Endurance Session, Baldy Style

20 reps of 250m with 1 min rest between reps, around 2k race pace and strokes per minute,  going quicker on 'feel'.

 

I suggested this session to a friend this morning and he replied back a few hours later with 1:33.8 average. This is about half a second quicker than his 8 x 500m 2'30r session.

I knew therefore that I should be targeting somewhere well under 1:37 but still not sure how to pitch it. Decided to start off at 1:38 ish and keep it steady and then pick up in the second half. I told Steve to hammer his 19th rep flat out and then again on the 20th to emulate the finish... I decided to knock in a fast 17th to make the last three that bit harder.

1 - 1:39.0 - r30
2 - 1:38.8 - r29
3 - 1:38.6 - r29
4 - 1:38.4 - r29
5 - 1:38.0 - r29
6 - 1:37.8 - r29
7 - 1:37.6 - r31
8 - 1:37.4 - r30
9 - 1:36.6 - r30
10 - 1:37.0 - r30
11 - 1:36.6 - r30
12 - 1:35.8 - r30
13 - 1:34.8 - r30
14 - 1:34.0 - r31
15 - 1:32.0 - r33
16 - 1:33.4 - r31
17 - 1:29.6 - r33
18 - 1:32.6 - r31
19 - 1:32.8 - r31
20 - 1:26.4 - r36
(first 125m @ 1:21 and then the dreaded death, held as much as poss)

20 x 250m 1 min rest r30 - 1:35.3 - 5k total in 15:53

Good session, enjoyed it a lot. The pace was comfortable in the first half, didn't know how much I could push it until around #15 when I could smell the finish. Next time can afford to start a bit quicker and probably wait until #19 before deploying a few seconds of afterburner.