Planning "The Step Test"

Not much to report on the rowing front. 2 x 15' UT1. I beat my best 15' UT1 distance by 9m by getting the pacing better (3,938m - 4,000m looks like a long term target for that piece). Tomorrow will be another light day in preparation for the step test on Monday night. I may do the step test tomorrow if it feels right though MBH and her sister (staying at the moment) have both come down with a cold. I am fine at the moment.

Later: I appear to have spent half an hour analysing the step test. Here goes.

The Step Test
I have been looking at the step test in the C2 training plan and the guidance there looks a bit odd. The example they give does not tally with the figures at all and seems to make you row at a slower step. Janet's effort the other day backs this up. so I did some googling and found Sports Coach who has a calculator for the steps you should row based on your current 2k time. The problem there is that I need to know my current PB! I think that I probably had 5 seconds in me the other day, so using 6:50 on the Sports Coach site gives me steps of 2:09, 2:04, 1:59, 1:54 and "flat out". If I now understand the C2 plan correctly (see correction below) I should use a 2k split of 1:42.5 as my starting point which is bang on one one of the steps. Six steps back is 2:06 which would be my step 1. I'd then do 2:00.5, 1:55.9, 1:51.9 and the last "flat out".

I am now completely confused and am reaching for the vino rouge. The penultimate split using the C2 figures is 3 seconds faster than the other, which is 13.3 Watts difference or about 5%! This is NOT insignificant. I reckon I will stick with the concept 2 plan. It sounds harder and I "like" the sound of that since the step test is supposed to be brutal. The big question is how to pace the last step? I guess you go for something better than your predicted 2 k time (1:42.5)!

For what it is worth, I think that the text on the C2 site should be (changes in green):

"How to Select Steps for the Step Test

...

The following is an example of an athlete who rows 2,000m in 6:32. Average 500m split = 1:38. Nearest split below this figure is 1:40.0. Starting level (Step 1) is six steps back = 2:00.5. Step 2 = 1:55.9. Step 3 = 1:51.9. Step 4 = 1:48.4 (just above anaerobic threshold). Step 5 is done flat out to give a predicted 2,000m time."

Metres today: 10,493