Pete Plan Thread

[RayOfSunshine]

BPP 22.3 30r20

Goal was 2:10.8, but it felt awkward targeting partial seconds. Also, it felt a bit easy, so I set out to average right at 2:10. It feels good to be back on plan.

[m06w41]

Forgot to post week 4 row 3. Some improvement in form and effort but it's still tough to row close to 2'30". I suppose being out of shape makes a big difference but when my heart rate gets to 150bpm I try to breathe and slow down. That's where things become pretty difficult to maintain and I sweat buckets. So, on the first row of Week 5 I targeted 2'34" but damn it was even harder...though I did do a 6.25 mile hike on Sunday morning round trip with a 15lb pack. Maybe I'm just winded.

Anyway, this is officially the longest I've gone on BPP. Endurance is better and 7000 meters is the longest I've ever rowed but should I be targeting a slower time for the longer steady state rows?

Week 4 Row 3


Week 5 Row 1

[SowfLondonRower]

Hi everyone. Newbie here, started the BPP last week and just found this forum/thread.

I'm new to rowing and haven't done any serious sustained exercise since I was about 16. 26 now, 6'2" and 104kg so a bit out of shape. Aim is to get a good level of overall fitness, not massively worried about losing loads of weight as long as some flab turns to muscle.

First 5k row was 24.20, so about 2.26 split.
6x500m (1min rest) I averaged a 2.10 split [both of these were with the damper at 10 - told you I was new to this...]
Second 5k, I improved my technique and pulled a 21.51, so a 2.11 split.

5.5k yesterday, kept to a 2.11 split, and felt OK.

I like to set myself targets to work towards, so I was thinking that a sub-21min 5k would be a good aim. Is that too quick, do you think, or will it be manageable?

Thanks for all the tips I've already picked up off here!

[mdpfirrman]

@ Rob - welcome! Glad that you found us and that you haven't found reading about a bunch of people pulling a chain isn't too boring for you! Would love to hear about your workouts. Ray is just finishing the BPP and Tracy isn't too far out ahead of you on the plan, so it's a good time to start and post your workouts. As for pace, I'm a firm believer in goals but you need a bit more time to come up with a benchmark. If you did a 2:11 in only your second row, I have a feeling that you'll do well soon. I'd just work on completing the first few weeks of the plan and have that as a simple goal. I read something that really convinced me about goals a year or so ago -- work on one thing at a time. Only one thing. People that do that have like an 80% chance of success. Once you master that and build a habit, work on your next thing. You've just taken on one major habit -- working out again, which is fantastic. Just work on being consistent with that for 6/7 weeks, then your pacing/time goals will become a lot clearer to you. Just don't push too hard in the beginning, it's a long plan and the plan expects you to slowly build momentum and pace. I've seen too many get frustrated on it and disappear if they start out too hard and can't improve down the road. Just work on consistency and form as well as completion.

@ Tracy - it's just gradual improvements. Sometimes they are not as noticeable but you're doing better already than when you started. It takes around 12 weeks to build an aerobic base. I wouldn't look to too significant of changes right away. You'll get there.

@ Ray - glad your back on track. Looking forward to seeing you do the full PP.

Was hoping to continue on the 5K PP this week but couldn't row Thursday or Friday with the carpet guys here. Then, I tweaked my lower back a bit bringing stuff back in place lifting a heavy box with terrible form -- my fault. Not terribly painful but enough that I took yesterday off after rowing Sunday. It was still bothering me quite a bit. Just got done with a slower 10K today (around 2:12/2:13 pace). I'm going to start back up on the 5K PP on Sunday of this week. My daughter is leaving town that day but I should be able to get in a row.

[RayOfSunshine]

Hi everyone. Newbie here, started the BPP last week and just found this forum/thread.

I'm new to rowing and haven't done any serious sustained exercise since I was about 16. 26 now, 6'2" and 104kg so a bit out of shape. Aim is to get a good level of overall fitness, not massively worried about losing loads of weight as long as some flab turns to muscle.

First 5k row was 24.20, so about 2.26 split.
6x500m (1min rest) I averaged a 2.10 split [both of these were with the damper at 10 - told you I was new to this...]
Second 5k, I improved my technique and pulled a 21.51, so a 2.11 split.

5.5k yesterday, kept to a 2.11 split, and felt OK.

I like to set myself targets to work towards, so I was thinking that a sub-21min 5k would be a good aim. Is that too quick, do you think, or will it be manageable?

Thanks for all the tips I've already picked up off here!

Welcome Rob!

What time frame do you have for hitting the sub-21? It's hard for me to gauge your capabilities since I don't know your history, but I can share my experience on the 10k. I set a stretch goal of hitting a sub 40 10k this season. I bought my C2 in late November. My 10k times since then are below.

Distance Time Pace Date
10,000m 49:09.9 02:27.5 11/29/2017
10,000m 44:59.0 02:14.9 2/21/2018
10,000m 44:34.0 02:13.7 3/2/2018
10,000m 43:58.8 02:11.9 3/3/2018
10,000m 42:57.3 02:08.8 3/5/2018
10,000m 42:21.5 02:07.0 3/25/2018
10,000m 41:50.5 02:05.5 4/14/2018
10,000m 41:09.6 02:03.4 5/30/2018

Today for me was BPP 22.4

[SowfLondonRower]

@ mike - thanks. I think you're right, I maybe need to focus a bit less on splits and more on making it a habit to put in the hours on the erg.

@ ray - cheers for the welcome. I was going to say 12 weeks as a halfway goal for the BPP but maybe that's too much too quick. Congrats on the 10k times, they're heading in the right direction alright

[Bloodbuzz Corio]

Rob,

Welcome to the board! I'm not active in this particular thread - though did have many great exchanges with Mike and others when I was doing the PP a couple of years ago.

I'd echo the thoughts of not being too worried about a specific target at this time - I think one of the great things about any of the varieties of the PP (be it Beginner, 5k or the the straight up PP) is the evidence of sensible progress delivered by the structure (repeating the same workout at suitable intervals).

Definitely worth watching some of the technique videos on the c2 website if you haven't already - but I just think sticking to the BPP and the advice on how hard to push it Pete has included there should give you a great sense of achievement.

[m06w41]

Welcome aboard Rob!

...and thanks Mike. I'll keep plugging away, wasn't too such how hard to push. Seems to be more about getting meters at the moment consistently and maybe there's some underlying improvement in fitness but I WANT MOAR!

[Dangerscouse]

Rob, sub 21 mins doesn't sound too optimistic if you have already pulled a 21:51. For the first couple of months you will probably keep improving and then plateau. I would aim for it, but don't let it get you down if you don't do it just yet.

Be patient as the best way to get better on the erg is to erg. Also don't worry about other people's times some of us have been erging for years

[mitchel674]

Be patient as the best way to get better on the erg is to erg. Also don't worry about other people's times some of us have been erging for years

Great advice! The best part of the Pete Plans is that you really only compete against yourself and your own times. That's really the best motivation.

Welcome new rowers! I feel like one of the oldsters after rowing seriously for the past 9 months. The BPP got me hooked.

[mdpfirrman]

Today did the first interval workout from the 12 week 5K PP. That's the one I tried a few weeks ago to modify (and do KB swings in between) that went South in a hurry. Today, I did the workout to the letter. Back was feeling a bit better and I didn't try to lift and row at the same time, which for me, isn't possible right now.

It's a 12 X 500m/1'. That one minute rest with 12 intervals is pretty brutal. My pace on the 8 X 500m in the full PP (with 3:30 rest) is around a 1:48, so just to have some point of comparison. You lose a lot of speed doing this many with little rest, so you have to manage the pace a bit more or risk crashing and burning. I think this was about right for me.

@Rohan/Stu/Mitchel -- thanks for popping in!

23:00.0
6,000m
1:55.0
28

1:55.2
500m
29

1:56.4
500m
28

1:56.5
500m
28

1:56.8
500m
28

1:54.8
500m
29

1:54.8
500m
28

1:54.1
500m
29

1:53.8
500m
29

1:53.1
500m
29

1:55.1
500m
28

1:55.4
500m
29

1:54.0
500m
29

[bob.haffner]

@Rob, welcome!

@Mike nice work! 12 x 500m with a min rest sounds tough!


I started Cycle 3, Week 1 of PP tonight.

The 8 x 500m. The target was 1:45 based on forum feedback on the last cycle

2018-06-10------2018-07-01------2018-07-25
01:54.9----------01:51.2----------01:45.7
01:54.2----------01:50.2----------01:45.4
01:52.3----------01:50.0----------01:45.9
01:55.2----------01:50.7----------01:45.4
01:54.7----------01:48.1----------01:45.2
01:53.4----------01:48.1----------01:46.0
01:52.6----------01:48.2----------01:44.4
01:41.3----------01:30.2----------01:34.5

Avg
01:52.3----------01:47.0----------01:44.0

[jackarabit]

Thinking man’s 12x on 1’, Mike. Rock solid!

[RayOfSunshine]

@Mike 12?!? x 500 1r, sounds painful

Bob you smoked that final interval. Was the target a little soft?

BPP 22.5 5x800 2r
Target 2:02 (1:56.3 before adjusting for altitude) for the 1st 4, all out on 5. I'm still dizzy. The altitude adjustment seems to have been dead on. I can't wait to see what I do back at sea level in September.

[mdpfirrman]

@ Jack - thanks Jack! I appreciate it, just plugging away like you!

@ Bob - that was solid! Nice work on that last rep. Just the fact you had that huge of a drop indicates that you still have room for improvement. When that tapers out and is flat, you know you're likely ready to test and gained about as much as you can from the PP for now. I'm starting to think that, certainly a 6:40 or so is within your reach this year, 6:30 would be a wow!

@ Ray - You're scaring me about the altitude. I'm planning on moving to AZ next year, South of Tucson. Where we are looking is a higher elevation. I'm worried now my times will go to hell! I suppose that's OK if I race closer to sea level! Train in the mountains and race in either San Diego or in Phoenix (indoors). Last year in Phoenix had a former Silver medalist racing in the 50 to 55 group (he posted around a 6:49 so likely he isn't training hard!).