Pondering the Beginner Pete Plan

[RayOfSunshine]

Great work on the Skierg, Ray!

Thanks Mitchel. I'm in pretty pathetic shape right now, so today's lower HR on the exact row 2 days ago is nice. Newbie gains are sweet. I think the BPP is genius the way it builds confidence.
I've been doing a 5k row @ 60% HRR (max 139 HR) before each ski.

[frenzen]

Goal was to row 5 times this week, but managed to squeeze 3.

Week 3, Day 3:



Goal was to to row under 2:17, although my pace were everywhere and my mind was not present. I was able to finally get back into it mentally for the last 2k. Also I wanted to give up (a feeling that was never present the last few weeks), it felt like I was rowing forever and it just hard mentally but not physically.

[frenzen]

Week 3 Day 2:



Felt really easy, I even went faster on the 2nd half for the first interval. Goal was to stay below 2:10.

These are solid! Remember that your future pacing builds on these early pieces. Resist the temptation to go too fast too early. You will pay for it with disappointment later. We've got 24 weeks.

Yes it is just not as satisfactory going slow for these intervals but I am sure as the weeks go, I will 100% be unable to keep that pace at longer distances. Solid advice

[mitchel674]

Week 17 started today with 10,500m. Plan was 2:21 at 22spm aiming to keep heart rate below 140. I've been using the pace boat on the new ergdata app and it's been very motivating. Finished the piece at 2:20.9 just 50 meters ahead of the pacer. Fun for me. Sweating the 500m intervals tomorrow.

[thaloun]

Good work Mitchel!

Week 9 felt pretty solid. 33k total distance that week which is a new record for me. I know it's super premature but I find myself idly thinking about the non-beginner's plan quite a lot. Is that what people intend to stick with once they 'graduate' through the 24 weeks?

I've also started experimenting with slight alterations to the drag factor. Haven't noticed anything observable going from 117 to 124 really. Not sure if there's a protocol for dialing that in.

[mitchel674]

Week 17, 8 x 500m, r2. Did these after a 2k warm up. Wanted to be loose and warm since I've pulled my back on these short intervals twice in the last few months. I had a conservative goal to beat 2:06 and not get injured.



Pleased that I was able to rate over 30 with no strain on my back. Followed in up with a 2k cool down for a nice session.

[frenzen]

Week 4, Day 1:



Was a very fun session, I biked today around 36 miles and told myself to row. It went fairly well, the first half was super easy and I kept it almost under/close to 20 s/m (heart rate was in zone 1), it got a bit challenging towards the second half (heart rate zone 4) but it was not as hard as previous weeks. I think my first week I did 5k with same pace and I was just dying. Also I only had music in one ear and I could hear the fan for the first time in a while which motivated me (row harder not faster). I believe that for me to be in order to row in a steady state, I must stick around 20 s/m as I found it more useful compared to the pace.

[frenzen]

Week 17, 8 x 500m, r2. Did these after a 2k warm up. Wanted to be loose and warm since I've pulled my back on these short intervals twice in the last few months. I had a conservative goal to beat 2:06 and not get injured.



Pleased that I was able to rate over 30 with no strain on my back. Followed in up with a 2k cool down for a nice session.

Wow that is really nice pace, I thought you were slow lol, I guess not! Do you always do warmups and cooldowns or is this the occasion because of injuries?

[mitchel674]

Week 17, 8 x 500m, r2. Did these after a 2k warm up. Wanted to be loose and warm since I've pulled my back on these short intervals twice in the last few months. I had a conservative goal to beat 2:06 and not get injured.



Pleased that I was able to rate over 30 with no strain on my back. Followed in up with a 2k cool down for a nice session.

Wow that is really nice pace, I thought you were slow lol, I guess not! Do you always do warmups and cooldowns or is this the occasion because of injuries?

I am slow! I've actually accepted that. I typically do warm up a bit before these short interval sessions. Not good for me to sit down and try to pull a high rating without some warmup. No warm up for me on the steady state sessions or even longer intervals. Cool down is just a personal preference. I had the day off and even with the warm up, this only came to 6km. I just felt like adding another 2k at an easy 2:21 pace.

[RayOfSunshine]

Week 9 felt pretty solid. 33k total distance that week which is a new record for me. I know it's super premature but I find myself idly thinking about the non-beginner's plan quite a lot. Is that what people intend to stick with once they 'graduate' through the 24 weeks?

I've also started experimenting with slight alterations to the drag factor. Haven't noticed anything observable going from 117 to 124 really. Not sure if there's a protocol for dialing that in.

Nice work! When I finished the BPP, I set my sights on a sub40 10k. I've done the Pete Plan for a bit, but it just wasn't for me.

As far as DF goes, it took me a couple years to "dial it in". My range is probably 100-130 , so I'm not too dialed in. I've adjusted it and the foot settings based on how my back feels too.

[RayOfSunshine]

Week 4, Day 1:



Was a very fun session, I biked today around 36 miles and told myself to row. It went fairly well, the first half was super easy and I kept it almost under/close to 20 s/m (heart rate was in zone 1), it got a bit challenging towards the second half (heart rate zone 4) but it was not as hard as previous weeks. I think my first week I did 5k with same pace and I was just dying. Also I only had music in one ear and I could hear the fan for the first time in a while which motivated me (row harder not faster). I believe that for me to be in order to row in a steady state, I must stick around 20 s/m as I found it more useful compared to the pace.

Solid day. Sometimes I like to do SS in the morning with no music/lights/tv/etc. It's like meditation. Unless I have a plan to vary the SPM, I do my SS at a steady SPM... 20 is probably the one I use most. On the Skierg, I'm noticing it to be 35.

[RayOfSunshine]

Week 17, 8 x 500m, r2. Did these after a 2k warm up. Wanted to be loose and warm since I've pulled my back on these short intervals twice in the last few months. I had a conservative goal to beat 2:06 and not get injured.



Pleased that I was able to rate over 30 with no strain on my back. Followed in up with a 2k cool down for a nice session.

No pain, no pain. Glad you're listening to your body. Your last rep with the same HR, 33 s/m, and no back pain. All good.

[RayOfSunshine]

• BPP week 2 complete on Skierg

• Interesting to see the consistent SPM as I don't even look at it while in session

• 5k row (max 60% HRR) before each session

[thaloun]

Another week in the bag. Hit a new all time high HR in the closing minute of the 3x2k interval - 188 @ 2:02 split. Oddly, (thankfully?) it didn't feel as horrible as those very first mistimed sessions before week one, exertion wise. It just felt like I was going hard I guess. Now to get more done without hitting those stratospheric rates!

Speaking of improvements my 500m intervals also felt much stronger this week:


Though I will say imagining keeping a pace like that for 4 splits in a row without the break is pretty daunting. Especially since ~8m is apparently just about nothing around here. But if I only compare myself to myself it makes me feel better : )

[Rowan McSheen]

Nice pacing on the 500s by Thaloun and quicker than previously if I recall correctly. And the pace of the final rep indicates that there's still revs left on the tacho. Ditto for Mitchel ... at 10 secs/500m faster quite a lot more revs left, I'd say

8000m completes the "compulsory" rows of week 8. My steady row pace in UT1 band has stabilized at about 2:17, maintaining a more or less constant pace with hr gradually climbing through UT2 to reach the floor of UT1 at the halfway point and be nudging the ceiling at the end.