2 beat kick is fine...the arm turnover is deceptive..it's not a "constant" pace...it's still relatively quick out of the water...any "slowing" of the hand/arm is in the glide phase as your extend underwater and allow your body to rotate...
Question for this week. I'm in my final race rehearsal week before IM70.3TX. I have a family commitment this weekend so I will do my RR this Friday.
1. Does this affect my Thursday long run? 2. I am planning to swim before my bike on Friday. Do I do the Friday planned swim set of 3000m or do I do a RR swim of 1900m?
Life happens :-). Please take a look at my RR report. I am pleased with what happened but a little worried about how often I had to pee and how many calories I took in. I had absolutely no GI issues though.
Also I'm not sure how to hit my target NP watts without spending some time above my target. I've been using the target as a ceiling.
I added a race report for IM70.3 TX. I am racing IMNO this Sunday.
I had a 4' PR on the run. The swim was tough for me. Please review and let me know what I should try for this Sunday.
Also I never had to turn myself inside out on the run. Should I have run harder earlier? I was really worried about bringing the suck early. The suck never came.
The swim: you have to lock on your form. Find your happy place now this week and have it in your head for the race. Nothing matters more than comfort. The level to which you had to exert yourself early in the race in Galveston definitely set you back on the bike.
It's a bike: I think one of the issues and hitting your power is that your autolock function is too rapid. I would much rather see you lap it manually @ 30 minutes give you more time to ride to a consistent number. Otherwise you'll always be too low.
I am concerned about your nutrition and the amount you had to pee. That is usually an indicator that there's not enough sodium in the fluids you are taking in. You don't mention what you actually drank or how much of it so it's hard to help you there. Please feel free to fill me in.
The run: I think you ran a pretty solid run. I think reduced fatigue on the swim and improved nutrition on the bike will also help. Given your performance last time, I feel more comfortable giving you the room to push harder over the final 3 miles versus the last short bit. But you still have to start off smart, okay?
Thanks! I just have a Garmin 910. When I use the multi-sport feature the lap button changes sports. The auto lap for the bike does not have a time feature do I use a distance. I will up the distance.
I'll update the race report later. Here is my nutrition info. On the bike I drank Around 6 bottles of perform, ate 4 PowerGels and had one salt stick pill. I didn't eat my first gel until 35 min in. I started sipping Perform right away.
In T1 I had a PowerGel
On the run I drank about 1.5-2 bottle of perform with occasional sips of water. I ate 2 PowerGels and had one salt stick cap.
I just use the salt stick caps by feel, whenever I feel a little crampy.
I don't think there is an auto Lot by distance for the bike. Just remember that when you see 30 minutes it's time to hit the button and then eat something. I definitely think that there's not enough sodium for you. I'm not sure how much you normally drink in training or what your sweat test results were, but given the heat on that day it sounds to me like you were not absorbing enough of the fluids you were consuming.
It might be worthwhile to move the salt stick pills to once an hour on the bike to make sure you're getting enough sodium. In other words, don't wait until you feel crampy… Take them once an hour as a preventative measure.
These Sunday rides are killing my SAU. Is there anyway we could split up the Sunday ride and put the effort somewhere else? My wife is desperate for me to be able to stay up late at least one weekend night. I'm 8 weeks out from IMCDA.
Next conundrum. I've changed jobs and I've been assigned lots of training.
I'm in Fairfax from 5/12-5/23 that's weeks 14 & 15. I'll be back in time for the first RR; however I will be without my bike while I'm in Fairfax. The hotel has a spin bike and I plan to get in extra swim time at the George Mason natatorium.
I will be back there for 6/2 - 6/6 (week 17). I'll be back in time for my long bike on 6/7
As I said I'll have no kids or family while I'm there so I can focus on my swim. My swim split for IMTX last year was 1:48. I'll need to refill the SAU when I get back.
How do you want me to modify my training for the weeks before, during and after?
Bump. I leave on Sunday for a two week training session. Do I need to modify my week? I'd like to take advantage of the enhanced swimming opportunity. Is there a two week swim hack that I can do in addition to the standard training plan?
No modifications this week. Consider spending any extra time researching a bicycle shop that can rent you a bike. :-) 11 days is a long time!!!!
Let me know about your willingness, interest, or ability to secure a bike. Depending on that I can give you more information about that week as well as the following week.
I can get a Tri bike for the Saturday long ride. I'll do the Wednesday and Sunday rides on an exercise/spin bike.
I would really like to dump a large swim volume in those two weeks. I am an adult onset swimmer. My open water pace hovers around 2:20/100m. My last T-pace test put me at 2:09/100m.
Assume that I can go 10-12 times to a natatorium. What swim sets should I use that will build my form and not interfere with the rest of my training.
Getting better the pool is really a function of skill so the majority of it will be a drill set. I would suggest alternating days where you do simply skills and drills on one, and you do your skills early and then some fitness on day two.
Neither workout will be more than 2000 yards, maybe just 1500 for now. You would do your warm-up which again makes of drills and easy swimming, this should take you about 800. Then you can either continue with the drills on the easy days, or you can add some intensity as 50 yard efforts with 25 hard / 25 easy.
If you want more specific details, this would be great question to post the team to get some input. I'd be happy to chime in there too.
I have a question regarding m zones. My last 5k test was on 11/13/2014. I ran a 19:20 on a treadmill for a VDot of 52. I've been training at those zones ever since. I just recently rejoined the team. All through November and December I have been doing my own version of the Out Season. All intensity. No workout over 60 min. Mostly running. My big finish was the Panama City Beach Biggest Loser 1/2 Marathon where I took 4th over all with a 1:42:59. :-D The course was long (13.5 miles)
Today I ran 35' @ zone 2 off of a zone 5 bike workout. It felt MUCH harder than zone 2. My question for you is.
Do I retest zones?
Do I continue to use the November VDot and just suck it up and push?
Do I use a VDot based on my 1/2 marathon race time?
Chris good to chat the other day. A z2 run off a z5 bike should feel pretty damn hard. The only thing I'd say is that you should use the right contextual vDOT -- if you are on a treadmill use the 5k test..if you are outside, you can use the 1/2 marathon time!
I've had good success getting additional sleep. I'm preparing the night before, doing the brick run later in the day and eliminating my post workout recover/down time. So far this week I've gotten an extra 105 min of sleep
Next week I according to my TSR I load up the HIM plan for 70.3 Texas. I just started swimming again. I did 500 warmup then drills till I ran out of time.
It was a neat experience. I got to practice leaning on my buoy and really feel the difference when my hips were low.
Unfortunately I cannot swim at lunch until next month.
My question is...when/if do I stop doing the WU: 500 Drill:1000 Swim:1000
Chris, you can condense the stuff to 300 WU, 1000 Drill....but always 1000 drill. Keep it as 50 drill, 50 swim...that should speed it up too! I'd do 3 swims and 2 as the skill stuff...1 can be abbreviated but the skills are your best friend!
I've updated the document as requested. I've given the plan a few weeks and here's what's happened.
1.) The pool near my office is closed on Monday's at lunch. So Monday's really out for swimming. I've been doing cords and core on Mondays. I've had to move that swim to Tuesday. As a result Tuesday is a total triathlon day with a bike, lunch run and afternoon swim.
2.) The focus on sleep has been amazing! Thank you.
3.) I had the flu and it wiped me out of workouts for a week. I was able to get in two slow bike rides just to pass some time. I postponed the week 12 tests to this week due to overall fatigue. I was disappointed with my bike test result. I was able to match the FTP from my a November 11th test. Just barely. I wonder where my time from January to now went.... That said I did have a ton of fatigue in my legs from Sunday's run; where as the November test was fully fresh.
4.) My pace targets for last Sunday's run was 7:10 (zone 2) for 90 min then push to 6:55 for the last 30. I tried. I dug deep like it was a race. It hurt. I did have a funky night sleep the night before due to a birthday party sleepover of 6 little girls. That included dinner and breakfast of pizza :-(. That said it was the fastest long run that I have ever done. I was holding 7:30s until mile 12 where I broke and slowed down to 8:00s
5) My zone 2 felt more like zone 3. My HR for that run was around 167 - 170 until the final best effort push. I felt limited by my lungs in the first half of the run. Like I couldn't get enough air. I could tell my HR was high. After mile 9 or so it was my quads that were complaining.
6) I figured that I'll take the FTP bike ride from the standard plan and use it for the Tuesday ride. What should I do for the Wednesday FTP ride? Repeat Tuesday? Reduce the time for one or more of the FTP intervals? Add time?
7) Any flavor that I should add to the brick runs? Zone 2? 1? Zone 2 out and 3 back? Add incline? I LOVE the flavor of EN workouts and don't want to just "run 30 min"
8) I am training for IM 70.3 TX. That's my target now. Are there any milestones that I should be shooting for? What about beyond? What does my year look like after IM TX 70.3? During the get faster segment what am I trying to achieve?
9) When I do the swim on my side drill I cannot breath. I have to come to a complete stop. If I rotate I end up all the way on my back. and I start to sink and come to a complete stop. When I do the side drills I typically hold my breath for as long as I can. Should I breath at a normal cadence?
10) When I focus on the fingertip drag drill I lose my pull. I windmill and do not finish the stroke. If I think about my stroke I lose the ability to drag my fingers.
11) My bilateral breath has GREATLY improved. I haven;t really tested it out farther than 100 yards per your instruction not to go beyond 100 yd sets.
12) I'm not pushing a particular rest period. I'me taking as much rest as I need to make sure I'm 100% focused on form for the next 50 yds. Any issues with that? When/Do I need to focus on longer sets at some point before IM 70.3 TX?
I've updated the document as requested. I've given the plan a few weeks and here's what's happened.
1.) The pool near my office is closed on Monday's at lunch. So Monday's really out for swimming. I've been doing cords and core on Mondays. I've had to move that swim to Tuesday. As a result Tuesday is a total triathlon day with a bike, lunch run and afternoon swim.
That's a busy day, but I'll take it.
2.) The focus on sleep has been amazing! Thank you. Awesome!!!
3.) I had the flu and it wiped me out of workouts for a week. I was able to get in two slow bike rides just to pass some time. I postponed the week 12 tests to this week due to overall fatigue. I was disappointed with my bike test result. I was able to match the FTP from my a November 11th test. Just barely. I wonder where my time from January to now went.... That said I did have a ton of fatigue in my legs from Sunday's run; where as the November test was fully fresh. Yeah, you can't really compare it. And you can't, after one test, say "the last 6 weeks' worth of hard work was for naught" -- you just didn't test well. We continue onwards!
4.) My pace targets for last Sunday's run was 7:10 (zone 2) for 90 min then push to 6:55 for the last 30. I tried. I dug deep like it was a race. It hurt. I did have a funky night sleep the night before due to a birthday party sleepover of 6 little girls. That included dinner and breakfast of pizza :-(. That said it was the fastest long run that I have ever done. I was holding 7:30s until mile 12 where I broke and slowed down to 8:00s. That's a solid run..but I don't bury yourself. Even if you can't hold the exact paces (esp off a cold, plus sleepover!), I'd like you to keep the spirit of the run -- steady to a strong finish. If that meant 7:40s or 7:45s to a few low 7s, I'd take it!
5) My zone 2 felt more like zone 3. My HR for that run was around 167 - 170 until the final best effort push. I felt limited by my lungs in the first half of the run. Like I couldn't get enough air. I could tell my HR was high. After mile 9 or so it was my quads that were complaining. Yep, that cold is still in you...very typical. Have to wait until you are on all cylinders again before having epic expectations.
6) I figured that I'll take the FTP bike ride from the standard plan and use it for the Tuesday ride. What should I do for the Wednesday FTP ride? Repeat Tuesday? Reduce the time for one or more of the FTP intervals? Add time? Per the plan, Wed is an FTP run? The FTP ride on Thursday can be a repeat or just a different breakdown. So if Tuesday is 2 x 15', then Thurs could be 3 x 10' for example.
7) Any flavor that I should add to the brick runs? Zone 2? 1? Zone 2 out and 3 back? Add incline? I LOVE the flavor of EN workouts and don't want to just "run 30 min". I don't want the same thing every time. So you have three option. One is "just run" As that's all you might have in your. Two is 1 mile at HMP...so 10' to get your legs dialed in, then 1 mile at HMP (or close), then steady the rest. Three is to play with incline, so steady running to get loose for 10', then raise incline from base of 1% to 5% or 6% a bit every minute....you can go up a mountain and down it, etc.
8) I am training for IM 70.3 TX. That's my target now. Are there any milestones that I should be shooting for? What about beyond? What does my year look like after IM TX 70.3? During the get faster segment what am I trying to achieve? #1 milestone is great execution and prep. All energy there. We can talk once you get to IMTX about the rest of your year unless you need to plan ahead for work / family. Let me know.
9) When I do the swim on my side drill I cannot breath. I have to come to a complete stop. If I rotate I end up all the way on my back. and I start to sink and come to a complete stop. When I do the side drills I typically hold my breath for as long as I can. Should I breath at a normal cadence? Watch a video of it. The goal is to just turn your head, like if you were reading this and your buddy said "WASSUP Chris!!!" on your left, you'd just look, not turn your entire body. The key to this and any other breathing exercise is that you are exhaling under the water...if you have to blow out first when you turn your head, you'll need to get your mouth clear of the water, which = more rotation, etc. And use fins as you can.
10) When I focus on the fingertip drag drill I lose my pull. I windmill and do not finish the stroke. If I think about my stroke I lose the ability to drag my fingers. Your stroke should end just past your waistline...not down to your thigh, knee. The point of this drill is high elbows and front quadrant swimming, not a strong finish.
11) My bilateral breath has GREATLY improved. I haven;t really tested it out farther than 100 yards per your instruction not to go beyond 100 yd sets. Great...just keep using it!
12) I'm not pushing a particular rest period. I'me taking as much rest as I need to make sure I'm 100% focused on form for the next 50 yds. Any issues with that? When/Do I need to focus on longer sets at some point before IM 70.3 TX? I'd say about 6 weeks out is when the rest should go down a bit...but not too much to limit the quality of your swimming. You won't be "racing the swim all out" in TX anyway...our goal is a good swim effort (quality + work) that sets up your day!
I guess I mis-read the plan. I thought when we spoke on the phone that I would only have one quality run a week. Wednesday says FTP in the run column. Not sure what an FTP run is so I thought you wanted me to do a FTP bike on Tuesday and Wednesday followed by a ABP ride on Thursday. I know you said I needed to focus on my bike in order to get the most out of my run. Here is the plan I thought I was supposed to do.
Monday: Cords and Core. Can't swim at lunch on this day
Tuesday: 60' FTP bike in the AM 30' swim at lunch 30' Run
Wednesday: 60' FTP Bike 30' Swim at lunch 20' run in the afternoon (most likely to be cut)
Got it. I just finished my RR swim for IM 70.3 Texas and laid down a 47:26 over 2150 yards for an average around 2:11/100y. That is right on my typical pace for RR swims. I felt a little more relaxed and felt a little more balanced. I got to see how my form broke down and tried to correct it on the fly. Over all I'm pleased seeing as the longest set that I'd done previously this year was 100 y.
I have a RR bike planed for this weekend but it will have to be on a trainer. My trainer is not calibrated. As a result a 16-17 mph effort on the trainer is equivalent in watts to a 20-21 mph effort on flat level ground. My typical bike times for HIM hover around 2:45 so I'll probably bike around that time.
Comments
1. Does this affect my Thursday long run?
2. I am planning to swim before my bike on Friday. Do I do the Friday planned swim set of 3000m or do I do a RR swim of 1900m?
Also I'm not sure how to hit my target NP watts without spending some time above my target. I've been using the target as a ceiling.
I had a 4' PR on the run. The swim was tough for me. Please review and let me know what I should try for this Sunday.
Also I never had to turn myself inside out on the run. Should I have run harder earlier? I was really worried about bringing the suck early. The suck never came.
The swim: you have to lock on your form. Find your happy place now this week and have it in your head for the race. Nothing matters more than comfort. The level to which you had to exert yourself early in the race in Galveston definitely set you back on the bike.
It's a bike: I think one of the issues and hitting your power is that your autolock function is too rapid. I would much rather see you lap it manually @ 30 minutes give you more time to ride to a consistent number. Otherwise you'll always be too low.
I am concerned about your nutrition and the amount you had to pee. That is usually an indicator that there's not enough sodium in the fluids you are taking in. You don't mention what you actually drank or how much of it so it's hard to help you there. Please feel free to fill me in.
The run: I think you ran a pretty solid run. I think reduced fatigue on the swim and improved nutrition on the bike will also help. Given your performance last time, I feel more comfortable giving you the room to push harder over the final 3 miles versus the last short bit. But you still have to start off smart, okay?
I'll update the race report later. Here is my nutrition info.
On the bike I drank
Around 6 bottles of perform, ate 4 PowerGels and had one salt stick pill. I didn't eat my first gel until 35 min in. I started sipping Perform right away.
In T1 I had a PowerGel
On the run I drank about 1.5-2 bottle of perform with occasional sips of water. I ate 2 PowerGels and had one salt stick cap.
I just use the salt stick caps by feel, whenever I feel a little crampy.
I don't think there is an auto Lot by distance for the bike. Just remember that when you see 30 minutes it's time to hit the button and then eat something. I definitely think that there's not enough sodium for you. I'm not sure how much you normally drink in training or what your sweat test results were, but given the heat on that day it sounds to me like you were not absorbing enough of the fluids you were consuming.
It might be worthwhile to move the salt stick pills to once an hour on the bike to make sure you're getting enough sodium. In other words, don't wait until you feel crampy… Take them once an hour as a preventative measure.
Next conundrum. I've changed jobs and I've been assigned lots of training.
I'm in Fairfax from 5/12-5/23 that's weeks 14 & 15. I'll be back in time for the first RR; however I will be without my bike while I'm in Fairfax. The hotel has a spin bike and I plan to get in extra swim time at the George Mason natatorium.
I will be back there for 6/2 - 6/6 (week 17). I'll be back in time for my long bike on 6/7
As I said I'll have no kids or family while I'm there so I can focus on my swim. My swim split for IMTX last year was 1:48. I'll need to refill the SAU when I get back.
How do you want me to modify my training for the weeks before, during and after?
Let me know about your willingness, interest, or ability to secure a bike. Depending on that I can give you more information about that week as well as the following week.
I would really like to dump a large swim volume in those two weeks. I am an adult onset swimmer. My open water pace hovers around 2:20/100m. My last T-pace test put me at 2:09/100m.
Assume that I can go 10-12 times to a natatorium. What swim sets should I use that will build my form and not interfere with the rest of my training.
Getting better the pool is really a function of skill so the majority of it will be a drill set. I would suggest alternating days where you do simply skills and drills on one, and you do your skills early and then some fitness on day two.
Neither workout will be more than 2000 yards, maybe just 1500 for now. You would do your warm-up which again makes of drills and easy swimming, this should take you about 800. Then you can either continue with the drills on the easy days, or you can add some intensity as 50 yard efforts with 25 hard / 25 easy.
If you want more specific details, this would be great question to post the team to get some input. I'd be happy to chime in there too.
I have a question regarding m zones. My last 5k test was on 11/13/2014. I ran a 19:20 on a treadmill for a VDot of 52. I've been training at those zones ever since. I just recently rejoined the team. All through November and December I have been doing my own version of the Out Season. All intensity. No workout over 60 min. Mostly running. My big finish was the Panama City Beach Biggest Loser 1/2 Marathon where I took 4th over all with a 1:42:59. :-D The course was long (13.5 miles)
Today I ran 35' @ zone 2 off of a zone 5 bike workout. It felt MUCH harder than zone 2. My question for you is.
It was a neat experience. I got to practice leaning on my buoy and really feel the difference when my hips were low.
Unfortunately I cannot swim at lunch until next month.
My question is...when/if do I stop doing the
WU: 500
Drill:1000
Swim:1000
Workout? How many weeks out from 70.3 Texas?
Plan: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1WUmLlmrnjEeQlH7CBCYsGBo0BIZA-w4kV_MQxJ-tBPM/
I've updated the document as requested. I've given the plan a few weeks and here's what's happened.
1.) The pool near my office is closed on Monday's at lunch. So Monday's really out for swimming. I've been doing cords and core on Mondays. I've had to move that swim to Tuesday. As a result Tuesday is a total triathlon day with a bike, lunch run and afternoon swim.
2.) The focus on sleep has been amazing! Thank you.
3.) I had the flu and it wiped me out of workouts for a week. I was able to get in two slow bike rides just to pass some time. I postponed the week 12 tests to this week due to overall fatigue. I was disappointed with my bike test result. I was able to match the FTP from my a November 11th test. Just barely. I wonder where my time from January to now went.... That said I did have a ton of fatigue in my legs from Sunday's run; where as the November test was fully fresh.
4.) My pace targets for last Sunday's run was 7:10 (zone 2) for 90 min then push to 6:55 for the last 30. I tried. I dug deep like it was a race. It hurt. I did have a funky night sleep the night before due to a birthday party sleepover of 6 little girls. That included dinner and breakfast of pizza :-(. That said it was the fastest long run that I have ever done. I was holding 7:30s until mile 12 where I broke and slowed down to 8:00s
5) My zone 2 felt more like zone 3. My HR for that run was around 167 - 170 until the final best effort push. I felt limited by my lungs in the first half of the run. Like I couldn't get enough air. I could tell my HR was high. After mile 9 or so it was my quads that were complaining.
6) I figured that I'll take the FTP bike ride from the standard plan and use it for the Tuesday ride. What should I do for the Wednesday FTP ride? Repeat Tuesday? Reduce the time for one or more of the FTP intervals? Add time?
7) Any flavor that I should add to the brick runs? Zone 2? 1? Zone 2 out and 3 back? Add incline? I LOVE the flavor of EN workouts and don't want to just "run 30 min"
8) I am training for IM 70.3 TX. That's my target now. Are there any milestones that I should be shooting for? What about beyond? What does my year look like after IM TX 70.3? During the get faster segment what am I trying to achieve?
9) When I do the swim on my side drill I cannot breath. I have to come to a complete stop. If I rotate I end up all the way on my back. and I start to sink and come to a complete stop. When I do the side drills I typically hold my breath for as long as I can. Should I breath at a normal cadence?
10) When I focus on the fingertip drag drill I lose my pull. I windmill and do not finish the stroke. If I think about my stroke I lose the ability to drag my fingers.
11) My bilateral breath has GREATLY improved. I haven;t really tested it out farther than 100 yards per your instruction not to go beyond 100 yd sets.
12) I'm not pushing a particular rest period. I'me taking as much rest as I need to make sure I'm 100% focused on form for the next 50 yds. Any issues with that? When/Do I need to focus on longer sets at some point before IM 70.3 TX?
Thanks in advance for the feedback.
Chris, my replies to you in red below...
Yes to the RR swim...just need to test you mentally here!!!
Monday:
Cords and Core. Can't swim at lunch on this day
Tuesday:
60' FTP bike in the AM
30' swim at lunch
30' Run
Wednesday:
60' FTP Bike
30' Swim at lunch
20' run in the afternoon (most likely to be cut)
Thursday:
90' ABP ride
60' Swim in the afternoon
Friday:
45' Run
Saturday:
Long Bike
30' Brick Run
Sunday:
Long Run
What do you want me to do?
Chris! My bad..an FTP run is a threshold run. Just like an FTP ride is a threshold ride. P is Pace for run, Power for ride.
Now we know.
Let's do it as follows:
Monday:
Cords and Core. Can't swim at lunch on this day . Perfect.
Tuesday:
60' FTP bike in the AM Change to FTP Run in the AM, your 2x1 or 3x1 mile.
30' swim at lunch Can you extend if no run later in the day?
Wednesday:
60' FTP Bike
30' Swim at lunch
Thursday:
90' ABP ride
60' Swim in the afternoon
Friday:
45' Run
Saturday:
Long Bike
30' Brick Run
Sunday:
Long Run
I have a RR bike planed for this weekend but it will have to be on a trainer. My trainer is not calibrated. As a result a 16-17 mph effort on the trainer is equivalent in watts to a 20-21 mph effort on flat level ground. My typical bike times for HIM hover around 2:45 so I'll probably bike around that time.