David Pettigrew - micro thread

davidpettigrew

I just joined and I am in the Getting Started fall plan. I am doing a "sprint" race on Sunday - 500m swim, 20 mile hilly bike, 5k cross country run. It is a C race but was going to give it my best shot so I don't want to be super tired for it either. Any recommendations for me for Saturday training so I stray with the plan somewhat but also have a decent race?
Thanks,
David

Coach Patrick

@David, sorry I missed this. For 24 hour turnaround it's always best to text me!!! (617) 513-3830 Cell Phone (EST Time) What did you end up doing and how was the race?

davidpettigrew

No problem. I ended up doing a 1hour easy ride on Saturday with my son. I figured any intensity would carry over to the race so I would just rest up the day before. So I never got he volume in that the plan called for but the intensity was higher than what I can push myself to on my own. So I think it was useful. And it was fun!
The race went ok. 2nd in AG. Would be first if faster on bike. Looking forward to getting into the OS and improving my biking.
David.

Coach Patrick

2nd AG is nothing to shake a stick at...don't tell the competition about the OS.

davidpettigrew

Hi Patrick,
I'd like to setup my new member call with you. Let me know when would be a good time,
Thanks,
David

Coach Patrick

@david, you can schedule one online here: http://meetme.so/patrickmccrann -- Please remember to include your phone number. Note I am on vacation next week, but otherwise very available!!! if those times don't work, then text me here and we can manually set a time: (617) 513-3830 Cell Phone (EST Time)

davidpettigrew

Hi

I am thinking of doing a 5k on Saturday. My thought was to replace Sunday's run workout with this and move Saturday's workouts to Sunday. If possible, I will run some Z1/Z2 before and after my 5k. I just wanted to check in to see if this sounds ok,

Thanks,

David

Coach Patrick

@David -- PERFECT!!!!!! Have fun out there...

davidpettigrew

Good to know. Thanks.
I have another question, I am getting an PowerTap wheel on Friday and am keen to switch over to using it for training. Would it be ok if I do the 20 min FTP test as part of the workout on Sunday instead of the 2x12' Z4 intervals?

Coach Patrick

@David, congrats on power!!!! The biggest thing about power is the learning curve that no one told you about. So before you plug it in and test, make sure you know how to do laps, calibrate, etc.

So if you want to test on Sunday, I humbly suggest a 30-45 minute ride on Saturday to make sure it's all working first!!!

davidpettigrew

Hi,

I have a few questions. I am currently in the Get Faster plan.

1. My local 50m pool is split 20m & 30m. The 20m section is sometimes unavailable. Also, I am struggling sometimes to get the swim workouts complete in the time estimated and I don't usually have time to swim longer. So my question is how to adapt for the pool size and what to do if I think I am not going to be able complete a workout? Generally, I try to hit all the sets but maybe not all the repetitions. I have been rounding to the nearest multiple of the lap. Does this sound reasonable?

2. There are no rest days in the plan. Do I just take some off days when I feel I need them?

3. Is there a way to accommodate a Wednesday group mountain bike ride into the plan?

Thanks,

David

Coach Patrick

@david thanks for checking in. I say you do your best in the pool. If the workout says 10 x 100, and you do 12 x 90, that's pretty close…so work back from the "total" of that set to divide the distance you _can_ swim to sort it out. Swim as much as you can in the time you have…no worries there.

Yes, rest as needed. In general Monday or Friday is the recommended day to drop workouts if possible. If you "prefer" a different day, please let me know…

We would probably drop the Wed interval bike…assuming you are riding hard…what kind of ride is it (sounds cool!).

davidpettigrew

Thanks Patrick. Regarding the mountain bike ride, the guys I would be going with are strong cyclists (better than me), the rides will be about 2 hours at the moment but will get longer as the summer comes, the terrain is hilly. So this would be quite a hard ride... I used to ride regularly with these guys but haven't recently and would like to get back to doing them. It likely would not be every single week.

Coach Patrick

Stronger than You + Hilly Terrain + Not Every Week = SOLD provided you don't ride off a ravine. I only see upside for you here...I think it's a great resource for you!

davidpettigrew

I am thinking - still do the Wednesday swim in the morning, MTB evening, move the wed sea run to Thursday in pace of the Thursday bike. How does that sound?

Coach Patrick

@David, that works....note that the Thursday AM run might really, really suck depending on your Wed bike effort...don't be afraid to dial it back and get in the run time. No sense in completely annihilating yourself. This will be true for the first few MTB rides...

davidpettigrew

Hi Coach Patrick,
I hope you are well. I am dealing with a foot issue I described here http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/15188/Default.aspx
Any advice from you would be greatly appreciated,
Thanks,
David

Coach Patrick

David - so hard to say what it could be. I agree with you that the sudden onset doesn't make it sound like plantar fasciitis, but that part of the foot really freaks me out from that respect. Either way we want to get this addressed right away, so I hope you're working on seeing a specialist or your primary care.

I also want you to check your shoes just to make sure they're not overused or have suffered some sort of traumatic breakdown that could've sacrificed some of stability for your foot.

The very least basic running right now is pretty much out the window. I'll call running/aqua jogging is 100% fine.

As you get stronger you can even run pushing off the bottom of the pool the shallow end of it.

You might also want to check out this website, there's a lot of great resources: www.athletestreatingathletes.com

davidpettigrew

Hi Patrick,

Just wanted to check back in. The foot is feeling better. I have been doing the roller and tennis ball every day. No running. I am trying to add an extra bike to my weekly training. Switched to the short course plan. I am thinking I also may try to get a 4th swim in where I focus on drills but we'll see if I can fit that in.

I feel I could probably try some running in a week or so, but am also happy to focus on bike and swim. 

Any thoughts are welcomed,

Regards,

David

 

Coach Patrick

Just slow and steady is the name of the game. When you do come back, keep the soft flat surface like a track. And keep the time pretty limited like 10 to 15 minutes at first. The idea will to be to build out a few of those runs across a week and then slowly increase time.

davidpettigrew

Hi Patrick,
I have my first race this Sunday, an Olympic. Is there a recommended % of FTP for the bike for Olympic distance? Is there any race execution material I should be aware of?
Thanks,
David

Coach Patrick

David - we don't have any specific guidance for you per se, in general we recommend people target between .95 and 100% of FTP... After five minutes or so to let your heart rate come down out of T1.

davidpettigrew

Hi Coach P,

I had been feeling more and more fatigued, especially running, where my long runs were getting slower. I also had some travel for a work conference. So I pretty much took last week as a complete rest week, only doing one 30 min swim, a 1 hour trainer session and a 1 hour run. I then got a cold and have been out with that the last few days. I am still feeling really crappy with that today and expect it will be a few days before I feel like doing any training. The net that, I will have gotten some needed rest into my muscles, but my health and fitness has gone down. 

This weekend has my plan calling for race rehearsal #1 (week 14 of HIM Plan). I am looking for some guidance on how to move forward this week. Should I rest up and just try to be healthy enough to do my RR, or forget about the RR and resume training at a lighter level?

Thanks

David

Coach Patrick

David, I am glad you rested, but in the future, I would suggest a shorter timeframe...perhaps 3 solid days off, before resuming workouts? Taking off the full week really puts your body into taper / shut down mode; the fact you got "Sick" is pretty indicative of how your body has turned off...this usually happens at the start of the taper, etc.

My thoughts:

#1 - Let's work in a permanent day off in your week...usually Monday is best for you to recover, but if you think Friday is better after those long runs then do that.

#2 - Yes to the RR...I just want the time out there...not worried about you hitting exact targets...focus on being solid across the bike and run, finishing both "strong" and we can go back and look at what you were able to accomplish.

#3 - Please focus on good sleep each night, that will be your best friend over these final few weeks to race day.

Please keep me posted!

davidpettigrew

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for your reply. This was an unfortunate series of things that lined up - me being extra tired, the travel for the conference and then getting sick. I certainly hadn't planned to take so long off. I am still not recovered from my cold, though I am likely going to do a shorter run today and see how I feel.

Friday as a day off sounds like a good strategy. I already have a weekly massage on Friday, so from a time perspective it is good not to have a workout on Friday.

I will do my RR this weekend and let you know how it went.

Good luck at IM Texas this weekend!

davidpettigrew

Hi Coach P,

Congrats on you incredible performance at IMTX. That seems inhuman to me :-)

I did my race rehearsal. I posted all the details in the Race/Training report forum here

Really would appreciate any feedback from you.

David

Coach Patrick

done...great advice there already!