Coming off of 1/2 Ironman...next couple of weeks/Big Volume

davidjhartman · May 13, 2013 8:34AM

So I just came off of a 1/2 Ironman on Saturday (Kinetic). I originally was going to treat this as a A-/B+ priority but for various reasons mentally treated it as more of a C race including no real/significant taper which I was okay with. The race did not go as well as expected, especially on the run. I biked, what I believe was well within the EN recommendations (tell me if I'm off). My VI was 1.04 which I honestly think could have been better as this was a very fair course with very few turns and any climbs were very reasonable. My IF was .74, which was below what I was even planning (was thinking ~.78 or so). Given this and a swim that was relaxed I would have expected I could have run well. My expectation was that I would be closer to 1:30 and ended up at 1:43. I simply felt dead on the run. My only thought on why was that I was carrying more fatigue than I thought coming into this. I did 2x1.5 on Tuesday and a 1hr ride followed by a 30 minute z3 run on Thursday. I also realized that while my run approach has been the EN way I hadn't run 13 miles at all in my buildup.

I realized that later that day and certainly on Sunday that I forgot one huge key result of this "C" priority race. My legs were toast...I mean serious DOMS in the quads and the calves don't feel much better. In hindsight this seems obvious that while the lead up to something like a 1/2 can be a "C" priority, the recovery is going to have an impact on the training plan/schedule.

So I have Placid in July and would like to get in a "Big Volume/Tri Week" sometime soon. My thinking is this week is going to have to be mostly about recovery. I hope to swim today and bike tomorrow and hopefully by the weekend be ready to do a EN bike workout. My thought is to target the 2nd week of June for a Big volume week. I would do the first week, but spouse is traveling and I have some commitments that will require some personal time that week as well.

Looking at my placing in the results, My relative ranking by event was Bike highest, Run and then Swim with Run and swim being very close in terms of how I was positioned within my age group. I'm wondering if there are any thoughts on adjustments I might want to make or consider for my plan leading up to Placid given these results. My thinking is that I would keep the Bike volume/intensity as per the plan (I'm doing the Advanced IM plan...I did placid back in 08 in 10:42) but not sure what changes I might consider with the running and whether I might trade some bike "work" for some additional run "work". Thoughts? Comments?

Dave

Coach Patrick · May 13, 2013 10:03PM

Dave, sounds like you had some solid fatigue coming into the race (low bike IF) combined with sub-par run (for you). This week should be a transition week (you can load it up) and then we head over to the IM plan. If you feel good come friday, you can toggle over to the IM plan for your Sat/Sun workout (but do time, not intensity this early).

Bike bike in week 2 of June is okay...but I would cap it at about 300 miles; no need to go so epic as to run everything.

Before we begin tweaking the run, tell me more about what your goals are for race day!!!

davidjhartman · May 15, 2013 9:20AM

Thanks for the feedback and that falls pretty much in line with my thinking. For race day my goals are to better my previous IMLP time (10:42) first and then see where the chips fall. I feel like my Bike at the end of the OS was pretty much where I was at when I raced LP previously, so I was hoping to be able to improve from there. My run as been the thing that has take a little longer to come around. I think I ran a 3:38 when I ran there last and was hoping to be around 3:30 this time. At this point my run is not even at the 3:38 level based on where my workout times are at compared to last time. I was doing the 3x1 mi workout in the 5:50-6:00 range pretty consistently when I ran the 3:38. Right now my 3x1 mile repeats at the same effort are about 15 seconds slower per mile. I had a so-so off season and winter with my running. I was able to do a large running focused block during the month of February with a ~45hr run every day of the month all at low intensity. I had no injuries and was holding up well. My first sport was running from high school on up, and so running tended to be my strength in terms of durability and performance.

Coach Patrick · May 15, 2013 9:57PM

@David your run performance in an IM has little to do with what you mile repeat pace is. A 5:50 z4 pace is a 60 vDOT which has your open Marathon Pace at a 2:43 or something...I am guessing you overcooked that work in the past; as your current marathon time in LP is not even in the same zip code. Could be that 15" slower is just what the doctor ordered!!!