Pondering the Beginner Pete Plan

[PleaseLockIn]

Week 10.3. Only 8k today. Pete recommended doing the first 6k at the 9.5k pace from 2 days ago (2:18.1) and then speeding up slightly.

Again I had the mind games as Monday was quite fast for me so was that an anomaly or should that be the real target? But I went for it and it was fine. A bit harder than Monday strangely. Maybe no rest day after yesterday's interval session is taking it's toll, but a very satisfying session today. Steady state pacing is hard because it's not peak effort. Everyone could shave a few seconds off their split if they had to, it's just about judging the perceived effort and finding the sweet spot. I like to err on the aggressive side, so feeling great after today. Tried to keep SR to 20-21 but wasn't as successful as Monday.

Code: Select all

Time	Meters	Pace	Watts	Cal/Hr	S/M	
36:39.2	8,000m	2:17.4	135	763	21
7:20.5	1,600m	2:17.6	134	761	19
7:23.2	3,200m	2:18.5	132	753	20
7:23.6	4,800m	2:18.6	131	752	22
7:19.9	6,400m	2:17.4	135	763	22
7:12.0	8,000m	2:15.0	142	789	22

Quicker than all my previous 8ks that were in the 37:s. This seems to be one of the favourite distances on the BPP so today gives a good target for next time.

I suggest getting a metronome at eye level and ticking every 3 seconds for r20. Or count "miss-is-sip-pi one" at normal for 3 times to have 3 seconds.

From my perspective, steady state is supposed to be something you do not need much recovery for. From trial and error I prefer a pace where I can recite several sentences at least, or even a paragraph (or more). RPE of 3-4, where it is quite relaxing but still a slight feeling of work. 1 breath per stroke.

For me, this usually makes me settle in the 160s HR (though in bad days, it can get to 170s). Top UT2, bottom UT1. When in doubt, go slower for steady state. If no rest day after intervals is taking its toll, I suggest slowing down to at least 2:20 (or 2:26 like I do).

Code: Select all

Time	Meters	Pace	Watts	Cal/Hr	S/M	HR
38:56.9	8,000m	2:26.0	112	686	20	163
4:51.7	1,000m	2:25.8	113	688	20	156
4:52.3	2,000m	2:26.1	112	685	20	152
4:52.3	3,000m	2:26.1	112	685	20	163
4:52.1	4,000m	2:26.0	112	686	20	167
4:52.0	5,000m	2:26.0	112	687	20	165
4:52.4	6,000m	2:26.2	112	685	20	167
4:51.5	7,000m	2:25.7	113	689	20	166
4:52.5	8,000m	2:26.2	112	685	20	172

(https://log.concept2.com/profile/2501432/log/98679058)

Today, felt a bit harder, at around halfway I felt a "switch" in effort, from the 3-4 (more relaxed, still working, etc) to 4-5 (a bit less relaxed, can only say multiple sentences, a bit of lactic acid in my legs). I think this is where I switched from UT2 to UT1 (so a half/half session). But hey, still decent.

[DJ1972]

Week 11.5
[4 x 1500m / 3min rest] – Week 8 was the last time you did this session. Now that you’re doing the same session every few weeks, use the following method to know how to pace them. Take your average pace from the previous time you did the session, and row that pace for all but the last rep. On the final rep try to go a little faster, and note down your new best average pace for the session.

Code: Select all

Time	Meters	Pace	Watts	Cal/Hr	S/M	
24:50.1	6,000m	2:04.1	183	929	26	162
6:17.5	1,500m	2:05.8	176	904	25	156
r: 3:00	18m						
6:13.5	1,500m	2:04.5	181	924	26	161
r: 3:00	17m						
6:13.5	1,500m	2:04.5	181	924	26	166
r: 3:00	18m						
6:05.6	1,500m	2:01.8	193	965	27	166
r53m				

For some reason, I did not warm up as usual and went straight to the intervals. At the first rep, I was not responsive obviously when target was 2:04.5.
Today, Week 12.2, target for the same at 2:04 and last rep lower.

Week 12.1
10000m – For the first time in the training plan you aren’t increasing the distance on these sessions any more, what a relief! You’ll be sticking to this distance for another 3 weeks too. Each time aim to improve on the average pace slightly, even if only by a tenth of a second.

Code: Select all

Time	Meters	Pace	Watts	Cal/Hr	S/M	
46:15.0	10,000m	2:18.7	131	750	22	142
9:16.4	2,000m	2:19.1	130	747	22	139
9:14.7	4,000m	2:18.6	131	751	22	142
9:14.8	6,000m	2:18.7	131	751	22	145
9:15.3	8,000m	2:18.8	131	750	22	145
9:13.9	10,000m	2:18.4	132	753	22	143

It must be the first time that I achieve a good steady state (from my standard), keeping HR where I wanted. As I used to normally do, I also did not increase my SR towards the end to compensate for the tiredness. My Pace was dropped by 1 sec from my usual pace for a long distance (2:20).

From now on, Pete advised on the long sessions to speed up if you 'can'. I surely can, but my HR will go beyond the UT1/UT2 zones where I wish to work on.
I am worried about recovery and pushing too hard may be detrimental for the other sessions.
How to get the best of those endurance sessions after Week 12? What is your view?

[Dangerscouse]

From now on, Pete advised on the long sessions to speed up if you 'can'. I surely can, but my HR will go beyond the UT1/UT2 zones where I wish to work on.
I am worried about recovery and pushing too hard may be detrimental for the other sessions.
How to get the best of those endurance sessions after Week 12? What is your view?

Tbh, I'm always reluctant to stick rigidly to HR zones as they're just approximations, so recovery is the main focus for your decisions, which admittedly is difficult as you're always working with hindsight and sometimes your recovery is compromised due to other reasons than pushing too hard in your rowing sessions.

What you could do is mix them up eg do one slower and one faster, or just choose based on your intuitionon any given day? I always add in some grey zone sessions as I think that they're beneficial and we don't do enough distance / time to really need to avoid them.

[Joris]

From now on, Pete advised on the long sessions to speed up if you 'can'. I surely can, but my HR will go beyond the UT1/UT2 zones where I wish to work on.
I am worried about recovery and pushing too hard may be detrimental for the other sessions.
How to get the best of those endurance sessions after Week 12? What is your view?

I interpreted “speed up if you can” as, speed up if you can without abandoning your desired HR zone (or without abandoning your desired intensity zone).
For myself, that meant trying to go one second faster every week, with the intention that I would not speed up if I felt my heart rate was (almost) too high last time or if I would not feel in good shape that day. (I defined my preferred average heart rate roughly between 130 and 140)

Surprisingly, it turned out that for me, 1 second faster per week roughly corresponded to my improving fitness.
So with this strategy, for several weeks in a row now, I have been reducing my split time weekly by 1 second (from 2:30 to 2:24), with my average heart rate remaining more or less constant.

For the shorter steady states (8k, 30 mins, 2 x 15mins, ...), I try to follow the same approach: firstly I tried to estimate which pace would suit my desired intensity/heart rate band. Once I've found that, I try to speed up by about 1 second each time the same session turns up again.

Probably it is a rather conservative approach, but so far I am satisfied with it. On the one hand, you keep making progression this way, and on the other hand, you protect yourself from going too fast, which I don't think is the purpose of steady state.

Sometimes it is tempting to go faster, but I have had enough injuries in the past to impose some discipline on myself and appreciate that I can build up my fitness gradually with the lowest possible risk of injury. Everyone is different, but I prefer a cautious approach and thus no experiments with big trials and errors and if I'm not mistaken you also prefer some kind of cautious approach?