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Akio Yamauchi's Micro Thread

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    Coach Patrick,

    Thanks for your suggestions again, especially about not overextending myself. Yes, I know, but often forget, that consistency is one of the most important parts in IM training.

    So, here is my update for week 11.

    Mon: swim 50min (as in the plan), bike 50min (recovery @ Z1)
    Tues: run 60min (cruise intervals 5 x 1km @ Z4, felt quite good), swim 75min (as in the plan)
    Wed: bike 60min (Zwift - Velocious Sport Tue Night Criterium, 12.5mi, Avg 253W, PWR3.8), swim 30min (drill)
    Thu: run 95min (PPR, single run)
    Fri: swim 65min (as in the plan, 1000m TT 19:40), bike 40min (recovery ride @ Z1)
    Sat: Big Day, bike 5hr /106mi (steady ride @Z2-4, NP 194W, IF 0.7), run 50min / 6mi  (brick, almost @ TRP, felt good)
    Sun (today): off (as in the plan)

    IThis week has been a bit cooler than before, so I think the training went well. Even the big day on Sat was done in a relaxed way. I hope the weather like this will continue from tomorrow on.

    I have two questions about week 12, and 13.
    1. I'm having a run or bike test on Tuesday in the plan, but will not do them because the heat can be a limiter. In that case which should I do, run intervals or bike? (On Wednesday I'm going OWSwimming)
    2. I'm having a race, a bit longer than 70.3, on the weekend of week 12. How should I taper for them? That is a B race, of course. I'm going to play in earnest, but also think that just having fun will be enough. What is your thoughts?

    Thanks!
    Akio





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    @Akio Yamauchi -  looking at my clock, I believe I already missed giving you advice on Tuesday so I hope you picked one that was sufficient. Enjoy that open water swim on Wednesday! The taper for the race in week 12 is pretty straightforward.

    - We usually recommend that you do your final work out on Wednesday.

    - We take the long run from Thursday and we count that on Race day.  instead we do a brick work out with a 60 minute ride and a 20 minute run both with a few short race efforts in there.

    -  Friday is a fairly long swim, somewhere in the 3000 range. Consider it a very long warm-up and then insert 5 x 100 race pace with plenty of rest.  You can do an optional short run of 20 to 30 minutes in the evening.

    -  Saturday is logistics and preparation day, mostly off. If you were able to you could do an easy 60 to 90 minutes spin in the morning but not required.

    -  this is race day, go rip it up!  Plan on taking the next day off to recover and the day after that very light in the water or on the bike to start getting your legs back. Good luck!  
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    edited August 15, 2018 10:30AM
    Coach Patrick,

    Thanks for your reply. Did cruise intervals on Tuesday, which I thought was necessary for me now. Today I enjoyed OWS for 3.3 miles with folks from my local team off a beach resort near Tokyo. The temperature of the water was rather high so that we didn't need to wear wet suits, but the water was pretty rough!
    Also thanks for the taper plan. I'm getting in the race site on Saturday morning, so your plan is perfect for my schedule!

    Akio

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     B) 

    Wait, you didn’t wear that super tiny speedo again did you? 😂 
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    Coach Patrick,

    Here is my update for week 12.

    Mon: swim 50min (as in the plan), bike 25min (recovery @ Z1)
    Tues: run 60min (cruise intervals 5 x 1km @ Z4, fifth lap was tough), swim 40min (drill)
    Wed: OWS 90min 3700m
    Thu: run 110min (PPR, single run)
    Fri: bike 40min (recovery ride @ Z1-2), swim 70min (did the Wed one)
    Sat: local team camp, bike 5hr 10min /110mi (steady ride @Z2-4, NP 198W, IF 0.71), run 40min / 5mi  (brick, @ TRP)
    Sun: bike 100min (@ Z1-2, rode home from the camp site)

    There is good news (for me)! The temperature started to go down at last! It still is hot, but is getting cooler and more comfortable. Cruise intervals this morning went well though with one more laps than the last week. The race this weekend is going to be fun!

    Thanks!
    Akio

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    Nicely done!! Very excited to hear about your race!! 👍 

    ~ Coach P 
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    edited August 27, 2018 1:56PM

    Coach Patrick,

    Here is my update for week 13 and the race.

    Mon: swim 50min (skill as in the plan)

    Tues: run 65min (cruise intervals 6 x 1km @ Z4, couldn't hit Z4 at the fifth and sixth lap), swim 60min (Muscular Endurance, as in the plan)

    Wed: bike 60min (Zwift - Velocious Sport Tue Night Criterium, DNF after getting dropped)

    Thu: bike 60min (Zwift - free ride with some race efforts), run 20min (TRP with 4 x 30' stride)

    Fri: siwm 60min (2500m @ easy to T-pace plus 5-6sec, 5 x 100m @ race pace, 200m @ CD), run 30min (TRP to Z2)

    Sat: OFF, traveled to the race place (a provincial city about one hour flight and 50min drive from Tokyo)

    Sun: race day: swim 1.6mile (cancelled), bike 64mile (3:13, NP 206W, IF 0.75), run 14.6mile (1:55)

    From a conclusion I was 19th place overall among 800 competitors and the first place in my AG. Swim was cancelled due to the typhoon and the race started with bike leg, divided into groups of 50 competitors with 3 minute-intervals . Thanks to your taper plan I felt very good on race day morning. Drank some beer the previous night with the folks who stayed at the hotel with me, though. The bike course was quite hilly with total elevation gain of 4300 feet. I rode at 80-90% on flat roads and gentle hills, and tried not to exceed 100% at steep slopes (10-16%). The run course was almost flat but the temperature was over 90 F when I started running. I tried to pick up my pace from TRP to Z2, but couldn't because of the heat, so stuck to TRP to the end. Stopped at every AS placed every 1 to 1.5 mile to cool myself. This is a race but at the same time a workout for Kona. In that sense I think it went smoothly. The TSS of the race was almost the same as the one of the brick training I did last Saturday.

    Should I make my training easy for a few days or a whole week? Which run should I do this week, intervals or a long run? Fatigued but satisfied yesterday.

    Thanks!

    Akio

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    nice!! I would take it easy through Wednesday then back at it for the end of the week. Can’t believe how string you are, given the heat!

    ~ Coach P

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    Coach Patrick,

    Thanks for your advice. So I'll start from Thursday long run. I couldn't get up for my morning workout today because I drank too much with my tri-mates last night!

    Thanks!

    Akio

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    Awesome! sounds like you have a great group out there!

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    Coach Patrick,

    Here is my last update for week 14 after the race.


    Mon: OFF (traveled back home)

    Tues: bike 50min (@Z1 for recovery), swim 30min (easy swimming focusing on catch)

    Wed: swim 20 (recovery)

    Thu: run 110min (long run (Z3+TRP), coudn't hit the target pace)

    Fri: bike 45min (recovery ride @ Z1-2), swim 75min (red mist, couldn't do the last 1x400 due to time-out)

    Sat: bike 4hr 30min /110mi (steady ride @ Z2-3 with some Z4 efforts), run 40min (Z1 to TRP)

    Sun: bike 40min (zwift -- tended to do ABP ride for 90-120min, but suddenly had to quit due to smart trainer's disorder!), run 65mion (TRP to Z2)

    Made this week a bit easy because I stil felt a bit tired from the race on Wednesday. Perhaps I drank too much beer after the race.😂 Anyway, Camp week is here! I'll try my best to maximize the two back-to-back 112 mile rides for the weekend.

    Thanks!

    Akio

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    I think that’s the perfect recovery week for you. I like how you were able to turn it around for the Saturday ride and really had some good efforts there. That’s a great sign, so don’t be worried about the total volume or some of those missed training sessions.

    this week your focus should be on those two big rides in the run frequency. I’d like to run weekly volume to be high but not because you got to do one make a run. The goal here is to have lots of little run sprinkle throughout the week to support the volume that we need to create on the bike.

    Don’t forget to hydrate like a rockstar so that you can recover from the session and continue to challenge yourself.

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    Coach Patrick,

    Thanks for your suggestions for this week, especially about the meaning of runs. I can't wait to ride the two big rides!

    Thanks!

    Akio

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    Coach Patrick,

    The camp week has been successfully done. Here is my update.

    Mon: swim 40min (skill as in the plan)

    Tues: bike 60min (Zwift - WBR 2 Laps Hilly Race, 12.3mi, 252W, PWR3.9), swim 75min (Muscular Endurance, as in the plan)

    Wed: run 65min (cruise intervals 6 x 1km @ Z4), swim 20min (recovery)

    Thu: swim 90min (red mist as in the plan, tired out!)

    Fri (big day): bike 5hr 44min (112mi, NP 186W, IF0.67), run 65min (6.5mi, Z1+30sec to TRP)

    Sat: bike 5hr 53min (112mi, NP 177W, IF0.63)

    Sun: run 110min (long run, couldn't hit the target pace as in the plan due to fatigue)

    It was VERY windy, hot, and humid on Sat and Sun (the typhoon brought that). So seems it was a good simulation for the bike and run of Kona!!! I drank more than ten bottles both days but it was not enough. My legs were toast on Sunday, so I focused on form and cadence to keep up the pace. Can I make the workout a bit easy until Wednesday? Of course I'll try to hit my zones as much as possible, though.

    Thanks!

    Akio

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    Great update, thank you. Yes, make those workouts easy to Wednesday. I suggest we also reduce the intervals from 1K down to two minutes in duration, so 6 x 2 minutes for example. I think that runs session is a bit much considering what we’re trying to achieve on the weekends. I hope your recovery continues to go well!

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    Coach Patrick,

    Thanks for your advice. So far, as of today, I feel rather good. I'm going to do a long run (w/ some tempo work) tomorrow, but might reduce the time if I feel still tired when I start running.

    By the way, I cannot train on Monday and Tuesday next week due to my family matter. Can I just drop the workouts of the two days and go on?

    Thanks!

    Akio

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    Yes, please drop those workouts. I get tired reading your training sometimes! I think your body will appreciate the break. Maybe do some light stretching or something to take advantage of the relaxation time.

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    Coach Patrick,

    Actually I felt relieved to read your comments.😅 I'm getting back after refreshed enough!

    Thanks!

    Akio

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    Coach Patrick,

    My update for 17 and 18 week. Kona is just around the corner. Last week I did only two swims (intervals and long swim) , two bikes (zwift group ride and 5hr long ride), and two runs (60min TRP and 120min long run).

    This week went like this:

    Mon: swim 50min (skill)

    Tue: run 60min (tempo work), swim 60min (muscular endurance)

    Wed: bike 75min (zwift -- Velocious Sport Tue Night Criterium)

    Thur: swim (3800m TT @ 1:14:15, which probably is my PR)

    Fri: race sim ride (5hr 34min) and run (50min)

    Sat: off

    Sun: run 90min (ppr)

    I moved up the Friday swim to Thursday and did the Thursday long run on Sunday due to my work schedule. Not so tired because I put in a day off between the race sim and the long run. Kona is just two weeks away. I'm getting in Kona on Tuesday morning and going to Stryd Group Run on Wednesday. I hope I can see you there.

    Thanks!

    Akio

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    Let’s continue to rest as you need to. Right now your fitness is high and there’s no need to do extra work as you will not read the benefits. Rest is best, keep repeating that to yourself because you do not eat more food than necessary! :-) I look forward to seeing you at the Stryd run as well.

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    Coach Patrick,

    Thanks for your advice. I made Monday and Tuesday off after the long run on Sunday and feel very refreshed.

    Can't wait to see you and the team in Kona!

    Thanks!

    Akio

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    Coach Patrick,

    Congratulations on your PR at Kona! I was impressed with your latest blog entry.

    I did my PR at Kona too, but It was just due to the windless conditions on the bike and low temprature on the run. I was just enjoying the race. It went like this.

    Swim 1:45:22

    I'm a bad swimmer, but am confident this time because I hit 1:14 at my 3800m TT. However, I got crick in my neck the day before race and almost couldn't use my right arm. I even feared I was going to drown. So it was lucky that I was able to finish swim safely. At T1 it took much longer to change due to the pain.

    Bike 5:27:55

    The bike was almost OK. But I couldn't pee on bike and dropped by the rest room twice. Perhaps I drank too much, stopping by every aid station. Should have skipped some of them. On the whole nice and smooth ride.

    Run 03:56:20

    Here I made a big mistake! In fact It took place at the gear check in on Fri. I forgot to put my Stryd power meter on my shoes! I noticed that when I took them out of my bag at T2. So I ran based on my feeling and it was not so bad. It got cooler when I hit the Queen K, so could keep my HR lower and hold my pace. I didn't feel so tired after I finished probably due to the run I did to my feeling.

    I still have another IM (Malaysia) after five weeks (17the Nov) as I talked to you at the Stryd run session. For now I did two recovery rides on Thu (20min) and on Fri (40min). I’m going to follow your plan you took for IM Los Cabos last year (you wrote about it in your blog!) and would like to have your thought about it.

    Thanks!

    Akio

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    I am so sorry to hear about your neck and those problems. I am very impressed that you were able to continue on and to be successful. You truly are one of the toughest people I know. Sounds like we need to update your pre-race checklist to include the Stryd power meter! I always do things like that so don’t worry. The important thing is to learn from them!

    Your progression to Malaysia should be fine. The key part is to get Active. on the bike for some short sessions and do one or two short swims.

    This weekend he will want to do a four hour steady-state ride, easy with a two hour ride the next day that has a short run off the bike. I would then take that third day off to absorb it. Those two workouts are critical to reverse the detraining. In the meantime, feel free to explore New York City In Zwift!

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    edited October 24, 2018 2:44AM

    Coach Patrick,

    Thanks for your reply. I feel fatigue from Kona has almost gone now. Also thank you for your advice. I was going to do the back-to-back ride for the weekend, too. So I have some questions about next (and after) week.

    1. Do I need to put in some high-intensity workouts, for example, threshold intervals for bike and run?
    2. On the run should I do long runs and how long?

    On the swim I'm going to one relaxed long swim (3km) and some race pace intervals.

    I'm familiar with the courses of IM Malaysia since this will be my eighth racing there. One thing on my mind is the number of slots in my AG. Perhaps it will be only one!

    Thanks!

    Akio

    P.S. I already enjoyed riding Everything Bagel twice! Of course JRL, No KOM, No sprint!

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    Yes, you can do some hotter intervals on Thursday. Maybe even a race. If it were a work out I would have you do 4 x 5 minutes with five minutes of rest at or just above threshold. If it’s a race, we won something in the 20 to 25K range. You’ll be tired at the end of the day, and that should be your only session, But it’s all you need.

    Then we go back to back on the weekend. Next week you can start doing to hard sessions a week, one race and the other more VO2 work. 6 x 1.5’ @ 150% FTP with 7.5’ rest in Zone 0 (super easy). Short brick off of that.

    Also starting next week the weekend rides should be very targeted. One can be about three hours steady in the aero bars around Iron Man pace the other should be 2 to 2 1/2 hours with some interval workout as follows: warm up, 3 x 20’ @ 90% FTP with 10’ recoveries. Remainder at IM pace. Real quality.

    There is no need to run super long. This week you can run an hour on Sunday. Next week we can have a probably do 90 minute run when it works for you, it’s more important that you do it in the heat then it is you do it running fast. The rest of the time your runs should be short.

    Do you want to map out the next couple weeks using that information, I can give you some advice. You can go ahead and create the workouts in final surge if you are there.

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    @Coach Patrick,

    Thanks for your quick reply. I get the picture, but could you map out the weeks leading up to IM just in case? Unfortunately I haven't used final serge yet, still using Training Peaks. I'm going to change to FS next year.

    Thanks!

    Akio

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    There's the week...

    • Monday/Friday are light and easy
    • Wed long run is 60' to start....you can build up to 90' (By adding 10' each week) at the 10 days before your race. That's the longest.
    • Weekends are specific rides. IF you are tired after Saturday, then keep sunday SUPER EASY.

    Bottom line you don't need A tong of endurance...you Need some to get "back into" training mode, we are just building on what you already had for Kona!

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    edited October 31, 2018 3:31AM

    @Coach Patrick

    Thanks for mapping out the workouts for me. It's very clear.

    As of today (Wed), I have done

    Mon: easy swim 30min

    Tue: Bike VO2 intervals (shuffled with Thu because there was no races that suited my schedule), Swim 30min easy

    Wed: Run 70min (40min jog to TRP, 25min Z2, 5min jog) [felt very good while running!]

    Tomorrow I'm going to do zwift race and run. After that as you mapped out.

    I think I'm in good shape and almost back on track.

    Can I keep pushing like this next week too (and taper after next)? The race day is Nov 17th, so I have two more full weeks until the race.

    Thanks!

    Akio

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