Pondering the Beginner Pete Plan

[AndyH]

6.5. [6 x 500m / 2min rest] – These should feel quite short after those 800’s you did last week. Use your judgement for how fast to pace them, but beware going too fast on the early reps or you might meet Mr Lactic Acid, who you will become well acquainted with in the weeks to come.

These felt much more doable after the longer speed intervals of the last several weeks. Had some gas left in the tank for the final interval, bringing my overall pace down by :01....something I'll probably regret in a future week

Code: Select all

Time	Meters	Pace	Watts	Cal/Hr	S/M HR	
11:55.7	3,000m	1:59.2	206	1009	29	163
1:59.9	500m	1:59.9	203	998	30	155
r: 2:01	217m						
2:00.0	500m	2:00.0	203	997	29	161
r: 2:01	220m						
1:59.8	500m	1:59.8	204	1000	29	164
r: 2:02	229m						
1:59.8	500m	1:59.8	204	1000	29	166
r: 2:01	183m						
1:59.6	500m	1:59.6	205	1004	29	166
r: 2:01	183m						
1:56.5	500m	1:56.5	221	1061	30	169

[winniewinser]

6.5. [6 x 500m / 2min rest] – These should feel quite short after those 800’s you did last week. Use your judgement for how fast to pace them, but beware going too fast on the early reps or you might meet Mr Lactic Acid, who you will become well acquainted with in the weeks to come.

These felt much more doable after the longer speed intervals of the last several weeks. Had some gas left in the tank for the final interval, bringing my overall pace down by :01....something I'll probably regret in a future week

Code: Select all

Time	Meters	Pace	Watts	Cal/Hr	S/M HR	
11:55.7	3,000m	1:59.2	206	1009	29	163
1:59.9	500m	1:59.9	203	998	30	155
r: 2:01	217m						
2:00.0	500m	2:00.0	203	997	29	161
r: 2:01	220m						
1:59.8	500m	1:59.8	204	1000	29	164
r: 2:02	229m						
1:59.8	500m	1:59.8	204	1000	29	166
r: 2:01	183m						
1:59.6	500m	1:59.6	205	1004	29	166
r: 2:01	183m						
1:56.5	500m	1:56.5	221	1061	30	169

Nothing wrong with these ...and pushing the last shows more to come IMO. Week 6 so you're well into the plan and pushing on is where the gains come from. But I get it might make future targets a bit sharper

[Rowan McSheen]

Week 5/5 -- 2 x 10 mins, instrux say to hold same pace as previous workout but that's boring so I decided to do stroke ladders instead: 4-3-2-1 minutes at 20-22-24-26 spm.



Last time on the plan, a year ago, I was 1.5 secs/500 quicker overall on this workout. Not sure if that means conditioning loss or I just wasn't working hard enough today.

[winniewinser]

Week 20 starts but not enough time for the 12k in Session 1 so I did Session 3 and 30mins. More than enough as I am working tonight.

30:00.0 7,350m 2:02.4 191 956 20
3:45.0 914m 2:03.0 188 945 20
7:30.0 916m 2:02.8 189 950 20
11:15.0 917m 2:02.6 190 952 20
15:00.0 919m 2:02.4 191 956 20
18:45.0 921m 2:02.1 192 960 20
22:30.0 920m 2:02.2 191 958 20
26:15.0 922m 2:02.0 193 963 20
30:00.0 922m 2:02.0 193 963 20

[AndyH]

7.1 8000

I'm enjoying these longer rows...and seeing my HR come way down at the same pace and rate.....

Code: Select all

Time	Meters	Pace	Watts	Cal/Hr	S/M HR
39:02.9	8,000m	2:26.4	111	683	20	124
7:45.2	1,600m	2:25.3	114	692	20	110
7:49.4	3,200m	2:26.6	111	681	20	118
7:49.9	4,800m	2:26.8	111	680	20	130
7:49.2	6,400m	2:26.6	111	682	20	129
7:49.2	8,000m	2:26.6	111	682	20	137

[DJ1972]

Week 3 - Session 1 - 6000 m

It's going well overall. The increase in distance hints at what is coming up and watching or listening while rowing may help mentally.



A couple of questions
(1) my SR has slightly decreased from 21 to 19-20 on average. I have been trying to focus on the technique and efficiency of the stroke. I can achieve a better leg drive now that I am accustomed to the foot position and angle in the Concept2 (from my previous cheaper rower). Where I felt powerless at the knee level, I have built up little strength.
Is it a good thing and the way forward? The lower SR the higher Watt?

(2) I also tried to maintain UT1 - my UT1 is 140-151 bpm, where I am told most gains are made. From Week 1, target pace 2 min 20 s, I am down to 2 min 15 s. Feeling good at the end of session, sweaty (we still have 27oC in Greece), not exhausted. I could repeat the session (but not at the same SR).
Should I follow my UT1 level and lower my target pace as I advance in the plan or follow BPP as advocated (for example, "Again, same pace as the 5500m last week, if you can".....which was 2 min 18 s)?

[iain]

...Should I follow my UT1 level and lower my target pace as I advance in the plan or follow BPP as advocated (for example, "Again, same pace as the 5500m last week, if you can".....which was 2 min 18 s)?

It all depends where you are on your fitness journey. If you started fairly unfit then there may well still be significant gains to be had and maintaining a faster pace that stays within your HR boundaries makes sense. If you were fit before you started, how you describe your state suggests that you are at about the right pace and gains will be absorbed by the distance increases, although on less humid / cooler days you might find you can go a bit quicker. The key is that these don't exhaust you and you are recovered to give the next interval session your all. I tend to push a little harder when I have a rest day coming as I know recovery is less of an issue.

[Dangerscouse]

(1) my SR has slightly decreased from 21 to 19-20 on average. I have been trying to focus on the technique and efficiency of the stroke. I can achieve a better leg drive now that I am accustomed to the foot position and angle in the Concept2 (from my previous cheaper rower). Where I felt powerless at the knee level, I have built up little strength.
Is it a good thing and the way forward? The lower SR the higher Watt?

Iain's covered question two. For question one, it's good that you're lowering the stroke rate with a higher wattage, but it's not essential to lower the stroke rate.

I'm a big advocate of mastering a range of stroke rates, and I use them depending on how I feel on any given day, but it's important that you usually maintain a strong stroke, which is what you're now perfecting.

For now, keep doing what you're doing, make it a bit harder when you're able to, and back off when you feel like you need it. The finer details will become important in due course, but not just yet

[AndyH]

7.2. 7 x 500m / 2min rest – One more rep than you did for this session in week 1 (and possibly in the optional sessions in weeks 3 and 6). If you did the 6 x 500m session last week, aim for the same pace, but if you’ve not done this session since week 1, aim to be 1 to 2 seconds faster pace, but use your judgement as to whether this is too fast on the early reps.

Dare I say I'm actually starting to enjoy the 500s a bit now that I found a decent pace and they're not anaerobic 100% of each interval....

Code: Select all

Time	Meters	Pace	Watts	Cal/Hr	S/M HR
13:53.5	3,500m	1:59.0	207	1013	29	165
1:59.2	500m	1:59.2	207	1011	28	156
r: 2:01	242m						
1:59.5	500m	1:59.5	205	1005	29	161
r: 2:01	216m						
1:59.5	500m	1:59.5	205	1005	29	165
r: 2:01	229m						
1:59.6	500m	1:59.6	205	1004	29	166
r: 2:01	214m						
1:59.3	500m	1:59.3	206	1009	29	167
r: 2:01	214m						
1:59.4	500m	1:59.4	206	1007	30	169
r: 2:01	190m						
1:57.1	500m	1:57.1	218	1050	30	171
r1,305m					

[winniewinser]

BPP W20S1 12k....boy this felt like a slog on tired body and mind. HR was way too high for this pace too....max 164 which is 90%ish. Whether down to the longer distance or my lack of energy I don't know.

49:27.7 12,000m 2:03.6 185 937 20
8:16.6 2,000m 2:04.1 183 929 20
8:14.5 4,000m 2:03.6 185 937 20
8:13.9 6,000m 2:03.4 186 939 20
8:13.1 8,000m 2:03.2 187 942 20
8:14.4 10,000m 2:03.6 185 937 20
8:15.1 12,000m 2:03.7 185 935 20

[Dangerscouse]

BPP W20S1 12k....boy this felt like a slog on tired body and mind. HR was way too high for this pace too....max 164 which is 90%ish. Whether down to the longer distance or my lack of energy I don't know.

Did the RPE also feel like 90%? Accumulated fatigue was always going to be a possible issue with you having quite a lot of time off the erg, and also targeting relatively tough paces.

Are you having a rest day today?

[DJ1972]

Week 3 - Session 2 - 2x2000m

I was dreading this session as many described it as a 1st test in BPP



I worked in my classic UT1 zone for the first 2k and could not resist seeing what I could do in the second 2k, always trying to maintain a low SR and maintaining power, and not giving it all (I have 6k today).
This is the third week in the plan and I improved my reference time made in August.

Post by iain » October 8th, 2024, 9:59 am

It all depends where you are on your fitness journey. If you started fairly unfit then there may well still be significant gains to be had and maintaining a faster pace that stays within your HR boundaries makes sense. If you were fit before you started, how you describe your state suggests that you are at about the right pace and gains will be absorbed by the distance increases,

In retrospect, assessing your fitness is subjective. I thought I was fit however, I realized now how far I was from it.

Thank you for all for your advice and for answering in length

[winniewinser]

BPP W20S1 12k....boy this felt like a slog on tired body and mind. HR was way too high for this pace too....max 164 which is 90%ish. Whether down to the longer distance or my lack of energy I don't know.

Did the RPE also feel like 90%? Accumulated fatigue was always going to be a possible issue with you having quite a lot of time off the erg, and also targeting relatively tough paces.

Are you having a rest day today?

No, I think the RPE was more like 80%. I think it was more having little downtime yesterday due to working til 1am and then dealing with system issues all day. Defo a rest day today and has a decent nights sleep so should be good.

[winniewinser]

Week 3 - Session 2 - 2x2000m

I was dreading this session as many described it as a 1st test in BPP



I worked in my classic UT1 zone for the first 2k and could not resist seeing what I could do in the second 2k, always trying to maintain a low SR and maintaining power, and not giving it all (I have 6k today).
This is the third week in the plan and I improved my reference time made in August.

Post by iain » October 8th, 2024, 9:59 am

It all depends where you are on your fitness journey. If you started fairly unfit then there may well still be significant gains to be had and maintaining a faster pace that stays within your HR boundaries makes sense. If you were fit before you started, how you describe your state suggests that you are at about the right pace and gains will be absorbed by the distance increases,

In retrospect, assessing your fitness is subjective. I thought I was fit however, I realized now how far I was from it.

Thank you for all for your advice and for answering in length

Good progress so far.

I would drop the warmup from within the sessions as it throws out the averages. When you look back on these in your C2 log or app it's easier to see past performance without it. I tend to have a warmup session set up in Ergzone that I can easily run when needed.

Keep up the good work

[Rowan McSheen]

Week 6/1 -- 7500m



Done as UT2. Quicker and lower hr than last week's 7000 but back then I was still getting over a cold. But also quicker than this workout last year, which is encouraging. Felt good and instead of managing hr drift in the latter stages I was even picking it up a little. Happy with this.