I would recognize those Gym mats anywhere! So funny.
Those supports look pretty good to me, how are you doing with that bubble in the middle? For some people they can get kind of annoying especially if they have flatter feet.
Also let me know how the feet are feeling after the weekend.
My feet are vastly improved. Still a not 100% but much better than a month ago. I’m still avoiding z4 run intervals.
30 Day training log update
1/27-2/23
Running
99 miles (24.75 miles/week)
TSS = 1435 (359/week)
Current CTL, ATL, TSB = 66, 36, -30
Biking
425 trainer miles (106/week average)
TSS = 1574 (393/week)
Current CTL, ATL, TSB = 45, 49, -4
Swim
19,140 yards (4,785/week)
Mardi Gras hurt my swim this month
Questions: Because of if my foot I haven’t tested on the bike this year. I’ve been using Zwift exclusively and have been generally using its FTP for me. After this morning’s race it told me my FTP jumped from 267 to 274. My normalized power for a 44’ race plus a 5’ warm up was 282 (I forgot to hit lap when the race started) Training Peaks also sent me an email saying that I had a new FTP of 275. I must have had a great race :-)
I’m in week 11 of my full plan. Should I use the new 274 ftp, stick with 267?
Next Question: I do not have enough vacation time to take off a day for camp week. I can add extra bike time to the week days. I could also manage a 2-3 hour ride that Friday night. How do you want me to modify camp week to get a similar result?
I’ll take anything that’s improved, even if it’s not perfect at least it’s better. Perhaps without exacerbating your foot in the beginning you’ll be better off next time? Something to think about!
I see you use the 274 number no problem. If you need to adjust that then remember the calculator automatically takes 5% off so just reverse engineer it to bump it up by that amount so that you end up at 274 in the calculator and can go from there.
Remember, you will likely not be able to hold onto that number the entire build but it’s certainly a good place to start. Nice to see those numbers getting up there, you are an excellent bike fitness “ZIP Code.”
I ran into issues with the Run test. I haven't Run test in 4-6 months. The testing days are different in the 2018 vs. 2017 plans. (Posted this to the plan issues thread)
Also the Swim structure is very different 2017 vs. 2018.
Assuming that I go with the 2018 plan, I will replace the Bike test with a Zwift race/workout since I just has a FTP bump? or should I do the 5',20' test?
Next week is camp week. I do not have vacation time available. How can I modify the week to still get a big bike bump? I can add hours to the evening as needed.
Workout check in 28 day stats (2/16-3/15)
Swim 24k total yards (6k/week) swim a 4400 yards straight with pull buoy and snorkel in 1:27!!! So fast for me. Plan to try again without snorkel. Then without bouy. Then equipment naked. :-). Fixed my tempo trainer
Bike 572 trainer miles (143/week) 2057 tss (514/week) CTL 57.6 ATL 68 TSB -10.4
Run 105 miles (26.3/week) still have a run tonight 1546 tss (386.5/week) CTL 43.3 ATL 55.5 TSB -12.2
@Chris Oubre - great stats and solid work! Very impressive numbers...very consistent. That will really pay off downstream.
On the swim swim I suggest you drop the buoy before the snorkel (or try).
In terms of modifying the week I would fire up a morning hour of Zwift + the longer ride on the weekend. Other workouts should squeeze in around it....except the long run at the end!
I don’t really understand. Do you want me to add a 1 hour Zwift session to every weekday? On Friday I’ll just bike as much as I can fit? And on saturday do the race pace effort?
Sorry for the confusion, you should’ve asked me when we rode together this weekend!!
I’m saying make your big bike week by starting off every day prioritizing the bike. I know you are limited with time so get an hour or so in every morning, which will add up to 5+ hours across the course of the week.
Then you can do the big bike ride on the weekend, and follow that up with a long run day. It sounds to me like this may be easier for you than doing two bigger bike sessions during the week. All of the other sessions are just bonus if you can fit them in, such as a run or possibly a swim.
Sweet thanks. I don’t like hitting you up with training questions on le Zwift if I can help it, unless they are short. I enjoy the comradery and push. And I’m not sure if the best time for advice is when your brain is blood and sugar deprived.
Easter Sunday is this weekend. I have a race rehearsal scheduled. I have Friday off. Saturday I have a family event and I’m not training on Sunday. So I could pull forward the RR by one day and do that on Friday instead of Saturday; however, that puts it adjacent to the Thursday long run.
First option is to do the long run on Thursday in the morning on Friday, just keeping the ride power down lower end of the effort it will be less of a “test scores and more “mental/physical endurance test. Two days off to recover.
The other option would be to shorten the run on Thursday to the rehearsal on Friday, then get a modified long run or as close as you can into it, on Saturday morning. Sunday remains off.
So I developed a case of epididimytus and haven’t been able to sit on a bike since the 23rd. I missed my big day and my first RR. I had to lay off running as well.
I ran this morning and try biking again tomorrow.
So far I’ve done 100% of my biking indoors. I hope to get outside this weekend.
Im entering the taper period and need to plan this.
My TSB is now 38.5 (31.7 bike. 6.8 run). From past races I know that I have to have minimal to no swimming the week of the race. My arms carry fatigue longer than my legs.
What if if any modifications should I make to the stock IM plan for these last weeks.
@Chris Oubre I always love it when our team does the new stuff, but this does not fall into that category. I’m very sorry to hear about the situation and I hope you find a quick resolution.
I have found that I need to change my bike shorts almost immediately when I’m done and spend a fair amount of time taking care of my undercarriage for health reasons. Especially with some of those longer rides you were putting in it maybe worthwhile for you to plan on changing your shorts every 90 minutes to a new pair just to keep things clean and relatively dry.
In terms of your training, or number one party right now is to get you back into some decent training. You have about 10 days between now and the weekend of the 14th and 15th which should be your first and last race rehearsal ride. Given that you’re racing Texas, that doesn’t have to be outside it just has to be in the TT position as much as possible. I am more concerned about your nutrition execution and how well that’s working for you now. Without a doubt, Texas will be warm and how well you can hydrate and stay on top your nutrition will be the deciding factor.
If you are rebuilding, then running frequency can be a tool of these next 10 days culminating in your last long run on April 12, hopefully in the 2 1/2 hour range. But you tell me what your mileage is at.
I say stick with the same swim plan through the week of the 16th. Your last swim could really be April 20th before your last longish (but easy) ride on the 21st, and then you can really shut it down the last seven days.
To put it another way, do you want to get you back on track with training so that you can put up a good effort on that last race rehearsal weekend, including a long run that week, and then we really start to taper over the last two.
I'll be racing IM Texas on the 28th and then IM Boulder after that. I have spent minimal mental effort thinking about post Texas training and don't want to till after Texas. The only thing I wanted to take care of ahead of time is scheduling a Coach Call if needed. Let me know if you want to Recap Texas and plan for Boulder over the phone or via this thread.
Getting back to it. I biked 5 days last week and did cords twice. This week I was planning to hit the bike and swim workouts as written. What do I do with the run? Do I avoid running this week as well? Insert shorter/easier runs?
Sorry man, I thought we went over this in the phone call. No running until this weekend and they should be very short and easy like 2 miles. As you seen from the Zwift race is your fitness is high but the fatigue is still there.
If you haven’t done so already, then this weekend you need a four hour ride. It doesn’t have to be hard but we just need to log the time. This is going to boost the blood plasma volume and be the final piece of reversing that detraining trend that you’ve gradually been easing off of.
Next week can be a regular week of training for the swim and the bike, but the run will still have to be somewhat moderated. No real intensity just running for time. Longest run would be about 60 minutes so you could do that on Tuesday and Thursday and Saturday, for example. The week after that you are 100% back for all three sports.
Well that was a successful season. I'm transitioning into a sprint/maintenance mode. I have a sprint on August 4th that I'd like to do well in. In fact August has three sprints in it that I may race.
For the most part I'll be supporting Mia. I'll probably be getting up with her in the AM to give her company during the lonely morning hours. I plan to try and swim once I can fit it around her training plan. I'm thinking to do 2 swims a week ~ 45' long. High intensity 50's-100's.
I need to get back to "This is fun!" as opposed to "This is required"
Looking at 2018:
My bike has vastly improved.
My swim is coming along and needs consistency more than anything else.
My run lags behind my competition relative to my bike.
Plans for 2019:
Improve my run to where I can manage TRP after a 5 hour bike ride.
Maintain bike fitness relative to the field. I can even stand giving up a small amount of ground.
Don't panic at the start of open water swims.
My thought is to initially load up the sprint plans and adjust the days to align with Mia's workout week.
Then post August load up a nice loooong running durability stretch. All the while trying to swim twice a week. Then start the November OutSeason.
I agree with where your head is at, and I appreciate your discipline in taking the time to make this happen when your body is truly ready.
I think the best option is the Sprint plan is that will allow you to synchronize with Mia and support her as well. That should be, and I know it is, a top priority.
I love the idea of a late summer run streak, and there’s nothing to say you can start a little something something on the early side even if it isn’t an a streak. Maybe aim for a baseline of 15 miles a week mostly easy with one session with a little bit more speed? I would encourage you both to do open water swimming is much is possible this summer because it’s fun and different than being in the pool. You may also want to look ahead to the fall/winter and see if there’s a swim clinic or learning opportunity that you can put on the calendar if there isn’t a race. Just a thought.
Chris Oubre update. So the wife and I sat down and talked about what we both wanted to do w.r.t. epic challenges. We've agreed that Ultra distances are off the table. and that getting to Kona is the goal.
I'm not sure if it will be a KQ or a legacy slot so I decided to break it down.
My best every 70.3 was Augusta in 2016 (5:05 33:58 down river swim, 2:36 bike, 1:49 run)
My best ever 140.6 was IM Texas 2018 (11:23, 1:29 swim, 5:11 shortened biked, 4:24 run)
I figured if I can't get my 70.3 time to 4:20-4:30 I won't have a shot at a KQ in a 140.6
I've always been worried about the swim and have never focused on the run. So I'm planning to see if I can get my standalone 13.1 time to near 1:30. Towards that end I have loaded a balanced half-marathon plan. I like biking so I went with balanced. Instead of swimming and sprinkled through out the week I am doing cord and core workouts with a few weights thrown in there.
I'm on the intermediate balanced half marathon plan. I took a 5k test on 9/9/2020. I ran a 20:54.
I doing the bike days as described on the plan. So far they have been 4x4' at zone 5. Only one bike workout per week.
My body is doing well. My volume is way down from the Ultra training days. I'm stretching a lot and spending time with my feet elevated after long runs.
Today's workout was 4 miles easy and 4 mile moderate hard. It felt more hard than moderate hard. But I was able to hit my target power for all of them. Unfortunately my pace for those 4 miles was 7:30. a respectable pace but WAY off from what I've set myself as s goal.
On a previous run this week I had 2x1 miles at zone 4....but I decided to crush it hard. I ran a 5:59 mile. My fastest mile ever was 5:41.
I've been using the heuristic of all easy runs must be well BELOW the target and zone 4/5 days are hard as I can manage for the time period at LEAST above the target power.
I'm using Stryd to set my training, even though I live in flats-vile. I use the auto-calculated Stryd critical power when I enter in the training plans.
PS - I tried to get into the forums multiple times and failed. Seems only my laptop can get in. Can I get a forum password? And can I get invites to the new chat app.
@Chris Oubre - Ok, solid update. Just a quick reminder that not all runs are fast...I like your "bi polar" approach to running easy and running fast.
There's a chance that power / pace won't match effort...there are tons of reasons for this.
We just want to make sure that you can do the work on that day. IOW, the paces will come, we can't force them. You can, however, track all of them in Stryd & Final Surge so we can follow the progress..that's where we learn timing, strategy, and your adaptation.
Yes, I will email you the forum information for access!
Since the last update, key workouts include a 5k test, a 10 miler ate "target" pace and a bread and butter10 miler (8 easy + 2 hard)
For my 5k test I ran a 20:36 with a CP of 313 watts (as calculated by Stryd). That is 20 seconds off my last test and an 18 watt bump.
For by 10 miler at "target pace" I used my Zone 3 power as my target. I dug hard and ran a 1:17:38 (7:46 pace 277 watts)
the 8+2 run was tough. the easy felt so slow, but I stuck to it. the 2 hard miles were legit and I ran them at an average pace of 6:45)
I've done 2-3 hard cord workouts a week since I don't have pool access.
I'm eying Ironman Chattanooga but still soooooo hesitant without spending a few weeks in the pool. We'll see if anything is open in 21, but I do not want to force myself into something I'm not ready for.
No injuries (except for when I kicked the bed frame with my shin last night )
My current decision point is.....
Do I wait to see what 13.1 time I'll get on 11/29 when I'm done with this training block and use that to pick 70.3 or 140.6?
or
Does my data already indicate Go for Kona Qualifying and work on my fast in the 70.3 realm. Or does it tell me, nice paces but I'm not threatening for the front so I should start to collect Ironman finishes.
I woke up Sunday with a bad rock hard calf cramp and my other calf felt sore. Since those lingered longer than I expected and because my left hip flexor is talking to me, I'm planning to lay down all intensity this week. I've been doing a does on intensity for 8 weeks solid. I think my body is telling me to take a pause. So I will. I may re-evaluate for my long run
Comments
My feet are vastly improved. Still a not 100% but much better than a month ago. I’m still avoiding z4 run intervals.
30 Day training log update
1/27-2/23
Running
Biking
Swim
Questions:
Because of if my foot I haven’t tested on the bike this year. I’ve been using Zwift exclusively and have been generally using its FTP for me. After this morning’s race it told me my FTP jumped from 267 to 274. My normalized power for a 44’ race plus a 5’ warm up was 282 (I forgot to hit lap when the race started) Training Peaks also sent me an email saying that I had a new FTP of 275. I must have had a great race :-)
I’m in week 11 of my full plan. Should I use the new 274 ftp, stick with 267?
Next Question: I do not have enough vacation time to take off a day for camp week. I can add extra bike time to the week days. I could also manage a 2-3 hour ride that Friday night. How do you want me to modify camp week to get a similar result?
Remember, you will likely not be able to hold onto that number the entire build but it’s certainly a good place to start. Nice to see those numbers getting up there, you are an excellent bike fitness “ZIP Code.”
Which Full plan should I be in?
I ran into issues with the Run test. I haven't Run test in 4-6 months. The testing days are different in the 2018 vs. 2017 plans. (Posted this to the plan issues thread)
Also the Swim structure is very different 2017 vs. 2018.
Assuming that I go with the 2018 plan, I will replace the Bike test with a Zwift race/workout since I just has a FTP bump? or should I do the 5',20' test?
Workout check in
28 day stats (2/16-3/15)
Swim
24k total yards (6k/week)
swim a 4400 yards straight with pull buoy and snorkel in 1:27!!! So fast for me. Plan to try again without snorkel. Then without bouy. Then equipment naked. :-). Fixed my tempo trainer
Bike
572 trainer miles (143/week)
2057 tss (514/week)
CTL 57.6
ATL 68
TSB -10.4
Run
105 miles (26.3/week) still have a run tonight
1546 tss (386.5/week)
CTL 43.3
ATL 55.5
TSB -12.2
On the swim swim I suggest you drop the buoy before the snorkel (or try).
In terms of modifying the week I would fire up a morning hour of Zwift + the longer ride on the weekend. Other workouts should squeeze in around it....except the long run at the end!
would that work?
Then you can do the big bike ride on the weekend, and follow that up with a long run day. It sounds to me like this may be easier for you than doing two bigger bike sessions during the week.
All of the other sessions are just bonus if you can fit them in, such as a run or possibly a swim.
What ado you want me to do?
First option is to do the long run on Thursday in the morning on Friday, just keeping the ride power down lower end of the effort it will be less of a “test scores and more “mental/physical endurance test. Two days off to recover.
I ran this morning and try biking again tomorrow.
So far I’ve done 100% of my biking indoors. I hope to get outside this weekend.
Im entering the taper period and need to plan this.
My TSB is now 38.5 (31.7 bike. 6.8 run). From past races I know that I have to have minimal to no swimming the week of the race. My arms carry fatigue longer than my legs.
What if if any modifications should I make to the stock IM plan for these last weeks.
I have found that I need to change my bike shorts almost immediately when I’m done and spend a fair amount of time taking care of my undercarriage for health reasons. Especially with some of those longer rides you were putting in it maybe worthwhile for you to plan on changing your shorts every 90 minutes to a new pair just to keep things clean and relatively dry.
I say stick with the same swim plan through the week of the 16th. Your last swim could really be April 20th before your last longish (but easy) ride on the 21st, and then you can really shut it down the last seven days.
To put it another way, do you want to get you back on track with training so that you can put up a good effort on that last race rehearsal weekend, including a long run that week, and then we really start to taper over the last two.
how does that sound?
https://endurancenation.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/comment/263678#Comment_263678
If you haven’t done so already, then this weekend you need a four hour ride. It doesn’t have to be hard but we just need to log the time. This is going to boost the blood plasma volume and be the final piece of reversing that detraining trend that you’ve gradually been easing off of.
Next week can be a regular week of training for the swim and the bike, but the run will still have to be somewhat moderated. No real intensity just running for time. Longest run would be about 60 minutes so you could do that on Tuesday and Thursday and Saturday, for example. The week after that you are 100% back for all three sports.
Well that was a successful season. I'm transitioning into a sprint/maintenance mode. I have a sprint on August 4th that I'd like to do well in. In fact August has three sprints in it that I may race.
For the most part I'll be supporting Mia. I'll probably be getting up with her in the AM to give her company during the lonely morning hours. I plan to try and swim once I can fit it around her training plan. I'm thinking to do 2 swims a week ~ 45' long. High intensity 50's-100's.
I need to get back to "This is fun!" as opposed to "This is required"
Looking at 2018:
Plans for 2019:
My thought is to initially load up the sprint plans and adjust the days to align with Mia's workout week.
Then post August load up a nice loooong running durability stretch. All the while trying to swim twice a week. Then start the November OutSeason.
Thoughts?
Chris Oubre update. So the wife and I sat down and talked about what we both wanted to do w.r.t. epic challenges. We've agreed that Ultra distances are off the table. and that getting to Kona is the goal.
I'm not sure if it will be a KQ or a legacy slot so I decided to break it down.
My best every 70.3 was Augusta in 2016 (5:05 33:58 down river swim, 2:36 bike, 1:49 run)
My best ever 140.6 was IM Texas 2018 (11:23, 1:29 swim, 5:11 shortened biked, 4:24 run)
Looking at my age group in Texas and Tennessee (my likely KQ attempt sites) I need to target a 9:25 in Texas and a 9:57 in Tennessee per https://www.coachcox.co.uk/imstats/im/division/m40/
I figured if I can't get my 70.3 time to 4:20-4:30 I won't have a shot at a KQ in a 140.6
I've always been worried about the swim and have never focused on the run. So I'm planning to see if I can get my standalone 13.1 time to near 1:30. Towards that end I have loaded a balanced half-marathon plan. I like biking so I went with balanced. Instead of swimming and sprinkled through out the week I am doing cord and core workouts with a few weights thrown in there.
@Chris Oubre Thanks for the update...I like how no matter what option you choose...it's a challenge and you are All In! 👍
Yes to getting the run in order, and likely some target paces as well. Here's what I want to know:
I'm on the intermediate balanced half marathon plan. I took a 5k test on 9/9/2020. I ran a 20:54.
I doing the bike days as described on the plan. So far they have been 4x4' at zone 5. Only one bike workout per week.
My body is doing well. My volume is way down from the Ultra training days. I'm stretching a lot and spending time with my feet elevated after long runs.
Today's workout was 4 miles easy and 4 mile moderate hard. It felt more hard than moderate hard. But I was able to hit my target power for all of them. Unfortunately my pace for those 4 miles was 7:30. a respectable pace but WAY off from what I've set myself as s goal.
On a previous run this week I had 2x1 miles at zone 4....but I decided to crush it hard. I ran a 5:59 mile. My fastest mile ever was 5:41.
I've been using the heuristic of all easy runs must be well BELOW the target and zone 4/5 days are hard as I can manage for the time period at LEAST above the target power.
I'm using Stryd to set my training, even though I live in flats-vile. I use the auto-calculated Stryd critical power when I enter in the training plans.
PS - I tried to get into the forums multiple times and failed. Seems only my laptop can get in. Can I get a forum password? And can I get invites to the new chat app.
@Chris Oubre - Ok, solid update. Just a quick reminder that not all runs are fast...I like your "bi polar" approach to running easy and running fast.
There's a chance that power / pace won't match effort...there are tons of reasons for this.
We just want to make sure that you can do the work on that day. IOW, the paces will come, we can't force them. You can, however, track all of them in Stryd & Final Surge so we can follow the progress..that's where we learn timing, strategy, and your adaptation.
Yes, I will email you the forum information for access!
~ Coach Patrick
Check in time:
Since the last update, key workouts include a 5k test, a 10 miler ate "target" pace and a bread and butter10 miler (8 easy + 2 hard)
For my 5k test I ran a 20:36 with a CP of 313 watts (as calculated by Stryd). That is 20 seconds off my last test and an 18 watt bump.
For by 10 miler at "target pace" I used my Zone 3 power as my target. I dug hard and ran a 1:17:38 (7:46 pace 277 watts)
the 8+2 run was tough. the easy felt so slow, but I stuck to it. the 2 hard miles were legit and I ran them at an average pace of 6:45)
I've done 2-3 hard cord workouts a week since I don't have pool access.
I'm eying Ironman Chattanooga but still soooooo hesitant without spending a few weeks in the pool. We'll see if anything is open in 21, but I do not want to force myself into something I'm not ready for.
No injuries (except for when I kicked the bed frame with my shin last night )
My current decision point is.....
Do I wait to see what 13.1 time I'll get on 11/29 when I'm done with this training block and use that to pick 70.3 or 140.6?
or
Does my data already indicate Go for Kona Qualifying and work on my fast in the 70.3 realm. Or does it tell me, nice paces but I'm not threatening for the front so I should start to collect Ironman finishes.
I woke up Sunday with a bad rock hard calf cramp and my other calf felt sore. Since those lingered longer than I expected and because my left hip flexor is talking to me, I'm planning to lay down all intensity this week. I've been doing a does on intensity for 8 weeks solid. I think my body is telling me to take a pause. So I will. I may re-evaluate for my long run