Peter's Micro Thread

Peter Noyes

This morning I did my swim time trial and I tried to follow the warm up plan exactly. The only spot I struggled on was the 200 pull. I tried to use a pull buoy for the first time and it didn't work at all. My back half just sank and I couldn't swim. Are there different sized ones? Maybe the one I used was too small? Are there any tips for using them?

Peter Noyes

This is week is kind of wonky for me. I am basically travelling Friday - Sunday. Last week was my test week because I just joined, and when I loaded up this weeks plan it is basically another sort of mid-plan test week. I am wondering what I should do this week.

This is my proposal:
This morning (Monday) I swam 2400 yards and went for a 3.5 mile run.
Tomorrow (Tuesday) I can get a good bike ride in (~34 miles)
Wednesday I could swim in the morning and could do a brick at night
Thursday morning I could potentially get another ride in
Sunday morning I could go for a long run

Does this sound like a reasonable change for this week? Next week I could start with week 9 of the HIM plan and follow it exactly.

Thanks,
Peter

Coach Patrick

Peter, general guidance (Wiki / Self Coaching) is to jump ahead to next week but dial the intervals back down a bit....so you get the plan, the rhythm, etc. If that's a pain, then your plan sounds okay to me!

Peter Noyes

I am following the HIM Intermediate plan week 9. I missed my swim this morning because I had a terrible sleep and my shoulder is a little sore from swimming yesterday. Should I swim tomorrow instead, or should I just consider the workout lost? I would basically swim tomorrow morning and then do the brick at night. I am not supposed to swim again until Friday so it seems reasonable to me.

Coach Patrick

@Peter, I think your adaptation is fine...inside week 12 we don't really adjust unless they are critical workouts....

Peter Noyes

I am following the intermediate HIM plan and I have a question about the long run. Basically, the longest run is week 15 and it is supposed to be 2 hours. If I follow the workout exactly I would end up running 15 miles based upon my pace zones. Should I really run the full 15 miles or should it be capped at 13.1? 15 miles seems to be approaching the max long run for a full IM. Any thoughts?

Coach Patrick

Peter, you can cap it at 13...I personally would cap it at 11 with the last 1/3 at race pace (shorter overall run gives you some additional intensity bandwidth).

Peter Noyes

Thanks. I will cap it at 11. Out of curiosity, how are the long run workouts different between the intermediate plan and the advanced plan?

Coach Patrick

Sounds good....the Adv plans have longer intervals; but the total run time seems pretty similar....

Peter Noyes

How important is staying in Zone 2 on the bike portion of the big training day #2 as part of the HIM plan? Our group ride on saturday is a pretty intense climb and there is no way I could hold myself back and stay in Zone 2. If this is a really important workout to follow correctly I guess I could do something by myself on flatter ground...

Coach Patrick

for the big day not a big issue, do your ride with the group...but the Race Sim has to be solo!!!!

Peter Noyes

Hi Coach,

I am 13 days out from my first HIM. Everything was going swimmingly until about a month ago. I had to take a week off of cycling because of travel. During that week I focused really hard on the run. When I got back I did my first race rehearsal and although it went well, after I felt a slight "something" in my knee. At first it was just cycling that was bothering it, now it is running too. I got through my second race rehearsal on Saturday, but yesterday was the worst day yet for the knee. I have self diagnosed it as patellofemoral pain syndrome. It hasn't really stopped me from training yet, but I feel like it is getting harder and harder to bounce back from each workout. This morning is feels "just ok". At this point I feel it would not be wise to run today, or bike tomorrow. How many more workouts should I try and do before Austin?

Thanks,
Peter

Coach Patrick

@Peter, rest is best right now. I suggest no running until early next week, but you can swim your brains out and cycle (keep the cadence up around 90 rpms). I also suggest you go here to see what Leigh suggest you do: www.athletestreatingathletes.com You might be able to make do with some good taping as well until you can truly let it rest! Please keep me posted!

Peter Noyes

I went to doctor today. X-ray looked normal. He said my knee is strong and structurally sound, probably just immflamation from overuse. He prescribed me diclofenac and physical therapy. I am going to see the PT on Thursday. The knee is definitely feeling better than it did a few days ago, but still a fair amount of pain. I will hold off on running until next week, and I will see if I can do an easy ride on Saturday.

Coach Patrick

@Peter, sounds good...rest is best right now on the running front. Per the online guidance, it looks like no other NSAIDs for you while on that stuff..be smart, your fitness is built it's time to recover. Put your extra time into planning out the race, etc!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMHT0009918/?report=details#warning

Peter Noyes

Went to physical therapy this morning. Therapist noticed some swelling in the knee that no one had seen before. He thinks I should be able to race. He applied heat, stretched me out, had me do some light exercises, ice, ultrasound and then taped me up. I will see him 3 more times before the race. I tried a bit of cycling last night (20 minutes) and it did bug me a little bit. I think at this point I am not going to cycle until next week at the earliest.

Coach Patrick

Ok, chill it. Not sure of heat on swelling but I trust your person on the ground....rest is best!

Peter Noyes

I wrote a race plan.

Do you think you could take a look at it?

http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/13530/Default.aspx

Thanks,
Peter

Coach Patrick

Peter done, check it out!!!

Peter Noyes

Hi Patrick,

I had a great race! Here is the report: http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/13658/Default.aspx

Coach Patrick

@Peter, you killed it...awesome!!! Please do what rich said and rehab that knee...we want you to be on the mend like a rockstar during this downtime. Congrats again!!!

Peter Noyes

It is really hard to not go out and train I worked so hard on body comp and getting ready for Austin, I don't want to lose my fitness

Peter Noyes

I have been resting my knee and stretching a lot. I think that a lot of my problems are quad tightness related. Stretching my quads helps my knee a ton. I am also much more flexible on the good side. I am definitely feeling better, and I had a bike fit which hopefully will help prevent future injury. When do you think I can resume training?

Coach Patrick

Peter, I suggest a week where you slowly reintegrate some working out before you go totally ballistic...make sure you keep in the fitness exercise side and not just trying to crush yourself (yet)!

Peter Noyes

I went for a quick jog last night (15 minutes or so), and it felt pretty good, but I am definitely not 100%. I also went to my chiropractor, and he thinks the source of my troubles are really tight piriformis muscles as well as psoas muscles. I am going to make sure I stretch those as well as everything else. I am signed up for a Turkey Trot 10k and I was really hoping I could take a stab at cracking the 40 minute barrier. However, I have only run like 3-4 times in the last 4 weeks, and I am just feeling slow and lazy.

Coach Patrick

@Peter, not worth the risk. Please PLEASE go over to Leigh's site here: www.athletestreatingathletes.com and find the body map and how to massage / roll / trigger point your piriformis and psoas! Super helpful..15 to 20 minutes a night goes a loooooong way. Let's get you healthy first...

Peter Noyes

Hi Patrick. My knee has been fine for a while now, I graduated from physical therapy and I am currently on week 5 of the advanced get faster plan. I have a quick question about week 7, it has 4x1 mile intervals with 2' rest. Every other interval up until this point has had 4' of rest. Is that 2' by design or could it be an oversight? If you tell me to jump I will jump! I just want to make sure I am really supposed to do that when the time comes.

One more question... I am doing a half marathon to test at the end of the GF plan. On course they have vitalyte and shot blocks. Do you have any experience with vitalyte? I want to live off the land if possible. Also, I was thinking I would go for the shot blocks once at the 45' mark. How often would you eat in a half marathon? I plan to finish around 1:30. Thanks!

Coach Patrick

@Peter, the GF ADV plan alternated 2' with 4' rest intervals...but I hear you on the bigger sessions....I have updated that plan for you, so you might have to refresh. Thanks for your help!

I would suggest you carry your own. There's very little electrolyte in vitalyte, and it's made from corn (corn glucose, which has me thinking corn syrup). You could probably do 4 fuel belt bottles with shot blocks. 1 bottle per 3 miles (1/3 every mile), shot block every 15 minutes.

But try that in practice...if you train with the belt, it's no issue!

Peter Noyes

Hello. I am now in week 6 of the GF faster plan. When I started this training block I did an FTP test but I was pretty out of cycling shape, I hadn't ridden in over a month. At this point I feel like my fitness has bounced back and that FTP test might not have been very accurate. When I did that test my heart rate peaked at 180 (max 196) the next couple rides had me at around 170 when doing 95% of FTP. Right now when doing 95% of FTP my heart rate is at around 150 and my RPE feels like it is lower than Z4. Should I just finish off the next two weeks with lower cycling intensity and test at the end according to plan? Should I make some sort of adjustment? I don't want to test right now because I am really focusing on hitting my run targets for an upcoming half marathon. Thanks!

Coach Patrick

Peter, I'd bump the bike up by like 10 - 20 watts...just a bit to keep the pressure on but not so much as to interfere with your running!!!!

Peter Noyes

Hello again. Question about the GF saturday/sunday workouts. I have had to switch them (run on saturday, ride on sunday) a couple times due to life circumstances. Do you see any harm in doing this? Is there something better to do? Thanks!