16 x 250m – speed work

Tonight was my final session in The Gym in Liverpool One before I head back south tomorrow for good. I last did this session on 1st October when Eddie Ventress first came over to Farnborough for a session. That time I negative split down from a 1:33 start, and pushed completely maximally to catch up with Eddie’s average by the end. I wanted to even out the splits this time and rather than do 3 slower than 1:30 do all reps sub 1:30 with a fast last if there is anything left.

16 x 250m / 90sec rest:
1:29.8 / 37
1:29.8 / 36
1:29.8 / 37
1:29.8 / 36
1:29.8 / 36
1:29.6 / 36
1:29.8 / 37
1:29.6 / 36
1:29.8 / 36
1:29.8 / 36
1:29.0 / 36
1:29.8 / 37
1:29.8 / 37
1:29.8 / 36
1:29.2 / 38
1:26.6 / 39

4k = 11:55.9 / 1:29.4 / 36

A tough session this one. Felt good after 4, felt hard after 8, got distracted on 11 and ended up going a bit fast, increased the rate on 15 to go a bit quicker, pushed hard on 16 and just kept the starting rate up though the rep. Had I kept the rate at 36/37 I don’t think I would have gone really any quicker on the last 2 reps.

It is a good sharpening and training exercise for us, but you can’t read too much into the pace of the 250s as to 2k potential – it varies a lot between different people. Good training effect though.

2k paced work – less than 4 weeks to go

I may not seem to find the time to regularly blog my training here, but I am still training hard when I have the time and energy. Each week my Monday night “core” is the most important session of the week. This is the session that I need to see weekly improvement on to know that my training is moving me in the right direction towards race day - everything else is about enabling me to keep improving on that one session.

Tonights session was a 4 x 1k, last rowed on 27th December, about 4 weeks ago. The paces achieved on 27th Dec are in brackets after today’s:

4 x 1k / 5min rest: (27th Dec result)
3:14.8 / 1:37.4 / 32 — (1:38.0 / 32)
3:14.6 / 1:37.3 / 32 — (1:38.0 / 32)
3:14.9 / 1:37.4 / 33 — (1:37.9 / 32)
3:13.3 / 1:36.6 / 33 — (1:36.8 / 32)

4k = 12:57.6 / 1:37.2 / 32 — (1:37.7 / 32)

A good improvement on the speed reps session that I probably hate the most. They are long reps, they are all equal length, and they hurt! I have done this session a lot over the years though, so I know how it relates to a 2k for me. This result would put me at 6:24 / 6:25 for a 2k at similar effort at the moment.

Last week’s session was a progression from 2 weeks before, when the session had a 1200 / 800 split on the longer reps:

1st Jan: 1200 = 1:35.9 + 800 = 1:35.9; 2k = 6:23.7

For this workout the split in the 2k simply changed by 100m to make the core reps 1300 / 700. The instructions were to push the 1300 and 700 hard. My target was to go at least as fast as the 1200 / 800 last time. Target for the 500s was again 1:38.0.

500m = 1:38.0 / 32
3min rest
1300m = 4:07.6 / 1:35.2 / 33
3min rest
500m = 1:38.0 / 32
3min rest
700m = 2:12.5 / 1:34.6 / 34
3min rest
500m = 1:36.8 / 32

3500m = 11:12.9 / 1:36.1 / 32
1300 + 700 = 6:20.1

So a 3.6second improvement on the combined 2k, with a faster final 500m as well.  So speed work is all moving in the right direction, and with 3 more of these Monday core sessions to go I am still on target to be able to go under 6:22 on race day.

4 x 2k with Eddie

I met up with Eddie “Eventfull” Ventress at my gym in Farnborough earlier this afternoon for some 4 x 2k interval fun. I think this is one of the mentally toughest interval sets, and one that you have to be realistic in your target to row it well. I don’t like getting slower in these sets, so like to pace it tough, but with the last rep being the fastest.

4 x 2k / 5min rest:
6:49.7 / 1:42.4 / 29
6:49.7 / 1:42.4 / 29
6:49.6 / 1:42.4 / 30
6:46.4 / 1:41.6 / 30

8k = 27:15.3 / 1:42.2 / 29

Happy with the set, better than I’ve done recently. Eddie is strong, his slowest rep was quicker (by some way) than my fast last, and he is still improving pretty quickly. For those who don’t know Eddie, he is fairly new to the sport and races in the 50+ hwt category. He has already managed a 6:22 for a race 2k in his first few months in the sport, so is a hot tip for major medals in the next few seasons.

I took a rest day yesterday in order to be fairly fresh for this session, but on Wednesday did a fairly strong 8k on rowpro:

8k = 28:24.3 / 1:46.5 / 25
1k splits:
1:47.1 / 25
1:47.6 / 25
1:47.6 / 25
1:47.4 / 25
1:47.2 / 25
1:46.6 / 26
1:45.8 / 27
1:42.8 / 29

2k time trial – 40 days to race day

With a little under 6 weeks till race day at the Crash Bs World Indoor Rowing Championships it was time to do a 2k time trial and see objectively how the training is going. Since my last blog on 1st January I have been ticking over with the training due to a bit of a chest cold, so this was the first time to test that out properly since that session.

For me, stroke rate is the key to rowing a good 2k time. If I keep the stroke rate where I need it the pace will follow. If I lose concentration the stroke rate will drop, and soon after the pace will start to suffer. So the aim of today’s TT was to maintain 32spm+ throughout the 2k, and not worry so much about pace. I wanted to be comfortably under 6:30 though, with a “happy with” target of sub 6:28, and a “very happy with” target of under 6:26. So the aim was to try to hold the average pace around 1:37.5 then push on harder towards the end. It went to plan:

2k = 6:27.2 / 1:36.8 / 32
500m splits:
1:37.3 / 33
1:37.9 / 32
1:37.4 / 32
1:34.6 / 34

With the strong finish, and how the pace and rate felt over the first 1500m, I am happy with this at this stage of training. I finished the 2k wishing I had pushed harder earlier, and sprinted properly at the end. In a gym TT it is good to finish knowing you should have pushed harder. The plan from here is to do another 2k TT between now and Boston, and aim for at least under 6:26 to be within 1sec / 500m of my Boston target time (6:21.8). Also speed intervals each week to get used to 1:35 / 1:36 pace so make the cruise pace a bit faster ready for Boston. All looking good so far.

Week 7 – Core session 1

A new year means new dedication to the training goals. My first goal this year is to get within 10 seconds of my race pb at the Crash B’s in 7 weeks time, which means 6:21.8 or better. With that in mind, I will be aiming to push the first core session each week harder than I have been doing recently, and so I will try to shift this core session 1 to the Sunday each week rather than Monday so I have more time and am a bit fresher to hit it hard.

Today’s session is a bit of a different one. Variable distance reps each with a 3min rest between. The core of the session is a 2k split into 1200 then 800m reps, but surrounded by 500m reps. Essentially there is a fixed target for the 500s slightly slower than current 2k pace, and the 1200 and 800 are rowed hard – there is a target band, but the instruction is to push the 800 as hard as you can while leaving just enough to get the final 500m on target.

3250m warm up, then:

500m = 1:37.9 / 31
3min rest
1200m = 3:50.2 / 1:35.9 / 33
3min rest
500m = 1:37.9 / 32
3min rest
800m = 2:33.5 / 1:35.9 / 34
3min rest
500m = 1:38.0 / 32

3500m = 11:17.5 / 1:36.7 / 32
[1200+800m reps = 6:23.7]

I am going to be deliberately keeping the stroke rate up on these 2k paced reps as it is the only way I will be able to row a reasonably fast 2k in a few weeks time. Happy enough with this to get the longer reps under 1:36 pace. The 500s at 1:38 pace don’t aid the rest as much as I thought they would.

4 x 1k / 5min rest

The beginning of week 5 of the 13 week Boston training plan means that 2k training starts here. What better workout to do as your reintroduction to speed work than the 4 x 1k? I had done this workout on 24th October and faded badly in the final 2 reps. I didn’t want a repeat of that today, so wanted to be realistic in the target pace. I have never managed to do this session faster than 2k+1 pace, ie 1second slower than current 2k pace. My most recent 2k race was a 6:27.2, or 1:36.8 pace, and therefore 1:38 seems like a good target for reps 1 to 3 with a faster last.

 

4 x 1k / 5min rest:
3:16.0 / 1:38.0 / 32
3:16.0 / 1:38.0 / 32
3:15.9 / 1:37.9 / 32
3:13.7 / 1:36.8 / 32

4k = 13:01.6 / 1:37.7 / 32

Just marginally within 1second in pace of that 2k race, which after 5 weeks of solely 5k paced training is a good sign. Fitness wise the session felt fine – the rest periods felt too long, and I recovered quickly, but the pace felt alien to me. With 8 solid week’s of training to Boston I will improve a lot on this 2k type work though.

Note: I am now also on twitter, so if you want to follow me there simply look out for @thepeteplan

Phase 1 complete

Phase 1 of the World Indoor Rowing Championships build up ended yesterday with a 5k time trial. The aim for this was to break 17:10, and it went as follows:

5k = 17:09.3 / 1:42.9 / 28
500m splits:
1:42.8 / 28
1:43.3 / 28
1:43.3 / 28
1:43.4 / 28
1:43.5 / 28
1:43.4 / 28
1:43.5 / 28
1:43.4 / 28
1:43.2 / 28
1:39.5 / 30

I finished the week off today with a steady distance piece. To make it more interesting I rowed a random distance and tried to pace it to finish in an exactly round time, it went well !

14243m / 1:55.8 / 22 = 55:00.0
2500m splits:
1:56.0 / 22
1:56.0 / 22
1:55.9 / 22
1:55.9 / 22
1:56.0 / 22
1:54.7 / 22 (last 1743m)

Next is an 8 week phase leading in to the Crash B’s in Boston, USA. This phase is solely aimed towards that 2k race. The hard work begins here!

Good days and bad days (Week 5 of 5)

We are now into the final week of the first phase of the Boston training group. This first 5 week phase has been aimed at 5k training, and will be followed by an 8 week phase aimed solely at the 2k race in Boston. The aim was to build up a good fitness base, get a good idea of current capabilities, and perhaps more importantly build some mental strength prior to the hard 2k focused sessions.

Last night was the final hard core session of the first 5 weeks, with only the 5k TT to do later in the week. The progression we went through was:
15 x 500m / 1min rest
12 x 600m / 1:20 rest
9 x 750m / 1:40 rest
7 x 1k / 2min rest

Now we dropped back a place to the 9 x 750m but dropped the rest right down to 1min, the same as we did for the 500s in week 1.

9 x 750m / 1min rest:
2:32.6 / 1:41.7 / 29
2:32.8 / 1:41.8 / 29
2:32.8 / 1:41.8 / 29
2:32.8 / 1:41.8 / 29
2:32.7 / 1:41.8 / 29
2:32.8 / 1:41.8 / 29
2:32.7 / 1:41.8 / 29
2:32.6 / 1:41.7 / 29
2:31.3 / 1:40.8 / 29

22:53.0 / 6750m / 1:41.7 / 29

I had managed 1:41.2 average with 1:40 rest 2 weeks ago, but I had a fairly hard 10k in my legs from yesterday so aimed just to get all reps under 1:42 today. Hard work, but sustainable. I didn’t try to push the last rep particularly, so could have skewed the average by pushing that a few seconds quicker had I wanted to.

Sunday I did a fairly solid 10k row, aiming for consistent 1:48s throughout (with a little push in the last 1k):

10k = 35:52.0 / 1:47.6 / 26
2k splits:
7:11.8 / 1:47.9 / 26
7:12.1 / 1:48.0 / 26
7:12.1 / 1:48.0 / 26
7:12.0 / 1:48.0 / 27
7:04.0 / 1:46.0 / 27

Friday was a bad day. I don’t know why, but some days it just isn’t there, whatever it is. The 5 x 5min reps felt tough from the outset, and I had to drop pace after the first rep to get through. In the final rep I got a bad stitch 2mins into it, not something I have really ever experienced on the erg before (possibly due to dehydration), and I had to stop just before the 4min mark of that final rep as it felt like I would do some real damage if I didn’t!

5 x 5mins / 5min rest:
1474m / 1:41.7 / 29
1465m / 1:42.3 / 29
1464m / 1:42.4 / 29
1464m / 1:42.4 / 29
4mins @ 1:42.5 / 28

The plan now is for a fairly steady few days before a 5k time trial on Friday to end this phase. Ideally I will aim to just break 17mins on Friday, though I will pace it conservatively which will require a fast finish if I’m to do that.

7 x 1k / 2min rest (week 4 of 5)

Monday’s are always the hardest day to train for me, so why do I always do the hardest session of the week on a Monday? I am starting a new job on 1st Feb 2012, and one of the best things about my new job will be not having to leave home at 0530 on a Monday and drive 240miles to get to the office. I wonder how much more energy I’ll have all week?

Today’s session was 7 x 1k, and I decided just to go for the same starting pace as I did on the 750s last week. It turned out to be just a bit too fast to maintain today, mentally at least.

7 x 1k / 2min rest:
3:22.9 / 1:41.4 / 29
3:22.9 / 1:41.4 / 29
3:22.9 / 1:41.4 / 29
3:23.6 / 1:41.8 / 29
3:23.4 / 1:41.7 / 29
3:23.1 / 1:41.5 / 29
3:19.4 / 1:39.7 / 30

7k = 23:38.2 / 1:41.3 / 29

I had to play mental games to get through this one. I had to let the pace drift just a little through 4, 5 and 6 rather than trying to be too specific just to take a bit of the effort away. Somehow I convince myself that I’ve done the pace for 750m reps, so just get through the first 750m of each rep. Then it’s just another 25 strokes and you don’t want to let the pace drift and waste all the hard work then.

The 2min rest periods felt plenty long enough. I don’t think the pace would have been much different down to even half the rest. It is close to my current sustainable limits for this type of length session, but slow enough to recover aerobically from pretty quickly.

3 x 15mins / 2min rest

I last did this session 2 weeks ago, the day before the BORC online 2k, so went right at the slow end of the pace target then. I wanted to go towards the fast end of the target range today (1:49 to 1:52), and decided to put in a faster last rep just because it’s the last core session of the week.

3 x 15mins / 2min rest:
Today’s splits (2 weeks ago in brackets)
4112m / 1:49.4 / 26 — (4019m / 1:51.9 / 24)
4114m / 1:49.3 / 26 — (4018m / 1:51.9 / 25)
4205m / 1:47.0 / 26 — (4017m / 1:52.0 / 25)

12431m / 1:48.5 / 26

This felt easier than the session 2 weeks ago. I think I need to push these longer reps a bit more to get some mental strength (and fitness) back. It was tempting to try to push the final rep really hard and see what I could do, but I decided to keep to 26spm and keep the pace fairly moderate – still a solid pace overall for the set though.