I'm new, please help me be faster =)

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mikedepetris
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I'm new, please help me be faster =)

Post by mikedepetris »

Hi I'm mike, I found this fourm on the Nonathlon site, after many years of training I would like to try something new to see if I can go any faster.
Even if I mostly trained on the long distances I end each season being quite fast on 500 and 1000m and much worse and all longer pieces.
I have a 1x boat race of 6000m that will take something around 27' depending on current and wind and I have no idea about how to schedule a training program, I tried to change in the past having the same results, I think I need an external input to do something really different to try to rise a step.
Anybody wants to help?
You can find me as mikedepetris and C2 890991 around the web.
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JonT
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Re: I'm new, please help me be faster =)

Post by JonT »

mikedepetris wrote: Thu Oct 01, 2020 8:31 pm Hi I'm mike, I found this fourm on the Nonathlon site, after many years of training I would like to try something new to see if I can go any faster.
Even if I mostly trained on the long distances I end each season being quite fast on 500 and 1000m and much worse and all longer pieces.
I have a 1x boat race of 6000m that will take something around 27' depending on current and wind and I have no idea about how to schedule a training program, I tried to change in the past having the same results, I think I need an external input to do something really different to try to rise a step.
Anybody wants to help?
You can find me as mikedepetris and C2 890991 around the web.
Hello Mike, and welcome to Free Spirits. You've come to a good place to start a discussion around training and improvements. There are a lot of very capable and very experienced rowers on the site....I am not one of them :fsbgrin:

Many people use the Pete Plan, or variations of it. Are you familiar with it? You can find it here -> https://thepeteplan.wordpress.com/the-pete-plan/

One thing I would recommend is that you post here describing what training you are currently doing. This should include distances, interval timing, hear rate and stroke rate. You can see lot's of examples on various parts of the forum such as this one -> viewtopic.php?f=7&t=661. This will start to give people a picture of what you are doing and how you are performing.

I hope that helps. I'm sure others will chip in with hints and tips, but the data from your current rowing would really help.

Jon
57 years old, 5"10', clinging on to 75kg and frustratingly but understandably inconsistent
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Wolfmiester
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Re: I'm new, please help me be faster =)

Post by Wolfmiester »

Hey Mike, as Jon says, the 5k Pete Plan would have some benefit for you.
As would any plan really.
It's all about being structured, knowing what the goal is every time you get on the machine (doesn't matter if its an easy, medium, or hard day. It still has to be done) and sticking with it.
Any 9 or 12 week plan will work if it's stuck to.
Feel free to keep firing in with questions.
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Iain
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Re: I'm new, please help me be faster =)

Post by Iain »

Sorry, haven't been on the site much recently. In case it helps, if you are relatively better at short than long distance you need to work on fitness, specifically your anaerobic threshold. Without seeing our times, unsure whether you need a very specific plan (to make marginal improvements from a strong base) or just need to do some distance. As Wolfie says, any training plan is likely to improve fitness for anyone not well trained. Do you erg regularly or do you train mostly in your 1x? If the latter, difficult to compare sessions. But I would say that you need to be doing a session a week of long intervals (5 min+ each total distance >6k with significant rest intervals between, done at or close to 6k pace. This will not only help improve your anaerobic threshold, it will also increase your mental tolerance of the discomfort of rowing a hard 6k. You might also like to schedule a longer row for 2 weeks or more before the race to try out your race plan. This should either be slightly below what you can achieve for 6k or the required pace for a bit shorter (say 20 min). That will give you the confidence to keep going in the actual event. One coach has said that if you aren't doubting that you can maintain the pace and finish by 40% of the way through you could go faster! Its one thing to be physiologically capable of a given time and another to deliver it! There is a key distinction mentally between the shorter distances (when you can see the end in sight when it gets tough) and a 6k where you need to have the belief in yourself to keep pushing when the end is still a long way off!

Hope it goes well

Iain
55 year old Lwt (in ability and in weight) trying to develop a technique that doesn't cause hysterics and continue to row regularly.
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mikedepetris
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Re: I'm new, please help me be faster =)

Post by mikedepetris »

Thanks for the answers, as suggested I adopted the 5K Pete's plan, but a short important boat race was added just the day before of the 6k 1x race, so I decided to focus on the shortest, as it's my best performance. I still have to think about the plan.
What I planned for the 6k 1x race was the 5k plan, adding the high speed sessions in the rest days.
Usually I am training in the boat on weekends and on the erg at home on the other days, but as I row on the sea, waves and wind mean a lot more erg sessions.

You can find my nonathlon times as mikedepetris, I'm 55 Lwt
8 mikedepetris 8966 M 54 L 1001 1004 973 986 980 973 978 986 985 973 100
1:29.0 3:11.9 6:46.9 17:44.1 21:36.9 36:48.6 8270 16165 1:19:22.5 2:46:55.1

My C2 profile:
https://log.concept2.com/profile/890991
Ranked Workouts for Current Season
Date Event Result Pace Type
16/05/20 100m 0:16.1 1:20.5 Indoor Rower
03/06/20 1:00.0 351m 1:25.4 Indoor Rower
14/06/20 500m 1:29.0 1:28.9 Indoor Rower
01/06/20 1,000m 3:11.9 1:35.9 Indoor Rower
31/05/20 4:00.0 1,229m 1:37.6 Indoor Rower
18/05/20 2,000m 6:46.9 1:41.7 Indoor Rower
21/05/20 5,000m 17:44.1 1:46.4 Indoor Rower
17/05/20 6,000m 21:36.9 1:48.0 Indoor Rower
23/05/20 30:00.0 8,270m 1:48.8 Indoor Rower
15/05/20 10,000m 36:48.6 1:50.4 Indoor Rower
06/05/20 1:00:00.0 16,165m 1:51.3 Indoor Rower
04/05/20 21,097m 1:19:22.5 1:52.8 Indoor Rower
09/05/20 42,195m 2:46:55.1 1:58.6 Indoor Rower
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Grobi
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Re: I'm new, please help me be faster =)

Post by Grobi »

Hi Mike, your scores are already very impressive, good luck with the Pete Plan training and your race(s).

Have you considered competing in this month‘s ctc yet? It‘s a flat 30 minutes, so should be a nice addition to your training.

And welcome to Free Spirits by the way :D
Athletes row, others just play games

Peter

55y, 1,89m, 85kg

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Paul Victory
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Re: I'm new, please help me be faster =)

Post by Paul Victory »

Wow Mike, those are seriously impressive performances. ^O^ ^O^ ^O^

You’re seriously fast across all distances and following something structured like the Pete Plan, with its focus on small incremental gains (for those who are already very fit) should help you become even faster.
M 68 6'1" 124kg (May05), 92kg (Feb06), 122kg (Aug10), 95kg (Sep11), 117kg (Jun13), now 98kg
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Claudius
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Re: I'm new, please help me be faster =)

Post by Claudius »

Your times are fantastic, and I'm sure you've been doing some very long endurance sports. I believe that it is possible to improve your times. But unlike a beginner, this is with a much higher level of knowledge about your previous training, the volume and intensity, your availability of time, your methods of dealing with stress, in a specific sense to regenerate your abilities, your sleep, the stress at work, with family/friends, and so on. I believe that from a certain point in time you have to take all the variables of life into account in order to look holistically...where are my weaknesses, where are my influenceable weaknesses...which supposedly non-influenceable weaknesses can I change - so I quit my job at the hospital 3 years ago because night shifts had a massive negative effect on regeneration. ...the result...VO2max, FTP went up, my body weight went down...you have to see if such drastic measures are necessary and if they are proportionate...now I am doing night shifts again.... :-I...Just as an example how you have to keep an eye on the whole...training and regeneration and see and think about what the big chunks are that prevent progress
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mikedepetris
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Re: I'm new, please help me be faster =)

Post by mikedepetris »

Thanks Claudius for your words, to day it in few words: when I have few minutes free, I prefer to train, possibly hard as the time is short, instead of planning and thinking about my training.
Anyway, I started with a first cycle (3 weeks) of the Pet's 5k plan for the long boat race, then they added the short distance that suits me better so I did another first cycle of the 2k Pete's plan, then they cancelled both races.
I've been involved in new work activities, so no plan again.
In the while the erg season started, I take part to the "Dirty Thirty" and "Dirty Dozen" challenges, and did quite well on the HM and did a PM on the 16K with a very good performance, so this tells me that those planned weeks were working good:

1:19:29.8 21,097m
30' 8242m
58:59.8 16,000m

https://rose-info.at/
http://ergo-challenge.ister.at/?page_id=1523
http://ergo-challenge.ister.at/?page_id=1518

next step is the 10000 of the Dirty Dozen, I hope to better my SB
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plummy
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Re: I'm new, please help me be faster =)

Post by plummy »

I just spotted your times and distances Mike - incredible!! Bravo sir.
60 yrs old, 76kg, 5' 10"
43Mm metres rowed. Re-setting the bar much lower now. Getting too old for this malarky
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mikedepetris
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Re: I'm new, please help me be faster =)

Post by mikedepetris »

thanks @plummy

just done the 10k, a bit too cold outside, far from PB that I kept in target for the first 4k, but still a good SB in line with the other season long pieces:
https://log.concept2.com/profile/890991/log/48518690

Michele De Petris 10000m row
10,000m METERS
36:23.9 TIME
1:49.1 PACE
741 CALORIES
172 HEART RATE
Average Watts 269
Calories Per Hour 1225
Stroke Rate 29
Stroke Count 1067
Drag Factor 129
November 21, 2020 12:20:00
Entered ErgData Android

Splits
Time Meters Pace Watts Cal/Hr S/M
36:23.9 10,000m 1:49.1 269 1225 29 172
7:10.6 2,000m 1:47.6 281 1265 30 164
7:16.2 4,000m 1:49.0 270 1228 29 170
7:19.8 6,000m 1:49.9 263 1206 29 172
7:20.2 8,000m 1:50.0 263 1203 29 176
7:17.2 10,000m 1:49.3 268 1222 30 179
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