Indoor Rowing Comp

[greatcleanbooks]

I was wondering if there's any rowing beasts that can offer some advice on pacing for a just rowing competition I have on Sunday.

Recommendations on pace in /500m for each workout would be much appreciated as I have a tendency to just go balls out and blow up.

I am a decent rower with good endurance but I won't get a chance to practice these workouts which all happen within a 1 hour time slot...

The Workouts:

Workout A starts at the beginning of your hour heat slot:
4-minute row
Rest 2 minutes
3-minute row
Rest 2 minutes
2-minute row
Rest 2 minutes
1-minute row

Score is the total combined rowing distance in the 10 minutes. No rolling starts are allowed.

Workouts B+C start at the 25 minute mark of your 1 hour heat slot

Row for max distance in a 12-minute window. Athletes will receive one score for the total distance
covered in the 12-minute window (Workout C) but also receive a separate score for the distance covered in the first 3 minutes (Workout B).

Workout D starts at the 45 minute mark of your 1 hour heat slot

Row for max distance in a 1-minute window.

 

[eternityintheirhearts]

@greatcleanbooks Impossible to answer a specific pace because that depends on you.
Hopefully you have some time trial numbers.

Workout A I would suggest your 2k pace. Maybe start just over and then negative split by a second for each new interval.

Workout B and C you'd be probably average better if you don't try too hard for B.
Start just over 2k pace then probably drop to 5k pace. If you don't know a 5k then 2k + 2 sec dropping to 2k + 10. If you're feeling good with 3 min to go, try to drop 1 second off your split, reasses with 2 min to go and do it again if you can.

Workout D depends how you feel. If you can do it, it's full send. Shorten your stroke by not reaching as far forwards, get the stroke rate as high as you can. If you think you'd blow up before 35-40 seconds then don't go full send. Go like 9/10 and count your stroke in sets of 10. You're looking at about 40.
10 hard, 10 trying to stay long and breathe, 10 think about keeping your hands moving quick, then finish whatever is left as fast as you can.

If you're a crossfitter only, good rower with no 2k time, maybe assume you'd pull a 6:47. Which is holding around a 1:41.

Most important for A, B and C is aggressively stick to your plan no matter how good you feel to start.

 

[greatcleanbooks]

@eternityintheirhearts I appreciate this so much. 1:40 is my 2k pace you're spot on thank you!

 

[revelation2012]

@eternityintheirhearts Scoring for the event is critical, too. It may be wise to full send the 3 minutes to start B/C and then just recover and punt the 2nd score, depending on how scoring is compiled, weighting for wins, etc.

 

[eternityintheirhearts]

@revelation2012 It's a good way if you think you can win one. But, if you go this way, full send is a bad plan for 3 minutes. You'd be looking at about a 1k pace. For you I'd guess about 1:32-1:35.
Get it wrong and you'll blow up inside a minute and then tank both scores.

 

[alanaspapa]

@greatcleanbooks Pacing is very individual but as the other poster said, if you know some of your times, you can work backwards to figure out what will be best for you. I row quite a bit outside of CrossFit, usually 30-50 minutes a day, and this is how I would pace the workouts. My best 500m is 1:47, so you can use that to adjust to your times.

Workout A: I have actually done this workout! You have some nice rests but key is to not blow out on the 4 and 3 minute rows. I would do the 4 minute at about 1:59, 3 minute at 1:55, 2 at 1:50, and the 1 all out.

Workout B+C: I would focus on C here since I think focusing on B puts you at risk of blowing up. I would try to hit this at a pace where I can maintain about 25-27 strokes per minute. For me, that would be about 2:05. If I have some gas in the final minutes, I would try to push it to sub 2, but since I need about 32 strokes per minute to hit that pace, I want to save it since higher strokes per minute is tiring.

Workout D: This one is easy. Just let is all out. I would probably do a higher damper setting on this workout versus the others since it's the last one and it's short. I personally find for a short workout, a higher damper setting lets me out a lot of power in with a little bit lower strokes per minute, but it's not something I can maintain. But this is personal preference, of course.

If you are able to keep moving during the rests between workouts, some light walking, or preferably rowing, will help you stay warm, but also bring that heart rate down.

 

[greatcleanbooks]

@alanaspapa Again, I really appreciate this, thank you!

 

[drounak]

@greatcleanbooks Up at Rainhill? Good luck!

 

[polygonon]

@greatcleanbooks Here's my take, 2K PR is 6:24

Workout A: I'd shoot for 1:42, 1:40, 1:35, then sprint last min.

Workout B+C: Go out hard for B at 1:32 - :35, once I cleared 3 min, throttle way back to 1:50-1:52 (this is my rest, catch breath pace) for 2-3 min, and pull down and establish a pace around 1:45. Basically hope to win B, and finish middle of pack for C.

Workout D: Sprint