5000m hard

21:00.5
2:06.0 average split
25 s/m

Time	Meter	Split	s/m
4:12.4	1000	2:06.2	26
4:12.4	2000	2:06.2	25
4:11.7	3000	2:05.8	26
4:13.0	4000	2:06.5	26
4:11.2	5000	2:05.6	26

Still on the mark for dropping 2 seconds every week.  Next week, I only need to drop 1.2 seconds and I'll still be on pace for 6 seconds down in 3 weeks.

My goal split was a 2:08.  What that means is that I go out comfortably, but when I feel that I'm getting ahead of myself, I'll lighten up until I'm at the goal split.  The 4000m split was me not feeling so great and lightening up to 2:08 more often know that the last 1500-1000 would have to be my fastest.  I understand that my time probably would have been better if it'd just stayed at the 2:05.8 split for the rest of the piece, but it's a mind game.

9000m easy

43:56.2
2:26.4 average split
21 s/m

Time	Meter	Split	s/m
9:47.0	2000	2:26.7	21
9:40.5	4000	2:25.1	22
9:53.2	6000	2:28.3	22
9:49.4	8000	2:27.3	22
4:46.0	9000	2:23.0	22

Rowed straight through.  Took it really easy because my lower-right back has been tight the past 2 days.

3k, 2.5k, 2k/5:00r

46:25.2 Total time

31:25.2
2:05.6 average split
27 s/m

Time	Meter	Split	s/m
12:37.9	3000	2:06.3	27
10:30.7	2500	2:06.1	27
8:16.5	2000	2:04.1	27

Felt like a good workout.  My goal split was a 2:08.  The first one was fast, but I felt like my heart rate went up when I tried to slow down.  The last one I went out at a 2:06 for the first 500, tried to settle to 2:08 for the second 500, and then tried to hold 2:06 for the next 500, and drop whatever time I could in the last 500.

When I'm finishing a piece, I feel like I can't control my body and my body steadily brings up the rate and drops the split.  Not a bad thing, but it's weird.  I used to really reserve until a distance remaining I knew was comfortable for me to sprint.  Now, it's like I start bringing it up really early, but do it incrementally enough that it doesn't matter that it's so early.

8000m easy

37:55.3
2:22.2 average split
21 s/m

Time	Meter	Split	s/m
9:24.8	2000	2:21.2	22
9:25.9	4000	2:21.4	21
9:15.3	6000	2:18.8	22
9:49.3	8000	2:27.3	21

Water at 5,000m and 2,000m.
Low-10 at 750m remaining.
Struggling to take it easy.  Let up on the last 2k.

4x1000m/5:00r

16:12.5
2:01.5 average split
29 s/m

Time	Split	s/m
4:07.9	2:03.9	30
4:06.3	2:03.1	29
4:03.3	2:01.6	29
3:55.9	1:57.5	30

I was aiming off of my best 5k time which was from Friday @ 2:08.6.  Hard to believe, right?  2:08 turned into keeping it around 2:06 and under.

7:30 2k is a 1:52.5.  That's my interim goal.  I have to work hard.

Soon.

8000m easy

38:46.5
2:25.4 ave /500m
22 s/m

Time	Meter	Split	s/m
9:45.3	2000	2:26.3	22
9:22.2	4000	2:20.5	23
10:03.5	6000	2:30.8	22
9:35.5	8000	2:23.8	22

Had to force myself to slow down at the end by taking two low-10's in the last 1000m.  It's hard to keep it easy when you know that the harder you pull, the sooner you can get off.  I took a short break for water around 3500m remaining (4500m down).

5000m hard

21:26.8
2:08.6 ave split
26 s/m

Time	Meter	Split	s/m
4:19.6	1000	2:09.8	27
4:19.2	2000	2:09.6	26
4:18.9	3000	2:09.4	25
4:16.3	4000	2:08.1	26
4:12.9	5000	2:06.4	26

This piece was much better than my last 5000m hard piece.   The goal split was for 2:10 this time around.  My splits are much closer together than they were for the previous 5k.  That's good.  Consistency.  I did start to feel a little nauseous in the last 1000m.  Not so fun, but I held it together.

If I keep dropping 2 seconds a week in the 5k, it'll be 4 weeks until I'll be about to pull a 20 minute 5k again.  To get back to where I was (where a 20 minute 5k was just a sold piece and only 1/3 of a workout) it'll probably be another 4 weeks.  I figure if I can pull a 1:54 split for a 5k, that'll be around where I was.  That's a 19 minute 5k.  If I can pull a 1:54 5k, can a pull a 1:45 2k?

This piece was done in the morning after 5 hours of sleep.

8000m easy

38:56.4
2:26.0 ave /500m
21 s/m

Time	Meter	Split	s/m
9:54.7	2000	2:28.6	21
9:32.5	4000	2:23.1	22
9:54.8	6000	2:28.7	22
9:34.5	8000	2:13.6	22

Only one 16 s/m low-10.  Really focusing on hanging with the arms and breaking down the parts of the stroke.  I've got an ugly mish-mash going on that makes me "feel" fluid when really my stroke is weak and I'm not using my legs enough.

4x2000m/5:00r

34:17.8
2:08.6 average split
27 average s/m

Time	Meter	Split	s/m
8:35.5	2000	2:08.8	27
8:38.2	4000	2:09.5	27
8:36.5	6000	2:09.1	27
8:27.5	7000	2:06.8	28

My goal split was a 2:10.  2k's are long.  My time's are slow.  Only thing to do is to keep rowing.

I really took too much of it with my arms.  I need to relearn how to hang. 

7000m easy

33:00.9
2:21.4 ave /500m
22 s/m

Time	Meter	Split	s/m
9:29.2	2000	2:22.3	23
9:22.7	4000	2:20.6	22
9:36.3	6000	2:24.0	22
4:32.6	7000	2:16.3	24

Only two 16 s/m low-10's.

250m, 500m, 750m, 1000m, 750m, 500m, 250m / 1min30r/250m

Total time: 40:18.3

16:18.3
2:02.2 average split
30 s/m

Time	Meter	Split	Rate
1:03.5	250	2:07.0	30
2:06.8	500	2:06.8	28
3:09.5	750	2:06.3	28
4:09.7	1000	2:04.8	28
2:58.9	750	1:59.2	30
1:56.1	500	1:56.1	32
0:53.8	250	1:47.6	36

Starting goal time was a 2:08, based off of my last 5k

7000m easy

33:30.5
2:23.6 ave /500m
20 s/m

Time	Meter	Split	s/m
9:21.6	2000	2:20.4	22
9:31.3	4000	2:22.8	21
9:42.0	6000	2:25.5	20
4:55.6	7000	2:27.8	19

Again, I aimed for a stroke rate of 22 s/m, but every 1000 meters I took 10-20 strokes at 16 or below.  The first four thousands I took 10 strokes at 16- and the last three thousands 20 strokes at 16-.

The biggest issue with my stroke is that my catch is full of movement.  Subsequently, my catch is weak and so is my drive.  Additionally, my reach sucks.  I mean, my reach is poor even when I'm moving at the catch to try and expand it.  It's really awful when I lock my body where it's supposed to be.  That being said, the shorter reach is actually a better stroke for me and my split drops.  All in all, I should put more emphasis on stretching before and after workouts in order to increase my flexibility for a better reach before my legs start to come up on the recovery.  After that, no upper body movement!

5000m hard

21:48.7
2:10.8 ave split
26 s/m

Time	Meter	Split	s/m
4:28.1	1000	2:14.0	26
4:29.6	2000	2:14.8	26
4:25.3	3000	2:12.6	26
4:15.9	4000	2:07.9	27
4:09.9	5000	2:04.9	27

Slow start :x.  Better finish.  =/

7000m easy

33:37.3
2:24.0 ave /500m
20 s/m

Time	Meter	Split	s/m
9:26.0	2000	2:21.5	21
9:36.0	4000	2:24.0	20
9:42.7	6000	2:25.6	20
4:52.5	7000	2:26.2	21

I aimed for a stroke rate of 22 s/m, but every 1000 meters I took 10-20 strokes at 16 or below. While this seems really slow, it really cuts out a big chunk of the first 500m of a new 1000m and I feel really smooth when I bring the rate back up to 22 or 24 after those 10 or 20 strokes.

5x1500m/5:00r

32:13.5
2:08.9 ave /500m
26 s/m

Time	Split	s/m
6:27.3	2:09.1	25
6:32.4	2:10.8	25
6:32.8	2:10.9	26
6:33.3	2:11.1	26
6:07.6	2:02.5	31

The last one felt good in the sense that I steadily dropped my split and increased my rate while maintaining a feeling of solidness.

Elliptical

Busy day today.  Home inspection + moving to parents for a week to house sit.  We didn't have time to grab the erg...it didn't fit in our car.

So, I did the next best thing I could think of: 30 minutes on the elliptical keeping my heart rate at 140.

8x500m/3:30r

16:23.3
2:02.9 ave split
28 s/m

Split	s/m
2:02.0	28
2:04.7	26
2:05.5	27
2:05.2	26
2:05.1	28
2:04.7	27
2:00.4	30
1:55.6	32

After the first six, I decided that this was not what a hard workout was supposed to feel like.  While I'm wary of my endurance, I think I took it too easy.  I was sore the next day and everything, but I know that I should have gone faster.

5000m easy/medium

23:18.4
2:19.8 ave /500m
19 s/m

Time	Meter	Split	s/m
4:26.7	1000	2:13.3	22
4:29.5	2000	2:14.7	20
4:40.9	3000	2:20.4	19
4:56.5	4000	2:28.2	17
4:44.7	5000	2:22.3	18

The Pete Plan recommends a stroke rate of somewhere between 22 and 25. I aimed for 22 s/m, but every 1000m I took 10 strokes at 16 s/m or below.

Rate ladder

26, 30, 34, 38, (34, 30, 26), 1 min x 1 min

After thinking about how I needed to do some serious rate work in order to bring my 2k time down, I tried to do this workout this morning. The plan is to do a longer piece later today, take tomorrow off, and then start The Pete Plan tomorrow.

Average Split	Average s/m	Goal s/m
2:00.0	29	26
1:53.2	31	30
1:48.3	34	34
2 extra minutes off, reduced drag to lowest level
1:51.5	36	38
Stopped workout in the middle of the 34 goal piece

As you can see, I didn't make it back down the pyramid, even with the drag reduction. At least I can say that I'm still on top, right?

Anyway, I'll probably repeat this workout and we'll be able to see the progress I make.

Return

After four years of doing no real training, I have a goal. Break 7:00 minutes in the 2k again within the next 2-3 months.

I've gone from a junior in college to a husband and father. We'll see if I can meet this goal. My wife and I just purchased a new Concept2 Model D. I'll be following The Pete Plan because The Wolverine Plan is a little too intense for me at this point. Ha! There were days that I couldn't imagine a training plan that was too intense.

First 2k in a long time. First real exercise in months. I had to get a base time.

8:06.4

2:01.6 average

25 s/m average

Obviously, the time needs to come down. Non-obviously, I hope to bring that stroke rate up to a 32. Maybe this will call for a little speed work in addition to The Pete Plan in order to bring up that rate...