Project Alexandria Week Eight: One Month To Go!
With only a month left until race day, Alistair Bond and Leah Lassche reflect on the project so far, and what they have managed to achieve in the two months they have spent training on the erg.
Read on to find out how they plan to use the last month of training to get the best possible performance on race day at the World Rowing Indoor Championships!
Alistair Bond
What do you hope to gain from the final month of training?
In the last month I want to keep working out where my limits are, get better at pushing through tough sessions and formalize a race plan, so I have something to focus on during the 2k race.
What type of training are you going to be doing in the last month as you make your final preparations?
Much the same to be honest, a mixture of shorter sharper stuff, and then the usual longer ergs. The short ergs will vary between 250 - 1500m intervals typically, and the longer ergs will between 30mins and an hour. The intensity of these longer ergs will probably decrease a bit though so I have more energy to attack the race pieces better.
What is the biggest area you feel you still have left to improve in?
I think I said this last time, but I still need to get better at working out where my limits are. I find I am able to go faster than I should be able to in my last reps. Basically, I need to get better at pushing myself, and not being a baby.
What do you think has been your biggest gain over the last two months?
Perhaps that I am able to hold my rating up better, for longer.
.jpg "alistair monitors (1)")
Alistair's sessions have varied over the last two months, but show signs of steady improvement.
What has been your toughest session so far?
Probably 5 x 5 mins with 5 min rest between sets. It’s hard but very beneficial I think.
What do you think will be the most challenging part of competing at the World Rowing Indoor Champs?
I imagine one of the biggest challenges at the World Indoor Champs will be having to prepare and warm up in a foreign environment. I am used to being given the time of my erg test, and then I can just warm up without any distractions or without being told where I need to be at any other times. I suppose I just need to be as adaptable as I can, and make the most of my preparation time with everything ready ahead of schedule.
Leah Lassche
What do you hope to gain from the final month of training?
I hope to continue to get a little bit of extra speed in the last month as we start to freshen up towards race day. The last week or two has been fairly intense with much more race pace work than earlier in the program which has been good, so I'm hoping over the next month the rating and splits will continue to come a bit more naturally as I start to feel a little less tired.What type of training are you going to be doing in the last month as you make your final preparations?
I expect for the next couple of weeks at least things will remain fairly similar, some steady sessions mixed with race pace pieces pretty much designed to practice feeling tired! As I get closer to race day I expect to taper off a bit and make sure that the race pieces are high quality, to sure up my plan for the race day and help me to have confidence in what I am capable of.
What is the biggest area you feel you still have left to improve in?
I have made a lot of progress in lifting my race rating over the last couple of months, and I am now able to sit comfortably at 31/32. I think I could still aim to rate a bit higher through the middle of the 2000m on race day and I will continue to work on that over the next month.What do you think has been your biggest gain over the last two months?
Given that I had not rowed in such a long time when I started training two months ago, I would have to say fairly generally rowing-fitness and conditioning. Although I was keeping fit in other ways before I started the project, I have been surprised with how quickly my body has been able to adapt to rowing again. When I think back to how hard 20 mins on the erg seemed when I started and then look at the training I am doing now, I can see I have come a long way both in the training I am able to manage now, and in the splits.
Leah's sessions show improvement both in workout duration and split.
What has been your toughest session so far?
The 500's are always fairly tough, and I have just started pushing them out to 8 x 500 at race pace with 2 mins rest. I actually attempted this workout at the end of last week and ended up dropping it down to 7 as it got the better of me! I hate it when that happens, but I try to remind myself its not a bad thing to go too hard and blow up every once in a while.
What do you think will be the most challenging part of competing at the World Rowing Indoor Champs?
I am very aware that the environment I am training in (basically in isolation in my garage) is very different to the environment and atmosphere I would expect to be competing among at the World Champs. In many ways I think this will be a positive thing, to have the energy of other competitors and spectators around, but it also presents a challenge to make sure I can block out any distractions during my race and really focus on what I am doing, given that I have not competed in this type of environment before.
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