500 Metre Time

[[old] Dan Bradley]

Hello, i have 3 weeks to take 8 tenths off my best 500 metre time of 1.29.3. Does anyone have any advice or tips as to the best way of training to do this?<br />Thanks<br /><br />Dan

[[old] PaulS]

It's not really a training plan, but when you are doing this piece, display Avg Pace on the Monitor. During the starting 4-7 strokes get the avg pace to 1:28, and then settle on steady strokes at 1:28 in the main display. The 500M is a real strength activity on the Erg, but it's also long enough that involving some pacing will help.<br /><br />Very important to not allow any pauses during the stroke, even a small waste of time adds up over the 60 strokes or so. i.e. a 0.1 second pause is 6 seconds added to not advancing the flywheel, and there is already a lot of that going on during the recovery.<br />

[[old] bsemaiktehr]

I'm also trying to shave some time off my 500m PB (which i set 2 months ago)<br />I've gotten a lot stronger since then - my 2k time has dropped 10 seconds.<br />However, every time I sit on the erg and start a 500 - I can't finish it.<br /><br />I typically make it about 250 meters, and then my heart starts pounding so hard that I can't go on any more. Should I do a really long warmup or something to prep myself better?

[[old] PaulS]

<!--QuoteBegin-bsemaiktehr+Mar 4 2005, 10:20 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(bsemaiktehr @ Mar 4 2005, 10:20 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I'm also trying to shave some time off my 500m PB (which i set 2 months ago)<br />I've gotten a lot stronger since then - my 2k time has dropped 10 seconds.<br />However, every time I sit on the erg and start a 500 - I can't finish it.<br /><br />I typically make it about 250 meters, and then my heart starts pounding so hard that I can't go on any more.  Should I do a really long warmup or something to prep myself better? <br /> </td></tr></table><br /><br />Definitely get good and warmed up, at least 10 minutes and have some sweat built up, just keep to a pace that you could hold for 30 minutes continuously without too much discomfort, i.e. 60 minutes at that same pace would get quite uncomfortable.<br />

[[old] johnnybike]

<!--QuoteBegin-bsemaiktehr+Mar 4 2005, 01:20 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(bsemaiktehr @ Mar 4 2005, 01:20 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I typically make it about 250 meters, and then my heart starts pounding so hard that I can't go on any more.  Should I do a really long warmup or something to prep myself better? <br /> </td></tr></table><br />i am not a powerrower by any means and my PB for 500 was 1:43.8<br /><br />Couple of weeks ago I did an 8*500 session with 3:30 rest between each (about 1:44 each one). The last one was all out and I did a 1:40. something. Hit 44 spm at one point (never normally get above 31)<br /><br />All that was because I was fully warmed up. Might try that again after say 3 * 500m<br /><br />John<br />

[[old] allapologies916]

Its strength training for 500 M... and for the person who cant finish it... just think.... whatever split you pull is however long you take... Just realize that its not going to be more than 2 minutes long, and when its over... youll feel good.

[[old] NavigationHazard]

<!--QuoteBegin--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I'm also trying to shave some time off my 500m PB (which i set 2 months ago)<br />I've gotten a lot stronger since then - my 2k time has dropped 10 seconds.<br />However, every time I sit on the erg and start a 500 - I can't finish it.<br /><br />I typically make it about 250 meters, and then my heart starts pounding so hard that I can't go on any more. Should I do a really long warmup or something to prep myself better? </td></tr></table><br /><br />For my money, part of 500m sprinting is convincing yourself beforehand that you're really not going to die. This implies conditioning yourself in a manner designed to reinforce that proposition. <br /><br />I doubt there's a magic bullet capable of instantly solving your problem. Thus (assuming you really don't have heart problems), whenever you do speed training, it might help you to tailor some of it specifically for the second 250m of the event. <br /><br />One way to do this is through reverse-split intervals designed to build a finishing sprint. Start off with something like half a dozen 500s where you paddle the first 400 at (say) 1:45 and power home the last 100m @ 1:28. Next time out increase the proportion that's finishing sprint: 350m @ 1:45 and 150m @ 1:28, later 300/200. When you get to 250/250, switch over to lowering pace on the front side of the interval: go out in, say, 1:40 while coming home as before. Drop that to 1:37, then to 1:35, etc. <br /><br />Over time, hopefully, you'll develop confidence that you can kick it into high gear for the last portion of a piece no matter what. And this confidence will have a physiological basis. <br /><br />Sir Pirate's South London Rowing Championships ladder is another way of building up this sort of sprinting capacity -- see the thread in the "Competitions" section of this Forum. Although attempts on Level 10 are not for the squeamish....<br /><br />Whatever you do, though, make sure it dovetails with some overall training plan that aims at any distances you're actually racing. And if you plan to get in a boat, don't ruin your stroke by developing bad habits during training for a faster 500. <br /><br /><br />My credentials disclosure: 1:23.5 PB (race) for 500m, at age 48. So not world class, but not entirely clueless and/or hopeless

[[old] bsemaiktehr]

Good advice there. I'll try some of that stuff. 2k test for my team tomorrow though <br /><br />I'm worried my time is going to suffer a little from being sick a few weeks ago - my training the past two weeks hasn't been as rigorous as usual. (Mostly on water, 40 minute pieces at a 12) We're working on technique, obviously.

[[old] TheHagueDragon]

See the topic i recently started about building up a 500 m.<br /><a href='http://concept2.ipbhost.com/index.php?s ... c=1459&hl=' target='_blank'>http://concept2.ipbhost.com/index.php?s ... hl=</a><br /><br />I took 2 seconds off my old PB so this works for me.

[[old] Dan Bradley]

<!--QuoteBegin-NavigationHazard+Mar 6 2005, 11:25 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(NavigationHazard @ Mar 6 2005, 11:25 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I'm also trying to shave some time off my 500m PB (which i set 2 months ago)<br />I've gotten a lot stronger since then - my 2k time has dropped 10 seconds.<br />However, every time I sit on the erg and start a 500 - I can't finish it.<br /><br />I typically make it about 250 meters, and then my heart starts pounding so hard that I can't go on any more. Should I do a really long warmup or something to prep myself better? </td></tr></table><br /><br />For my money, part of 500m sprinting is convincing yourself beforehand that you're really not going to die. This implies conditioning yourself in a manner designed to reinforce that proposition. <br /><br />I doubt there's a magic bullet capable of instantly solving your problem. Thus (assuming you really don't have heart problems), whenever you do speed training, it might help you to tailor some of it specifically for the second 250m of the event. <br /><br />One way to do this is through reverse-split intervals designed to build a finishing sprint. Start off with something like half a dozen 500s where you paddle the first 400 at (say) 1:45 and power home the last 100m @ 1:28. Next time out increase the proportion that's finishing sprint: 350m @ 1:45 and 150m @ 1:28, later 300/200. When you get to 250/250, switch over to lowering pace on the front side of the interval: go out in, say, 1:40 while coming home as before. Drop that to 1:37, then to 1:35, etc. <br /><br />Over time, hopefully, you'll develop confidence that you can kick it into high gear for the last portion of a piece no matter what. And this confidence will have a physiological basis. <br /><br />Sir Pirate's South London Rowing Championships ladder is another way of building up this sort of sprinting capacity -- see the thread in the "Competitions" section of this Forum. Although attempts on Level 10 are not for the squeamish....<br /><br />Whatever you do, though, make sure it dovetails with some overall training plan that aims at any distances you're actually racing. And if you plan to get in a boat, don't ruin your stroke by developing bad habits during training for a faster 500. <br /><br /><br />My credentials disclosure: 1:23.5 PB (race) for 500m, at age 48. So not world class, but not entirely clueless and/or hopeless <br /> </td></tr></table><br />

[[old] Dan Bradley]

Very impressive credentials. I like the advice on the reverse splits as well thanks. How much rest between reps would you say? And 1 set of 6 at a time?<br /><br />Dan<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><!--QuoteBegin-Dan Bradley+Mar 10 2005, 04:15 PM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(Dan Bradley @ Mar 10 2005, 04:15 PM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin-NavigationHazard+Mar 6 2005, 11:25 AM--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE(NavigationHazard @ Mar 6 2005, 11:25 AM)</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--QuoteBegin--><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><div class='genmed'><b>QUOTE</b></div></td></tr><tr><td class='quote'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I'm also trying to shave some time off my 500m PB (which i set 2 months ago)<br />I've gotten a lot stronger since then - my 2k time has dropped 10 seconds.<br />However, every time I sit on the erg and start a 500 - I can't finish it.<br /><br />I typically make it about 250 meters, and then my heart starts pounding so hard that I can't go on any more. Should I do a really long warmup or something to prep myself better? </td></tr></table><br /><br />For my money, part of 500m sprinting is convincing yourself beforehand that you're really not going to die. This implies conditioning yourself in a manner designed to reinforce that proposition. <br /><br />I doubt there's a magic bullet capable of instantly solving your problem. Thus (assuming you really don't have heart problems), whenever you do speed training, it might help you to tailor some of it specifically for the second 250m of the event. <br /><br />One way to do this is through reverse-split intervals designed to build a finishing sprint. Start off with something like half a dozen 500s where you paddle the first 400 at (say) 1:45 and power home the last 100m @ 1:28. Next time out increase the proportion that's finishing sprint: 350m @ 1:45 and 150m @ 1:28, later 300/200. When you get to 250/250, switch over to lowering pace on the front side of the interval: go out in, say, 1:40 while coming home as before. Drop that to 1:37, then to 1:35, etc. <br /><br />Over time, hopefully, you'll develop confidence that you can kick it into high gear for the last portion of a piece no matter what. And this confidence will have a physiological basis. <br /><br />Sir Pirate's South London Rowing Championships ladder is another way of building up this sort of sprinting capacity -- see the thread in the "Competitions" section of this Forum. Although attempts on Level 10 are not for the squeamish....<br /><br />Whatever you do, though, make sure it dovetails with some overall training plan that aims at any distances you're actually racing. And if you plan to get in a boat, don't ruin your stroke by developing bad habits during training for a faster 500. <br /><br /><br />My credentials disclosure: 1:23.5 PB (race) for 500m, at age 48. So not world class, but not entirely clueless and/or hopeless <br /> </td></tr></table> <br /> </td></tr></table><br />

[[old] NavigationHazard]

When I do this sort of workout, I generally use approximately twice as much rest as there is powered erging. So roughly three minutes off should be about right for 500m at the paces you're contemplating. Sometimes I paddle some during the rest, sometimes not, depending on how loose I feel. Stretching calves and hammies during the rest is not a bad idea either. <br /><br />As for number, try starting off with a half dozen and see how it goes. Be flexible: you can increase the workload by increasing the number of intervals you do, by increasing the pace at which you do them, and/or decreasing the length of your rest period. IMO the important thing is not rigid adherence to a schedule, it's using the reverse-split intervals effectively to boost your sprinting speed. Ultimately, I feel, you have to learn to trust feedback from your own body to tell you how to tweak your workouts.<br />

[[old] NavigationHazard]

By way of practicing some of what I preach (as much as anything to see if I still remember how to do it myself) I just did 4 x 500 at about 1:40 for the first 250 of each and trying to power it in. <br /><br />I took an extra 30 secs rest before the last one, 3 mins for the others. <br /><br />Results: 1:35 (1:40/1:30), 1:34.5 (1:39.5/1:30), 1:34.1 (1:39.5/1:29.6), 1:33.8 (1:39.1/1:28.5). <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />

[[old] John Rupp]

The 500 meter being my least strong event, I spent some time aiming for this a year ago and found these things that helped.<br /><br />1- Several sessions of 10x 200 meters with 3:00 starts and complete rests between. These were the same 109 drag factor and speed as my 500m goal pace. The rating was the same as my 500 meter goal, around 42 spm.<br /><br />2- A session of 4x 500 meters with 15:00 starts and complete rests in between. I set the splits for 100 meters, then did the first 3 of these at 1:50 pace and the last 100 at 500m goal pace. I would be breathing quite hard at the end of these. <br /><br />The 4th repetition was my time trial. I set the monitor on projected pace and kept the same pace all the way. Being warmed up well by this time, the first 300 meters or so felt quite good and only the last 50-200 meters would be tough. My last time trial for this was at 46 spm. My goal pace was sub 1:40 which was accomplished with 1:39.6 the last time I did the 500 meters.<br /><br />I think those with a lot of speed don't need to bother with such long recoveries in between on the sprints, but they are important for me.

[[old] gw1]

The 500m is my favorite piece! <br />I'm not sure that this will be to helpful over the next 3 weeks, however I spent one session a week last year doing strapless 500m intervals @ 20spm. I believe these were a large contributor to my post 40 y.o 500m PB, an improvement of nearly 1 sec. <br /><br />GW