July CTC - The scorpion

[JonT]

This looks horrendous. How on earth do you pace this?

The Scorpion

500m > 1 min r > 400m > 1 min r > 300m > 1 min r > 200m > 1 min r > 100m > 2 min r > 2000m
From a standing start, all others can be rolling.
Enter the time for the total 3500 metres

[Paul Victory]

I've been thinking about this and I figure it should come in around 2k pace or maybe a bit faster. This is based on doing the sprints at 2k - 5, which would give you 15 seconds to spare versus 2k pace. I think that's how I'll approach my first attempt.

Mind you, I won't be attempting this until July 11th at the earliest as I will be in Alvor until then and the gym there only has a Model C with PM2.

[Caratacus]

Had a go at this today and wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, sort of like a slightly evil Pete Plan session. Paced it a bit like Paul describes although I think 2k-5 might be a bit optimistic or maybe it was just too hot today.

1:41.8 500 1:41.8 32
1:21.7 400 1:42.1 32
1:00.9 300 1:41.5 32
40.5 200 1:41.2 31
20.0 100 1:40.0 33
7:10.1 2000 1:47.5 28

12:15.0 3500 1:45.0 31

[strider77]

Great start-well done Felton =D>

[Daffy]

Indeed - given the heat especially - you're a braver man than I!

[jon336]

Paul's "around 2k pace or maybe a bit faster" was spot on for me:

3500 13:22.3 1:54.6 500 1:52.5 1:52.5 400 1:29.4 1:51.8 300 1:06.1 1:50.2 200 0:43.4 1:48.5 100 0:20.7 1:43.5 2000 7:50.2 1:57.6

[plummy]

I would have thought that 2k pace might be a tad fast as you will have undoubtedly knackered yourself on the 500~100 before commencing the 2k painfest. Having not done intervals for a few weeks again I thought this would blow a few cobwebs away and figured a conservative approach (tentative even) was the way to go..

500 - 1:46.4 ( 1:46.3 ) (er, that's an SB and any idea of conservative blown out of the water)
400 - 1:26.3 ( 1:47.8 ) - deliberate back off to recover more from the 500
300 - 1:03.4 ( 1:45.6 ) - went better than I thought it would
200 - 0:41.9 ( 1:44.7 ) - ooooouch!
100 - 0:19.7 ( 1:38.5 ) - so much pain in such a short time!
2000 - 7:36.1 ( 1:54.0 ) - but for the rolling start it would have been an SB by 3 seconds or so (not a pleasant last 1400m)

12:53.8 ( 1:50.5 average )

5000 cool down - 21:49.1 @ 22spm

[Paul Victory]

Very impressive plummy. =D> =D> =D> You clearly need to revisit some of your SBs. And don't forget to update your 500m SB - it was from a standing start after all.

Paul V

[strider77]

Well done Jon and Plummy =D> =D>

Like Plummy I have done virtually no intervals since before the flood so was dreading this

Having done this last night in the gym I agree with Plummy I think it's nearer 2k+1 or 2

I reckon at my best nowadays I am around 1:47 pace for 2k-(7:07.9 on 31/12/14)- so at 1:48.6 thats 2k +1.6

500 - 1:46.0-1:46.0-32 - about right did not want to overcook it, the first one always takes my breath away a bit
400 - 1:24.0-1:45.0-33 - tried for the same effort as 500
300 - 1:03.3-1:45.5-33 - feeling it already
200 - 0:41.5-1:43.7-35 - rated up
100 - 0:20.3-1:41.5-36 - deliberately did not overdo it to prolong the rest period wuss or strategy - you decide
2000 -7:25.3-1:51.3-33 -about right-did not kill myself on this so no cough and I could walk after a few mins

Total 12:40.2-1:48.6-33 PM kindly rounded down by 0.2 secs makes a nice change

Overall happy enough with that and for the next few seconds I am in Boat 1

[JonT]

Things I now know (in reverse order of relevance).

1. It was hot
2. Turns out I was dehydrated before I even started - very apparent after a few minutes
3. That is a pig of a row. My pacing was dire.
4. I am rowing a fraction of what I managed last year, and it is starting to show
5. The result was dreadful
6. I didn't HD

[Caratacus]

2nd attempt at this today, thought I would really go for it on the short intervals and not worry too much about the 2k until I was doing it:

1:39.0 500 1:39.0 32
1:18.4 400 1:38.0 32
0:59.0 300 1:38.3 33
0:39.0 200 1:37.5 32
0:18.8 100 1:34.0 32
7:06.3 2000 1:46.5 28

12:00.4 3500 1:42.9 31

Slightly annoying not to break 12 mins - I'm sure I would have just managed that if I could see total time on the monitor but pretty happy to beat my last time by nearly 15 seconds

[Paul Victory]

Well done Felton. That's a seriously impressive CTC. =D> =D> =D> You're making me rethink how I will approach this when I get back home.

[danfennell]

Kudos to all who have tackled this! =D> That 2k seems REALLY long after the 100!

Had a short (30 minute) window to row in this afternoon so it was a spur of the moment decision to do this. Sometimes that's the best way with these as you don't get a chance to think about it too much.

Definitely could have gone quicker on the short ones but not sure how much that would affect the 2k. Maybe just a bit quicker on the 500 and 400.

500 - 1:39.8 - 1:39.8
400 - 1:39.0 - 1:19.2
300 - 1:37.8 - 58.7
200 - 1:36.2 - 38.5
100 - 1:34.5 - 18.9
2k - 1:41.9 - 6:47.8

3500 - 1:40.4 - 11:42.9

[Caratacus]

Well done Dan =D> =D> =D> Very strong row

[Paul Victory]

This really is a nasty challenge. I was on holidays from end June until last Saturday, with limited access to an erg and no opportunity to do variable intervals. So I've only done long slow distance for the last two weeks or so and have only rowed on 9 out of the last 15 days. So I knew this was going to be tough.

I decided not to go too hard on the short sprints and my aim was to average 1:40 pace or thereabouts. I achieved this (1:38.8 average), but was more of breath than I expected to be. I started the 2k at around 1:43 pace and this felt surprisingly OK for about 150m or so. Then I began to struggle and I went through the 500m mark in around 1:46. At this point, the wheels came off completely and I considered HDing, but decided instead to just ease back the pace and paddle home.

It was as much a mental struggle as a physical one, but I kept going and finished the 2k in 7:24.1 for an overall time of 12:20.4 @ 1:45.7 pace. Gets me a seat in FSII (for now), but I really need to do some more speed work. I did the 1 minute sprint challenge (twice) and the 100m sprint challenge afterwards and I will probably end up paying the price tomorrow in terms of lower back pain.

Anyway, next time I might try doing the sprints slightly slower and see if I can do a decent 2k at the end. God, I hate intervals! At least we're doing a straight mile next month for our challenge.

[strider77]

I agree Paul-you have to give it some respect that's for sure

I had read quite a few of the write-ups so I was a lot slower on the reps which meant my 2k was only just slower than yours and we both know you are a good 15-20 secs quicker over 2k than me at the moment-I have every confidence that when you rail back the intervals a tad you will shoot up the table

[sander]

Not sure how to pace. Decided to do the short ones in 1:45 pace and the 2km in 7:30, which seemed reasonable.

But ouch, this erg thing hurts after so many hours in the boat. It is weird. A week ago I held 1:49 pace in the single for almost four minutes. Now I had difficulty getting under that pace for less than 2 minutes.

Code: Select all

Workout Summary - Jul 26, 2015
--|Total|-Total-|--Avg--|-Avg-|Avg-|-Avg-|-Max-|-Avg|-Avg
--|Dist-|-Time--|-Pace--|Watts|SPM-|-HR--|-HR--|-DPS|-SPI
--|03500|12:35.4|01:47.9|278.5|28.8|167.8|183.0|09.6|09.7
Workout Details
#-|SDist|-Split-|-SPace-|Watts|SPM-|AvgHR|MaxHR|DPS-|-SPI|Comments
01|00500|01:45.1|01:45.1|301.3|29.7|154.7|169.0|09.6|10.2|
02|00400|01:24.5|01:45.6|297.4|29.8|162.2|171.0|09.5|10.0|
03|00300|01:02.9|01:44.9|303.2|30.5|160.9|171.0|09.4|09.9|
04|00200|00:41.9|01:44.7|304.8|30.1|159.3|171.0|09.5|10.1|
05|00100|00:21.9|01:49.3|268.0|27.4|149.6|168.0|10.0|09.8|
06|02000|07:19.1|01:49.8|264.5|28.1|175.1|183.0|09.7|09.4|

I did back down a bit on the 100m to make the "rest" a bit longer. The 2km was without issue. I was able to gradually ramp up the pace. Definitely not an all out affair.




I ended up in Free Spirits boat I. This late in the month, that's not a good sign. I think we need a few of our fast horses to join this month's CTC!

[Recess]

Hey folks.

All looking good out there - and well done Sander. Although I'm sad to say I've knocked you out with an 11:56.9 Like you, I had no idea what to do about pacing. I think I got it relatively well figured out as being I was still able to do a sub-7 2k - but I wonder how much upping the time on the shorter intervals would help - or hinder.



I'll try again on Thursday if I have time. Sorry I've not been on here and tried it more often - but between holiday in spain - and the resulting weight gain which I've had to work to lose before posting a time, editing T in the Park, and then quitting my job at the BBC (not because of T!) I've had very little time to post or erg this month.

Hope you're all having a good summer.

John

[Paul Victory]

Very impressive CTCs Sander and John. Particularly impressed with that sub 7 2k John.

I've had two more goes since my initial attempt and improved my time by 3.5 seconds each time. My second effort, I averaged 1:41.8 for the sprints and did the 2k at 1:47.8 pace. My third attempt was 1:39.2/1:48.9. Still haven't managed to nail one, but that may not be due to getting the pacing wrong - it may just be a reflection of my current state of fitness.

The lovely Jennifer did the challenge today at my behest (her first time on the rower since last month's CTC) and we now have 5 boats floating and nobody left ashore. Still plenty of time to fill more boats - 15 of the 25 people who have completed the challenge are either lightweights or females (or both) so rowers of any description will suffice.

Paul V

[Rodger]

Very difficult challenge, this one.

1. Difficult to pace because of the wildly different intervals.
2. Mentally hard because the by far longest interval is at the end.
3. The rests are too short.
4. I tend to screw up the rolling starts esp. after short rests.
5. It's like ETT couldn't choose between two challenges, sprint intervals and a 2k, and just slapped them together.

Can't say I'm pleased with the result, but it's a result nonetheless.
Our Free by Nine is next. Maybe we should make everyone row a mile first before the 3x9 min.

[sander]

and well done Sander. Although I'm sad to say I've knocked you out with an 11:56.9

No problem. No way I could beat your time. I hope it at least resulted in a few of our boats climbing on the ranking?

[Recess]

I managed to persuade Julie to do yet another CTC - she's becoming a regular

13.48.8 - a really good outing for her!

And it took FS1 from boat 14 to boat 11.

John

[Paul Victory]

I managed to persuade Julie to do yet another CTC - she's becoming a regular

13.48.8 - a really good outing for her!

And it took FS1 from boat 14 to boat 11.

John

Very impressive! =D> =D> =D> Just imagine what she could do if she really got hooked on this rowing lark.

Paul V