New Personal Best! Brag About That New Pb!

[Meek]

Started my 30r20 today and noticed I was going well enough that with just a little more power would get a new 30min PB, so increased with 5min to go and added 150m to it. 7603 to 7753.

One thing I noticed is that now that I’m getting more comfortable on the erg is that one my stroke rate was more ‘normal’ at higher watts aka race pace. I was sitting at 29-30 instead of 23-24ish.
What was also interesting was that when I’d fall a second or 2 off pace if I tried to add more push it usually did nothing but if I pulled harder at the end it would feel EASIER throughout the stroke and I’d go 5(!) sec faster. My legs were fried however from doing very low cadence sweet spot yesterday on the bike, so I’m assuming that may have significantly played a part in them not wanting to contribute more than necessary today.

[winniewinser]

Started my 30r20 today and noticed I was going well enough that with just a little more power would get a new 30min PB, so increased with 5min to go and added 150m to it. 7603 to 7753.

One thing I noticed is that now that I’m getting more comfortable on the erg is that one my stroke rate was more ‘normal’ at higher watts aka race pace. I was sitting at 29-30 instead of 23-24ish.
What was also interesting was that when I’d fall a second or 2 off pace if I tried to add more push it usually did nothing but if I pulled harder at the end it would feel EASIER throughout the stroke and I’d go 5(!) sec faster. My legs were fried however from doing very low cadence sweet spot yesterday on the bike, so I’m assuming that may have significantly played a part in them not wanting to contribute more than necessary today.

Congrats on the new PB

[max_ratcliffe]

Started my 30r20 today and noticed I was going well enough that with just a little more power would get a new 30min PB, so increased with 5min to go and added 150m to it. 7603 to 7753.

One thing I noticed is that now that I’m getting more comfortable on the erg is that one my stroke rate was more ‘normal’ at higher watts aka race pace. I was sitting at 29-30 instead of 23-24ish.
What was also interesting was that when I’d fall a second or 2 off pace if I tried to add more push it usually did nothing but if I pulled harder at the end it would feel EASIER throughout the stroke and I’d go 5(!) sec faster. My legs were fried however from doing very low cadence sweet spot yesterday on the bike, so I’m assuming that may have significantly played a part in them not wanting to contribute more than necessary today.

Nice work. 150m doesn't sound like much to anyone not in the know, but it's huge - nearly 2.5 splits faster!

If you're pulling harder with the arms at the end of the stroke, this suggests to me that you might otherwise be stopping yourself by pulling on the footstraps. The harder arm pull means that you are transferring your momentum into the chain better. Just a theory... but some strapless training might help you get even quicker.

Well done anyway.

[max_ratcliffe]

I've not done any 2k training in a while... so in line with how my training usually benefits the opposite of what I think I'm training for, the 2k obviously had to go.

The softest of my PBs, but one that was scaring the bejaysus out of me.

1st flat out 2k since June 2019.

Warm up:
5k at 2:16
2x30" at full rate (messed these up a bit, probably should have repeated), then

7:16.5 2,000m 1:49.1 269 1226 31 181

upload your pic

Plan FWIW was to target 1:50 overall and try to rate up from 30-33 from about halfway. Couldn't quite manage the rating up until the home straight, but - soft PB or not - very happy with this.

Just outside my target for the year, but confident that I can knock a bit more off with some specific training.

[Dangerscouse]

I've not done any 2k training in a while... so in line with how my training usually benefits the opposite of what I think I'm training for, the 2k obviously had to go.

The softest of my PBs, but one that was scaring the bejaysus out of me.

1st flat out 2k since June 2019.

Warm up:
5k at 2:16
2x30" at full rate (messed these up a bit, probably should have repeated), then

7:16.5 2,000m 1:49.1 269 1226 31 181

upload your pic

Plan FWIW was to target 1:50 overall and try to rate up from 30-33 from about halfway. Couldn't quite manage the rating up until the home straight, but - soft PB or not - very happy with this.

Just outside my target for the year, but confident that I can knock a bit more off with some specific training.

Well done Max. Totally agree, specific training will really help, so this is a great result if this tested on a whim

[Dino]

I've not done any 2k training in a while... so in line with how my training usually benefits the opposite of what I think I'm training for, the 2k obviously had to go.

The softest of my PBs, but one that was scaring the bejaysus out of me.

1st flat out 2k since June 2019.

Warm up:
5k at 2:16
2x30" at full rate (messed these up a bit, probably should have repeated), then

7:16.5 2,000m 1:49.1 269 1226 31 181

Plan FWIW was to target 1:50 overall and try to rate up from 30-33 from about halfway. Couldn't quite manage the rating up until the home straight, but - soft PB or not - very happy with this.

Just outside my target for the year, but confident that I can knock a bit more off with some specific training.

The softest of my PBs??? I think I would argue that one... I thought your 2K was already decent... compared to your 5k/10k ...yes we are still waiting for that 5k!
..but congrats on the 2k PB! Sub 1:50 is getting to the pointy end of things in my book. Your target of 7:15 well in sight now.
Rating looks good too... far better than I can manage that's for sure.

Have you seen the Eddie Fletcher 2k warm up guide? Not used it myself but tucked away the guide for when I feel like going back to the 2k. Not quite sure how to use it and if each warm up section is continuous to the next one, but may be of use.

[KeithT]

PB by 15 seconds, and my previously longest standing PB (Dec 2017), only by three days though as I did my 100k then, and as you may know, was all part of the reason why the 100k was truly horrific.

I did need to get it done, as it was starting to become a mental block, with my inner chimp convincing me I wouldn't beat it. I almost talked myself out of it at 14k, so I just slightly slowed down and realised it was still a possibility. I didn't have any notable wobbles, which was a surprise, but now I'm wondering how much more I could squeeze out if I had more confidence.

Lower back was feeling a bit aggravated so I opted out of the 16 x 1 min 1r, and this felt like it loosened it up.

This is such an a amazing result and adds to your list of PBS this year, you just keep getting better.

[KeithT]

10km for me. Tried yesterday but pulled out at 6km. Just wasn’t feeling right.
Back at it today with a better pacing strategy

Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
35:31.8 10,000m 1:46.5 289 1294 29 167
3:35.8 1,000m 1:47.9 279 1258 29 143
3:35.6 2,000m 1:47.8 279 1261 29 156
3:35.1 3,000m 1:47.5 281 1268 28 160
3:34.7 4,000m 1:47.3 283 1273 29 163
3:34.4 5,000m 1:47.2 284 1277 29 168
3:34.4 6,000m 1:47.2 284 1277 30 171
3:34.5 7,000m 1:47.2 284 1276 29 173
3:33.6 8,000m 1:46.8 287 1288 31 177
3:33.0 9,000m 1:46.5 290 1297 30 180
3:20.6 10,000m 1:40.3 347 1493 34 189

Felt in control and good and new I’d have a little sprint in me to get the PB

Wow, great result and perfect pacing! Was a big deal to break sub 36:00 and now close to sub 35:30.

[KeithT]

I'm a buffer builder too and that probably did me in the last 30' TT effort. I'm not confident to build through to a faster finish but it probably wastes energy during each split and reduces the fast finish. You nailed this one.

I read something recently about this strategy, as some benefit from positive splits, others flat paced and others with neg splits.

I can't remember it perfectly, but it's more about your physiology and where you are on the scale of pulmonary and cardiovascular limitations, or you might be somewhere in the middle.

I couldn't follow the exact science, but it said that if you're respiratory limited you should positive split; delivery limited you should neg split (delivery meaning oxygen and cardiac lag); utilisation limited you should flat pace, but not forgetting that there are combinations of these too as you don't always neatly fit into one box.

The upshot of it is, it's best to experiment and see what works best for you, and not to assume that your assumptions are correct. What may seem like the best idea, may actually be robbing you of performance. I think that has been perfectly highlighted by Ian's recent 10k, albeit Ian is getting fitter and faster regardless of pacing strategy, but there has obviously been a notable uptick in his intra-rowing thoughts.

Personally I defo prefer a neg split, and I'm going to try this for my next 2k, ie no racing start as I'm not sure it helps at all.

Great info.! I am finding for me it is also different depending on the length of the row. I have made some mistakes recently with pacing but I seem to do OK if not better with positive splits on the longer rows but negative on the shorter rows - or it seems that way.

[KeithT]

I've not done any 2k training in a while... so in line with how my training usually benefits the opposite of what I think I'm training for, the 2k obviously had to go.

The softest of my PBs, but one that was scaring the bejaysus out of me.

1st flat out 2k since June 2019.

Warm up:
5k at 2:16
2x30" at full rate (messed these up a bit, probably should have repeated), then

7:16.5 2,000m 1:49.1 269 1226 31 181

upload your pic

Plan FWIW was to target 1:50 overall and try to rate up from 30-33 from about halfway. Couldn't quite manage the rating up until the home straight, but - soft PB or not - very happy with this.

Just outside my target for the year, but confident that I can knock a bit more off with some specific training.

Great PB and your target of 7:15 is there for sure especially with some specific training.

[winniewinser]

I've not done any 2k training in a while... so in line with how my training usually benefits the opposite of what I think I'm training for, the 2k obviously had to go.

The softest of my PBs, but one that was scaring the bejaysus out of me.

1st flat out 2k since June 2019.

Warm up:
5k at 2:16
2x30" at full rate (messed these up a bit, probably should have repeated), then

7:16.5 2,000m 1:49.1 269 1226 31 181

upload your pic

Plan FWIW was to target 1:50 overall and try to rate up from 30-33 from about halfway. Couldn't quite manage the rating up until the home straight, but - soft PB or not - very happy with this.

Just outside my target for the year, but confident that I can knock a bit more off with some specific training.

Whoop whoop.....great job Max!

A 2K PB is never to be sniffed at and doing it with little training shows that more could follow with some speed session training. I found that doing more 2K's at various paces helped me to get over some of the scariness of that distance.

[Meek]

Thanks.

Congrats on the new PB

[Meek]

Thanks Max. Can you tell me more about strapless and what I may be doing wrong? I did a quick search but didn’t find much. Or if you have a link to a good read or video would be great too. I ‘think’ I may catch myself with the straps. Hmm.
Thanks again.
-M

Nice work. 150m doesn't sound like much to anyone not in the know, but it's huge - nearly 2.5 splits faster!

If you're pulling harder with the arms at the end of the stroke, this suggests to me that you might otherwise be stopping yourself by pulling on the footstraps. The harder arm pull means that you are transferring your momentum into the chain better. Just a theory... but some strapless training might help you get even quicker.

Well done anyway.

[MartinSH4321]

I've not done any 2k training in a while... so in line with how my training usually benefits the opposite of what I think I'm training for, the 2k obviously had to go.

The softest of my PBs, but one that was scaring the bejaysus out of me.

1st flat out 2k since June 2019.

Warm up:
5k at 2:16
2x30" at full rate (messed these up a bit, probably should have repeated), then

7:16.5 2,000m 1:49.1 269 1226 31 181

upload your pic

Plan FWIW was to target 1:50 overall and try to rate up from 30-33 from about halfway. Couldn't quite manage the rating up until the home straight, but - soft PB or not - very happy with this.

Just outside my target for the year, but confident that I can knock a bit more off with some specific training.

Well done Max, that's a great result! No doubt you'll get your season's target

[Dangerscouse]

This is such an a amazing result and adds to your list of PBS this year, you just keep getting better.

Thanks mate. It seems to be coinciding with doing more volume (89k) last week and slowing down my steady pace (circa 2:00 was standard, now I'm doing circa 2:05 a lot more). We are all different and react subjectively to different stimuli, but I think I may have found what works for me...just a shame I didn't 20 years ago though All I need to do is beat my 1k PB and I've set all of my PBs in the past six months (let's pretend the 100k never happened!)

I checked my yearly totals, and I only need another 5618m to equal my 2018/19 total and I'm about 740k off my most ever, albeit I have only regularly started recording my metres since June 2017, but I wasn't that committed before then.