That's a great idea. I went with my last schedule because I didn't want to do 2 SS days in a row, but perhaps that's the way to go. Alternative schedule:

TR/UT2/UT2/off
ranking/UT2/UT1/off
AT/UT2/UT2/off
UT1/UT2/UT2/off

This way I'm fresh for 4 out of the 5 hard sessions. I could do a shorter UT2 on the 2nd day, and then a longer one on the 3rd day. I like it. As I started this post, this was a maybe, but I'm already convinced!

I also spend way too much time thinking about how many intervals to do (4x4500 vs 5x3600, etc). So maybe it's time to just start doing these by time. 60',75', and 90' seems sensible for now. 3x20, 3x25, and 3x30. And retain flexibility by increasing/decreasing the time depending on how I'm feeling. I really like it! I was getting pretty bored with 15-18k all the time. Now it will be approximately 13, 16, and 19k. 13 will seem easy and 19 will seem hard.

Updated plan with planned UT2 times that can change:
TR/60/75/off
ranking/75*/UT1/off
AT/60/75/off
UT1/60/90/off

* The one after ranking will be 60 if it was a longer ranking distance and 75 if it was shorter.

One nice thing about doing time is, as per Gardner, the counter stops when you stop, so you can stop for 15 seconds for a quick drink without it messing up your splits. I generally stop two to three times for a drink (three today, because I was tired and forgot to turn the AC down before I started), and a few hard strokes gets your pace back to where it was.

WP - C3D6

10000m - Level 3
43:06.8 10,000m 2:09.3 162 856 23 174

8:36.8 2,000m 2:09.2 162 858 22 164
8:34.8 4,000m 2:08.7 164 865 23 172
8:37.9 6,000m 2:09.4 161 854 23 177
8:41.5 8,000m 2:10.3 158 843 23 178
8:35.8 10,000m 2:08.9 163 861 24 183



I've done my rotation of 3 level 3 workouts twice now and all 3 of them have become worse the second time round. Today was again unbearably hot. I set a heart rate cap of 180 and slowed down once it reached near that. I sprinted a little in the last 400m, if not my ending HR would have been bang on 180.

There are 2 possible reasons why I'm having so many worse rows now - heat and overtraining. It's possible I need a deload week, but given how hot it is here, I'm leaning towards that. Today is the last day of the heat, so I'm just going to keep chugging along and hope it gets better. I might do a deload week at the end of this cycle anyway.

SSfDT - D11

6 Giant Sets:
Weighted Pistol Squats (7.5kg): 2 x (4,5,9) RPE: 8
Strict HSPU: 2 x (3,5,8) RPE: 9
Weighted Pull ups (16kg) : 2 x (1,3,4) RPE: 9

I increased pistol reps, they got really hard. 18 reps in a set is starting to become cardio. I might lower the reps and do paused pistol squats. The jump to 15kg is a bit too much.

I like this new schedule of hard/easy/hard/off with weights

Day 1 - hard row, weights
Day 2 - easy row
Day 3 - longer row, simple and sinister
Day 4 - off

WP - C3D7

3x20:00/1:00r
1:00:00.0 13,253m 2:15.8 140 780 20 157

20:00.0 4,395m 2:16.5 138 773 20 152
20:00.0 4,414m 2:15.9 139 779 20 159
20:00.0 4,443m 2:15.0 142 789 20 159

Fastest steady state ever by an entire second! And with heart rate well under control. The heat wave finally ended and I knew before I started that it would be a good day. It looks like the few bad rows were all down to the heat. Today's row is getting pretty close to my 10k PB pace from May of 2:14.7. I also tend to go faster as the rows go on without HR creeping up on a good day. I think it's something to do with form. I really concentrate on using my legs as the row goes on.

90 minutes up tomorrow, I'm going to go quite a bit slower than today.

I got a haircut after 5 months yesterday, finally look respectable again. I can work from home everyday, but I plan on going into the office today, it will be a nice change of pace. The next step is the gym, but I'm not quite ready to give up the rowing gains yet.

WP - C3D8

3x30:00/1:00r
1:30:00.0 19,587m 2:17.8 134 759 20 154

30:00.0 6,479m 2:18.9 131 749 20 152
30:00.0 6,519m 2:18.0 133 757 20 154
30:00.0 6,590m 2:16.5 137 772 20 155

New WR distance row. It was pretty great. My heart rate did not go above 155 (average 150), which is pretty insane. It's my lowest ever HR for steady state. My back started hurting in the middle of the 2nd interval and I knew I had to change something because I had 45 minutes to go. I went back to my old stroke (slouched over, long and no zip). The back pain went away, but the force curve looked awful. I then did a hybrid. I went back to the new stroke (shorter and more powerful), but I relaxed my back a little. Voila - no back pain and force curve great. So I basically tried to stop having great posture, and my back pain went away. Whatever works, I guess.

I'm liking going by time instead of distance for steady state. It's just something new to change things up. Given the sudden boost in my rowing without the heat, I think I have a 7500m 30 minute in me. I'll save it for cycle 5.

Great row, and nice distance!

Re: back pain, I've been a little stiff this week as I've been trying to make similar improvements (although mine is a bit of hip tightness too); I think it's just going to take time to ingrain proper form and strengthen the necessary muscles to hold up for long steady states.

Thanks!

Yeah, I completely agree regarding back pain. That's the only reason why I set up my steady state workouts with a predefined minute's rest. It forces me to take a break without having to think about when. That seems to help my back a lot and there is very little harm to the workout. If I just row'd like you, my breaks would be more open to judgement, which would end badly for me.

Awesome row that arjun, seriously impressive

Thanks ilms! Did you start rowing?

Yes mate, up to just over 90km for the month so far, hoping to get close to 200km total. Attempting to lose weight so really just sticking to slow, steady one hour-ish rows at the moment and focusing on trying to establish some reasonable technique

WP - C3D9

3k, 2.5k, 2k / 5min rest
29:36.2 7,500m 1:58.4 211 1025 26 185

11:54.4 3,000m 1:59.0 207 1013 26 182
9:52.4 2,500m 1:58.4 210 1024 26 186
7:49.5 2,000m 1:57.3 216 1044 27 187



I did something a bit different today, which I am going to do from here on out. I negative splitted each interval within the interval itself. My rough plan was -

3k - 1000@2:01, 1000@2:00, speed up
2.5k - 1000@2:00, 1000@1:59, speed up
2k - 667@2:00, 667@1:59, speed up

This lets me dial back if I'm having a bad day and it also minimises the suffering if I'm having a good day. I sped up in the first 2 intervals at the end, but not all out. The last 500m of the last interval was at 1:54ish and was pretty close to allout. But the real, true, suffering was almost contained to that bit.

That's another cycle complete of the long and short intervals. Smallest improvement was 2.0 seconds and biggest was 2.9 seconds, with an average of 2.5 seconds. The time between sessions was around 40 days. So it looks like an average of around 2 seconds per month, which is pretty nice. It's exactly 5 months since I started Pete's Plan and the average improvement for all interval sessions is 10.8 seconds. That's still consistent with 2 seconds per month. I'd expect it to slow down though, so perhaps 1-1.5s is realistic now. Sub 7 in 2 months?


That's really good volume! I started at around 45k a week on Pete's Plan, but in hindsight I wish I would have fixed my technique first before doing it. However, I fixed my technique because I got so into Pete's Plan and was motivated to do it, so who knows. Keep doing what you're doing! And start that log!

I made charts. I is nerd.

Crossfit

On the 4:00 x 5 Rounds:
16 Dumbbell/Front Rack Lunges 20kg
21 Calorie Row
10 per arm DB Strict Press 22.5kg
9 Deadlifts 102.5kg

Scaled to 15kg press, and 60kg deadlifts and finished rounds between 2:40 and 3:10

2 Sets Not For Time:
20 Weighted Sit-ups 10kg
30 Hip Extensions
250m Row(Recovery Pace)

I finally succumbed and went back to my crossfit gym! Their safety procedures are pretty solid. Everyone has their own lane with squat rack, weights, there is cleaning between sessions. It felt safe. I was dreading doing my usual pistols/HSPU/pull ups, so it felt good to just show up and do whatever was told to me. I know that a linear strength program would be more beneficial to me, but I don't care at this point. I just want to switch off and lift some weights and save all my WIM for rowing.

The metcon was great. I would never have been able to finish each round in the past within 3 minutes, but rowing at 1100 cal/hour instead of 900 made all the difference. I didn't push myself too hard, but can already see all the cardio gains from rowing. It felt good to use a barbell after 5 months.

WP - C3D10

3x20:00/1:00r
1:00:00.0 13,257m 2:15.7 140 781 20 153

20:00.0 4,381m 2:16.9 136 768 20 149
20:00.0 4,417m 2:15.8 140 780 20 152
20:00.0 4,460m 2:14.5 144 794 20 158

Fastest steady state and lowest heart rate ever (average was 148). The heat going away has been a sudden boost to my gains. No deload needed. I did this 12 hours after crossfit and was a bit weary about back pain or DOMS, but there was nothing. Perhaps the DOMS is yet to set in or maybe all the pseudo-lifting I did at home was adequate. 60 minute steady state at this pace feels like a recovery row, which is nice. It was extremely pleasant. Drag factor was down to 89 and I was watching the force curve like a hawk. It gives instant feedback.

WP - C3D11

30r20
30:00.0 7,073m 2:07.2 170 884 20 168

05:00.0 1,170m 2:08.2 166 871 20 157
10:00.0 1,182m 2:06.9 171 889 20 163
15:00.0 1,180m 2:07.1 170 886 20 167
20:00.0 1,176m 2:07.5 169 880 20 172
25:00.0 1,177m 2:07.4 169 881 20 174
30:00.0 1,188m 2:06.2 174 898 20 179

This was my first ever 30r20 and I'm pleased with it. I finished on exactly 600 strokes. It's actually faster than my 10k UT1 in the heat. My back was a slight bother halfway through and I slouched over just a little. That seemed to help. I didn't suffer much at all, except for the back irritation. I should probably speed it up a little next time. It's going into my rotation of UT1 workouts (15x3/1r, 2x5000/7r, 10000, 30r20).

Cycle 3 is done and I'll start the slightly modified plan in a couple of days with the added UT2 and doing the hard sessions after my day off.

C1 - 141,125m, 14 days, 11 rows
C2 - 142,009m, 16 days, 11 rows
C3 - 139,286m, 15 days, 11 rows

I'm not too bothered about increasing the volume since I'm making good gains right now and I'm adding lifting/crossfit. Average steady state in C1 was 2:18.2/159HR. Average SS in C3 was 2:17.9/157HR, which includes the heat wave.

Nice work on the 30r20; I assume it wasn't too terrible? I can see it really sucking hard as a time trial, though.

Re: total volume, seems pretty reasonable to me - 70k per week is no joke, even without the extra CrossFit you're doing, and it's a huge increase (for both of us) since we started.

Yeah, it wasn't too bad. I can see how these are so beneficial to develop power in your stroke.

What I like about our plan/Pete's Plan is that it is a continuous plan without periodization (as opposed to say 2 months of base building, then a month of race prep). It's working for me for now and why fix it if it ain't broke? Since I'm able to recover fairly well from this, I figure I can add a little and see if I can handle it. I'm adding crossfit/weights 2-3 times a week, but removing my home gym routine. It should be harder on my body, but hopefully by not too much.

S&S - D15

2 Handed Swings: 16x10x2, 24x10x4, 16x10x4
Turkish Getup: 16x2, 24x4, 16x4

I had a decent amount of hamstring DOMS from deadlifts. In the past it used to be lower back DOMS, so I'm actually happy about it being in the hamstring. It was fine after I warmed up and I went through this session pretty fast. Day off tomorrow, then 8x500 and squats/bench/deadlifts on Friday!

WP - C4D1

8x500m/3:30r
14:11.6 4,000m 1:46.4 290 1298 34 181

1:45.3 500m 1:45.3 300 1331 34 174
1:44.4 500m 1:44.4 308 1358 35 178
1:44.6 500m 1:44.6 306 1352 35 181
1:45.0 500m 1:45.0 302 1340 35 182
1:45.3 500m 1:45.3 300 1331 36 184
1:47.0 500m 1:47.0 286 1283 34 182
1:48.5 500m 1:48.5 274 1243 34 183
1:51.5 500m 1:51.5 252 1168 32 181



I bonked and I bonked hard. I usually prepare pretty well mentally for intervals and have a solid contingent plan if I'm having a bad day. I didn't do that today and was actually really looking forward to it and smashing it. I thought I would start off at 1:45.5 and take it from there.

First interval was fine. I defintely went too fast on the second, but thought I would reign it in. I was playing golf at the end of the fourth interval - I was 7 under par at that stage with par being 1:45.0. I knew I was in trouble after the fifth interval, when I faded away in the last 100m trying to hold 1:45. My legs just didn't have it. I then thought I would be conservative and aim for 1:46 for the next, and legs gave way again. I aimed for 1:48 for the 7th and 1:50!!! for the 8th and legs gave way in both. The last 3 intervals were brutally difficult. I thought about calling it quits because there is no way those last 3-4 intervals have a positive training effect on me physically. But I am happy to get it done and I think mentally it is a good reminder to not get overconfident. I suffered perhaps more than the 2k race where I blew up, because each little interval was its own race where I blew up. It was awful, but I'll smash past 1:45 next time.

In hindsight, I should have started off at 1:46.5 and then sped up. I think I have the fitness for 1:45.5 for this session right now if I had started slower. Still 1.1 seconds quicker than last time! I'll take it for a proper blowup.

Ah, the Monte! I've patented that, especially on this session; not much to other than making a plan and sticking to it is a good idea. Making it a plan that's not totally stupid is where I tend to mess up.

Did the the heat have anything to do with it, do you think?

Haha!

No, I wish I could blame the weather, but it was ideal this morning. Maybe 18C.

Your recent rows (including today) have been really impressive. Do you think it's because of lengthening your stroke?

Thanks! I think it is the stroke lengthening; before I'd just be lazy and have a drive length centered around 1.15-1.18, which given my height is pretty weak. Getting it to around 1.27 made for some easy gains; just making sure to hinge at the catch and lean back just a bit more at the finish has helped.

Crossfit - Strength

Squat: 80x5x3
Bench Press: 60x5x3
Deadlift: 100x5

Our gym is running starting strength, so I thought why not? I'm going to go once or twice a week and just lift without being anal about a program. I had some weird knee pain when warming up with squats, but they went away. When I arched for bench with just the bar, my quads locked up. I then did a minimial arch and benched.

Besides that, everything was great. These weights were surprisingly easy. I'm pretty sure I could squat 2 plates for fahves right now. I think I've kept like 85% of my strength after 5 months without a barbell.

Ha, we had opposite problems. My length went to 1.3-1.33 which was because of overcompressing and too much layback. I'm trying to get it to around 1.24 and it feels so much better.

It's a balance for sure. I think 1.33 might be too much for me unless I'm perfectly positioned on the seat, which happens less often than it should (though I definitely have strokes in the 1.30 to 1.33 range from time to time). Unfortunately ErgData doesn't record drive length, so there's no way to get an idea of what my average is, but given I'm not pushing harder, it seems pretty clear where the improved pace is coming from. I'd guess I'm probably averaging 1.25 or so, which would be a fair bit longer. I'm more concerned about overcompressing at the catch than layback, since the rear of my erg is close enough to the wall that I can't go too far horizontal.

I think I'm just going to do a half marathon tomorrow; I'll program 21097 into the erg and make it a time trial, though I'll try and keep the RPE around 8 or so.