Bruce Thompson's Macro Thread
Rich - I need advice on what to do the next 4 weeks.
Background: Did 14 weeks of Advanced Jan OS, then the last 7 weeks of the Advanced HIM plan ending May 19. Made good progress especially on the run. I raced the American Triple T this past weekend. Results: finished in 12:22 7th in 50-59 AG (man this was a fast & fit field). Had a great final HIM run @ 2:01 with even splits to conclude 4 races in 36 hours. No race injuries (although I did stub my toe on a chair in the hotel the night before the HIM and it was all black & blue after the race). Recovering well...soreness gone by Tuesday. I'm racing Pleasant Prairie Oly on 6/23 (C race), Racine 70.3 (B race) and IMWI (A race). The 12 Advanced IM plan starts 6/17 .
Question: what do I do until June 17? I'm thinking take this week easy, then load up the Get Faster Plan to end 6/16. Does that make sense or should I try something else?
Thanks.
Comments
RnP,
Ok so it has been 4 weeks since IMWI, where I finished in 11:26. I've followed the EN IM recovery plan and things are good...no injuries and my legs are feeling good again. Time to start thinking about 2014, when I age up to 60-64 AG. So far I'm signed up for the ITU Chicago Oly on June 29, 2014 and IMMT on Aug 17, 2014. JT and I signed up both those races as part of our "race with my brother" thing. I'm also going to sign up IMAZ 2014 by volunteering this year.
I put together a draft plan (see below), but this past week in the 2014 State of the Nation email, you guys outline a new plan called the "Long term IM Marathon Improvement" plan. I meet all the criteria you have for the plan (done 3 IMs, even bike split @IMWI, ran 2:03 for first 13.1 miles and 2:05 for second half of the IMWI run, 48 VDOT). This plan has me interested as I'd like to shoot for 11 hours at IMMT. To do this, I need to improve my bike to 5:36 (15 minutes faster than Wis) and my run to 3:58 (10 mins faster than Wis). However, the thing about this plan that worries me is the frequency of the runs up to 5-6 days (or even 28 straight days of running). Not sure my body can handle more than 4 days/week of running, and certainly not 28 straight days ( even when I qualified for Boston, I only ran 4 days/week in training). Perhaps I could go to 5 days per week if I go steady with no Z4 intervals (I didn't do any Z5 intervals the entire last year since that is how I seem to get hurt in the past, but did extra 1 mile repeats @ Z4).
My IM runs have been the following: 4:19 @ 2011 IMCDA with a 3 minute negative split, 4:16 @ 2012 IMWI with 2 minute negative split, and 4:08 @ 2013 IMWI with 2 minute positive split.
So here are my questions:
1. what plan should I be following until Dec 9, 2013 (that's when I'd start the 9 month LT IM Improvement Plan targeting IMMT)?
2. will the LT IM Imprvement plan work better for me than staying with the Advanced OS and Advanced IM plan? What do you recommend? Obviously, we have until Dec to figure this out.
3. what do you think of the plan detailed below? It has two HMs and two 10k races from Feb 2014 thru early May. I'd use these as my VDOT tests, not 5ks. Then I'd get into some big bike weekends and century rides in late May & early June.
Thanks. I appreciate your guidance.
Patrick has written a series of Run Durability plans (1, 2, and 3, meant to be stacked together) that you could use between now and your Dec start date to experiment/get used to the suggested amount of frequency. Your plan otherwise is good, but I should note that I'm writing a 2wk "swim camp" training plan that will take the place of the transition training plan.
I'd also note that your Big Bike Weekend would be more useful closer to IMMT, or you could probably repeat that session closer to IMMT. Anything before ~3wks from the race is best.
Rich,
Thanks. I've loaded up the run durability plan #1 and will give those plans a go until Dec. I will experiment with the run frequency until then. Also, I will look forward to your "swim camp" plan to use in place of the transition. Good suggestion on the timing of the big bike weekend. I may move that closer to IMMT, perhaps 4th of July weekend.
I'll touch base with you again in December to see if we need to modify anything. Thanks.
Cool, sounds good!
Rich...need some advice on how long a taper to do for IM MT on Aug 17. Debating between 2 or 3 weeks.
Background - I've been doing the Long Term IM Marathon Improvement plan since Nov 2013 & combining it with the 12 week Advanced IM plan. Training and racing going very well. My body has held up to the more frequent runs of this plan & my riding is as strong as it has ever been. I went 4:59 at Grand Rapids HIM on June 8 with a 2:33 bike split & a 1:43 run split. Did the ITU Chicago Oly on 6/29 and went 2:20 with a 43:02 10k run split. Last weekend, I finished a mini camp in Madison where I followed the normal camp workouts. I have no injuries at this time (fingers crossed). My weight is at 159 today, and I raced previous IMs at 162-163. In my previous 3 IMs I've followed a longer taper. I did 3 week taper for 2011 IMCdA, and 2012 IMWI. In 2013, I crashed 5 weeks out from IMWI so it was 2 weeks of healing and 3 weeks of half taper & build up a little volume again. I went 11:26 in 2013 IMWI, 32 min PR. I was surprised how fast I went that day, and attribute it to the rest.
The current plan has a 2 week taper. I'm leaning to a 3 week taper since this has worked for me in the past.
Your thoughts?
I think you should go with what's worked for you in the past, a 3wk taper. Let me know if you have any other questions! Looking forward to your race!
Cool. And now that you're only a few years from collecting that long SS monthly check...
Rich...I think I'm ready to race. Last Thursday (July 17) I ran 18 miles in 2:29 average pace of 8:16/mile. On July 19 (past Saturday), I did a solo RR. I rode 100 miles in 4:50 and 110 miles in 5:18. Averaged 197 NP, 20.7 mph, .743 IF (based on my old FTP of 265),1.03 VI on a basically flat course. I stopped for 3 minutes at mile 60 to refill bottles (2 water bottles and 1 bottle of 3x concentrate Infinit) and get a dry headband, and then stopped a couple of times for a minute or so in last 20 miles due to traffic. I did feel like I faded a bit in last 20 miles as I really had to work extra hard to keep my watts up. Then ran 6 miles at 8:32 avg pace, descending pace every mile, starting at 9:10 pace and finishing with a 7:42 pace mile. Today I did 2 x 20' (5') at 271 watts and 276 watts respectively, then 1 x12' @ 228 watts. For the 2nd 20' interval I did it in a high gear and low cadance (67 avg rpm) to simulate a long climb for IMMT. A couple more days of hard training then 3 week taper.
Based on today's ride I think my FTP is 273, I think I can race IMMT at 195NP. That would be .714 IF. Sound right?
Hey Bruce,
Looking strong!
Maybe set an "on the flats" cap of ~180-185w for the first ~45', then dial in 195-200w thereafter. Then capping yourself at ~220w on any climbs. At the end of the day, we need to set up your run by riding smart. 195w and .71 sounds great.
Rich...what do I do now? Kona in 7 weeks, and IMAZ 5 weeks after Kona. Let's figure out what to do for Kona and then decide if I even do AZ or not.
My recovery from IMMT is going well. The soreness is 95% gone today (only my quads feelin it), but I do have a couple of blood blisters that are still healing. Might loose a toenail. I did nothing Monday (travel & wear compression), 20 mim hot tube Tues, hot tube & foam rolling Weds, 20 min swim this am. The swim felt fine with no soreness in arms, shoulders or neck. Was thinking I do an ez spin tomorrow, and maybe 30 min ez swim. A couple of ez spins on Sat & Sun, but no running yet.
Thoughts for the next 7 weeks? Thanks again to both you & Patrick for helping me build towards my potential over the last 4 years.
Rich...any thoughts to my note below? Thanks.
Bruce
Hey Bruce,
Sorry for the delay. Crazy travel back here, at the gate in ATL, flying home after my IMChatt camp. Do this:
Finally, I'll take a look at your RR later today and let's schedule an RR podcast call with you later this week. I'll be in touch after I get caught up with creating my post camp content for IMLT and IMChat. Thanks!
Rich...Thanks. Got it. I've decided that I'm not going to "race" Kona, just want to finish in a respectable time without destroying myself. Really just thinking it is a long race rehersal for AZ, probably walk/run the marathon. Who knows if I'll ever make it back there so I want to enjoy every moment. JT is coming to be my Sherpa and he won't let me get too serious about the race time.
Friday is the best day this week to do a podcast. Get off-site work meetings all day Tues-thurs.
Rich...I finished Kona and didn't get too beat up, but clearly was slower than I thought I'd be even going in with the attitude of "a big training day for AZ". Almost embarassed with a 13:46 finish. I pulled an ab muscle 2 weeks before Kona and it still hurt to run. So my mental state was just don't get hurt and do the best I can. Still, I just didn't have the eye of the tiger feeling I've had before every previous race, especially during the run. I walked at least half of the marathon, and I've never come close to doing that before. I wasn't dehydrated ( I peed 8 times on the bike, 6 times on run), never had any stomach or GI problems. Just felt old and slow.
So what do I do now for AZ? Physically, I'm much less beat up than after IMMT. No blisters, legs a little sore but not much different than if I had raced a HIM. But I'm worried about my mental mojo to try and go race AZ for sub-11 time.
Hey Bruce,
Sorry about that, I thought I had done this for you. See screenshot:
My thinking is that you don't need to build endurance, as you already have that, nor do you need to do a race rehearsal, as you're likely indoors and you've raced/done RR's for 2x IMs this season. Pretty sure you know what you're doing at this point
. So I was thinking that you use the Get Faster plan as a "suggestion," but modify each workout as you feel that day. I don't recall the exact lengths of the long bikes and long runs in the GF plan, but I think you'd be fine with nothing more than a ~1:30 long run and 2.5hr long ride, assuming you'll be on a trainer.
Let me know what you think.
Yep. I figure you're smart enough by now know on a day to day basis what you should and shouldn't do. Key is just to keep it rolling to IMAZ
Rich...I think I need a new 2015 season plan. I've had a poor JOS with a late start due to the bad flu and then 3 interruptions due to an accident my daughter was in (she got hit by a car that ran a red light), and then two injuries for me. In-feb I was up to a long run of 15 miles as part of my build to the Wisconsin marathon on May 2, but had to take a week off running due to inflamation in my left knee (old runner's knee "friend"). I started back slowly again, and ran 12 on March 7. Knee was fine but my left hip started aching late in the run, and by that night I could barely walk due to hip pain. Took a week off, RICE, advil, saw an Ortho MD and feeling better. MD said no permanent damage, no arthritis, just muscle strain and inflammation. Treatment: PT and stop trying to keep up with BQ runners who are 20 years younger than me (that's what I was doing when hip started to hurt).
I've been swimming 3-4 times per week and I did an FTP test 3 weeks ago and measured 270 watts which was just below where I was last summer befor IMMT. Net, my swimming and riding are good but my running is touch and go.
I DNS a 1/2 marathon yesterday and I doubt that I'll be able to get in the long runs needed to do a quality, BQ marathon on May 2. May switch to just running the 1/2 marathon on that day. So my target is to be ready for ITU Long Course Worlds on June 28 in Sweden, and then IMMT in mid - August.
What plan should I load up starting next week? HIM plan for Long Course Worlds? I'm going to take it EZ this week to make sure I'm rested and inflammation is down. Maybe just a couple of short 2-3 mile runs, EZ rides and lots of swimming. I think doing 3 IMs in 13 weeks last summer/fall is finally catching up to my old body. Thanks.
Sorry about your friction but I think it's a good call to step back a bit. Do this:
- This week load up the HIM plan to end on LC worlds.
- On 5/25 load up the IM plan to end on IMMT. In other words, I'm having you skip the Swim Camp plan and Wk8 of the IM plan, you'll do weeks of the HIM plan instead.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Hi Rich...I've been following the Advanced HIM plan per your instructions, at least the swim and bike portions. I had to stop runing for amost 5 weeks. I found out I have degenerative L4 & L5 discs in my lower back and they were causing pressure on some nerves. Been dong lots of PT, stretching, chiropractor visits. Net, I'm feeling better. Last week I ran twice for a total of 4 miles + used the elliptical machine 3 times. This week I ran 4 times for a total of 10 miles, with the long run being 4 miles. Using the elliptical machine to add time in run simulation. I did 60 minutes twice this week. No back or hip pain during or post running. Yeah!!
I'm going to follow the plan for swim and riding. Well, I may add some extra time so I get as fit as I can be swimming and riding. Going to add 2 miles/week running until it is time go to Sweden. Not really sure that I'll be ready to race 30k by June 27, but I hopefully can survive it. Getting old sucks!
Any suggestions? Thanks.
Hey Bruce,
Sorry to hear about your back friction. Rather than 2mi per week, I'd look to try to run 4x/wk, and then increase the length of each of those runs by "maybe" 5' per week. It probably nets out the same, but I think it's more helpful to think of this process as adding a very, very small number of minutes each week vs miles. And as I've had a least 3 rounds of rebuilding my run after shoulder, foot, and back injuries, I can tell you you just need to be patient. Also best to plan short loop run courses that you can cut short and walk back if you need to. I've gone out for as few as 16', after planning 20' that I decided to cut short.
It is what it is
Thanks. Just going to add slowly.