If you talk to any elite athlete, they rarely ever practice the complete all-out race, or all-out jump or all-out sprint in their selected discipline until they get closer to competition. Most disciplined athletes spend most of their time practicing the different sections of the race, their approach, their technique, and most importantly, practice visualizing their goal. In preparation for a 2000m piece on the C2, I have very rarely willingly put myself through not just the physical pain, but more so the mental stress of an all out 2000 meter practice piece. It makes me sick just thinking about it, actually. A much more palatable way to prepare for your 2000m goal time is to do intervals. As CrossFitters, we are very familiar with intervals, so this should be easy.[break]
As Judy said below think out a race plan. If you’ve ever been on a C2 before, you’ve noticed it’s sometimes very hard to hold the same 500m split pace every stroke, especially when you are going hard. The average of your 500 meter splits will help you keep track of how close to pace you are for your given goal time. (Refer to Judy’s blog for a good explanation of split, avg split, time, etc. on a C2 monitor.) For example if my goal 2000m time is 8:00, and if I have an average 500m split of 2:00.0 at 1000 meters in, you could say I’m pretty much on pace to finish at 8:00. But holding exactly a 2:00.0 the whole 2000 meters can get pretty hard and frankly, pretty boring.
The typical elite rower approaches the 2000 meter piece in four different sections: first 500 meters, second 500 meters, third 500 meters, and fourth 500 meters. In each of the 500m he/she has an idea for what their average split (section on the screen that reads avg/500m) should be in order to get to finish in their goal time.
The first 500m—Go out hard for the first 10 to 20 strokes and settle into a rhythm. Most rowers usually average one or two seconds below their 500 meter split goal in this first 500 (for example, 1:58 avg. 500 m for a 8:00 2k goal) due to adrenaline and fresh legs. (Be forewarned, you may feel like God in the first 500 meters and try to hold 5–10 seconds below your average split goal, but you will most likely will feel like a turd on wheels come the third 500).
The second 500m—Settle into a good rhythm and try to hit your target 500m goal split. If your goal 2k time is 8:00 then you should be seeing 2:00, 1:59, or even some 2:01’s flash up on the 500 meter split screen. The goal in the middle 1000 meters of the race (second 500m and third 500m) is to be consistent and find a hard but sustainable pace to hold.
The third 500m—This is usually when you start to feel the pain train coming in. The third 500m in a 2000m race is usually the deciding piece of the race. I’ve found that if you hold your split pace consistently in this part of the race, you will most likely gain on your opponents; most people fall below their average goal pace in this 500m, because it hurts the most. You are too far in to stop and not close enough to the end to sprint. It is mentally the hardest part of the race but if you can recognize that ahead of time and prepare yourself to stay strong and focus on seeing your goal split numbers, I guarantee you will have a successful piece.
The fourth 500m—You are in the homestretch! Now is a good time to look at your average 500 meter split and see how close to pace you are and also do a little gut check to see how much left you have in the tank. If you are feeling pretty good and you are on or below your goal average split, then push yourself. You only have about two minutes left, so see how low you can get the numbers. If you are hanging on by a thread and your average 500m split is close or right at your goal then just focus on being steady and consistent and pulling your goal split. If you are hanging on by a thread and your average split is above your goal pace (you are going slower than your goal) well then now is the time to suck it up and push yourself past your limits. As I said before you only have about two minutes left and you can do anything in two minutes. Some people do a whole entire Fran workout in two minutes! That could actually be good motivation—at least you aren’t doing Fran right now. Sometimes in the last 500m, I count strokes. I’ll say to myself, I can hold this number for 10 strokes and just concentrate on holding my split for 10 strokes over and over until I am done. Which brings me to the last 250 meters in the fourth 500m. You now, most likely, have less than a minute left and now is the time to go as hard as you can. Remember, the faster and harder you row, the sooner the pain is over!
Practice holding your goal splits in a workout such as 8 x 500m w/ 3’rest. Row pieces one and two like your first 500, pieces three and four like your second 500, five and six like the third 500 and pieces seven and eight like your last 500m in a 2000 meter piece.
Good luck and happy training!
