Thomas Jones' Micro Thread
I am looking for some input on my training plan. I am having some pain off and on in my right ankle area. I believe Ia m good on the short speed workouts. I did my long workout this past weekend on the treadmill. I am going to go to the chiropractor this week.
I have not been doing any swimming yet, as I want to get the drills down.
Any suggestions on how to adjust the run durability training plan?
Thanks
Thomas
I have not been doing any swimming yet, as I want to get the drills down.
Any suggestions on how to adjust the run durability training plan?
Thanks
Thomas
0
Comments
If you can answer those questions that will help! I think that I'd rather have you doing some light cycling right now as you get the run sorted out....perhaps even hit the pool. If you aren't starting the OS on 10/28 then you will have time to recover....otherwise you and I might have to make some modifications here!!! Please keep me posted!
Is there anything in particular I need to focus on with the cycling? I will also need guidance on the swim. It took me 40 mins to do1500M in my last Oly. I know I have several technical opportunities to reduce drag and increase speed. Some direction would be beneficial.
Right now, I am scheduled to start OS on 10/28. I plan to start my season in April with a series of Sprints and Olys leading up to Augusta 70.3 in September.
I biked during lunch today. I do not have a power meter yet. My goal was to keep cadence 80+. Here are my stats:
Time: 60 mins
Avg cadence: 81
Distance: 13.8
Avg speed: 13.8
It is pretty hilly where O live so food for training. What should I do tomorrow? Thursday morning I have a 60 min hot yoga session and then my chiropractic appt in the afternoon.
Also, does this mean I delay the start of my OS plan? Do I pick up where I left off at week 3 of run durability when My ankle recovers?
In terms of a plan, I suggest you load the Bike Focus Beginner level plan to end in six weeks (12/1). It has Mondays OFF (keep that) and runs on Wed / Sunday. You would replace those days with swims…let me know if you can't swim on Sunday.
Given no races coming soon, you can go 100% technique on your swim…so head over to the swim portion of the wiki (Resources / Wiki / Table of Contents / Swim: http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/91/Default.aspx?topic=Swimming+Master) to download the swim eBook and start working on the Position Progression.
If you need me to give you some actual swim workout specifics, let me know.
Also let me know what the chiro says re your foot…
Finally, try to keep that cadence in the 90rpm range…sounds like you are mashing gears a bit…do you know what cassette you have on the back (the largest one, how many teeth)?
Just got back from the chiropractor. My ankle was actually feeling better after laying off for a few days and getting in some yoga. He adjusted my hips and feet, which foxed the problem. He wants me to run over the weekend and do a follow up visit next week. He encouraged me to keep running.
I have an Ultegra 6700 compact crank with Ultegra 28 tooth cassette. On the flats, I generally bike on the big ring in 2nd or 3rd gear. My area is pretty hilly, so I am normally in lowest gear on steep inclines and in the lowest gear on the big ring for lower hills. On downhill, I normally take it up a couple of gears to keep my cadence strong and smooth. Should I be doing something differently?
Also, for the bike test (for the bike focused plan) should I use my trainer due to the hills or travel to a more flT area?
I have been biking ~85 cadence on the flats and high 70s on the inclines. I will keep the gears lower on the flats. As I get more fit, I am sure my speed will increase.
Thanks again for all the feedback. Will keep you posted on the progress.
Coach -
I completed my bike test today on the indoor trainer. Any feedback? I believe I am following your advice. Take a look at the details to confirm. I will also update my training zones based on this data.
Once I get my Forerunner 910 later this week I will have my Ant+ and can utilize Training Peaks. Thanks.
Nice work!!!!
Coach. Here are my stats from the ride. This is the longest ride I have ever done. I have done a couple OLYs before and done about 35 miles on a training ride. I felt really good about the 1st half - seemed like my numbers dropped off second half. I also still need coaching on handling the massive elevation changes we have here. Here is a link to my training peaks - any advice would be appreciated: http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/AQO3CIXVCMNZXDYKPQIUZKGTMY
I did my first swim training today. My golf score was 42 strokes x 1:09. I have a lot of room to improve in this area. A couple things I noticed today were tight hips and limited rotation. I also noticed my legs fell down whenever I took a breath. I am following the progression training (and the technical training workout) in the swim ebook and training guides. My goal is to get down to the 40x40 as soon as possible. Anything else I should be doing? I am following the adjusted bike focused plan, substituting Su/We swim for run and keeping Mon/Fri as off days. I missed the Wed swim in week 1 and starting week 2 tomorrow. My scheduled end date is 12/8. Thanks.
On the swim, you need to work on your body position. That kick on your side drill is huge....keeping that top hand, resting on your hip, OUT of the water as your head is in (Easy) then keeping it out of the water as you turn to breathe (HARD, you will need to push your armpit down in the water so your hips stay out. That will be the biggest bonus for you...
Ok coach. Thanks for the input.
BIKE: Yes, the first 1/4 of the ride my cadence was in the low 90s. Then it dropped to mid 80s by the middle of the race and then it fell off significantly the last half of the race. I was not sure if that was due to the extreme hilliness of the back half of the course or not. I do have a compact crank...what are your thoughts on the cassette for a hilly area? We pretty much have hills everywhere here.
SWIM: I will keep focusing on the beginning part of the progression drills on the swim.
FITNESS: I lost 25 lbs in October. I'm looking to drop another 40-50 lbs by the Januray OS, so I know that will help tremendously as well. I am really honing in on my diet and following the training plan.
Sun 17 - Swim (as scheduled)
Mon 18 - Bike
Tues 19 - Swim
Wed 20 - Bike
Thurs 21 - Off
Fri 22 - Long Bike
Sat 23 - Off
Sun 24 - Swim (as scheduled)
We usually recommend a 50-34 front, with an 11-28 in the rear. That gives you an incredible range. But given your fading, that's a pacing / fitness issue. If you can lose anywhere NEAR as much weight as you are planning, you'll be FLYING next season!!! Please keep us in the loop with your progress....it's very motivational!
Thurs ride: http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/OOJ3EZOK3GVH5EQFR6ON2FTEWY
I believe my watts were too low on my test this past Tues. i bumped my FTP up to 160 and seems about right based on Th and SA rides. I read in the wiki were this happens some tomes. My legs seemed very comfortable at the 85% power - now if my butt can get adjusted to the trainer I will be good to go.
I will see how I am feeling on Tues. If I still feel good, I will do the run workout. How does that sound? If things continue to progress, will it make sense to do the DOS? That will put me on track to start the short course plan on 3/10 (based on Coach Rick's rec).
Here is the workout: http://www.trainingpeaks.com/av/PVQW4N2FDNTRPM777NC6LIWO2U
The opportunities I see: work on getting cadence to 90 avg (I am at 81); continue working sprints and intervals to increase pace; continue to lose weight. Let me know if you have any other coaching. I will keep you posted.
Coach P -
Things are going great in the OS. I am down 14 pounds since the beginning of the OS - 36 more to go! I am travelling next week and want to get some advice on adjusting WK8 - I will be in town from Su-We, so I will be able to get my tests in. I will be out of town Th - Su (2/27-3/2). My main issue is no access to the bike. Should I just replace those workouts with runs or should I workout on a spin bike for at least one of the workouts. I know working out on a spin bike is not optimal, but I am making a lot of gains and just concerned about losing momentum. Thanks!
We don't really focus on your position until you transition to your Race Preparation plan. And that happens when your A Race nears, usually 8 to 12 weeks prior. If you have never been fit, however, then you might want to get that done sooner rather than later so you can adjust. Make sense?
I have not bonked on the bike since I made the mistake 1 time of doing the run before the bike on the Sat brick workout. Today, I totally bombed my 2nd 18' FTP interval. My RPE on the run also felt a lot higher than normal for a Z2/Z3 run. Here are some things that were different for me this week.
1. Started swimming - M had a 1 hour coaching session; W and F did swim drills and slow laps (focusing on technique) for 20-25 minutes each day
2. Got my pro bike fit done after Thursday's bike workout (not sure if that added any work out load or not) - took 2.5 hours for the fit.
3. My ankle felt a little off on Wednesday so I skipped the run - wasn't sure if that was due to the swimming or not (ankle felt fine today)
4. Sleep - I noticed my sleep seemed off this week too - taking longer to go to sleep and not sleeping as soundly as I normally do - waking up earlier than normal
5. I did get new Speedplay pedals and an Adamo racing seat - so that could also have impacted my performance (I definitely felt my bum getting sore faster than normal) - i noticied that it felt easier to maintain FTP with the new peadls, so I was surprised by the bonking today
My diet has been pretty consistent, so I don't think that is it. I am focusing on body comp but not depriving myself. I don't think I am skimping on post-workout meals - pretty much doing the same thing as always. Still losing 2-3 pounds a week, which I have been doing the last 3 months.
Here are my thoughts about adjustments:
1. Get more sleep - use night mask and ear plugs to blackout light and sound; go to bed earlier; turn off electronics earlier
2. Give myself some time to adjust to the fit changes on the bike and the addition of the swimming. I am still doing yoga on M and F - primairly for flexibility so don't plan to change that unless you have thoughts about that
3. Continue my weekly chiro appointment - he has been working wonders
Do you have any other thoughts or suggestions? I will see how things go on tomorrow's run. I am not too overly excited about it but wanted to take advantage of the experts. Thanks.
Felt much better today. I did get so e extra rest before the run.
Warm up mile: 8:18
I tervals:
800 @ 7:34 pace
800 @ 7:44 pave
1600 @ 8:01 pave
My recent Z4 runs have been between 7:45 and 8:05 so these are right on target
Then i did a hilly 3.5 miles @ 9:30 pace
Mile 1 @ 9:30
Mile 2 @ 9:39
Mile 3 @ 9:19
Last 0.5 @ 8:50 pace
Let me know if I need to make any other adjustments going into my second week with swimming. Thanks!
I think your focus on swimming TECHNIQUE should continue, not hard swimming please.
And yes to improved sleep, that's the cure-all for most of this. Hopefully you aren't coming down with something, but your Sunday run performance certainly suggests you are doing fine.
Please keep me posted!