October Training

[[old] ttrhr]

Hello all,<br />Here is a suggested training plan for the month of October. The focus is maximizing your lactate threshold/AT/LC capacity before you start the specific training required for the December championships. The last week of the month should be easier to rest up for the qualification piece. I will post a "rest week" training plan soon. <br /><br />If you already have a program and are making good progress, the coaches encourage you to stick with it. This program may help if you have hit a little plateau and are looking for a way to get another couple of seconds. <br /><br />Monday<br />Warm up for 5' including 5*15 strokes at race pace and intensity, then 2*30 min steady state, SR 20-22, rest 3'<br /><br />Tuesday<br />3*15 min at Threshold, SR 24-26, rest 4', Increase speed from piece to piece and also try to increase speed throughout the 15 min. Start at your 20 min test pace plus 5-6" and try to get gradually faster throughout the entire workout<br /><br />Wednesday<br />3*20 min, steady state, SR 18-22, rest 2'<br /><br />Thursday<br />Short warm up, then 3 sets of 8*1:30 on, :30 off, SR 26-28, rest 5-6 min between sets, Threshold pace<br /><br />Friday<br />Repeat Monday's workout <br /><br />Saturday<br />10 min warm up with 5*15 power strokes at SR 24,26,28,30,32, then 3000m at SR 24-26, 2000m at SR 26-28 and 1000m at SR 28-30, rest 6-7 min, start at 20 min test pace and increase speed within the piece and throughout the workout<br /><br />Sunday<br />Off<br /><br /><br />Best of luck,<br /><br />Tom

[[old] joanvb]

Tom,<br /><br />Thanks so much for the guidance here.<br /> <br />Regarding our 20 min. test piece pace mentioned in Tuesday and Saturday's workout...Are you referring to the pace of our 28 spm test piece (exclusively) for these workouts? Or, is the 20 min. test piece pace (that we did at stroke rates of 24, 26, or 28) dependent on the stroke rate in the workout? Mine are only slightly different, but in the middle of a workout, I have a feeling it's going to matter. <br /> <br />Thank you!<br /><br />Joan

[[old] NavigationHazard]

Tom, thanks for the workouts! -- they look tough!<br /><br />Another bundle of questions, along similar lines to Joan's:<br /><br />Can you define more clearly what you mean by "Threshold pace"?<br /><br />Do you mean something like, "a pace that at the specified stroke rating(s) will keep your heart rate at or near a level corresponding to your anaerobic threshold"?<br /><br />Or do you have something else in mind, e.g. "keeping your HR <i>above</i> threshold levels"? <br /><br />The two lead to vastly different workouts, I think.<br /><br />By way of example, testing back in May established my anaerobic threshold at about 154 bpm. Currently it appears to be about 162. <br /><br />Since I've been doing lactate-tolerance interval workouts similar to some of yours for about a week already, I thought I'd give your 3 x 8 x 1:30 on/ 30" off session a try tonight. Guessing that 1:39/40 pace r28 would keep me somewhere around 162 bpm, I sat down and started yanking. A representative set looked like this:<br /><br />1] 458m/ 1:38.2 pace r28, HR peak 142<br />2] 451m/ 1:39.7 pace r28, HR peak 153<br />3] 450m/ 1:40.0 pace r28, HR peak 157<br />4] 450m/ 1:40.0 pace r28. HR peak 157<br />5] 452m/ 1:39.5 pace r28, HR peak 160<br />6] 452m/ 1:39.5 pace r28, HR peak 160<br />7] 453m/ 1:39.3 pace r28, HR peak 162<br />8] 458m/ 1:38.2 pace r28, HR peak 167 (went over threshold with 3 strokes to go) <br /><br />Averages:<br />=] 453m/ 1:39.2 pace r28, avg HR peak 157<br /><br />Is this what you mean by "Threshold pace"? If so, a number of subsidiary questions: <br /><br />* If the object actually is to keep the HR at or near threshold, did I start off too slow, or too long after my warmup (5k r24), or too long after the previous set of 8 intervals? On all three sets, my HR on the first couple of intervals was well below threshold bpm.<br /><br />* Was <i>all</i> of this too slow? Even though my HR was approaching threshold bpm by the end of most of the intervals, for maybe 60-75 seconds out of every 90 it was significantly below threshold level. This was true of all three sets. Should I push it more, whether by increasing pace or reducing spm or cutting rest or some combination therefor? Or is that what AN/ race sharpening workouts are for?<br /><br />* It took me a couple of intervals to get the pace/spm sorted out. Beginning with #3, though, I tried to get increasingly faster from one interval to the next. You suggest doing that on most of the other workouts you specify. Presumably it's good here as well? <br /><br />If I'm overanalyzing, I apologize -- it's my nature. To paraphrase the philosopher Descartes, I think too much, therefore I am....

[[old] ttrhr]

I'll answer the questions below in CAPS:<br /><br /><br />Can you define more clearly what you mean by "Threshold pace"?<br />THRESHOLD PACE IS WHAT YOU CAN HOLD FOR 20-24 MIN. WE USE A 6K TO SET OUR TRAINING ON THE ERG. THE REASONING IS: IF YOU IMPROVE YOUR 6K, YOU WILL IMPROVE YOUR 2K. THAT IS ASSUMING YOU HAVE A COMPETITIVE 6K. IF YOU ARE ONLY USED TO TESTING 2K'S AND YOU'VE ONLY DONE A FEW 6K'S THEN YOU WILL ALWAYS GET FASTER. YOUR THRESHOLD PACE IS ABOUT 7 SECONDS PER 500 OFF YOUR 2K PACE.<br /><br />Do you mean something like, "a pace that at the specified stroke rating(s) will keep your heart rate at or near a level corresponding to your anaerobic threshold"?<br /><br />Or do you have something else in mind, e.g. "keeping your HR <i>above</i> threshold levels"? I MEAN KEEPING YOUR SPLIT AROUND THAT 20 MIN TEST PIECE (TEST AT SR 28). YOUR HEART RATE SHOULD CORRESPOND ROUGHLY, AND YOU SHOULD USE IT AS A GAUGE, BUT NOT A RULE. IF YOU ARE A LITTLE TIRED, HOT, DEHYDRATED, ETC YOUR HR WILL RISE. SO IT'S NOT A GOOD IDEA TO SLOW DOWN FOR YOUR HR ONCE YOU HAVE ESTABLISHED YOUR THRESHOLD PACE. MONITOR IT, RECORD IT AND KEEP TRACK OF IT. THE HR SHOULD START TO COME DOWN FOR THE SAME WORKOUT ITH IN 3-5 WEEKS. <br /><br />The two lead to vastly different workouts, I think.<br /><br />By way of example, testing back in May established my anaerobic threshold at about 154 bpm. Currently it appears to be about 162. <br /><br />Since I've been doing lactate-tolerance interval workouts similar to some of yours for about a week already, I thought I'd give your 3 x 8 x 1:30 on/ 30" off session a try tonight. Guessing that 1:39/40 pace r28 would keep me somewhere around 162 bpm, I sat down and started yanking. A representative set looked like this:<br /><br />1] 458m/ 1:38.2 pace r28, HR peak 142<br />2] 451m/ 1:39.7 pace r28, HR peak 153<br />3] 450m/ 1:40.0 pace r28, HR peak 157<br />4] 450m/ 1:40.0 pace r28. HR peak 157<br />5] 452m/ 1:39.5 pace r28, HR peak 160<br />6] 452m/ 1:39.5 pace r28, HR peak 160<br />7] 453m/ 1:39.3 pace r28, HR peak 162<br />8] 458m/ 1:38.2 pace r28, HR peak 167 (went over threshold with 3 strokes to go) <br /><br />Averages:<br />=] 453m/ 1:39.2 pace r28, avg HR peak 157<br />THIS IS GREAT, EXCEPT YOU WENT A LITTLE FAST EARLY. THAT'S WHERE HR WILL GET YOU: THE BEGINNING AND END OF PIECES WHEN IT HASN'T HAD ENOUGH TIME TO RESPOND TO THE WORK. BUT I THINK THIS WORKOUT LOOKS GREAT. PERHAPS NEXT TIME, START AT 1:39.5 AND HOLD IT FOR THE WHOLE WORKOUT. IF IT'S TOO EASY IN THE BEGINNING, THAT'S OK. YOU CAN MAKE IT SLIGHTLY HARDER AS YOU GO ALONG AND YOUR 20 MIN TEST HAS CONFIRMED THAT IT IS THE RIGHT PACE FOR YOUR PHYSIOLOGY AT THE MOMENT. AT NO POINT SHOULD THIS WORKOUT FEEL LIKE FULL PRESSURE. IT SHOULD BE UNCOMFORTABLE BUT IN CONTROL. AND IT SHOULD NOT BE SO HARD THAT YOU HAVE TO SLOW DOWN.<br />Is this what you mean by "Threshold pace"? If so, a number of subsidiary questions: <br /><br />* If the object actually is to keep the HR at or near threshold, did I start off too slow, or too long after my warmup (5k r24), or too long after the previous set of 8 intervals? On all three sets, my HR on the first couple of intervals was well below threshold bpm.<br />THAT'S BECAUSE IT'S NOT ENOUGH TIME FOR YOUR HEART TO REGISTER THE WORK, THAT'S WHY WE USE SPEED AS A GUIDE AND HR AS A SECONDARY GUIDE.<br />* Was <i>all</i> of this too slow? Even though my HR was approaching threshold bpm by the end of most of the intervals, for maybe 60-75 seconds out of every 90 it was significantly below threshold level. This was true of all three sets. Should I push it more, whether by increasing pace or reducing spm or cutting rest or some combination therefor? Or is that what AN/ race sharpening workouts are for?<br /><br />* It took me a couple of intervals to get the pace/spm sorted out. Beginning with #3, though, I tried to get increasingly faster from one interval to the next. You suggest doing that on most of the other workouts you specify. Presumably it's good here as well? <br />YES, JUST MAKE IT SMALLER INCREMENTS BETWEEN PIECES, LIKE 2 TENTHS PER PIECE, NOT 1 SECOND.<br />If I'm overanalyzing, I apologize -- it's my nature. To paraphrase the philosopher Descartes, I think too much, therefore I am.... <br />NO PROBLEM

[[old] ttrhr]

Joan, I'll answer in CAPS<br /> <br />Regarding our 20 min. test piece pace mentioned in Tuesday and Saturday's workout...Are you referring to the pace of our 28 spm test piece (exclusively) for these workouts? IT SHOULD BE YOUR PACE FOR THE SR 28 TEST. THIS IS YOUR THRESHOLD PACE FOR THE 90 SECONDS ON, 30 SECONDS OFF.<br /> <br />LET ME KNOW IF THAT MAKES SENSE,<br /><br />Tom<br />

[[old] rspenger]

Whew! I finally got back to doing a complete, regular workout today. With the new October regimen, the Wednesday schedule is very similar to the old Monday and Friday schedule of the July through September program, so I felt at ease doing it. With the SR given as 18-22, I went for one piece each at 18, 20, and 22. The 2’ limit on the rest period was another change, but I had used 2’ rest periods on several of the earlier 3X20’ sessions, so that was no problem. My total for the three pieces was not significantly different from the average of the totals from the 3 or 4 weeks before my long layoff, so I don’t think that I have lost too much. I’ll find out tomorrow when I find out whether or not I have recovered enough to do a daily schedule.<br /><br />I have one question for Tom. Can you give me any idea how much difference altitude should make? I train at 4000 ft, which is only about 75% of the altitude at Denver, but in January, I dropped over 30 seconds for the 2k on going down to sea level. Have there been any studies on this?<br /><br />Another more general question: Since the Model B seems to have a high drag factor, should I use a lower stroke rate than the schedule recommends? I just checked out the drag factor and was getting 162 +/- 2 with the vent closed and 210 +/- 2 with the vent open. The description of the drag factor on the PM3 recommends a range of 100 to 140 – well out of the range of the Model B. Could this big drag factor difference have any part in the big time drop in my 2k on going to low altitude, since I was using a setting of about 5 on the Model Ds that I used at sea level? I have been told that there should be no difference in the performance of the machines themselves, but I thought that there might be physiological factors involved. Initially, I usually left the Model B vent at about the halfway point, but I closed it off when I started the training program at the beginning of August.<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />Bob S. <br />

[[old] ttrhr]

Dear Bob S.<br />Well you sure like challenges: Model B and altitude? You should fly at sea level on the C! I am sorry, but I don't know of any clear formula for differences b/n altitude and sea level. My only suggestion is to try to negative split the sea level work: if you go out to fast, there's no going back/ you can always make up for a slow start. As for changing the stroke rates, yes, drop everything by 2 beats. Try taping or covering part of the flywhell for a little bit of your training to get the drag factor down to 140. I wouldn't do it all of the time, but it might help you get adjusted to the lighter load of the C.<br /><br />Tom<br /><br /><!--QuoteBegin-rspenger+Oct 5 2005, 06:18 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(rspenger @ Oct 5 2005, 06:18 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->Whew! I finally got back to doing a complete, regular workout today. With the new October regimen, the Wednesday schedule is very similar to the old Monday and Friday schedule of the July through September program, so I felt at ease doing it. With the SR given as 18-22, I went for one piece each at 18, 20, and 22. The 2’ limit on the rest period was another change, but I had used 2’ rest periods on several of the earlier 3X20’ sessions, so that was no problem. My total for the three pieces was not significantly different from the average of the totals from the 3 or 4 weeks before my long layoff, so I don’t think that I have lost too much. I’ll find out tomorrow when I find out whether or not I have recovered enough to do a daily schedule.<br /><br />I have one question for Tom. Can you give me any idea how much difference altitude should make? I train at 4000 ft, which is only about 75% of the altitude at Denver, but in January, I dropped over 30 seconds for the 2k on going down to sea level. Have there been any studies on this?<br /><br />Another more general question: Since the Model B seems to have a high drag factor, should I use a lower stroke rate than the schedule recommends? I just checked out the drag factor and was getting 162 +/- 2 with the vent closed and 210 +/- 2 with the vent open. The description of the drag factor on the PM3 recommends a range of 100 to 140 – well out of the range of the Model B. Could this big drag factor difference have any part in the big time drop in my 2k on going to low altitude, since I was using a setting of about 5 on the Model Ds that I used at sea level? I have been told that there should be no difference in the performance of the machines themselves, but I thought that there might be physiological factors involved. Initially, I usually left the Model B vent at about the halfway point, but I closed it off when I started the training program at the beginning of August.<br /><br />Regards,<br /><br />Bob S. <br /> </td></tr></table><br />

[[old] joanvb]

<!--QuoteBegin-ttrhr+Oct 5 2005, 02:20 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(ttrhr @ Oct 5 2005, 02:20 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><br />  <br /> IT SHOULD BE YOUR PACE FOR THE SR 28 TEST. THIS IS YOUR THRESHOLD PACE FOR THE 90 SECONDS ON, 30 SECONDS OFF.<br />  <br />LET ME KNOW IF THAT MAKES SENSE,<br /><br />Tom <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Yes. That's very clear. <br />Thanks! <br />Joan