Training for a 2k race

[Paul Victory]

I know this has been covered many times before, but I'm looking for specific advice based on my current situation.

I have been taking part in the Facebook 31 minutes of December challenge, which involves rowing for 1 minute on December 1st, 2 minutes on December 2nd and so on, up to and including 31 minutes on December 31st. For some reason (not quite sure why), I've decided to approach this challenge by doing the fastest row I can on each day. This is probably sub-optimal in terms of maximising individual rows, as recovery days and rest days are an integral part of preparing for a serious TT.

But I've become a bit (OK, maybe more than a bit ) obsessive about approaching it in this way, apart from day 3 when I wanted to do a HM for the Crazy Bear challenge and I did it before the 3 minutes row because I was afraid I would HD if I did a maximal 3 minutes before doing the HM and day 6 when I did it in a bit of a rush before a scheduled RowPro 5k.

Overall, I'm pleased with how the challenge has gone and I'm easily going to exceed my target of 130k (last year was 123,539m) unless I completely blow up or get injured over the next two days. And I think my overall fitness level has improved, but I don't know how this will translate into a 2k time.

So my question is this. After 31 December, I will be free of this challenge and I am planning/hoping to take part in IIRC on January 24th and BRIC on February 8th. Both 2k races, with an added 500m in the IIRC. So what I'm looking for is advice on how best to prepare for these two events, given my current state of fitness as outlined above.

The PP has worked well for me in the past, but the timeframe is quite short, so I would welcome any thoughts/suggestions on how best to prepare for these upcoming events.

Thanks
Paul V

[sander]

Not much you can do to improve your fitness in a little more than three weeks. Focus on keeping the fitness good for two weeks, continuing at the current level of training intensity, with a good mix of intervals and longer rows. Then make sure you are well rested and do a few marker workouts during the taper. You should arrive on race day knowing exactly what you are capable of and well rested.

[danfennell]

Paul I think working on some intervals (500, 750, 1k) at race pace and rate would be helpful to give you some "muscle memory".

Additionally it seems like a lot of people use these distances in intervals (with about half the normal PP speed interval meter total) as predictors.

Over on the C2 forum Rodney just mentioned 3 x 750m on r1:30.

Good luck!

[thornmaster]

Paul - I agree with Sander and Dan. I think the only thing you may be able to improve in 3 weeks is power by doing short intervals and maybe with static starts to practice your race start. Don't forget a taper as well.

[gregsmith01748]

Here's are my thoughts.

Do a modified version of the Pete Plan.
- 1 session of long intervals
- 40 minutes easy
- 1 session of short intervals
- 40 minutes easy
- 1 session of sprints (100m, 1', 250m)
- 40 minutes easy

Defintely taper for the last week. I suggest you follow the plan that I posted on the arena racing thread:

viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3010#p125913

I agree that there isn't enough time to build any additional aerobic base, but you can sharpen and taper well and probably have a hell of a race.

[Paul Victory]

Thanks folks. I did a 2k TT today to get me idea of where I'm currently at. Happy enough with 6:55.5, but feel I can do better with proper preparation.

This month's CTC is close to a PP sprint intervals session (with shorter rests), so I'll probably have a couple of goes at it. I'm very tempted to try to pick up a few more nonathlon points based on my current fitness level, but don't want to jeopardise my chances of a good time at IIRC. I'll probably end up with some sort of compromise.

Paul V