Thanks for all the updates Mike. I can not afford (time-wise) the full blown WP and so select from it as I can to make the best out of what I can give. I took on an L4 session once a week July to Jan 2003 (w/ progression up the ladder etc) and however it gets weighed, it is an inextricable part of my PB's. These updates just made me question why I ever left. It's clear in my log I was making progress from someone who could not do L4 at all to finally settling comfortably at 18/20 sequences (no grunting). I never made it to mixing in the 22 spm elements, but would bet the reward would be proportional to the effort to get there.


--Jim

Mike,

Any thoughts on re-testing on the 2k to adjust my reference pace? I pulled a 7:14.9 in July after 1 month of 50k weeks and 1 month of 80-100k weeks while integrating WP elements.

Here's my average pace best efforts so far on the workouts:

8 x 500 - 1:39.4 on 9/26
4 x 1k - 1:46.0 on 9/19
L1 Pyramid - 1:45.4 on 9/12
4 x 2k - 1:53.2 on 9/15
5 x 1.5k - 1:51.6 on 9/29
L2 Pyramid - 1:52.9 on 9/22
L3 - 14k @ 2:01. I've been building 500m per week from 12k.

6k - 22:26.8 on 9/24
10k - 38:14.0 on 9/17
5k - 18:56.9 on 9/12

My goal was to get the 4x1k under 1:44 before attempting another 2k. The Sub-7 goal is tempting, but the bigger goal of being in the best shape possible for the rest of my life is the real goal. Should I try a 2k or wait for it to come up in the online fall race series in 9-10 weeks? Since I'm on an upswing in training and performance, how should I work in a new reference pace?

Thanks in advance.

Mike,

Thanks for the great elaboration on level 4 and answering so many questions.

Bill,

The WP & L4 work especially well for people with an established 2K history. For people who have reached a plateau and are looking to build a foundation on which to reach a higher peak, I think Level 4 training can be very helpful. But the trickiest thing about the Wolverine Plan is determining the correct Ref Pace for a novice, or someone with rapidly advancing fitness. For someone with an established training history, the procedure may simply be to start a training season with a Ref Pace one second faster than the previous year. In my own case, I’ve been working with the same Ref Pace for four years, but I’ve been making small progress by starting each season with a slightly higher volume and/or at a slightly higher average stroke rate (and therefore advancing farther by the end of the season).

You are in the position of someone whose fitness is improving at a rate that may be too great to be accommodated by a single Reference Pace. Your workouts indicate that you are getting close to a sub-7 2K. (BTW, to answer your question, I would wait the 8-10 weeks or so before attempting a full-out 2K. To break 7:00, I would suggest you can be pretty confident once your 4 x 1K gets to 1:45 or better; 1:44 would be great but I’m not aware of many people who can do 4 x 1K @ sub-2K pace. But I would also want your 4 x 2K to get down to 1:50 or better.) As for your Ref Pace, I don’t think you have mentioned what you are currently using. I would also want to know your weekly Level 4 volume (in minutes). Do the workouts you are doing now seem appropriately challenging (hard, but not TOO hard)? Given your current Level 4 workouts and formats, is there room to progress with the established L4 progressions for the next several weeks? If not, then you should readjust based on what you estimate your 2K to be based on your Level 1-2 training history. But if the workouts seem to be at the correct intensity, then just keep steadily building until this season is over and think about planning with more precision next year. For Levels 1-3, I propose guidelines for relationship between workout intensity and 2K pace. But I also encourage people not to become overly obsessed about the relationship (“If I pull x:xx for 2K, what should I pull for 4 x 1K, 10K, etc. etc.?”) The most important thing is to start where you can start and gradually, steadily, consistently build on that. Good luck!

Mike Caviston

Mike:

Thanks for the great information. I have a question on behalf of us folks that have jobs, families, marriages, and businesses that take priority (gasp) over rowing from time-to-time.

When using the Wolverine plan, and unable to stick to the strict schedule of 9 workouts each week, how should one plan the next workout after a missed day (or two)? Is it better to add an additional day of L4/L3 to kind of "make up" for missing a day and keep one's aerobic fitness as high as possible, or is it best to just go to the next workout as prescribed by the plan as if the day was not missed?

Also, with 9 workouts a week, there are two days (or maybe more with an "off" day each week) with double workouts without even considering weight work. How do you combine these rowing workouts? As in, L1 in AM, and L4 in PM? Or, L2 in AM, L3 in PM? Etc.

Sorry if this is a redundant question, or if it's been posted somewhere and I missed it.

Thanks again ... Mark

Mark,

Yes – you are being redundant, and the answers have been posted before. But that’s okay, I’m sure a lot of people missed it the first couple times around. I’ll revisit all your queries in the upcoming weeks. But I will point out that by no means does the Wolverine Plan have a “strict schedule of 9 workouts per week”, though I would recommend a minimum of 5 (I even wrote out a schedule once based on 4). I keep my weights sessions short (15-30’) and fit them in at the end of my rowing sessions. I don’t count them as separate workouts.

Mike Caviston

Mike,

I have started the WP three weeks ago at 4 workouts/week, with the objective of eventually doing 6 per week. I am also doing 6 x 2 hours of swimming with the varsity, so I use erging as cross-training. I have found that swimming and erging complement each other very nicely.
So far:
L1: 8 x 500m at 1:40.6 (brutal! especially on same day as "L1" swimming)
L1: 4 x 1000m at 1:44.8 (hard)
L2: 4 x 2000m at 1:50.2 (a lot easier than L1)
L3: 10K at 1:56 (easy)
L4: 176,172,176,172 at 1:43 reference pace, adding 4 strokes every workout and 2-4 minutes every week to reach 60 min. I find the last 10 minutes hard, eventhough HR is low (< 140).

I think that I have to work on strength since I have never been able to pull better than 1:36 for three consecutive strokes!

Objectives for this year: 2K: 6:45, 5K:17:30, 10K:36:10

Am I on the right path? Any comments would be greatly appreciated.

Regards

Mike:

Great, thanks. Sorry for the redundancy, I probably haven't searched the archives the right way to find the anwers!

I look forward to the next few weeks to pull together a WP schedule that works for me.

Warm regards, and thanks,

-- Mark

All -

A snip from a previous posting made by Mike about possible WP training schedules ... found this while I was looking for something else. I'm posting this as useful information and if you don't know the whole context of Mike and the WP topic it might leave you with other questions.

I would love Mike's thoughts on how he might change this now, based on what has been learned in the last year or two.

Enjoy ... JimR

(Below previously posted by Mike Caviston) ...

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
By far the most common question I get regarding the WP is something like, "Okay, I think I understand all this Level 1-2-3-4 business. But how the heck do I put it together into a weekly program? The Plan says something about 9 workouts a week, and I ain't doing that! So what gives?" Hey, the 9 per week is an ideal we've never really achieved at Michigan. Our team generally does 8 per week in season (that means during the fall and spring outdoor seasons, and includes 2 erg sessions along with 6 H2O workouts) and 6 erg sessions per week in the winter. I myself usually do 11 workouts per week for about half the year, and 7-9 per week the other half. At the lower end of the spectrum, I could see people making gains on 4 workouts per week. The first thing you need to do is decide how many workouts a week you will realistically commit to. A general rule is to always include a Level 1 workout and usually a Level 2, and then to supplement them with as much Level 3 & 4 as is practical or you are willing to do. Do them in roughly a ratio of twice as much Level 4 as Level 3. This refers to total meters more so than number of workouts. Now, bearing in mind the format can be flexible and these aren't carved in stone, here are some examples of possible plans using 4-8 session per week:

4 Workouts/Week: Day 1: Level 1 OR Level 2 (alternate each week)
Day 2: Level 4 (40')
Day 3: Level 3 (12K)
Day 4: Level 4 (60')
· Alternate the Level 1 or 2 workouts until about 4 weeks before your big race. Then, while keeping Level 1, replace the Level 3 or one of the Level 4s with Level 2.
· You might occasionally use an interval format rather than a continuous format for Level 3 or 4 (see the Wolverine Plan for details).

5 Workouts/Week: Day 1: Level 1
Day 2: Level 4 (40')
Day 3: Level 2
Day 4: Level 4 (60')
Day 5: Level 3 (12K)

6 Workouts/Week: Day 1: Level 1
Day 2: Level 4 (40')
Day3: Level 2
Day 4: Level 4 (4 x 10')
Day 5: Level 3 (15K)
Day 6: Level 4 (60')

7 Workouts/Week: Day 1, AM: Level 4 (40') Day 1, PM: Level 3 (10 x 3')
Day 2: Level 1
Day 3: Level 4 (2 x 40')
Day 4: Level 2
Day 5: Level 4 (4 x 10')
Day 6: Level 3 (12K)

8 Workouts/Week: Day 1, AM: Level 4 (40') Day 1, PM: Level 3 (12 x 3')
Day 2: Level 1
Day 3, AM: Level 4 (40') Day 3, PM: Level 4 (60')
Day 4: Level 2
Day 5: Level 4 (4 x 10')
Day 6: Level 3 (15K)
· If doing more than one Level 3 or more than 2 Level 4s per week, do one using the interval format on a regular basis.
· The amounts listed for Level 3 & 4 may need to be built gradually over several weeks.

So the general idea is to separate the high-intensity workouts with slower, more continuous workouts. It is possible to work hard on a daily basis within the framework of each type of workout by alternating workouts of different type. Level 1 doesn't have to be at the beginning of the week (I personally do mine in the middle of the week), but it's a good place if you need some extra recovery to be well rested and ready to perform at a high level. You may also periodically want to do time trials (such as a 95%-effort 2K or an all-out 6K) in place of the workout scheduled for the end of the week, and doing Level 1 early in the week allows you to recover without compromising your training. (Alternately, you may want to do a time trial at the beginning of the week, in place of the Level 1 workout, but I prefer not to go that route.)

A REGULAR FORMAT OR SCHEDULE IS KEY
It is very important to develop a schedule you are comfortable with and then stick to it as closely as possible over the duration of your training cycle. I don't think that the exact order of workouts is a crucial factor but keeping the workouts in the same order on a weekly basis is necessary to allow consistent and reproducible improvement. Occasionally something will come up and you will have to use your best judgement about what alterations to make, but do your best to keep your schedule as consistent as possible. I don't have a hard and fast rule about which workout(s) to toss if you know you can't complete an entire week, but a couple general rules would be: 1) drop Level 1 if you are far away from competition and drop Level 3 if you are close to competition; and 2) all other things being equal, the workout you struggle with most is the last one you should drop. One of our biggest challenges at Michigan (and I imagine for all college crews) is to maintain a consistent schedule despite multiple variables like competitions and the associated travel, seasonal changes, facility availability, exams, class schedules, holidays etc.

Jim:

Bellisimo! That's exactly what I was looking for.

Thanks & regards ... Mark

Creating Level 4 Workouts
Let’s assume that you are working with an appropriate Reference Pace. The next step is to figure out a target weekly volume and a starting average spm. I never start a training season with my final weekly volume. My weekly goal this year is 342’ per week, but I started at 266’ and am adding 6-10’ per week (and some weeks, no added minutes) till I reach my goal (10’ more to go at this point). Some years I’ve started with “only” about 200’ per week, but this summer I kept up a higher volume of training than usual for the off-season and was ready to start my program with more minutes than I have in the past. Now, for someone else, the weekly goal might be a single 60’ session, or a couple of 40’ sessions. So to begin, you need to decide how many minutes per week you’re shooting for, and how you are going to break them up throughout your training week.

Don’t forget that the main point of Level 4 training is to increase endurance by gradually and systematically covering more meters in a given time frame. Also, you want to develop the skills & concentration necessary to consistently hit your target rates and splits. You can also take advantage of the mental challenge of executing the workout to distract you from how long and difficult it may be. One of the things I love about Level 4 workouts is the chance to be creative and original in designing workouts. Some people complain about how structured and rigid the WP is (and in some ways, it is, for better or worse). But there are a wide variety of ways to reach a target number of strokes and meters in a given session. The choice of particular sequences and the order in which you put them give each workout a unique flavor and I find that after almost a decade of Level 4 training (doing more Level 4 minutes than anyone else in the history of rowing), I am still finding new things to try. Workouts can be more evenly paced (relative to other L4 workouts, that is), or radically uneven, or front-loaded, or fairly even but with a hard sequence at the end, or some unique challenge buried in the middle, or completely different rhythms for different sequences to maximize variety, or a gradual increase in intensity during the workout, steep climbs with sharp drops or slow steady up & down hills – it would be as if a cyclist could completely redesign the landscape to suit his purposes before every ride. It just takes a little imagination.

Each workout, and each training week, can be quantified by average spm. (E.g., 1104 strokes in 60’ = 18.4spm.) The training season should begin at about 18spm (give or take a couple tenths one way or the other.) You would generally keep the avg. spm constant early in the season until you reach your full volume of minutes over the next few weeks. That is, build from say 40’ to 60’ @ 18spm; once you reach 60’, begin to gradually increase the number of strokes for each 60’ session.

As an example, let’s say someone is going to increase from 30’ to 60’ for one of their weekly sessions. They might progress like this:
1st session, 30’: 176,178,180 = 534 strokes (avg. 17.8spm)
Assuming that went well, proceed to a longer session (if not, repeat session 1).
2nd session, 36’ (using 6’ sequences): 104,110,104,110,104,110 = 642 (17.8)
(Proceed to next session or repeat if necessary.)
3rd session, 40’: 176,178,178,180 = 712 (17.8)
(Proceed or repeat.)
4th session, 42’: 112^,104,110,104,110,104,110 = 748 (17.8)
5th session, 46’ (combination 10’ & 6’ sequences): 176,178,176,180,110 = 820 (17.8)
6th session, 50’: 176,176,186,176,176 = 890 (17.8)
7th session, 54’: 104,110,104,110,104,110,104,112^,104 = 962 (17.8)
8th session, 60’: 176,178,180,176,178,180 = 1068 (17.8)
Incidentally, someone with good general fitness who just needs practice developing their Level 4 skills might begin by doing shorter pieces with breaks, gradually fusing the workout into a continuous session (e.g., 3 x 20’, then 30’ + 20’ + 10’, or 24’ + 24’ + 12’, etc.) Now having reached a continuous 60’, add 4-6 strokes per week to each session.
9th session, 60’: 178,180,178,178,180,178 = 1072 (17.9)
10th session, 60’: 176,186,176,176,186,176 = 1076 (17.9)
11th session, 60’: 180,180,180,180,180,180 = 1080 (18)

The rate of increase would depend on how easily you tolerate each workout. Based on the Level 4 tables, calculate the goal for your workout in total meters. If you easily meet your goal, or exceed it without really trying, you can increase by more strokes per session. If you miss your goal, or struggle to reach it, you may choose to keep your number of strokes the same, or increase by a smaller amount, or even decrease if you think you need to make sure you have enough fitness before proceeding. My general rule of thumb is to increase by 1 stroke per 10’ per week (i.e., add 4 strokes to a 40’ session or 6 strokes to a 60’ session.) Add more or less in a given week as necessary (as many as 8 strokes for 60’). My goal, over the course of 20-30 weeks of training, is to build my average stroke rate up from around 18 to as close to 20 as I can get (I’ve only made it as far as 20spm myself once.) Two strokes per minute may not sound like much for a season’s work, but it results in several hundred more meters per hour (all done under controlled conditions).

Let’s look at another example of the WP’s variety, and see how many ways there are to construct a 60’ workout with 1116 strokes (an average of 18.6spm). Here are several examples using 10’ sequences (I won’t even bother with 6’ sequences, which would allow many more examples):
1) 186,186,186,186,186,186
2) 178,180,186,190,196,186
3) 180,190,180,190,186,190
4) 180,186,180,190,180,200
5) 184,186,188,188,186,184
6) 176,186,196,176,186,196
7) 186,178,186,188,192,186
8) 178,188,198,188,184,180
9) 176,188,188,188,188,188
10) 190,178,190,190,178,190
11) 180,184,186,188,188,190
These are all examples I have done or would do. Each includes the same number of strokes and would cover roughly the same number of meters (not exactly, because of rounding in various formulas used to calculate the totals). In my training plan I would consider each of these workouts to be equivalent to the others (number of strokes is the criteria), but (as Orwell might observe) some are more equal. Each workout or variation has a different feel. Each has its own unique challenges (being easier in some ways but harder in others). When I am building a workout from a previous session, sometimes I just change one sequence to add the number of strokes I want, but often I shake things up completely and do an entirely different format than what I’ve done recently, just to keep things interesting. My guidelines when designing a workout are to make sure that overall there is at least a variation of 4spm in the workout (lowest-highest), never increase rate more than 2 per shift (though I occasionally drop all the way from 24 to 16, which is an experience, I can tell you), and to generally make sure the workout is either symmetrical or that the second half is harder than the first. Still, occasionally I will make the first half harder by putting a particularly difficult sequence near the front.

Here are examples from my training this year. I’ve been doing two 60’ sessions every week, and adding strokes at a conservative pace of 2 strokes per session. Here is what I’ve done so far:
1) 178,186,178,188,178,188 (1096 strokes, 18.3spm)
2) 180,180,180,180,188,190 (1098, 18.3)
3) 104,110,116,104,110,116,104,110,110,116 (1100, 18.3)
4) 180,186,180,186,180,190 (1102, 18.4)
5) 178,186,188,188,186,176 (1104, 18.4)
6) 176,186,188,192,186,178 (1106, 18.4)
7) 178,188,188,188,188,178 (1108, 18.5)
8) 180,190,180,190,180,190 (1110, 18.5)
9) 110,110,110,110,110,116,110,110,110,116 (1112, 18.5)
10) 180,186,188,186,188,186 (1114, 18.6)
11) 188,186,186,186,186,184 (1116, 18.6)
12) 110,110,116,110,110,110,116,110,110,116 (1118, 18.6)
13) 186,188,186,186,188,186 (1120, 18.7)
14) 184,186,188,186,188,190 (1122, 18.7)
15) 110,110,116,110,110,116,110,116,110,116 (1124, 18.7)
16) 186, 186,186,196,186,186 (1126,18.8)
17) 178,188,198,178,188,198 (1128, 18.8)
18) 110,116,110,116,110,116,110,116,110,116 (1130, 18.8)
19) 186,188,186,196,186,190 (1132, 18.9)
20) 188,190,188,190,188,190 (1134, 18.9)
At this rate, I should be able to reach 20spm or more by Feb. and the CRASH-B. My meter total for the first workout was about 15,750 (1:54.3 pace), and I am approaching 16K per hour; I should finish the season at 16,300 meters or more (1:50.4), which is a pretty substantial increase in Watts (and multiplied over the 5 ½ hours of Level 4 work I do every week). As always, I am interested in improving slowly and steadily over the long haul, and I am not going to push things too hard too soon or try for sudden, rapid gains.

In my training journal, prior to each workout I list the sequences (186,188,190 etc.) as well as the projected meters for each sequence (according to the Level 4 tables for my Ref Pace). I also calculate the total projected meters for the workout. At the end of the workout I record actual meters for each sequence as well as the total. Ideally, the goal and actual would match perfectly. I can and in the past have gotten goal and actual to match perfectly or within a couple meters. However, aside from an occasional exercise in control, I usually use my goal paces (e.g., 16spm @ 1:59, 17spm @ 1:57, 18spm @ 1:55, etc.) as an outside limit, or the slowest I’ll let myself go. My “natural” paces at the slower rates (especially 16-17), or what feels most comfortable and automatic, is a bit faster than the prescribed paces. So I go a little faster at those rates. But my overall goal is consistency, so I keep track of the distances I cover for each sequence, and I want all the totals for any one sequence (e.g., 190) to all be within a couple meters of the other sequences with the same number of strokes. I want to keep relatively the same level of performance across the entire workout. I don’t want to be well ahead of my goal during one portion but behind on another. For my totals, I divide my actual meters by my projected (goal) meters, and use the quotient as an index of how successful the workout was. (Exactly 100% would mean I exactly matched my projected meters; a greater number means I exceeded my projected meters.) I refer to this quotient as my “%+” (percent plus) and based on my own personal history it should fall between .4 and .5 (i.e., my actual meters are typically about half a percent more than projected). For someone else the value may be different. I’m not saying there’s an optimal value; the idea is to be reasonably close to your projected goals and to be as consistent as possible across all workouts within the framework of your own training. If I’m really fatigued or it’s an exceptionally hot & humid day, I might barely reach my goal or even fall short. If conditions are optimum, I might exceed my goal by even more than usual – but I try to maintain the sensation of working no harder than usual. NOTE: one of the features of the WP is that it includes checks and balances to keep me from working too hard too often, or from trying to increase my pace or workload too rapidly – but I don’t necessarily clamp on the brakes completely if I’m feeling especially good. (You do eventually reach a stage where you wonder if you’ll ever feel that good again, and you want to take advantage of it…)

I have a set schedule (as everyone should who follows the WP) and do multiple Level 4 workouts per week. My current Level 4 schedule is Sunday – 2 x 40’; Monday – 40’ or 42’; Tuesday – 40’; Thursday AM – 4 x 10’ or 7 x 6’; Thursday PM – 60’; Saturday – 60’. I sit down before the week starts and plot out all my progressions for each workout for the week. I’ve tried different methods of balancing the paces for each workout (e.g, with some harder and some easier) but I’ve found it more productive to have a single base rate for the week. Based on my system of adding 2 strokes every time I do 60’, I calculate what the spm will be for Saturday’s workout (e.g., 18.6). I then work backward and calculate the number of strokes I need to do on Sunday (the beginning of my training week) to maintain the same average (e.g., 18.6spm x 80’ = 1488 total strokes on Sunday). The 2 x 40’ might feature two identical 40’ pieces, or two pieces with the same number of strokes but different sequences, or one piece with more strokes than the other (variety…) Then I calculate the strokes needed for the other sessions in the week and construct those workouts with the appropriate sequences. NOTE: Yes, this all takes some time spent planning & calculating (and also for the other WP training bands). I personally enjoy playing with the formats and crunching the numbers, but that is one of the things that turn some people off from the Wolverine Plan. (Maybe you can find a coach who will plan the workouts and crunch all the numbers for you.)

A final note about the 4 x 10’ workout (or its cousin, 7 x 6’). These are meant to be more advanced workouts for people doing a relatively high volume of Level 4 work (at least two continuous sessions and at least 100’ per week, and preferably more). The rule of thumb is to add 2spm to your continuous (base) rate, so if the base is 18.6 the 4 x 10’ becomes 20.6, which might be accomplished with something like 204,206,208,206. (The 4 x 10’ recovery is 3:20 and the 7 x 6’ recovery is 2:00.) These workouts do require more power than normal, but with the short duration and ample recovery they are generally well tolerated. But I stress again the purpose is primarily to get you familiar with the higher rates before you eventually incorporate them into continuous workouts. The goal is NOT to create a high-intensity power per stroke workout. However, I have heard of people who have made this the basis of their training and have ultimately paid the price (burnout, injury, etc.) If you are really working with the proper Ref Pace, the sequences at the higher end of the Level 4 tables are very tough indeed. My track record for reaching my goal with the 220 sequence (4’/3’/2’/1’ @ 20/22/24/26) is barely 50% over the past several years.

Hope this has been more help to those attempting to work with the Wolverine Plan. Let me know if I am forgetting to address any Level 4 issues or not making myself clear. Happy training.

Mike Caviston

I've read through the WP only about five or so times, but haven't yet spotted the definition of "^". What does that caret mean when you put it next to a number of strokes?

Look at the Level 4 Sequence Format table. You'll see that there are 2 sequences with 112 strokes. The 112^ sequence is an ascending sequence that increases the time and rate of each sub-sequence. (1 min @ 16SPM, 2 min @ 18, 3 min @ 20).

I believe the caret symbolizes the fact that they are pyramids. For instance for a 200^, you do 1' at 16spm, 2' at 18 spm, 3' at 20 spm and 4' at 22 spm. They all start easy and become increasingly hard!

I'd reserve the term pyramid for a sequence that both rises and falls. There are pyramid intervals for both level 1 and level 2. (I always thought pyramids were my swim coach's sick way of getting a lot of meters in while he went inside and kept warm during the long winter morning workouts).

Bill,

You are right! They are sequences with increasing time and rates.
To construct pyramids we would need to create new sequences that are mirror images of the existing ones. For instance, we could create a 180# consisting of 1'/2'/3'/4' @ 22/20/18/16. Doing a regular 180 followed by a 180# would give a 20' pyramid.

Mike,

Thanks for this guidance. I'm using 1:49 as my reference pace, and I'll do 200' this week. (Last week sucked for me and I only did 80'). I've been concerned about overstroking these, since my accuracy is just now starting to get close to my targets. I consistently go over the distances by about 30 meters and have now been hitting the total strokes per segment. The workouts do seem fairly easy, but I start to feel the fatigue after about 50'. I was doing 70' sessions and the last 10' really got the glutes and hamstrings going, but the HR was still not over 150. Unless you suggest a change, I'll continue to go through the L4 progressions with a 1:49 ref pace.

I'm pretty set on the L1 & L2 paces, since I've completed all of the workouts several times and have continued to increase the pace by at least 1 second every time. (I'm sure that will drop off eventually).

For L3 pace, I'm using 2:01 and am up to 14.5k as my long workout and am doing 15x3' at the same pace. Should I increase this pace or just keep at it and add distance. Again, the HR doesn't ever get to 150. (I do get up to about 175 for the max exertions on L1 workouts, so there's plenty of room to work with on this.)

I'm soaking up the L4 guidance you've put out so far. I just need to work with it more and see how the workouts go each time.

Thanks again.

hey mike

i just read your plan and really like what you have to say. obviously, you are an excellent example of the wolverine plan but your examples with the women's team are also noteworthy

i wanted to ask if you would share the "plan' with me? i am currently looking to go sub-7(masters women) in to make the indoor team and would like to get on a good plan. i followed the british concept 2 (interactive) training program and that was useful but it has its limitation

cheers

veronika platzer

Bill, it seems like you’re on the right track with your Level 4 training. One does get a better sense of the level of effort involved once consistency is mastered for stroke rates & paces. What is your current average stroke rate, or what are some L4 workouts you’ve done recently (i.e., which sequences)? As long as there are plenty of faster sequences to work through in the next several weeks, you’re in good shape.

Veronika, I’ll share the Wolverine Plan with anybody – even Cavaliers (or Buckeyes, or Huskies, etc.) If you’ve downloaded the original plan, plus the updated tables, and read all the comments I’ve written here – that’s pretty much everything. Expanding and clarifying all of that is a work in progress. Good luck, and if I can be of any help, I will.

Mike Caviston

Mike,

My average stroke rate has been 18. Last night's workout was 2x40' (180/184/180/184). I had jumped the gun a few weeks ago and was trying 184/188 etc. for a 2x40' and a 70', but I overstroked both workouts to get the meters. Backing off on the sequences and keeping the same reference pace has made the workouts easier.

Your earlier post on composing L4 workouts gives me a lot to consider in planning and executing this portion of my training. There's lots of room to improve in the sequences, so I'll just stick with this pace and keep moving up the sequences.

bump. this thread is too good to fade into obscurity.

Mike, we're waiting with bated breath for the next update, big guy!

D

Diesel,

Can you lay out your training for us? I'd be interested how you integrate the WP with lifting. In fact, I'd be interested in how most people lay out their WP training over the week.

Regards,

Sorry, guys. That pesky career gets in the way occasionally – I spent the weekend grading exams. In the next few days I’ll write about the concept of pacing while training (and racing), some strategies I’ve used, and some guidelines I’ve developed to get me through various workouts.

Regarding how others organize their WP workouts, I’m curious myself. I propose some do’s and don’ts when it comes to laying out a schedule, but there isn’t any absolute format. I’d like to see what other people do and why.

Mike Caviston

I use rowing as cross-training to my swimming. My workouts are as follows

Monday: 2.5 hours of swimming. L1 or L2 (alternating every week) + 30 min of weights and 15 min of stretching.
Tuesday: 2 hours of swimming. 40 min of L4
Wednesday: 2.5 hours of swimming. L3 (10 K now, plan to reach 15 K) + weights + stretching
Thursday: like Tuesday
Friday: like Wednesday
Saturday: One hour of swimming. 40 min of L4.
Sunday Rest!

MWF are demanding quality swim workouts. So Mondays are very hard, but I recover on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
WP seems to be quite effective since my average for the 4x2K L2 went from 1:50.2 to 1:48.3 within 4 weeks!

The Importance of Pacing
For endurance-based activities like rowing (and also cycling, swimming, running etc.), few things affect performance as much as pacing strategy and warm-up. This is confirmed by numerous published research articles as well as years of personal experience. Both are relatively simple and painless ways to gain an edge (as opposed to adding another session to your schedule, say, or unilaterally pulling every workout at a faster split). And yet both concepts are frequently ignored or outright rejected by athletes hoping to maximize performance (an attitude that has puzzled and frustrated me as a coach for years). I’ll discuss proper warm-up (longer and harder than your current method!) at a later date. This is about pacing strategy guidelines for training and racing.

“Pacing strategy” refers to the overall approach of regulating intensity over the duration of the session in reference to a goal. Three classic strategies would be even-split (hold the same pace from start to finish), negative-split (build intensity over the duration; finishing pace faster than starting pace), and fly-and-die (starting as fast as you can and holding on as long as possible before fading). Fly-and-die is just not a smart way to approach a race. It is usually employed by athletes who are inexperienced, who don’t have a realistic sense of their current abilities, or who allow themselves to be overwhelmed by the excitement of competition. The physiological consequence is to accelerate the accumulation of fatiguing metabolic byproducts of intense muscular contraction (LACT, NH3, K+, etc.), resulting in severe discomfort and the inability to hold the desired pace. [For amusement, you can sift through some of the stroke data available from such races as BIRC or WIRC and see some of the Big Fades that some people have had to suffer…] Of course, if you look you will find examples of people who start fast and fade and still win their race. That doesn’t prove they raced their fastest race. It just proves their abilities are far enough above their competition that they can win even with a less than optimal strategy. One example that springs to mind is Paul Henderschott, one of the most successful athletes in the history of indoor rowing and someone who exhibits incredible intensity during training and racing. Paul treats a 2K like it’s a 1K, and then hangs on as best he can at the end. When he’s asked my advice about how to knock a couple more seconds off his time, I always tell him to hold back at the start. But he just can’t do it. So he wins CRASH-B by 16 seconds rather than 20. For myself, I know quite well that some of my victories over the past few years have been due as much to good race tactics on my part (and bad tactics by some competitors) as to pure fitness. Now, some coaches will encourage a young/inexperienced athlete to start hard with the hope that they will discover some hidden gear and perform at a level they didn’t think was possible. Unfortunately, a likely result is the athlete will have such an unpleasant experience that they develop a mental block against racing hard, and it may be a long, long time before they reach their true potential. I make it a priority to explore an athlete’s true potential as accurately as possible while training, so they will know what to expect when racing and be able to select a challenging but realistic goal. A general perception among rowers (outdoor as well as indoor) is that it is desirable to establish an early lead to be able to “control the race” – whatever that is supposed to mean. An athlete or crew that expends too much energy in the first 500m may find themselves with a 5-second lead at the half way point, but a smarter, more disciplined and patient crew that has properly conserved its energy will walk through them at some point during the second half of the race. You don’t “control” anything when your legs have turned to jelly, your lungs are scorched, your brain is numb and you still have 1000m to go. Some crews or athletes aren’t mentally tough enough to race effectively from behind, but I think waiting for the right time to explode is exercising real “control”.

The even-split approach to racing makes the most sense from a purely mechanical standpoint. Consider the hypothetical example of covering 2000m with an average pace of 1:36 either by holding a steady 1:36 pace for the entire distance, or covering half with a 1:35 pace and half with a 1:37 pace. Either method would result in a 6:24 2K, but because of the cubic relationship between velocity and power, and the proportionately greater energy cost of the 1:35 pace, more total energy is expended with the uneven pace. If an athlete is truly performing at maximum capacity, the less efficient pacing results in a slower time. If you actually calculate the energy difference with this hypothetical example, you might be tempted to say the difference is pretty trivial, but I say even a fraction of a second is significant – when you come out on the losing side of a photo finish. And the greater the variation in pace during the race, the greater the amount of energy lost. So logically it must be concluded that the most effective race strategy would be to hold an even pace from start to finish. But I don’t race that way (unless I am not trying to achieve my maximum performance), because there are other than purely mechanical factors to contend with. There is the practical consideration of how races actually operate. If a race began off the fly (i.e., you could gradually build intensity for a period of time, maybe several minutes, and the clock started as you decided to firm up to race pace), I would definitely go for an even split. But that’s not how races work. Athletes wait for several minutes at the start, outdoors often in cold wet conditions while the aligners and starters work to begin the race (or the race or even two ahead of yours). Indoors, there are always delays as computer systems are brought on-line or dozens of competitors are brought to their starting position. The result is that no matter how thoroughly you warm up, you are probably going to have cooled down considerably by the actual start of your race. In which case, even starting at what should be a reasonable pace relative to your current fitness will probably result in the “fly-and-die” symptoms of accelerated lactate production and early fatigue. So I prefer to start at a pace slower than my overall goal pace. But it’s also important to recognize that any strokes slower than your true potential represent lost time that can never be made up, no matter how fast you row later in the race. So you can’t take it too easy either, and that presents a real quandary. On the one hand, you risk going too hard and burning out too soon, and on the other you risk getting too far behind your optimal pace. It’s a fine line to tread, but with enough training and racing experience as well as a little common sense, I think anyone can create an effective race strategy.

I think the optimal pacing strategy for a 2K race is pretty close to:
800m (40%) @ GP +1; 600m (30%) @ GP; 400m (20%) @ GP – 1; and 200m (10%) @ GP – 2. [GP = Goal Pace, so to row 2K in 6:24, row the fist 800m @ 1:37, the next 600m @ 1:36, the next 400m @ 1:35, and the final 200m @ 1:34.] But that is an ideal, and the actual race plan might vary depending on specific circumstances. I always take into account things like how good my warm-up was, and how much I cooled off before the race actually started; what time I think I will need to win (as opposed to how fast I think I can go); how I actually feel in the first 5-600m; etc. Prior to the race, I will have worked out different worst-case and best-case scenarios and corresponding race plans so that I can react depending on the situation. Last year at the European Open, I initially thought based on my training I would be able to pull a 6:24. But once in Amsterdam, I was feeling pretty sluggish (jet lag, I suppose) and by race day I knew I had to be a little more conservative. It was only during the warm-up I finally decided on a target of 6:26, but I had already mentally rehearsed my strategy for that time so often I felt completely comfortable with it. I started out at a 1:38 pace; meanwhile, Per Hansen of Denmark was blasting off at 1:32 or so. But I knew he wasn’t going to hold that (and if he did, there was nothing I could do to catch him), so I stuck to my plan and slowly worked into the lead with about 500m to go. At the CRASH-Bs, I really had to alter my race plan at the last second. I had expected to pull about 6:22, but at the start of the race I got a little carried away and suspended right off my seat and onto the monorail. By the time I got back in place and into the race, I was so far behind the monitor actually said “HAH-hah!” (in the voice of Nelson Muntz). A typical reaction might be to go nuts for 500m or so in an effort to catch up, but I knew that would result in a painful crash and burn. I didn’t panic, and since I had rehearsed so many possible scenarios and strategies it only took a fraction of a second to shift to a race plan that brought me into the lead with only a couple hundred meters to go. I have to say that all things considered it was a pretty satisfying performance. But the only thing that saved me was a knowledge of effective pacing and a solid race plan.

Optimal pacing for racing is one thing, but optimal pacing while training is often another. It would be similar if the goal for training was to execute every workout with the fastest time (or greatest distance) possible. But that’s not the goal (or at least, shouldn’t be). The goal is to get progressively faster in a constant and systematic manner over the duration of the training program. A proper strategy for pacing will help you reach your training goals more consistently and in a way that is more likely to be reproducible. Specific pacing strategies can ensure optimal metabolic responses to the workload and make it possible to accomplish a greater amount of work with less likelihood of overtraining or being unable to finish a session. A good pacing strategy can also make workouts more manageable psychologically. The strategies I use help me break long, tough workouts down mentally into increments that I can more easily visualize and work through. [This by now should be seen as an obvious benefit of Level 4 training, but I expand the concept in other ways to other training bands.]

Once again I find I have gone on for paragraphs without covering half of my intended topic but I’m afraid I have to stop here. Next time I’ll give specific examples of my pacing guidelines and strategies for workouts of all kinds, from 25K continuous to 8 x 500m or 4 x 1K, and also workouts with unbalanced intervals like 3K/2.5K/2K. The general format is to divide each piece or interval into smaller segments, and have a specific design for negative splitting the workout in a planned and structured way. Sometimes the effect is practically an even split, and sometimes the increase in pace during the workout is pretty extreme. Again, I don’t offer this as the optimal way to execute an individual workout, but (the hallmark of the Wolverine Plan) as a structured format for ensuring consistent improvement over several weeks of training. More details next time.

Mike Caviston

Mike,

Thank you for the really great analysis of pacing. I have seen and heard some of these ideas before, but you have put it all together in a very persuasive package.

regards,

Bob S.

With all of the talk about this plan, I expected to see more of a response to the request for how people implement the plan. I guess we're all busy actually rowing to bother writing a bit about it. I'll update where I'm at with using the plan in my first year of rowing.

I swam and played water polo in college, and was also in the Army. I had worked as a fitness trainer. But the last half of my 30s rolled round and I was out of shape (240+) and had high cholesterol. In April I went on a low-carb diet and got down to 210. The transition to a "normal" diet took a few weeks, but the added rowing activity was making my body demand healthy food/fuel. I've been rowing since 1998, but only hit the first million meters this January. In June, we moved to a new house that had room for a home gym. (The rower had been either in a closet or a less than ideal location off and on over the years...the best place was on the deck overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Manhattan Beach).

So I set up the gym and ordered a Bowflex Ultimate 2. I had been doing about 50k per week since April, but on June 6 I jumped into the Wolverine Plan with a 4x1k at 1:56.2 average pace. (I also bought RowPro on May 17, which fed my quantitative appetite). On July 10, I updated my 6 year old 2k PB to a 7:14.9.

The first three levels of the plan were fairly easy to understand, and I'm still grappling with the execution of the Level 4 workouts (I tend to over-stroke some of the sessions).

So here's my weekly plan:

M: L1 (Alternate between 4x1k, 8x500m, and the pyramid. My current best paces are 1:39.4 for the 500, 1:43.8 for the 1k, and 1:43.6 for the pyramid. I've been improving by at least 1 second each time, but that won't last long).
T: Lift in the morning (Legs, Back, Biceps), L4 - 70' (180-184-188-184-180-184-188 was the last set).
W: L3 long row. 15k this week, adding 500m each week. 2:01 pace at 10MPS.
Th: Lift in the morning (Chest, Shoulders, Triceps), L2 (Alternate between 5x1.5k, 4.2k, and 3k/2.5k/2.0k. Best paces are 1:51.6 for 1.5k, 1:50.8 for 2k, and 1:52.9 for the decending set. I'll be doing the 1.5k tonight with a 1:50 or faster goal).
F: Off
Sa: Online racing and lifting in the morning. L3 - 15x3' at 2:01 in the evening.
Su: Lift in the morning. L4 - 2x40' (Alt 180/184).

My L4 reference pace is 1:49.

I've been feeling a bit off lately since there's been a lot of late nights getting my company started. I've skipped Saturday night's workout a few too many times. Last week, all I did was Monday night's 4x1k and the Saturday morning racing in addition to the lifting. This week feels much better and I'll probably get all of the workouts in and feel back on track completely next week.

Anyway, that's where it stands for now. My CRASH-B goal is 6:40. There's time, but there's also a lot of work to do.

Mike,

Thanks for that. I've got a race plan for BIRCs now. I just have to find the sensible value for GP.

Do you have any advice on finding goal pace?

If I wanted to execute Mike's strategy while looking at my average pace, I should see:

after 800 m: GP + 1
after 1400 m: GP + 0.6
after 1800 m: GP + 0.2
after 2000 m: GP

Of course, between 800 m and 2000 m, the average pace will gradually come down. As a matter of fact, your average pace should be:

after 100 m: GP + 1
after 200 m: GP + 1
after 300 m: GP + 1
after 400 m: GP + 1
after 500 m: GP + 1
after 600 m: GP + 1
after 700 m: GP + 1
after 800 m: GP + 1

after 900 m: GP + 0.9
after 1000 m: GP + 0.8
after 1100 m: GP + 0.7
after 1200 m: GP + 0.7
after 1300 m: GP + 0.6
after 1400 m: GP + 0.6

after 1500 m: GP + 0.5
after 1600 m: GP + 0.4
after 1700 m: GP + 0.3
after 1800 m: GP + 0.2

after 1900 m: GP + 0.1
after 2000 m: GP

I'd probably write this down and tape it onto my monitor (or have someone track it for me) when I do a 2k time trial, so I don't have to remember it all.

Citroen
FWIW suspect i missed the smiley, but taking the "what target GP should I plan for" at face value... and without requesting any more info (which wd probably change things a bit) ... and based upon my experiences (...)plus some (much, 2003?) older Wolverine threads then

if you are doing regular wolverine plan weekly level 1 and 2's then...
i'd estimate your GP as about =
Level 1:
8X500+2.0 pace
or 4x1000-about 2 pace (although there are some who can do 4x1k @ GP or less (I'm not one))
or
Level2 :
4x2000-about 6 or 7 pace (and i hate 4x2k)
any help?
Guy

PBs: 8x500=1.35.2 av; 4x1k=1.38.4av; 4x2k=1:42.86av (the .04 matters to me!) and 2k=6:27.1 (1:36.8)

Selecting a GP for a race is almost an exact science for me, based on my years of training and my observations on the correlation between various workout scores and 2K performance. The two best indicators for me are 4 x 1K and 4 x 2K. I won’t even list the relationships because there is a strong correlation between MY training and MY 2ks, but not necessarily between MY training and YOUR 2Ks. For your first BIRC, just select a pace that results in a final time a second or two faster than your previous best (assuming your general training has gone well). Enjoy the experience that is being part of the pageantry of BIRC. Gain valuable racing experience and keep charting your race results against your standard training pieces. Next season you can be even more scientific. Good luck.

Mike Caviston

Thanks Mike. I put a very optimistic 7:00 on the form. I suspect a 7:12 may be more realistic. If I PB at BIRCs I'll be very happy. If I go < 7:00 I'd be ecstatic.

Mike,

What do you think of the idea that one can take off at the start with a couple of powerful strokes on the theory that for about 10 secs you can rely on stored ATP and no lactate will build up.

I have been advised to do the first four strokes as 3/4, 1/2, 1/2, full, at high spm
(I do spm 40) and then coast off this speed, ie. let the pace decay gradually to the target for the early phase of the race.

I bring the splits down to about 1:27 at stroke 4 and then coast up to target pace for the first 200m. But if you adopt this strategy invariably the first 500 will be about 2 secs faster than if you row at target pace evenly.

Is it really true that there is little or no metabolic cost for the first few strokes?
If you look at the pace curves for almost any competitor at the Crash-Bs they are much faster at the start then subsequently.

How do you start a race?

The idea that there are “free” strokes anywhere in a 2K is a common misconception among the rowing community. Not to be too condescending, but anyone with even a rudimentary understanding of physics and thermodynamics should recognize this is impossible. Starting a race with several intense, sub-race-pace strokes will probably utilize the muscles’ ready supply of phosphagens (ATP & phosphocreatine). Some people figure, what does it matter when I use my phosphagen stores? It’s anaerobic anyway, so I may as well use them at the start of the race to get a good position in the first 500m, rather than use them to sprint at the end. This thinking is incorrect. After a few seconds (when phosphagen stores are depleted) the muscles support intense contractions by rapidly breaking down glycogen into pyruvate. This rapid or “anaerobic” glycolysis results in the release of hydrogen ions (H+) that must be buffered, resulting in the formation of lactate, and the resulting decrease in muscle pH is a contributing factor to fatigue. So far I’m sure everyone is nodding their head saying, “Uh-huh, I know that, so what?” The “so what” is that the rapidity of glycolysis is accelerated by the feed-forward signals resulting from the overly-intense, sub-race-pace strokes that start the race. In other words, if you plan to race at a 1:40 pace and take off at a 1:27 pace, your muscles don’t know that you intend to slow up in a few strokes. They immediately jump into action and rapidly break down glycogen to liberate as much immediate energy as possible, and the signal doesn’t immediately stop when you settle into your planned race pace. The result is a much greater initial rise in lactate. Furthermore, phosphagen compounds help buffer decreasing muscle pH, so it is illadvised to deplete them early. I don’t know about you, but racing for me is tough enough already without dragging the albatross of increased lactate accumulation into the second 500m, so I prefer to start more conservatively.



To which I can only reply, there are a lot of people at CRASH-B who could be even faster in the long run. At the CRASH-B one year, I heard one of the announcers comment (regarding people starting their races too fast) that being 2 seconds ahead of pace in the first 500m will result in 6 seconds lost in the last 500m. That sounds about right to me.



With a quick series of firm but not outrageously fast strokes. The initial stroke is somewhere in the 2:00-2:04 range (for a 2K pace in the ballpark of 1:36). I try to reach my planned initial pace (i.e., roughly 2K + 1) by the fourth stroke, and then no faster. I practice this every time I do a race-pace interval (Level 1 or Level 2) when training.

Mike Caviston

Thanks for the interesting posting Mike! What do you say about the theory that a powerful start may increase the adrenaline secretion which in turn will improve performance? I'm talking about just erging now, not on water where the envrionment may be more psychologically stimulating, because you can see all the other rowers behind you (instead of seeing none).

Pacing Continued
To reiterate my main points regarding pacing: the goal when racing is to strike a good compromise between maximal mechanical efficiency (even-split) and optimal liberation of metabolic energy (negative-split). I like to create a race plan that involves negative-splitting to a degree, but ideally not too extreme. (I would never purposely begin a race at a pace faster than I expected to finish.) The concept of pacing should also be applied to training sessions with the goal of maximizing the desired training effect for the specific workout.

I also apply the concept of pacing to the entire training season. I want to make as many gains as possible before the end of the year, but I don’t want to burn out too quickly (fly-and-die) before my biggest race. Just as it’s easy to imagine, in the adrenaline rush of the first 500m of a race, that you will somehow magically be able to sustain that insane pace till the end – it is also easy to imagine those rapid gains you make early in the season will continue indefinitely. It can be very disheartening to have your training stall with a month to go before the big race (as I well know), and the safeguard is to have a sense of how to pace your fitness over the course of the season. I use the Wolverine Plan to make sure that my progress stays on track to reach my season goals, and that I improve every week but not too fast too soon.

For example, if I wanted to row 2K in 6:24 by Feb. 25, 2006 [CRASH-B], 1-2 weeks prior to the race I would want to be able to do a 4 x 2K workout with an average pace of 1:40 or faster, and a 4 x 1K workout with an average pace in the low 1:35s. In August and September I didn’t sit down and try to hammer out scores as hard as I could trying to get to my targets as fast as possible. I know that I can improve my Level 2 paces over the season at a rate of about .2s/500m/week, and my 4 x 1K pace by about .1s/500m/week, so I form my seasonal strategy based on those rates of improvement (i.e., my seasonal training pace). So, 25 weeks out from CRASH-B, I need to be pulling around 1:45 for 4 x 2K; I need to be pulling around 1:37 for 4 x 1K. Each week that I reach my goal, I set the next week’s goal based on the seasonal pace. If I don’t reach my goal, I repeat my attempt at the same pace or even go back to a previous pace if necessary. As I get into the final 6-8 weeks of training, if I think I can make a bigger jump then I’ll probably go for it. But like an actual 2K race, I don’t want to “sprint” too soon and risk stalling just before the finish line. [This all assumes there are no intervening distractions like 2K trials in October, European racing in December, holiday traveling, etc. I’ll need to readjust my “seasonal” pace to account for these interruptions to my overall training focus on CRASH-Bs.]

So, each week for each workout I have a firm goal pace. The next step is to create a specific plan for achieving the desired workout goal. For a workout like 8 x 500m, a simple method (as described in the original WP document) is to take the average pace from the previous time you completed the workout, and begin the new workout at that pace, bringing it down for the final 2-3 intervals to finish with a new, lower average. Then repeat the format next time you do the same workout. This works fairly well, especially earlier in the season when you’re not exactly sure how hard to push, and you will probably make large gains initially. But I caution against going too hard too often, and someone who pushes too hard too soon in the season will probably plateau early. After the first couple times with this workout in a given season, I settle into choosing a goal pace that is on average 1 tenth of a sec faster per 500m for every week since I last did the workout. If I finish a little ahead of my goal, I’ll readjust my target for next time. So, last week my target for 8 x 500m was 1:33.0; my actual average pace ended up 1:32.8; in two more weeks, when I do the workout again, my target will be 1:32.5. When I do this workout, I take about 3 ½ minutes recovery (most of it active) between pieces. I don’t set a recovery time on the monitor, but keep track manually. I start each interval from a dead stop, with the flywheel nearly motionless, and use the opportunity to practice racing starts. Not to start as fast as I can, but to see how quickly/smoothly I can settle into a desired pace. I also set the 500m with 250m sub-intervals to see if I pace the piece correctly; my goal being to negative- or even-split (not positive-split). Incidentally, here is an anecdote about the benefits of negative-splitting the individual pieces for this workout. During my coaching years, 8 x 500m was always a popular erg workout, and people were usually pretty jacked to try to get some fast numbers. Without being given specific instructions, the typical strategy for most athletes would be to hammer the first 10-15 strokes as hard as possible, then slowly fade till the end. The final score might be respectable but the technique was not what I was trying to achieve. At some point in the season I would run the workout with some specific guidelines: everyone had to even-split or negative-split each piece; for every piece that had a positive split (no matter how fast it was), they would have to do another until they had 8 pieces that were even- or negative split. I can’t recall anyone ever having to do an extra piece; almost everyone finished significantly faster than they had all season; and most people reported that mentally it was a much more enjoyable experience (and a few people reported that the stress of keeping the pace in check made the experience less enjoyable). [What continues to be puzzling to me is that after that experience, during future workouts without specific guidelines most people reverted back to the fly-and-die approach.]

I use the same approach for other Level 1 workouts (5 x 750m and the Pyramid). That is, I negative- or even-split each individual piece. I don’t do the Pyramid often enough to have developed what I believe would be an ideal strategy, but I do it roughly like this:
250m) fast as I can
500m) about the same as my best 8 x 500m pace
750m) about a second slower than that
1000m) about another half second slower than that (i.e., the 750m)
750m) faster than the first 750m
500m) faster than the first 500m
250m) fast as I can
In the end, my best Pyramid average will end up about half a second slower than my best 8 x 500m average.

My strategy for 4 x 2K and 4 x 1K (again, once I have an overall Goal Pace according to my planned progression for the season) is:
1st piece: GP + .2
2nd piece: GP
3rd piece: GP
4th piece: GP - .2
So if my overall Goal Pace for 4 x 2K was 1:42.0, my target the first piece is 1:42.2; for the second & third, 1:42.0; and for the last, 1:41.8. If my overall Goal Pace for 4 x 1K was 1:35.2, I’d pull the first 1K in 1:35.4; the next two in 1:35.2; and the last one in 1:35.0.

I’ve experimented with a number of formats for unbalanced workouts. (The Level 2 workout 3K/2.5K/2K is an unbalanced workout. I also use an alternate Level 3 format, in addition to continuous rowing, of 6K/5K/4K. [Another variation of this that I’ve used with the UM team is 5K/4K/3K.]) For years, athletes have asked for instructions about how to pace these workouts, and the general guidelines “Make the pace a little faster for each piece” didn’t seem to be specific enough. So I’ve come up with this:
1st piece: GP + .4
2nd piece: GP
3rd piece: GP - .6
So if my overall Goal Pace for 3K/2.5K/2K was 1:42.4, then I’d pull the 3K in 1:42.8; the 2.5K in 1:42.4, and the 2K in 1:41.8. If my overall GP for 6K/5K/4K was 1:47.2, I’d pull 6K in 1:47.6; 5K in 1:47.2; and 4K in 1:46.6. Incidentally, I find the crossover for Level 2 (4 x 2K vs. 3K/2.5K/2K) is just about perfect. For a good part of the season I alternate the two formats on a weekly basis and reduce the pace by two tenths every week (1:44.0 for 4 x 2K, then 1:43.8 for 3K/2.5K/2K, then 1:43.6 for 4 x 2K, etc.)

Once again I am short on time without entirely completing my objective, so I will have to continue the explanation at another time. The only thing left to explain regarding pacing is the specific formats I use for each individual piece. For anything 1K or longer, I divide each piece into 5 subintervals (e.g., 2K into 5 x 400m) and have a GP for each segment of each individual piece. For example, if I want to do a 2K in 1:42.4, my plan would be 400m @ 1:44, 400m @ 1:43, 400m @ 1:42, 400m @ 1:42, 400m @ 1:41 (I work entirely in whole numbers for the sub-intervals). Like the Level 4 sequences, this may all sound confusing at first but is pretty simple once you get the hang of it. Next time I’ll describe the whole process and give some examples. – Always assuming, of course, anyone has followed me this far. Happy training.

Mike Caviston

Great stuff as always Mike.

Even though I know most of what you've written it's good to have it reinforced. The early plateau/early peak problem is one with which I am all too familiar. Knowing the right thing to do doesn't always prevent ambition from making someone get carried away.

This problem can get worse with aging. What was reasonable last year may no longer be reasonable this year. But as Toby Keith sings in I Ain't As Good As I Once Was, "Now my body says that you can't do this, Boy. But my pride says, Oh yes you can!"

Rick (Too proud for his own good sometimes)

I really like the Wolverine Plan since it kills the boredom. I had my best 2k, 5k, 6k, and 10k in 2003 from strictly following the Wolverine Plan. The plan provides excellent focus because of the math involved to determine session paces based on your 2k. There is no guessing in what you should be doing.

Kiss, Kiss, Kiss....

"Next time you are on a message board and you see a post by somebody whom you think is a troll, and you feel you must reply, simply write a follow-up message entitled "Troll Alert" and type only this:

The only way to deal with trolls is to limit your reaction to reminding others not to respond to trolls.

By posting such a message, you let the troll know that you know what he is, and that you are not going to get dragged into his twisted little hobby."

From:http://members.aol.com/intwg/trolls.htm

"Troll Alert" -- Bayko!

In all due respect, this thread is in danger of being usurped.

What had started as a discussion of the Wolverine Plan, and had progressed reasonably in that direction, is turning into another "let me kiss Mike's butt" thread with a few needles at Ranger along the way. Giving Bayko the benefit of a doubt that this has happened inadvertently (i.e., he just can't help himself), I'll start a new thread for him to put forth his feelings for Mike and for others to add theirs.

Cheers.

"Next time you are on a message board and you see a post by somebody whom you think is a troll, and you feel you must reply, simply write a follow-up message entitled "Troll Alert" and type only this:

The only way to deal with trolls is to limit your reaction to reminding others not to respond to trolls.

By posting such a message, you let the troll know that you know what he is, and that you are not going to get dragged into his twisted little hobby."

From:http://members.aol.com/intwg/trolls.htm

"Troll Alert" -- Andrew Folpe the Quack!

Hi Mike,

You may be aware that quite a few of us (women, men, light and heavy) in Long Beach use your Wolverine Plan as a guide, and I just want to let you know that we appreciate all the updates.

Our group has discussed how your work-outs are challenging, but generally not hideously grueling....So we can face them regularly. We actually (almost) look forward to them.

When my erging buddies and I have the opportunity, we encourage others to give your plan a try....You have a lot of followers here in Long Beach, and we look forward to your continuing posts.

Joan VB

Joan,

Thank you for your lovely comments supporting Mike and the Wolverine Plan and also kissing Mike's butt.

Please notice we have started the new "Let Me Kiss Mike's Butt" thread so we can have all these messages on one place.

Thank you!

Hi Mike,

Please keep those posts and responses to training questions coming on this most appropriate thread, "Wolverine Plan Discussion."

Joan

Joan,

I have copied and moved a copy of your post to the "kiss Mike's butt" thread.

Thank you posting it and please do keep enjoying yourself on the forum

John,

Using the phrase "I am moving your post" rather than the correct "I copied the text of your post" makes you sound like an admin on the forum. Please don't do that.

I deleted the thread you created - I strongly dislike removing material, even that which is profane or insulting, but that thread was clearly intended for nothing except insults, which is not the purpose of the board. Outside of spam threads and duplicates this is the first time I've deleted a thread.

You've reminded me that with the reformatting of the board we lost the text of the guidelines for use. I shall try to update them shortly.

Cheers, Paul

Bayko had started a thread for Ranger, from this very thread as a matter of fact.

I took Bayko's exact words and inserted "Mike" and retitled the thread to fit, and also encouraged people to show their support of Mike and his plan and showing their love for him. Additionally my new thread was much more welcoming to those who love Mike, than Bayko's was about Ranger as his thread was rather condesending.

It appears we have a double standard here on the forum!

However, let's not let this stop us from showing our love to Mike!

Since we can't do it on the thread specially opened for Mike, then let's keep showing our love on this one.

I wonder why Bayko hasn't joined in the fun. Perhaps he's waiting to get a good night's sleep first.