New Personal Best! Brag About That New Pb!

[MartinSH4321]

Planning on an hour of steady state, but got a bit sidetracked with yard work, so had a crack at the ugly step child as part of the heptathlon.

Bare bones:

6000, 23:23.8, 1:56.9

1k splits:
3:52.2, 3:53.2, 3:53.2, 3:53.9, 4:00.8, 3:49.4

Chimp was agitating a lot with 2k to go, so I slowed down between 1500 and 1000 to go.

Well done Max, you're on a roll atm! As Dino said, 5k is waiting for another PB!

[Dangerscouse]

Planning on an hour of steady state, but got a bit sidetracked with yard work, so had a crack at the ugly step child as part of the heptathlon.

Bare bones:

6000, 23:23.8, 1:56.9

1k splits:
3:52.2, 3:53.2, 3:53.2, 3:53.9, 4:00.8, 3:49.4

Chimp was agitating a lot with 2k to go, so I slowed down between 1500 and 1000 to go.

Well done Max. That 1500m zone is always where it starts to really bite so you were going at the right pace. You really did get it back on track again for the last 1k though.

[jsarche]

I wrapped up the heptathlon challenge this morning with a 10k and dropped about 1:20 off my previous PB, set about a month ago. I kept my pacing fairly steady at 2:00.9/500m overall, for a final time of 40:19.1. My first 2000 split was my slowest at 2:03.1/500, and my last split was fastest at 1:58.9/500.

I thought I’d do well, but did not expect it to go that well. On the other hand, I’ve put in about 186k meters in the month or so since my last 10k. Just feeling great about the results!

[Dangerscouse]

I wrapped up the heptathlon challenge this morning with a 10k and dropped about 1:20 off my previous PB, set about a month ago. I kept my pacing fairly steady at 2:00.9/500m overall, for a final time of 40:19.1. My first 2000 split was my slowest at 2:03.1/500, and my last split was fastest at 1:58.9/500.

I thought I’d do well, but did not expect it to go that well. On the other hand, I’ve put in about 186k meters in the month or so since my last 10k. Just feeling great about the results!

Well done. There's no substitute for lots of metres for making progress.

[max_ratcliffe]

I wrapped up the heptathlon challenge this morning with a 10k and dropped about 1:20 off my previous PB, set about a month ago. I kept my pacing fairly steady at 2:00.9/500m overall, for a final time of 40:19.1. My first 2000 split was my slowest at 2:03.1/500, and my last split was fastest at 1:58.9/500.

I thought I’d do well, but did not expect it to go that well. On the other hand, I’ve put in about 186k meters in the month or so since my last 10k. Just feeling great about the results!

Great work Jon. 1:20 is a huge improvement.
It doesn't sound like much to someone unfamiliar with the erg, but when you think of it in terms of 4s/500m faster, you realise how impressive this is.

[jsarche]

It doesn't sound like much to someone unfamiliar with the erg, but when you think of it in terms of 4s/500m faster, you realise how impressive this is.

Thank you both - and I’m glad to have found this community to talk about this. I swam competitively through high school and in a masters program after college until I just got too bored with it, and like skiing (which I’ve done all my life) or rowing, swimming is also a game of fractions of seconds. I wasn’t looking forward to today’s workout, but after I just got going with it, I felt great and thought I could do something fun with that. So thanks for your comments.

[max_ratcliffe]

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Nice and consistent with a fast last.... congrats mate

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Well done Max, you're on a roll atm! As Dino said, 5k is waiting for another PB!

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Well done Max. That 1500m zone is always where it starts to really bite so you were going at the right pace. You really did get it back on track again for the last 1k though.

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Nice one Max! Done me again too!!
By my reckoning according to your signature that's 2 x PB for the price of 1 as you would have gone through 5k in 19:33?
If you target 5k you must be looking at ~19:25 now

Thanks all,
It's really weird because my SS training (with HRM and really focusing on UT2) isn't giving lower splits yet, and I seem to swing from a good piece to a really ordinary session and back again.

If I'd had someone shouting at me, I might have been able to keep the chimp at bay and not have the slower 500m but I was struggling mentally and physically by then.

[winniewinser]

Thanks all,
It's really weird because my SS training (with HRM and really focusing on UT2) isn't giving lower splits yet, and I seem to swing from a good piece to a really ordinary session and back again.
...

Max, I get those UT2 session differences too... sometimes I can hold 2:09 and other times 2:13 is a struggle. So many variables with how tired you are, how much energy you have, temperature etc. I think the longer you do it the easier it gets and you start to see more progress. Back in Feb I was hard pushed to hold 2:17 so I feel it is helping.

Cheers

[Dangerscouse]

Thanks all,
It's really weird because my SS training (with HRM and really focusing on UT2) isn't giving lower splits yet, and I seem to swing from a good piece to a really ordinary session and back again.

If I'd had someone shouting at me, I might have been able to keep the chimp at bay and not have the slower 500m but I was struggling mentally and physically by then.

I find the same as this too, and I can only attribute it to the fact that the UT2 training that is used as a reference is almost certainly based on elite athletes who do A LOT more metres than we ever will do and are very highly adapted to it.

This then becomes the expectation for all and sundry as it filters down, mainly due to the fact that it's predominantly the faster, stronger rowers who will discuss it on social media etc, and they are the ones that people seek out for advice, but we should all seek out our own personal 'normal' mainly through trial and error: something I have done a lot of over the past few years.

There is a default to try and compare to what is the 'norm' but in reality we are all different and we have different reactions to the same stimulus, and when it doesn't follow the linear pattern you were expecting it can throw you off and make you change your plans.So as long as you're making progress, and taking advantage of it when you're feeling good, I wouldn't worry about it.

[max_ratcliffe]

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I find the same as this too, and I can only attribute it to the fact that the UT2 training that is used as a reference is almost certainly based on elite athletes who do A LOT more metres than we ever will do and are very highly adapted to it.

This then becomes the expectation for all and sundry as it filters down, mainly due to the fact that it's predominantly the faster, stronger rowers who will discuss it on social media etc, and they are the ones that people seek out for advice, but we should all seek out our own personal 'normal' mainly through trial and error: something I have done a lot of over the past few years.


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Yeah, this is a very good point. I think we're all wise enough not to try to copy the muscle mags "36 sets for chest" or whatever the equivalent is for rowing, but the UT2 stuff seems to make good sense as it's not all pedal to the metal stuff. But it has by and large been proven on mega-metres. It's clearly worked for some people on this board too, but as samples of one, we don't know whether they'd have been as successful on a pyramidal approach or something very left field. As JimS said: "everything works; some things work better than others; nothing works for ever".

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Max, I get those UT2 session differences too... sometimes I can hold 2:09 and other times 2:13 is a struggle. So many variables with how tired you are, how much energy you have, temperature etc. I think the longer you do it the easier it gets and you start to see more progress. Back in Feb I was hard pushed to hold 2:17 so I feel it is helping.

Thanks Alex, I'll stick with it for another couple of months - I find that watching the HR is useful for relieving the occasional tedium of the long pieces as I play games with rate, breathing and technique to see if I can consciously move the HR. But in general I find the WP L4 workouts with the frequent rate changes more stimulating so may go back to those in time.

Part of my interest is that I want my RHR to come down, but of course ego comes into this as well - I want the doctor to be able to tell that I'm fit when i have a check up...

[max_ratcliffe]

Two PBs in two days - I might have to change my name to Ian, Jo Andre or Martin

1:00.0 328m 1:31.4 457 1874 48 176

Proper F&D and a landed fish-style 48spm.

No more of this for me for now.

[Dangerscouse]

Two PBs in two days - I might have to change my name to Ian, Jo Andre or Martin

1:00.0 328m 1:31.4 457 1874 48 176

Proper F&D and a landed fish-style 48spm.

No more of this for me for now.

You're on a roll Max, congrats

[MartinSH4321]

Two PBs in two days - I might have to change my name to Ian, Jo Andre or Martin

1:00.0 328m 1:31.4 457 1874 48 176

Proper F&D and a landed fish-style 48spm.

No more of this for me for now.

well done Max, big improvement and great rating!

[winniewinser]

Two PBs in two days - I might have to change my name to Ian, Jo Andre or Martin

1:00.0 328m 1:31.4 457 1874 48 176

Proper F&D and a landed fish-style 48spm.

No more of this for me for now.

Nice push Max... really on a roll now!

[Tandstad]

Two PBs in two days - I might have to change my name to Ian, Jo Andre or Martin

1:00.0 328m 1:31.4 457 1874 48 176

Proper F&D and a landed fish-style 48spm.

No more of this for me for now.

Haha

Good job Max, that's a real good 1-minuter too!! 48 spm, out of this world