Yes same value. Aside from that big weekend of biking, do you think you are better at handling the training load? I want to make sure you are adapting!!
Thanks for your feedback. I'm getting used to the training load of HIMP. In a sense it has come to feel easier than IMP because time to work itself is shorter! At first I was falsely thinking I had to do the intensity of HIMP with the volume of IMP ! By the way I really appreciate your latest podcast as the temperature here is going up sharply from now every year.
We have a long spell of holidays here in Japan from 28th April to 6th May. I had a camp with my local team from 28 to 30. Day one (Sat): 55mi bike (almost zone 2) and 5min run (TRP to zone 2) Day two (Sun): 82min bike (ABP) and 10mi run (TRP to zone 2) Day three (Mon): 6min run (easy jog) and 30mi bike (almost zone 1)
After day two my legs were toast! Today (Tue) I did only swim 60min (as in the plan). Can I make this week easy? I feel I need some rest. What's more, I cannot train from 3rd to 5th due to family trip. On 6th (Sun) I'm back home and am going to do a long ride.
@Akio Yamauchi - You have done a ton of work; I think you should be OK with taking the week off just to recover. This break will give you the band with to handle more training as we advanced to your race. Consider the rest an investment in your future performance!
Thanks for your reply. I did a 82 mi long ride (including threshold intervals) yesterday. After three days off my legs were refreshed and turned well.
I have a question about the Thursday long run this week. That day I'm doing an OWS with my teammates here in the morning and the afternoon and evening are not available. I have to move the long run to somewhere other days, but how should I shuffle the workouts? Can I just move it to Friday?
I would almost rather you move that long run till Wednesday and then the bike intervals to either Thursday night (on Zwift) or on Friday morning before the rest of your weekend.
My second choice would be what you described, your normal week moving the long run to Friday and then getting on with the rest of your weekend. If that’s how things work out, you may need to dial down your power targets for the Saturday ride simply due to your short term fatigue. Let me know what you choose!
Thanks for your suggestion. I'll take your first choice and do the long run on Wednesday (tomorrow). Also am going to do the bike intervals on Friday morning. In that case should I move my Saturday RR (I forgot to say I'm in Week seven) to Sunday to make one day off before RR? Or just go on to RR after Friday bike interval on Saturday? I think both would be fine.
The OWS was postponed to Friday because of the weather. I'm going to do my long run on Thursday as scheduled. However, OWS is going to be done on Thursday next week (and after the next week too), so your advice really helps!
It's been a month since my last update. I finished my first race of this season last Sunday successfully! The race was a bit longer one than a normal 70.3 -- swim 1.25mi (2km) bike 77.5mi (124km) run 13.2mi (21.1km) and I came in at the 9th place overall (except the elite competitors)! My time was S 0:39:75, B 3:39 R 1:36. The bike course was hilly with the elevation of 4520fit. Not bad for a guy of 55 like me, is it? I believe the HIMP worked great. Was really hard, though.
I'm starting the Advanced Bike Focus Block after two weeks of Post Half Iron Transition Plan, and have a few questions about it.
1. There are no swims in the plan. Where should I put in the swim and how? 2. There are no long runs. Don't I have to run long in this period? 3. The duration of the bike workouts are up to 120min. Can't I ride long (outdoors) on weekends? 4. Can I replace one or two of the threshold interval sets with the zwift races? (It's so fun!)
@akio - congratulations. That is a fantastic results. I hope your competition was suitably impressed! :-) Sounds like you have earned a well-deserved rest and I hope you make the most of those two weeks.
When you do get back to training the bike focus blog is a little different. You can swim twice a week on Monday and Friday, one swim should be skills, probably Monday. The second swim can just be steady work like a 30 minute time trial either pull buoy or regular swimming.
You don’t have a long run but you can add it. I would like you to keep a long run of about 10 miles each week. You can either do it on Sunday after and shortened bike ride. So think 90 minutes ride followed by 10 miles at TRP, or we can work it in on Wednesday your choice. I prefer the former.
Yes, you can add more time to the bike workouts but keep it steady. I wouldn’t want you to do any more than 3 1/2 hours and a single ride. If that’s not enough, then make that means that harder!
Yes, you can skip the interval workouts and do a race instead in Zwift. You know me, I think that’s the best idea ever! Why don’t you check in with me in a week or so and let me know how it’s going.
Mon: swim 50min (drill focus) Tues: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 1 Volcano Climb Race 14.2mi, Avg 267W, PWR 4.1) Wed: run 55min (4 x 1/2mi @ Z4), swim 20min (recovery) Thu: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 1 Lap London Loop Hilly Race 9.2mi, Avg 278W, PWR 4.3) Fri: run 30min (jog), swim 55min (long swim 1500m) Sat: bike 75min (Zwift - Ages Racing League 20.5mi, Avg 248W, PWR 3.8), run 80min (brick, 10mi @ TRP) Sun: bike 4hr (social long ride 82mi, almost @ Z2-Z3 w/ 10 x 1" @ Z5) * WU/CD omitted in the list above
I thinks the first week was no problem. At least it was easier than HIMP! Hoever, I'm afraid three races were too much for me. Perhaps should have done only two on Tue and Thu, and made Sat the regular interval session as in the plan (2 x 10' @ Z4). The long ride the next day was a bit tough. What is your thought?
BTW it is VERT hot here in Tokyo. This year the rainy season was over much earlier than usual. So I had to make Wednesdays run interval session from 2 x 1mi to 4 x 1/2mi. Can I go like this? I don't think I can do like 4 x 1.6mi!
Thank you for the update! I agree that after to quality races like that (over for watts per kilo!) You should plan on Saturday being more steady work. Even if it’s closer to 3.0 to 3.5 that’s OK. Just challenging enough to be working but not so hard that you suffer.
Yes to breaking down the intervals. You can either do what you did last week, or you could do one by one mile at the Z4 and then the remainder of your time at TRP. We need just enough work to stimulate your run fitness and running in that kind of heat is already physiologically challenging enough.
Thanks for your advice! I'm getting used to the heat, so might be able to get back on track by next week(end). The only problem is there's no air conditioner in my "pain cave," but just a large industry fan! So zwift races are much better than the prescribed interval workouts because they finish quicker if I try hard!
Mon: swim 50min (drill focus) Tues: bike 60min (Zwift - SIS Tour de Oz - Stage 2 (14.5mi), Avg 235W, PWR 3.7) Wed: run 60min (5 x 1/2mi @ Z4) Thu: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 2 Laps Hilly Race (12mi), Avg 220W, PWR 3.4) Fri: run 45min (jog), swim 45min (long swim 1000m) Sat: 3.5hr (social long ride 75mi @ Z2-3 with no acceleration) Sun: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 3 Laps Hilly Reverse Race (17,5mi), Avg 235W, PWR 3.7), run 75min (brick, 9mi @ TRP) * WU/CD omitted in the list above
Almost nothing new from the last week, but I made the bike workouts (zwift race) more like steady work based on your suggestion. The run after Sunday bike was quite tough. I'm afraid I should shuffle Sunday and Saturday, and do the long ride on Sunday if my schedule (family matter) permits.
Perhaps it might be lucky I'm in BFB for this period because I don't have to run/bike long in this burning heat!
Mon: OFF (national holiday here) Tues: bike 50min (Zwift - WBR 2 Laps Hilly Race (11.1mi), Avg 254W, PWR 3.9) Wed: run 60min (1mi @ Z4 + remainder @ TRP), swim 50min (drill) Thu: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 2 Lap Classique Flat Race (9.9mi), Avg 257W, PWR 4) Fri: open water swim 80min (2mi) Sat: camp with my local team mates. bike 4hr (95mi @ Z2-3), run 50min (5mi @ TRP) Sun: bike 90min (28mi @ Z1-2. rode home from the camp site) * WU/CD omitted in the list above
It's scorching here. I hardly want to run after Sunday bike, though I knew it meant I ran only twice last week. I hope it will get a bit cooler by the time I go into IMP!
Well, that weather sounds terrible! Remember when it is that hot, you are getting physiological adaptation even if you aren’t running for the full distance, time or at intensity. In other words, don’t put a ton of pressure on yourself to do every single work out exactly as written.
If we can get you to run on all of the run days, that would be a great start even if it just made 2 miles and it wasn’t that hard.
The heat is a tricky thing and I don’t want to set you up with too much fatigue Too soon. I hope you know what I mean, you will start to notice problems if the fatigue you have by Sunday is still present on Tuesday and Wednesday. Please keep me posted
Thanks for your reply and thoughts. They're really helpful. I'm not sensitive to the heat, but the heat this summer is abnormal. By the way I'm starting IMP next week, and noticed that there are three types of IMP apart from "Minimal." 1. 2017 EN Full 12 weeks Advanced 2. 2018 EN Full Bike Focused 20 weeks 3. 2018 EN Full Run Focused 20 weeks I should choose 2018 EN Full Bike Focused, right? I glanced through it and it seems so hard, especially the weekend ride. It looks like I'm likely to have to dial down the intensity or time based on your advice. Anyway Kona is just 12 weeks away and I cannot wait to see you again!
Here is my last update for BFB. I already started IMP since yesterday.
Mon: swim 40min (drill focus) Tues: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 1 Flat Lap Race (5.6mi), Avg 283W, PWR 4.3) Wed: run 60min (4 x 800m @ Z4 + remainder @ TRP), swim 30min (just for recovery) Thu: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 2 Lap Classique Flat Race (17.5mi), Avg 256W, PWR 4) Fri: run 35min (jog), swim 45min (1500m long swim + drill ) Sat: bike 90min (Zwift - WBR 4 Lap Flat RACE (16.7mi), Avg 256W, PWR 4), run 80min (10mi @ TRP to Z2) Sun: bike 140min (Zwift - free ride @ Z1-2) * WU/CD omitted in the list above
Unfortunately I had a rain over the weekend here, so kept indoor and did zwift. The longish run after zwift race was tough, but could run more comfortably than I thought due to the rain. I realized that the heat and humidity was a limiter for performance. Anyway I'll try hard to get the best of the heat through IMP!
Yes to the #3 2018 BF IM plan. I am OK with you dialing down that Saturday ride so that it’s achievable. Given your other races, we have to be smart about just how much effort we put into your entire week. It sounds like your body is holding up well so we want to continue that general trend. Nice work this past weekend!
I don’t know if you saw but we had a few more people qualify. Hawaii is going to be crowded this year with the team!
Thanks for your reply. The scorching heat is back in Tokyo this week after the two rainy days! I think swim and bike ride will be OK even when it's very hot, but run outdoors is likely to be tough. I'll be back here with the first update of IMP next week. Good news to have more people from EN competing in Hawaii this year. It's so inspiring to me, too!
Mon: swim 50min (as in the plan) Tues: run 60min (cruise intervals 4 x 1km @ Z4), swim 70min (as in the plan, but couldn't 300/200m of MS 2 because of time) Wed: bike 60min (Zwift - Velocious Sport Tue Night Criterium, 12.5mi, Avg 257W, PWR4), swim 30min (recovery) Thu: open water swim 90min, 3.6km Fri: run 80min (PPR, single run), swim 20min (recovery) Sat: run 40min (TRP to Z2), bike 300min (100mi, social long ride @Z2-3: tried to do the "challenge ride" in the plan first, but it seemed to be beyond my capacity, especially in the heat) Sun: off
I made Sunday off due to my family matter, but even without it I was going to have a day off. I'm already not young. As I said before here, I made every Sunday off and dropped Saturday ABP rides in IMP for IM Korea last year, and it worked well. Instead, I did zone 1-2 rides for 45-60min on Monday just for a "bridge" to workouts from Tuesday. What do you think of my idea? Still should I do ABP rides on Saturday if I feel good?
@Akio Yamauchi - Thanks again for the update. I agree, this is it for critical. I also do the same thing as my season comes to a close. I simply can’t handle the volume during the week and we can’t do it without a day off. Sometimes I set that “rest” day as an optional swimming day just in case. But I leave it up to you. The easy ride on Monday sounds great to come get yourself back into it.
As for the Saturday challenge I am coming as long as you’re heading to sessions during the week will be hard, and you can keep Saturday pretty socially. Every once in a while you can push it to make it a little bit harder on a hill or in a particular section but overall this is just time in the aerobars and building Endurance.
Thanks for your suggestion. Actually I was surprised to see the weekend ride of new IMP. It looks so hard, far beyond my imagination. And it is unusually hot now. Anyway, I'll see how it goes and would like to try it if I feel good and the weather is right because I like trying something new. I'm really into zwift!
I am glad you are open to new suggestions. Remember, when it’s super hot out your body is already being challenged just to manage the heat so we don’t need to go superhard with the intervals as well. Besides, the heat is great training for what you will experience with your races this fall.
The most important thing is to not overextend yourself so that you need additional time off because of fatigue or dehydration.
Comments
Thanks for your feedback. I'm getting used to the training load of HIMP. In a sense it has come to feel easier than IMP because time to work itself is shorter! At first I was falsely thinking I had to do the intensity of HIMP with the volume of IMP
Thanks!
Akio
We have a long spell of holidays here in Japan from 28th April to 6th May. I had a camp with my local team from 28 to 30.
Day one (Sat): 55mi bike (almost zone 2) and 5min run (TRP to zone 2)
Day two (Sun): 82min bike (ABP) and 10mi run (TRP to zone 2)
Day three (Mon): 6min run (easy jog) and 30mi bike (almost zone 1)
After day two my legs were toast! Today (Tue) I did only swim 60min (as in the plan). Can I make this week easy? I feel I need some rest. What's more, I cannot train from 3rd to 5th due to family trip. On 6th (Sun) I'm back home and am going to do a long ride.
Thanks!
Akio
Thanks for your reply. I did a 82 mi long ride (including threshold intervals) yesterday. After three days off my legs were refreshed and turned well.
I have a question about the Thursday long run this week. That day I'm doing an OWS with my teammates here in the morning and the afternoon and evening are not available. I have to move the long run to somewhere other days, but how should I shuffle the workouts? Can I just move it to Friday?
Thanks!
Akio
My second choice would be what you described, your normal week moving the long run to Friday and then getting on with the rest of your weekend. If that’s how things work out, you may need to dial down your power targets for the Saturday ride simply due to your short term fatigue. Let me know what you choose!
Thanks for your suggestion. I'll take your first choice and do the long run on Wednesday (tomorrow). Also am going to do the bike intervals on Friday morning. In that case should I move my Saturday RR (I forgot to say I'm in Week seven) to Sunday to make one day off before RR? Or just go on to RR after Friday bike interval on Saturday? I think both would be fine.
Thanks!
Akio
The OWS was postponed to Friday because of the weather. I'm going to do my long run on Thursday as scheduled. However, OWS is going to be done on Thursday next week (and after the next week too), so your advice really helps!
Thanks!
Akio
It's been a month since my last update. I finished my first race of this season last Sunday successfully! The race was a bit longer one than a normal 70.3 -- swim 1.25mi (2km) bike 77.5mi (124km) run 13.2mi (21.1km) and I came in at the 9th place overall (except the elite competitors)! My time was S 0:39:75, B 3:39 R 1:36. The bike course was hilly with the elevation of 4520fit. Not bad for a guy of 55 like me, is it? I believe the HIMP worked great. Was really hard, though.
I'm starting the Advanced Bike Focus Block after two weeks of Post Half Iron Transition Plan, and have a few questions about it.
1. There are no swims in the plan. Where should I put in the swim and how?
2. There are no long runs. Don't I have to run long in this period?
3. The duration of the bike workouts are up to 120min. Can't I ride long (outdoors) on weekends?
4. Can I replace one or two of the threshold interval sets with the zwift races? (It's so fun!)
Thanks!
Akio
Yes, you can add more time to the bike workouts but keep it steady. I wouldn’t want you to do any more than 3 1/2 hours and a single ride. If that’s not enough, then make that means that harder!
Thank you for your advice! I'll follow them and enjoy my first BFB, and get back here after the first week with my update.
Akio
Here is my update just after first week of BFB.
Mon: swim 50min (drill focus)
Tues: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 1 Volcano Climb Race 14.2mi, Avg 267W, PWR 4.1)
Wed: run 55min (4 x 1/2mi @ Z4), swim 20min (recovery)
Thu: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 1 Lap London Loop Hilly Race 9.2mi, Avg 278W, PWR 4.3)
Fri: run 30min (jog), swim 55min (long swim 1500m)
Sat: bike 75min (Zwift - Ages Racing League 20.5mi, Avg 248W, PWR 3.8), run 80min (brick, 10mi @ TRP)
Sun: bike 4hr (social long ride 82mi, almost @ Z2-Z3 w/ 10 x 1" @ Z5)
* WU/CD omitted in the list above
I thinks the first week was no problem. At least it was easier than HIMP! Hoever, I'm afraid three races were too much for me. Perhaps should have done only two on Tue and Thu, and made Sat the regular interval session as in the plan (2 x 10' @ Z4). The long ride the next day was a bit tough. What is your thought?
BTW it is VERT hot here in Tokyo. This year the rainy season was over much earlier than usual. So I had to make Wednesdays run interval session from 2 x 1mi to 4 x 1/2mi. Can I go like this? I don't think I can do like 4 x 1.6mi!
Thanks!
Akio
Thanks for your advice! I'm getting used to the heat, so might be able to get back on track by next week(end). The only problem is there's no air conditioner in my "pain cave," but just a large industry fan! So zwift races are much better than the prescribed interval workouts because they finish quicker if I try hard!
Thanks!
Akio
Here is my update for week 2.
Mon: swim 50min (drill focus)
Tues: bike 60min (Zwift - SIS Tour de Oz - Stage 2 (14.5mi), Avg 235W, PWR 3.7)
Wed: run 60min (5 x 1/2mi @ Z4)
Thu: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 2 Laps Hilly Race (12mi), Avg 220W, PWR 3.4)
Fri: run 45min (jog), swim 45min (long swim 1000m)
Sat: 3.5hr (social long ride 75mi @ Z2-3 with no acceleration)
Sun: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 3 Laps Hilly Reverse Race (17,5mi), Avg 235W, PWR 3.7), run 75min (brick, 9mi @ TRP)
* WU/CD omitted in the list above
Almost nothing new from the last week, but I made the bike workouts (zwift race) more like steady work based on your suggestion. The run after Sunday bike was quite tough. I'm afraid I should shuffle Sunday and Saturday, and do the long ride on Sunday if my schedule (family matter) permits.
Perhaps it might be lucky I'm in BFB for this period because I don't have to run/bike long in this burning heat!
Thanks!
Akio
Here is my update for BFB week 3.
Mon: OFF (national holiday here)
Tues: bike 50min (Zwift - WBR 2 Laps Hilly Race (11.1mi), Avg 254W, PWR 3.9)
Wed: run 60min (1mi @ Z4 + remainder @ TRP), swim 50min (drill)
Thu: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 2 Lap Classique Flat Race (9.9mi), Avg 257W, PWR 4)
Fri: open water swim 80min (2mi)
Sat: camp with my local team mates. bike 4hr (95mi @ Z2-3), run 50min (5mi @ TRP)
Sun: bike 90min (28mi @ Z1-2. rode home from the camp site)
* WU/CD omitted in the list above
It's scorching here. I hardly want to run after Sunday bike, though I knew it meant I ran only twice last week. I hope it will get a bit cooler by the time I go into IMP!
Thanks!
Akio
If we can get you to run on all of the run days, that would be a great start even if it just made 2 miles and it wasn’t that hard.
The heat is a tricky thing and I don’t want to set you up with too much fatigue Too soon. I hope you know what I mean, you will start to notice problems if the fatigue you have by Sunday is still present on Tuesday and Wednesday. Please keep me posted
Thanks for your reply and thoughts. They're really helpful. I'm not sensitive to the heat, but the heat this summer is abnormal.
By the way I'm starting IMP next week, and noticed that there are three types of IMP apart from "Minimal."
1. 2017 EN Full 12 weeks Advanced
2. 2018 EN Full Bike Focused 20 weeks
3. 2018 EN Full Run Focused 20 weeks
I should choose 2018 EN Full Bike Focused, right? I glanced through it and it seems so hard, especially the weekend ride. It looks like I'm likely to have to dial down the intensity or time based on your advice. Anyway Kona is just 12 weeks away and I cannot wait to see you again!
Thanks!
Akio
Here is my last update for BFB. I already started IMP since yesterday.
Mon: swim 40min (drill focus)
Tues: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 1 Flat Lap Race (5.6mi), Avg 283W, PWR 4.3)
Wed: run 60min (4 x 800m @ Z4 + remainder @ TRP), swim 30min (just for recovery)
Thu: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 2 Lap Classique Flat Race (17.5mi), Avg 256W, PWR 4)
Fri: run 35min (jog), swim 45min (1500m long swim + drill )
Sat: bike 90min (Zwift - WBR 4 Lap Flat RACE (16.7mi), Avg 256W, PWR 4), run 80min (10mi @ TRP to Z2)
Sun: bike 140min (Zwift - free ride @ Z1-2)
* WU/CD omitted in the list above
Unfortunately I had a rain over the weekend here, so kept indoor and did zwift. The longish run after zwift race was tough, but could run more comfortably than I thought due to the rain. I realized that the heat and humidity was a limiter for performance. Anyway I'll try hard to get the best of the heat through IMP!
Thanks!
Akio
Thanks for your reply. The scorching heat is back in Tokyo this week after the two rainy days! I think swim and bike ride will be OK even when it's very hot, but run outdoors is likely to be tough. I'll be back here with the first update of IMP next week. Good news to have more people from EN competing in Hawaii this year. It's so inspiring to me, too!
Thanks!
Akio
Here is my update for IMP week 11.
Mon: swim 50min (as in the plan)
Tues: run 60min (cruise intervals 4 x 1km @ Z4), swim 70min (as in the plan, but couldn't 300/200m of MS 2 because of time)
Wed: bike 60min (Zwift - Velocious Sport Tue Night Criterium, 12.5mi, Avg 257W, PWR4), swim 30min (recovery)
Thu: open water swim 90min, 3.6km
Fri: run 80min (PPR, single run), swim 20min (recovery)
Sat: run 40min (TRP to Z2), bike 300min (100mi, social long ride @Z2-3: tried to do the "challenge ride" in the plan first, but it seemed to be beyond my capacity, especially in the heat)
Sun: off
I made Sunday off due to my family matter, but even without it I was going to have a day off. I'm already not young. As I said before here, I made every Sunday off and dropped Saturday ABP rides in IMP for IM Korea last year, and it worked well. Instead, I did zone 1-2 rides for 45-60min on Monday just for a "bridge" to workouts from Tuesday. What do you think of my idea? Still should I do ABP rides on Saturday if I feel good?
Thanks!
Akio
As for the Saturday challenge I am coming as long as you’re heading to sessions during the week will be hard, and you can keep Saturday pretty socially. Every once in a while you can push it to make it a little bit harder on a hill or in a particular section but overall this is just time in the aerobars and building Endurance.
Thanks for your suggestion. Actually I was surprised to see the weekend ride of new IMP. It looks so hard, far beyond my imagination. And it is unusually hot now. Anyway, I'll see how it goes and would like to try it if I feel good and the weather is right because I like trying something new. I'm really into zwift!
Thanks!
Akio
The most important thing is to not overextend yourself so that you need additional time off because of fatigue or dehydration.