5km training - feedback?

WillMorgan · Post by **WillMorgan** » January 5th, 2009, 3:21 pm

Hi

I am a 20 year old male, 5' 10, at 65.5 kg - a very lightweight rower! I have a 5km trial in 3 weeks and have recently purchased an erg. I have done 1 weeks work on the erg so far and my time has reached 18:58.1. the program I am currently doing is:

Day 1: 5km
Day 2: 30minutes
Day 3: 2x20mins/3.00rest
Day 4: rest
Then I do it all again

My query to this think tank of rowing knowledge is. Is this program too much or to little, is there a better program I could adopted that would make my time come down even faster?

Thanks
Will

RowtheRockies · Post by **RowtheRockies** » January 5th, 2009, 4:13 pm

Hi Will,

Welcome to the forum. There are others on the forum that are much more knowledgable about training plans. One thing that will probably help anyone in giving you a recomendation is to know what your pace is for the 5K, 30Minutes and 2X20 is. The duration means little without understanding the intensity.

For long term progress there are many plans out there that folks follow and have had good success. Most common ones are Pete Plan, Wolverine Plan and the Interactive Program that C2 has. The interactive plan can be found at http://www.concept2.co.uk/training/interactive.php

All of the plans are geared toward the 2K distance and are not necessarily for producing quick results in 3 weeks.

Rich

tdekoekkoek · Post by **tdekoekkoek** » January 5th, 2009, 5:09 pm

Hi Will,

It does depend on how much you can take, but in general it is way too little. I wouldn't recommend subscribing to a formal training plan since your needs are unique and you have a very short-term goal. If you can handle more, do as much volume as you can and then taper a few days before. on such light volume, you certainly don't need a rest day.

If you are not used to the distance, then I would suggest building up each day so that you are doing a least 40 minutes a day. Also twice a week I would do 4*1500meters at your desired race pace with 2min rest between each rep. Nothing beats these types of workouts for bringing your race times down. Make sure you DO NOT blow out the first 2 in the sequence. make sure you're last 2 reps are faster than the first (negative splitting).

Good luck!

WillMorgan · Post by **WillMorgan** » January 5th, 2009, 6:54 pm

Thanks,

I have done a fair bit of erging over the past year. I agree that the time frame is small but surley over 3 weeks I can make a relativly big difference.

5km - 1.53.8
30mins - 1.56
2x 20mins - 1.58

If I increased the program what would you suggest? I enjoy the 5km tests as it really shows improvement. What would be most usefull in between? Should I be doing two seperate sessions in one day? Long distance/time are all much lower splits which is a bit dull - you dont get that lactate BURN!

Day 1 - 5km test
Day 2 - 2x 20/r2mins
Day 3 - 2 x 30mins/r2mins
Day 4 - 3 x 6km/r3min
Day 5 - 4x 1500/r2min
Day 6 - 2 x 20mins/r2mins
Day 7 - rest

Is this more like it? What you you suggest? Lads your are being very helpfull, ta!

Nosmo · Post by **Nosmo** » January 5th, 2009, 7:17 pm

Looks reasonable--for a short term plan.

To do well it is also very important to warm up properly and to have a good pacing strategy. Do a good warm up every day and follow a good pacing strategy every time you row so you get used to doing it before the trial. You can do a search to find many threads on these topics.

You need to be careful about going too hard. Your days 1,3 and 5 should be very intense but take it easy on the other days. If the other days are too hard you won't recover enough for the intense days.

michaelb · Post by **michaelb** » January 5th, 2009, 8:33 pm

I really enjoy the 5k. My thought for training for the 5k, in addition to what has been said, is to include at least some longer rows like the 10k (and maybe even the hour) too. Given the timeframe, I don't know if these need to be easy "recovery" rows either, although if you feel you are pushing too hard, doing some easy long rows is not a bad idea either. I think medium to hard 10ks will build mental strength in addition to endurance, and after several you will find the 5k starting to feel "short".

So I would consider doing that instead of either the 2x20 or 2x30 rows (I should admit my bias that I have never really done multiple sets of timed rows like that, I am sure they are hard too).

tdekoekkoek · Post by **tdekoekkoek** » January 6th, 2009, 12:28 am

[quote="WillMorgan"] Long distance/time are all much lower splits which is a bit dull - you dont get that lactate BURN!

Day 1 - 5km test
Day 2 - 2x 20/r2mins
Day 3 - 2 x 30mins/r2mins
Day 4 - 3 x 6km/r3min
Day 5 - 4x 1500/r2min
Day 6 - 2 x 20mins/r2mins
Day 7 - rest

Long, slow may be boring, but is essential. If you are doing a test every week and doing the 1500 intervals then almost all the other workouts should be long and slow. I would consider doing 1 workout just above AT say your 2 * 20mins, but if you are doing all these other workouts hard, you are going to burn out.