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Pavol Blaho - Micro Thread

Hello coach Patrick,

Quick question: I am starting week 5 of OutSeason (Intermediate) training plan on Monday, but will not be able to train on Tuesday due to work obligations.  I was thinking to just swap Monday w/ Tuesday (Bike hard for 60 mins on Monday, following up w/ a 35 light run and then rest on Tuesday), however I do understand that the Tuesday / Wednesday workouts are meant to be a virtual brick, so not sure whether I should break them up w/ a day off on Tuesday.  Should I do something else on Monday, take Tuesday off, and the "crash the week" and not rest on Friday?

Thanks in advance,



Pavol

Comments

  • @Pavol, just once is a fine switch...just know Monday intervals might be a bit harder than usual!! image
  • Hello coach,

    Quick question: I am on Week 12 of the Half Ironman plan, and on Tuesday I am supposed to do a 75 min bike test (Power or HR), and then there is another bike training block for the same day (Tuesday) - 80 mins (MS13 x 15' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard, MS2: Remainder @ 70-75%/Zone2/Steady, WD: 5' Easy - High Importance).

    Sorry if I am asking the obvious, but that means two bike sessions on Tuesday, correct? Let's say do the test in the morning, and then second session in the afternoon?

    Thanks, Pavol
  • Pavol, sorry the test is for POWER athletes. If you don't have POWER or don't NEED to test, then you do workout #2!!! image So glad you asked...
  • Hello Patrick,

    Quick question about my swims this week. What exactly does this mean?

    MS1: 4 x 50 (20") Descend, 4 x 50 (15") Descend, 4 x 50 (10") Descend. Set Total: 700.
    MS2: 3 x 100 (20") Descend, 3 x 100 (15") Descend, 3 x 100 (10") Descend. Set Total = 1000.

    How do I do these descending sets? Do I slow down within the 50's (25 fast, 25 slow) or between the 50's (first of the 4 50's fast, second slow, etc)?

    Thanks,

    Pavol


  • Pavol, I think there's language on this in the swim wiki page, but could be wrong, Descend means to get faster within the SET. So Descend 4 x 50 means #4 is faster than #3 which is faster than #2, etc!
  • Thanks a lot coach.
  • Hello Patrick,

    I will be on week 18 next week for my Syracuse 70.3 race (HIM Advance plan).  That weekend, and the next Mon - Tue (that's already week 19) I will have a great opportunity to ride and run big, as we are going away (not as much to swim).  The current plan tells me to do 56 miles RR on Saturday, following by a 60 min transition run, and then rest on Sunday, followed by a swim on Monday and swim and short run on Tuesday.  Given I won't be able to swim much, but could ride and run a lot, how would you recommend I adjust the schedule?  Would I get a lot from riding long on both days, possibly even Monday?  Thinking of the same bump-ups recommended in the IM plan during  the last few weeks.

    Thanks,

    Pavol

  • Pavol, bike yes but run no. I suggest you could do 2 x 3 hours, one on Sat the other on Sun. Monday is an Hour run...Tuesday is off, Wed/Thu/Fri is swim only or off. image

    Really use the ride time to dial in your nutrition and make sure your set up is bulletproof!!!!
  • Hello Patrick - as discussed on Thursday via our telephone call, I would greatly appreciate if you could help me hack our short course training plan to lower my Oly PR. Two years ago I went 2:21 (28:32 swim - weak, 1:05 bike - good and 43:30 run - ok). All of this was done on back of an IM training (few weeks after IM MT), so very little speed training.

    My goal for this year is to elaborate on my Half IM baseline (finished Syracuse 70.3 last week - 5:17 and did a half Mary today - 1:33 - another PR under EN guidance!) and get my Oly time down to 2:15 (two mins off each discipline).

    I feel pretty strong right now. Need to lose about 10 lbs from 182 to about 172 (6'1") in the next few weeks. The Oly race is exactly in 12 weeks (September 20 - Mighty Hamptons).

    Many thanks in advance.
  • Hello Patrick - wondering whether you had a chance to take a look at this thread.
  • Pavol, thanks for the bump! On vacation this week and losing track of quite a few loose ends!

    12 weeks to short course speed is very doable, especially with your HIM fitness on the table. Here are my thoughts:

    1) Load the SC plan so you can see the rhythm.

    2) I would plan on all three swim days to work on your swim, but Monday (day 1) is mostly pull swimming, not shard intervals. I want swimming but wetsuit like swimming.

    3) Every other weekend, I would plan on riding 2.5 hours on Saturday as warm up, main set listed, then just steady Zone 2 time...nothing sexy just time.

    The only other tweak I would make would be practicing transitions. Really map them out and practice if you have the time to OWS, in getting off your wetsuit quickly, etc. A good T1/T2 can save you 3-4 minutes right there.

    Note - the main reason not a lot of tweaks in the plan is your weightloss focus. That takes up a lot of bandwidth...If you wanted, you could add in a short 30' easy run on the days you don't have a run listed (except Monday) to keep burning calories, but otherwise you MUST EAT DURING YOUR WORKOUTS. image
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