congrats

[MartinSH4321]

well done max, a HM is really challenging!

Thanks Martin,
Fully in awe of your times, especially the short ones. The LP is astonishing and must be close to a record.

Thanks Max!
My short distances and LP are pretty good, but not even close to the really strong guys, they have a LP of about 1:01 and the 500m record is at 1:10,5 All the best for your training, you're doing well, stay motivated!

[KeithT]

I got a PB on my HM as part of the Solstice Challenge on Friday - took 26 seconds off with a 1:20:22 (1:54.2)

Nothing terribly exciting but I was happy to get a PB on a longer row as I haven't had one for a while. As usual I went a little too fast to start but I felt good from 21,097 to 10,000 to go and was averaging a 1:53.3 pace and had the idea I was going to go below 1:20:00. I really hit the wall at about 8k to go and slowed down some (1:56/1:57), didn't panic as I was still well ahead of PB pace but now knew that sub 1:20:00 might not be in the cards. Suffered thru to 2k to go and then knew I was going to PB and by a decent amount and just hung on until the end with going a little faster at very end. Got some real nasty blisters on hands and "backside" this time which I didn't get on a recent 60 min row but all part of it. This was only my second ever HM and I don't plan to do many of them

[MartinSH4321]

I got a PB on my HM as part of the Solstice Challenge on Friday - took 26 seconds off with a 1:20:22 (1:54.2)

Nothing terribly exciting but I was happy to get a PB on a longer row as I haven't had one for a while. As usual I went a little too fast to start but I felt good from 21,097 to 10,000 to go and was averaging a 1:53.3 pace and had the idea I was going to go below 1:20:00. I really hit the wall at about 8k to go and slowed down some (1:56/1:57), didn't panic as I was still well ahead of PB pace but now knew that sub 1:20:00 might not be in the cards. Suffered thru to 2k to go and then knew I was going to PB and by a decent amount and just hung on until the end with going a little faster at very end. Got some real nasty blisters on hands and "backside" this time which I didn't get on a recent 60 min row but all part of it. This was only my second ever HM and I don't plan to do many of them

well done Keith! Sub 1:20:00 should be possible for sure when starting a bit slower and holding the pace, maybe you'll give it a try in the near future

[KeithT]

I got a PB on my HM as part of the Solstice Challenge on Friday - took 26 seconds off with a 1:20:22 (1:54.2)

Nothing terribly exciting but I was happy to get a PB on a longer row as I haven't had one for a while. As usual I went a little too fast to start but I felt good from 21,097 to 10,000 to go and was averaging a 1:53.3 pace and had the idea I was going to go below 1:20:00. I really hit the wall at about 8k to go and slowed down some (1:56/1:57), didn't panic as I was still well ahead of PB pace but now knew that sub 1:20:00 might not be in the cards. Suffered thru to 2k to go and then knew I was going to PB and by a decent amount and just hung on until the end with going a little faster at very end. Got some real nasty blisters on hands and "backside" this time which I didn't get on a recent 60 min row but all part of it. This was only my second ever HM and I don't plan to do many of them

well done Keith! Sub 1:20:00 should be possible for sure when starting a bit slower and holding the pace, maybe you'll give it a try in the near future

If you call "near future" like 6 months ......it's not that the HM is more painful than a 1k, 2k, 5k but it's just a prolonged discomfort. I will test the other distances again here and there before I go back to this one.

[canglem]

https://imgur.com/gallery/fle7HyX

I’m nowhere near fit enough to even think about a solstice HM, having not gone over 4K yet, but decided to get in the spirit at least and try my first 5k. I’m pretty happy with it for my first time!

Congratulations. You just went 25% further than you ever have before. That's quite a step up.

Thanks...I enjoyed it so much I did it again the next night, 18 seconds faster

[Dangerscouse]

I got a PB on my HM as part of the Solstice Challenge on Friday - took 26 seconds off with a 1:20:22 (1:54.2)

Nothing terribly exciting but I was happy to get a PB on a longer row as I haven't had one for a while. As usual I went a little too fast to start but I felt good from 21,097 to 10,000 to go and was averaging a 1:53.3 pace and had the idea I was going to go below 1:20:00. I really hit the wall at about 8k to go and slowed down some (1:56/1:57), didn't panic as I was still well ahead of PB pace but now knew that sub 1:20:00 might not be in the cards. Suffered thru to 2k to go and then knew I was going to PB and by a decent amount and just hung on until the end with going a little faster at very end. Got some real nasty blisters on hands and "backside" this time which I didn't get on a recent 60 min row but all part of it. This was only my second ever HM and I don't plan to do many of them

With some more specific training you can go sub 80 mins, but this is a strong effort regardless. I usually have a wobble at about that time too, but I seem to recover quicker now that I'm used to doing 10 miles.

I find liquid chalk helps with sweaty hands and if it's your own erg, buy some cycle tape to wrap around the handles. It doesn't seem like much, but there is surprisingly quite a difference in your head between a 60 mins and a HM.

[Dangerscouse]

https://imgur.com/gallery/fle7HyX

I’m nowhere near fit enough to even think about a solstice HM, having not gone over 4K yet, but decided to get in the spirit at least and try my first 5k. I’m pretty happy with it for my first time!

Congratulations. You just went 25% further than you ever have before. That's quite a step up.

Thanks...I enjoyed it so much I did it again the next night, 18 seconds faster

That's what I call progress!! Well done