Every pace target is an offset from one of your baselines. A workout never says "row 2:00.0". It says 6k −2: two seconds per 500 m faster than your 6k pace.
What a baseline is
Your average split (time per 500 m) over a distance. Row a 6k; its average split is your 6k baseline. There is no protocol to fail. Warm up and hold an even pace: a 6k that starts too hot undersells you.
2k and 6k
- 2k: the fastest even pace you can hold for 2,000 m. Short, sharp workouts use it.
- 6k: what you can sustain over a long effort. Longer workouts use it.
The two move at different rates, so keep both current. If you have rowed only one, the editor can estimate the other until you row it.
The distances come from racing: 2k is the standard sprint race, and autumn head races run about 5,000 to 6,000 m. The app's plan presets, sprint and head race, use the same pair. You don't need to race for them to work.
Why offsets
When a baseline improves, every workout gets faster with it, with nobody editing the library. History stays accurate: logging a session freezes the resolved paces, so an old entry shows what you rowed against, not today's numbers.
Setting and updating
Save a test and the app offers its average split as the baseline. Or type one into BASELINES on the You tab. Re-test when workouts have felt noticeably easier or harder than their forecasts for a couple of weeks.
Without a baseline
Workouts still run. Where a split would be, you see a word: steady, moderate, hard or all out. Distance workouts show a rough length marked with a tilde.