Wolverine Plan Discussion

[old] rspenger · Post by **[old] rspenger** » October 16th, 2005, 12:32 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(Mike Caviston @ Oct 15 2005, 09:28 PM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>The Importance of Pacing Mike Caviston </td></tr></table> Mike, Thank you for the really great analysis of pacing. I have seen and heard some of these ideas before, but you have put it all together in a very persuasive package. regards, Bob S.

[old] bmoore · Post by **[old] bmoore** » October 20th, 2005, 12:38 pm

With all of the talk about this plan, I expected to see more of a response to the request for how people implement the plan. I guess we're all busy actually rowing to bother writing a bit about it. I'll update where I'm at with using the plan in my first year of rowing. I swam and played water polo in college, and was also in the Army. I had worked as a fitness trainer. But the last half of my 30s rolled round and I was out of shape (240+) and had high cholesterol. In April I went on a low-carb diet and got down to 210. The transition to a "normal" diet took a few weeks, but the added rowing activity was making my body demand healthy food/fuel. I've been rowing since 1998, but only hit the first million meters this January. In June, we moved to a new house that had room for a home gym. (The rower had been either in a closet or a less than ideal location off and on over the years...the best place was on the deck overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Manhattan Beach). So I set up the gym and ordered a Bowflex Ultimate 2. I had been doing about 50k per week since April, but on June 6 I jumped into the Wolverine Plan with a 4x1k at 1:56.2 average pace. (I also bought RowPro on May 17, which fed my quantitative appetite). On July 10, I updated my 6 year old 2k PB to a 7:14.9. The first three levels of the plan were fairly easy to understand, and I'm still grappling with the execution of the Level 4 workouts (I tend to over-stroke some of the sessions). So here's my weekly plan: M: L1 (Alternate between 4x1k, 8x500m, and the pyramid. My current best paces are 1:39.4 for the 500, 1:43.8 for the 1k, and 1:43.6 for the pyramid. I've been improving by at least 1 second each time, but that won't last long). T: Lift in the morning (Legs, Back, Biceps), L4 - 70' (180-184-188-184-180-184-188 was the last set). W: L3 long row. 15k this week, adding 500m each week. 2:01 pace at 10MPS. Th: Lift in the morning (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps), L2 (Alternate between 5x1.5k, 4.2k, and 3k/2.5k/2.0k. Best paces are 1:51.6 for 1.5k, 1:50.8 for 2k, and 1:52.9 for the decending set. I'll be doing the 1.5k tonight with a 1:50 or faster goal). F: Off Sa: Online racing and lifting in the morning. L3 - 15x3' at 2:01 in the evening. Su: Lift in the morning. L4 - 2x40' (Alt 180/184). My L4 reference pace is 1:49. I've been feeling a bit off lately since there's been a lot of late nights getting my company started. I've skipped Saturday night's workout a few too many times. Last week, all I did was Monday night's 4x1k and the Saturday morning racing in addition to the lifting. This week feels much better and I'll probably get all of the workouts in and feel back on track completely next week. Anyway, that's where it stands for now. My CRASH-B goal is 6:40. There's time, but there's also a lot of work to do.

[old] Citroen · Post by **[old] Citroen** » October 20th, 2005, 1:24 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(Mike Caviston @ Oct 15 2005, 09:28 PM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>The Importance of Pacing Mike Caviston ... lots of good stuff snipped from here ... I think the optimal pacing strategy for a 2K race is pretty close to: 800m (40%) @ GP +1; 600m (30%) @ GP; 400m (20%) @ GP – 1; and 200m (10%) @ GP – 2. [GP = Goal Pace, so to row 2K in 6:24, row the fist 800m @ 1:37, the next 600m @ 1:36, the next 400m @ 1:35, and the final 200m @ 1:34.] ... lots more good stuff snipped again ... </td></tr></table> Mike, Thanks for that. I've got a race plan for BIRCs now. I just have to find the sensible value for GP. Do you have any advice on finding goal pace?

[old] arakawa · Post by **[old] arakawa** » October 20th, 2005, 2:03 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(Mike Caviston @ Oct 16 2005, 12:28 AM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>I think the optimal pacing strategy for a 2K race is pretty close to: 800m (40%) @ GP +1; 600m (30%) @ GP; 400m (20%) @ GP – 1; and 200m (10%) @ GP – 2. [GP = Goal Pace, so to row 2K in 6:24, row the fist 800m @ 1:37, the next 600m @ 1:36, the next 400m @ 1:35, and the final 200m @ 1:34.][right] </td></tr></table> If I wanted to execute Mike's strategy while looking at my average pace, I should see: after 800 m: GP + 1 after 1400 m: GP + 0.6 after 1800 m: GP + 0.2 after 2000 m: GP Of course, between 800 m and 2000 m, the average pace will gradually come down. As a matter of fact, your average pace should be: after 100 m: GP + 1 after 200 m: GP + 1 after 300 m: GP + 1 after 400 m: GP + 1 after 500 m: GP + 1 after 600 m: GP + 1 after 700 m: GP + 1 after 800 m: GP + 1 after 900 m: GP + 0.9 after 1000 m: GP + 0.8 after 1100 m: GP + 0.7 after 1200 m: GP + 0.7 after 1300 m: GP + 0.6 after 1400 m: GP + 0.6 after 1500 m: GP + 0.5 after 1600 m: GP + 0.4 after 1700 m: GP + 0.3 after 1800 m: GP + 0.2 after 1900 m: GP + 0.1 after 2000 m: GP I'd probably write this down and tape it onto my monitor (or have someone track it for me) when I do a 2k time trial, so I don't have to remember it all.

[old] Guy_W · Post by **[old] Guy_W** » October 20th, 2005, 2:40 pm

Citroen FWIW suspect i missed the smiley, but taking the "what target GP should I plan for" at face value... and without requesting any more info (which wd probably change things a bit) ... and based upon my experiences (...)plus some (much, 2003?) older Wolverine threads then if you are doing regular wolverine plan weekly level 1 and 2's then... i'd estimate your GP as about = Level 1: 8X500+2.0 pace or 4x1000-about 2 pace (although there are some who can do 4x1k @ GP or less (I'm not one)) or Level2 : 4x2000-about 6 or 7 pace (and i hate 4x2k) any help? Guy PBs: 8x500=1.35.2 av; 4x1k=1.38.4av; 4x2k=1:42.86av (the .04 matters to me!) and 2k=6:27.1 (1:36.8)

[old] Mike Caviston · Post by **[old] Mike Caviston** » October 20th, 2005, 3:12 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>Do you have any advice on finding goal pace? </td></tr></table> Selecting a GP for a race is almost an exact science for me, based on my years of training and my observations on the correlation between various workout scores and 2K performance. The two best indicators for me are 4 x 1K and 4 x 2K. I won’t even list the relationships because there is a strong correlation between MY training and MY 2ks, but not necessarily between MY training and YOUR 2Ks. For your first BIRC, just select a pace that results in a final time a second or two faster than your previous best (assuming your general training has gone well). Enjoy the experience that is being part of the pageantry of BIRC. Gain valuable racing experience and keep charting your race results against your standard training pieces. Next season you can be even more scientific. Good luck. Mike Caviston

[old] Citroen · Post by **[old] Citroen** » October 20th, 2005, 3:28 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(Mike Caviston @ Oct 20 2005, 08:12 PM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>Do you have any advice on finding goal pace? </td></tr></table> Selecting a GP for a race is almost an exact science for me, based on my years of training and my observations on the correlation between various workout scores and 2K performance. The two best indicators for me are 4 x 1K and 4 x 2K. I won’t even list the relationships because there is a strong correlation between MY training and MY 2ks, but not necessarily between MY training and YOUR 2Ks. For your first BIRC, just select a pace that results in a final time a second or two faster than your previous best (assuming your general training has gone well). Enjoy the experience that is being part of the pageantry of BIRC. Gain valuable racing experience and keep charting your race results against your standard training pieces. Next season you can be even more scientific. Good luck. Mike Caviston </td></tr></table> Thanks Mike. I put a very optimistic 7:00 on the form. I suspect a 7:12 may be more realistic. If I PB at BIRCs I'll be very happy. If I go < 7:00 I'd be ecstatic.

[old] H_2O · Post by **[old] H_2O** » October 20th, 2005, 7:05 pm

Mike, What do you think of the idea that one can take off at the start with a couple of powerful strokes on the theory that for about 10 secs you can rely on stored ATP and no lactate will build up. I have been advised to do the first four strokes as 3/4, 1/2, 1/2, full, at high spm (I do spm 40) and then coast off this speed, ie. let the pace decay gradually to the target for the early phase of the race. I bring the splits down to about 1:27 at stroke 4 and then coast up to target pace for the first 200m. But if you adopt this strategy invariably the first 500 will be about 2 secs faster than if you row at target pace evenly. Is it really true that there is little or no metabolic cost for the first few strokes? If you look at the pace curves for almost any competitor at the Crash-Bs they are much faster at the start then subsequently. How do you start a race?

[old] Mike Caviston · Post by **[old] Mike Caviston** » October 21st, 2005, 6:22 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>What do you think of the idea that one can take off at the start with a couple of powerful strokes on the theory that for about 10 secs you can rely on stored ATP and no lactate will build up... Is it really true that there is little or no metabolic cost for the first few strokes? </td></tr></table> The idea that there are “free” strokes anywhere in a 2K is a common misconception among the rowing community. Not to be too condescending, but anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of physics and thermodynamics should recognize this is impossible. Starting a race with several intense, sub-race-pace strokes will probably utilize the muscles’ ready supply of phosphagens (ATP & phosphocreatine). Some people figure, what does it matter when I use my phosphagen stores? It’s anaerobic anyway, so I may as well use them at the start of the race to get a good position in the first 500m, rather than use them to sprint at the end. This thinking is incorrect. After a few seconds (when phosphagen stores are depleted) the muscles support intense contractions by rapidly breaking down glycogen into pyruvate. This rapid or “anaerobic” glycolysis results in the release of hydrogen ions (H+) that must be buffered, resulting in the formation of lactate, and the resulting decrease in muscle pH is a contributing factor to fatigue. So far I’m sure everyone is nodding their head saying, “Uh-huh, I know that, so what?” The “so what” is that the rapidity of glycolysis is accelerated by the feed-forward signals resulting from the overly-intense, sub-race-pace strokes that start the race. In other words, if you plan to race at a 1:40 pace and take off at a 1:27 pace, your muscles don’t know that you intend to slow up in a few strokes. They immediately jump into action and rapidly break down glycogen to liberate as much immediate energy as possible, and the signal doesn’t immediately stop when you settle into your planned race pace. The result is a much greater initial rise in lactate. Furthermore, phosphagen compounds help buffer decreasing muscle pH, so it is illadvised to deplete them early. I don’t know about you, but racing for me is tough enough already without dragging the albatross of increased lactate accumulation into the second 500m, so I prefer to start more conservatively. <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>If you look at the pace curves for almost any competitor at the Crash-Bs they are much faster at the start then subsequently. </td></tr></table> To which I can only reply, there are a lot of people at CRASH-B who could be even faster in the long run. At the CRASH-B one year, I heard one of the announcers comment (regarding people starting their races too fast) that being 2 seconds ahead of pace in the first 500m will result in 6 seconds lost in the last 500m. That sounds about right to me. <table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>How do you start a race? </td></tr></table> With a quick series of firm but not outrageously fast strokes. The initial stroke is somewhere in the 2:00-2:04 range (for a 2K pace in the ballpark of 1:36). I try to reach my planned initial pace (i.e., roughly 2K + 1) by the fourth stroke, and then no faster. I practice this every time I do a race-pace interval (Level 1 or Level 2) when training. Mike Caviston

[old] Carl Henrik · Post by **[old] Carl Henrik** » October 22nd, 2005, 6:54 am

Thanks for the interesting posting Mike! What do you say about the theory that a powerful start may increase the adrenaline secretion which in turn will improve performance? I'm talking about just erging now, not on water where the envrionment may be more psychologically stimulating, because you can see all the other rowers behind you (instead of seeing none).

[old] Mike Caviston · Post by **[old] Mike Caviston** » October 22nd, 2005, 9:48 pm

Pacing Continued To reiterate my main points regarding pacing: the goal when racing is to strike a good compromise between maximal mechanical efficiency (even-split) and optimal liberation of metabolic energy (negative-split). I like to create a race plan that involves negative-splitting to a degree, but ideally not too extreme. (I would never purposely begin a race at a pace faster than I expected to finish.) The concept of pacing should also be applied to training sessions with the goal of maximizing the desired training effect for the specific workout. I also apply the concept of pacing to the entire training season. I want to make as many gains as possible before the end of the year, but I don’t want to burn out too quickly (fly-and-die) before my biggest race. Just as it’s easy to imagine, in the adrenaline rush of the first 500m of a race, that you will somehow magically be able to sustain that insane pace till the end – it is also easy to imagine those rapid gains you make early in the season will continue indefinitely. It can be very disheartening to have your training stall with a month to go before the big race (as I well know), and the safeguard is to have a sense of how to pace your fitness over the course of the season. I use the Wolverine Plan to make sure that my progress stays on track to reach my season goals, and that I improve every week but not too fast too soon. For example, if I wanted to row 2K in 6:24 by Feb. 25, 2006 [CRASH-B], 1-2 weeks prior to the race I would want to be able to do a 4 x 2K workout with an average pace of 1:40 or faster, and a 4 x 1K workout with an average pace in the low 1:35s. In August and September I didn’t sit down and try to hammer out scores as hard as I could trying to get to my targets as fast as possible. I know that I can improve my Level 2 paces over the season at a rate of about .2s/500m/week, and my 4 x 1K pace by about .1s/500m/week, so I form my seasonal strategy based on those rates of improvement (i.e., my seasonal training pace). So, 25 weeks out from CRASH-B, I need to be pulling around 1:45 for 4 x 2K; I need to be pulling around 1:37 for 4 x 1K. Each week that I reach my goal, I set the next week’s goal based on the seasonal pace. If I don’t reach my goal, I repeat my attempt at the same pace or even go back to a previous pace if necessary. As I get into the final 6-8 weeks of training, if I think I can make a bigger jump then I’ll probably go for it. But like an actual 2K race, I don’t want to “sprint” too soon and risk stalling just before the finish line. [This all assumes there are no intervening distractions like 2K trials in October, European racing in December, holiday traveling, etc. I’ll need to readjust my “seasonal” pace to account for these interruptions to my overall training focus on CRASH-Bs.] So, each week for each workout I have a firm goal pace. The next step is to create a specific plan for achieving the desired workout goal. For a workout like 8 x 500m, a simple method (as described in the original WP document) is to take the average pace from the previous time you completed the workout, and begin the new workout at that pace, bringing it down for the final 2-3 intervals to finish with a new, lower average. Then repeat the format next time you do the same workout. This works fairly well, especially earlier in the season when you’re not exactly sure how hard to push, and you will probably make large gains initially. But I caution against going too hard too often, and someone who pushes too hard too soon in the season will probably plateau early. After the first couple times with this workout in a given season, I settle into choosing a goal pace that is on average 1 tenth of a sec faster per 500m for every week since I last did the workout. If I finish a little ahead of my goal, I’ll readjust my target for next time. So, last week my target for 8 x 500m was 1:33.0; my actual average pace ended up 1:32.8; in two more weeks, when I do the workout again, my target will be 1:32.5. When I do this workout, I take about 3 ½ minutes recovery (most of it active) between pieces. I don’t set a recovery time on the monitor, but keep track manually. I start each interval from a dead stop, with the flywheel nearly motionless, and use the opportunity to practice racing starts. Not to start as fast as I can, but to see how quickly/smoothly I can settle into a desired pace. I also set the 500m with 250m sub-intervals to see if I pace the piece correctly; my goal being to negative- or even-split (not positive-split). Incidentally, here is an anecdote about the benefits of negative-splitting the individual pieces for this workout. During my coaching years, 8 x 500m was always a popular erg workout, and people were usually pretty jacked to try to get some fast numbers. Without being given specific instructions, the typical strategy for most athletes would be to hammer the first 10-15 strokes as hard as possible, then slowly fade till the end. The final score might be respectable but the technique was not what I was trying to achieve. At some point in the season I would run the workout with some specific guidelines: everyone had to even-split or negative-split each piece; for every piece that had a positive split (no matter how fast it was), they would have to do another until they had 8 pieces that were even- or negative split. I can’t recall anyone ever having to do an extra piece; almost everyone finished significantly faster than they had all season; and most people reported that mentally it was a much more enjoyable experience (and a few people reported that the stress of keeping the pace in check made the experience less enjoyable). [What continues to be puzzling to me is that after that experience, during future workouts without specific guidelines most people reverted back to the fly-and-die approach.] I use the same approach for other Level 1 workouts (5 x 750m and the Pyramid). That is, I negative- or even-split each individual piece. I don’t do the Pyramid often enough to have developed what I believe would be an ideal strategy, but I do it roughly like this: 250m) fast as I can 500m) about the same as my best 8 x 500m pace 750m) about a second slower than that 1000m) about another half second slower than that (i.e., the 750m) 750m) faster than the first 750m 500m) faster than the first 500m 250m) fast as I can In the end, my best Pyramid average will end up about half a second slower than my best 8 x 500m average. My strategy for 4 x 2K and 4 x 1K (again, once I have an overall Goal Pace according to my planned progression for the season) is: 1st piece: GP + .2 2nd piece: GP 3rd piece: GP 4th piece: GP - .2 So if my overall Goal Pace for 4 x 2K was 1:42.0, my target the first piece is 1:42.2; for the second & third, 1:42.0; and for the last, 1:41.8. If my overall Goal Pace for 4 x 1K was 1:35.2, I’d pull the first 1K in 1:35.4; the next two in 1:35.2; and the last one in 1:35.0. I’ve experimented with a number of formats for unbalanced workouts. (The Level 2 workout 3K/2.5K/2K is an unbalanced workout. I also use an alternate Level 3 format, in addition to continuous rowing, of 6K/5K/4K. [Another variation of this that I’ve used with the UM team is 5K/4K/3K.]) For years, athletes have asked for instructions about how to pace these workouts, and the general guidelines “Make the pace a little faster for each piece” didn’t seem to be specific enough. So I’ve come up with this: 1st piece: GP + .4 2nd piece: GP 3rd piece: GP - .6 So if my overall Goal Pace for 3K/2.5K/2K was 1:42.4, then I’d pull the 3K in 1:42.8; the 2.5K in 1:42.4, and the 2K in 1:41.8. If my overall GP for 6K/5K/4K was 1:47.2, I’d pull 6K in 1:47.6; 5K in 1:47.2; and 4K in 1:46.6. Incidentally, I find the crossover for Level 2 (4 x 2K vs. 3K/2.5K/2K) is just about perfect. For a good part of the season I alternate the two formats on a weekly basis and reduce the pace by two tenths every week (1:44.0 for 4 x 2K, then 1:43.8 for 3K/2.5K/2K, then 1:43.6 for 4 x 2K, etc.) Once again I am short on time without entirely completing my objective, so I will have to continue the explanation at another time. The only thing left to explain regarding pacing is the specific formats I use for each individual piece. For anything 1K or longer, I divide each piece into 5 subintervals (e.g., 2K into 5 x 400m) and have a GP for each segment of each individual piece. For example, if I want to do a 2K in 1:42.4, my plan would be 400m @ 1:44, 400m @ 1:43, 400m @ 1:42, 400m @ 1:42, 400m @ 1:41 (I work entirely in whole numbers for the sub-intervals). Like the Level 4 sequences, this may all sound confusing at first but is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Next time I’ll describe the whole process and give some examples. – Always assuming, of course, anyone has followed me this far. Happy training. Mike Caviston

[old] Bayko · Post by **[old] Bayko** » October 23rd, 2005, 9:11 am

Great stuff as always Mike. Even though I know most of what you've written it's good to have it reinforced. The early plateau/early peak problem is one with which I am all too familiar. Knowing the right thing to do doesn't always prevent ambition from making someone get carried away. This problem can get worse with aging. What was reasonable last year may no longer be reasonable this year. But as Toby Keith sings in I Ain't As Good As I Once Was, "Now my body says that you can't do this, Boy. But my pride says, Oh yes you can!" Rick (Too proud for his own good sometimes)

[old] Thomas · Post by **[old] Thomas** » October 28th, 2005, 5:05 am

I really like the Wolverine Plan since it kills the boredom. I had my best 2k, 5k, 6k, and 10k in 2003 from strictly following the Wolverine Plan. The plan provides excellent focus because of the math involved to determine session paces based on your 2k. There is no guessing in what you should be doing.

[old] John Rupp · Post by **[old] John Rupp** » October 29th, 2005, 3:14 pm

<table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'>QUOTE(Bayko @ Oct 23 2005, 06:11 AM)</div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'>Great stuff as always Mike. Even though I know most of what you've written it's good to have it reinforced. The early plateau/early peak problem is one with which I am all too familiar. Knowing the right thing to do doesn't always prevent ambition from making someone get carried away. [right] </td></tr></table> Kiss, Kiss, Kiss....

[old] Bayko · Post by **[old] Bayko** » October 29th, 2005, 3:31 pm

"Next time you are on a message board and you see a post by somebody whom you think is a troll, and you feel you must reply, simply write a follow-up message entitled "Troll Alert" and type only this: The only way to deal with trolls is to limit your reaction to reminding others not to respond to trolls. By posting such a message, you let the troll know that you know what he is, and that you are not going to get dragged into his twisted little hobby." From:http://members.aol.com/intwg/trolls.htm

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