Your 2k pace and baseline
What is 2k pace?
Your 2k Pace is the average Pace — expressed in minutes per 500 metres — from an all-out 2000 metre effort. It is the gold standard benchmark in rowing because 2000m is the standard race distance and the effort taxes both aerobic and anaerobic energy systems in a way that reflects overall fitness.
Example: If you row 2000m in 7 minutes and 20 seconds, your average split is 1:50/500m. That 1:50 is your 2k pace.
Why it matters
Your 2k pace is the anchor for everything else in Norvin. All five training zones are calculated as percentages of this number. A faster 2k pace means faster zone targets across the board. As your fitness improves and you retest, your zones move with it.
Without an accurate 2k pace, Norvin estimates your zones from another result or your recent rows — which works, but is less precise.
How to do the test
A proper 2k test requires a full effort on an ergometer. Follow these steps:
- Warm up for 10–15 minutes at easy UT2 intensity. Include a few short pickups to prime your system.
- Row 2000m all-out. Aim to pace evenly — going out too hard and fading in the final 500m will skew the result. Rowing it in Norvin records it for you.
- Note your average split at the end. This is your 2k pace.
- Cool down for at least 10 minutes.
Give yourself a few days of easy training before attempting a retest.
Your 2k pace in Norvin
The pace your zones are built from is your 2k pace. You don't need a fresh 2k to start: when you set up, enter any recent result you trust — a 2k, 5k, 500m, 30 minutes or 1 hour — and Norvin converts it. Not sure of any? Choose Not sure yet and Norvin learns from your first row recorded live on your rower (a row logged by hand doesn't carry enough detail). If it still needs one, Home shows Set your 2k pace: a measuring row of ten minutes easy, then ten a little firmer, and Norvin sets your zones from it.
To see or change your 2k pace later, go to Profile › 2k pace in the app — set a 2k pace, update it, or estimate it from your history — or Profile › Training on the web. Your zones and pace targets update from the new number.
When you row a 2k, Norvin asks before it changes anything: Update to the new pace, or Keep the one you have. And when your rows show your fitness has moved — hard sessions starting to feel easy, say — Norvin suggests a retest or new paces as a plan suggestion, so your targets keep up with you.