Wk 11 workouts in the book

rwsmith96

In a transparent attempt at capturing some of the workout mojo from the OS, I'll be posting training updates a few times a week.  Feel free to chime in with your progress as well.

You can see this week's 9h 12m of work on my Strava profile page: http://app.strava.com/athletes/1167864 

This week was a big one for me: the first swim in four months, big rides outside using my new Stages PM, the first race rehearsal type day.  Here's what I've learned:

1. I am having a hard time with the "lazy legs" swim technique that RnP preach.  I understand conceptually that letting legs go easy on the swim saves them for bike and run.  It's just that, as a former swimmer, I use my legs to manage my speed (sprinting usually means kicking harder and faster, as opposed to harder/faster arm strokes).  I'll be using the next few weeks to sort this out ahead of the race.  I do get it; my last 70.3 featured some delightful cramping on the bike mount out of T1, so I'm sure I'll come around.

2. Riding outside with a PM is very different that riding on a trainer.  I'm blown away by how I used to (pre PM) ride up a hill at 400W and down at 0W...riding up at 220W and down at 190W is a whole different bike ride.  I did nail my IF and VF targets for my first outside ride today and it showed up in today's run.  Also nailed the nutrition, and it showed up in today's run.

3. Work works when it comes to running.  I think I have a big vdot increase coming up next week.  I got the most benefit from the OS in my run.  Also, when you don't overcook the bike, running the HIM run at zone 2 isn't impossible.  I used to think it was, but I also used to slay myself on the HIM bike (see note 2 above ).

I feel like I'm on track to go sub-6 in March.  How did everyone else do this week?  Good luck with testing next week!

David Leventhal

Nice update Richard. Sounds like you're making progress!! I just finished week 5 of the Get Faster Plan. I've got three more weeks of this and then I'll roll into the HIM plan. I had about 8:45 of workouts this week...signed up for TrainerRoad this weekend and did my first trainer ride (2.5 hours) using it...first time with any power (albeit...it's virtual power) - definitely more work than using HR only. I'd also agree on the running - my per mile pace has steadily been dropping from an average of 8:50 per mile last September to 8:04 this month. Have a great week!

Peter Noyes

I had a big week as well. I just finished week 7 of get faster which clocked in at 10:30 of training. I also just started training with a power meter and on a tri-bike. Yesterday was my first outside ride on the new bike. I felt really squirly at first on it, but pretty quickly I became comfortable in aero and changing positions. Week 8 of the GF plan is a testing week. Tomorrow is the FTP test which I am excited about because I now have a power meter. I am testing my run next Sunday in half marathon race.

BTW, I use TrainerRoad as well David. It is awesome!