Well the first 3 week cycle of the Pete Plan is now finished and tomorrow the whole thing starts again. It will be interrupted next week by a trip to China but maybe the rest will do me good. While I feel the intervals have been going well, the hard 10k on day 6 has been a real struggle. The last 2 have resulted in handling down, and although I tried again and did better later in the day its still a bit demoralising. Maybe at 43 it requires longer to recover from hard sessions and I need to substitute in a couple of UT2 sessions to aid that recovery. The PP07 seems to recommend steady sessions at pb+5-7 rather than pb+3.
To summarise the first cycle interval sessions:

8x500 @ 1:54.2 (too slow and I will be aiming for sub 1:49 tomorrow)
5x1500 @ 1:55.3
4x1000 @ 1:51.9 (horrible session)
4x2000 @ 1:56.4
Short pyramids @ 1:49.9
Long pyramids @ 1:57.9

The aim now is to do all but the last interval at the above pace and then go faster on the last one to set a new target.

I decided to get down the gym early this morning so I skipped breakfast. Not a good idea and the hard 10k was curtailed to 4k. I decided to go home, have something to eat and try again later. Early in the afternoon I went to see 28 weeks later in the somewhat vain hope that it would be better than 28 days later. Wrong. On the way home I decided to try an all out 6k at 24 spm so thats what I did. I was very pleased with the time of 24:09.5 - a 16 second improvement on my first attempt. The row seemed easier as well - hopefully this a sign that I am getting stronger. The pacing was very even all the way:

1000 in 4:02.8
2000 in 4:02.2
3000 in 4:01.6
4000 in 4:02.0
5000 in 4:02.3
6000 in 3:58.6

Avg Pace 2:00.7
Next time I hope to hit 2:00 min splits all the way.

Cool down 10 minutes 2321. Days metres 12321.

Week 2 of the Pete Plan begins with the infamous 4x1000 intervals which initially I thought did not sound too bad. Wrong again - it was complete torment. I am reminded of an old saying - that which does not kill you makes you stronger. Well I am still alive and currently feeling weaker. Hopefully that feeling will not last. This particular piece is meant to be completed at 2k pace which for me is 1:50.3. I managed an average 1:51.9 on this occasion but I guess the aim is to work your way towards the 2k average. Once you exceed it then its probably time to look at your 2k time again. To understand why this session is so difficult, my heart rate exceeded 156 on all 4 sets which is TR zone for me. The description for TR is gasping and sweating profusely. This is a pretty accurate description.
The next 2 days are meant to be steady rows of 8-15k which are unlikely to throw up anything interesting so I will probably report again on Friday with the results of the rather unpleasant sounding 4x2000.

Day 4 of the Pete plan and another interval session. This time 1500x5 with 5 minutes rest and boy did I need them. The first 3 intervals were reasonably but comfortable but it began to hurt on the 4th one. The 5th was very hard and I was unable to wind up the pace much. Nevertheless the target pace of 5k-1 was achieved and now I have a target of 1:55.3 to aim for next time I do this session. I came away feeling I had achieved something and looking forward to the next interval session - these interval sessions are great fun and make a welcome change from the long steady rows necessary for marathon training.
Todays session began with a 10 minute warmup covering 2345 metres and a 10 minute cooldown covering 2250 metres. Total distance 12196m.
It is good see other Free Spirits will be trying this plan and I look forward to comparing notes.

Day 1: 8x500 3:30r
Well the new season has begun and its time to get faster for racing. I like the look of the Pete plan which should improve my times while still ensuring I can put in a lot of metres.
The first session was 8x500 so after a 12 minute warmup I set off. I was unsure of what to pace this at and decided on 1:54. Here are the individual splits:
1:54.5 Max HR 145 29 spm
1:54.6 Max HR 146 28 spm
1:54.5 Max HR 146 28 spm
1:54.3 Max HR 148 28 spm
1:54.6 Max HR 148 28 spm
1:54.8 Max HR 148 28 spm
1:54.4 Max HR 149 28 spm
1:51.9 Max HR 153 29 spm
This seemed easy and in fact I later discovered this session should be completed at 2k-3 or 2k-2. The pace should have 1:47/1:48, which certainly would have been more challenging. I actually feel this may be too quick for me as I am not used to interval training but its something to aim for and next time I do this session I will try it at 2k pace. I finished this session with a 15 minute cool down which took the total metres rowed to 10360.

Day 2 8-15k steady.
I decided to depart from this slightly and do the 6kr24 ctc challenge. This was quite a struggle to get the timing of each stroke correct and I finally finished in 24:25.7, almost a minute outside pb pace. Heart rate reached 153 which is AT for me. I rested for a few minutes and then rowed a further 30 minutes giving a daily total of 13032. This 2nd row was UT2 with a max HR of 135.

Day 3 8-15k steady
Not a lot to say about this one. A dull 10k in 42:12.9. Mostly UT2 merging into UT1 in the last 2k. Still a slight struggle though as my stomach muscles felt a bit sore - presumably due to the harder than usual pulling in yesterdays 6k.