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PLEASE READ: Transitioning from OS/GF to IM or HIM plan

Coach RichCoach Rich
in General Training Discussions

Hi Folks,

Now that it's the end of April many of you are transitioning from your OS or GF plans (what serve as the General Prep phase for TeamEN athletes) and into your "in season" training plans, typically our HIM or IM plans. As such I'm seeing common comments about a number of issues related to that transition. These are my notes for you:

Why is Rich dropping me into Wk 9 of 20 of the HIM/IM plan???

The simple reason is that there are several big differences between how we train you, inside the team, and how the 20wk plans are used by folks not on the team.

Outside, 20wk .pdf training plans:

  • Wks 1-8 are Gen Prep phase and we make some assumptions about the person dropping into Wk1 of the plan -- they are not an EN athlete and therefore don't have a ton of fitness when they start Wk1, so we have to build them up across the first 8 weeks. 
  • Wks 9-20 are Race Prep phase. 

But internally, for you guys, whatever flavor of OS + Focus Plan + Get Faster plan I've scheduled for you is the TeamEN version of this General Prep phase and it is much, much, MUCH better. You folks are in a MUCH better place when you hit Week 9 of the HIM or IM plan than the non-EN, using the EN .pdf training plan athletes. 

So the short answer is that the reason why I drop you guys into Wk 9 of the IM plan, or Wk ~11-12 of the HIM plan, is that these weeks are a better fit for your fitness than having you start earlier in the plan. You guys have been in the AP class, I guess you could say .

Timmy and I are both doing the same A-race but you have him in Wk X and I'm in Wk Y of the IM plan. What gives??

Each and every Season Plan I create for every single TeamEN athletes is a 100% custom solution. There are many, many reasons why two athletes doing the same race may be doing different things at the same time. 

I just finished the OS plan, with testing in Wk 14, and now you have me in Wk X of Y plan and I'm scheduled for testing again???

All of our training plans are stock, generic training plans (ie, not customized for your individual situation) and people will often enter the same training week in the same plan at the same time, while having exited from two completely different places. For example, I may pull someone out of the OS at Wk 10 (no testing) and drop them into GF Wk 1 (testing). Or have them finish OS Wk 14 (testing), do a week of transition then start GF Wk 1 (testing, again). Bottomline: if the plan says to test but you don't feel you "need" to test (ie, you know your zones and are confident in their accuracy) then don't test. Just do your favorite interval session in place of the scheduled test.

I'm exiting Plan X with X, Y, and Z swim/bike/run volume, and I'm starting in Wk 9 of the IM or HIM plan it has higher volumes?

  • See my notes above about generic plans, people entering these plans at the same time from very different places, etc. For example, Billy might be dropping into IM Wk 9 after OS, GF. Timmy is in IM Wk9 after a partial OS and no GF. Ricky starts IM Wk9 after having raced an early season HIM. Please keep this in mind.



  • Swim: swim abilities can be all over the map. For example, an Advanced IM athlete could be a rock in the pool so a 2500y workout is a big stretch for him. Or an Intermediate HIM athlete could be a former D1 swimmer and he can knock out 4k no problem. Bottomline: adjust the swim workouts to fit what you know to be your best course of action based on your assessment of where you are right now. Need help? Ask us and the team for feedback in the forums. 



  • Bike: in our experience, making a pretty big volume jump on the bike is very, very low risk. I wouldn't think twice to make everyone one of you reading this post jump on your bike, right now, and ride 6hrs, even if your longest long ride before today was about 90'. Trust us, you'll be fine...ass, neck and back wouldn't be happy but you've got the endurance and it's very low risk. Bottomline: you're fine to ease into the volume but you just might surprise yourself at how much you do. In our experience it's more about perspective (ie, 180' is bigger than 90') than fitness, and your perspective will shift forward very, very quickly.



  • Run: obviously, more high risk and so my guidance is similar to that for the swim -- do the smart guy / gal thing to adjust the volumes to a level that you feel is a good fit for you, right now, based on your knowledge of where you are, running fitness-wise, your durability, your past injury history, etc. Need help? ASK US!!

Hopefully by now you've noticed a common thread here:

You are all, in the final assessment, self-coached athletes using our plans, resources, and the support you get in here from the coaches and the team to help you. Do not follow our training plans into a brick wall. Be smart, make the adjustments you feel you need to make. If you don't know how to make those adjustments, just ask us and the coaches and team will be happy to give you their advice!

^This^ is the difference between Team Coaching and $$$$$ Do-All-the-Thinking-for-Me Coaching.

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