Chris's Micro Thread

Chris Ciannella · February 19, 2014 10:39AM

Coach - I'm in Week 7 of the OS and I only did one 18 minute interval at FTP on my bike yesterday, missed this mornings run and will miss tomorrow's workouts too - crazy work week.

Any thoughts on how I proceed as next week is a test week.

Thanks,

Chris

Coach Patrick · February 20, 2014 8:50PM

@Chris, entering test week is about resting up but having a good understanding of your fitness levels so you can pick the right test "target efforts." I suggest you plan on hitting Sat and Sun as planned...nothing more to make up here...if your Thursday was a wash, then you could run 45' easy on Friday in Zone 2, but that's really it! If you ned more permanent schedule fixes, please let me know!

Chris Ciannella · February 21, 2014 11:35AM

Perfect timing - thanks!

Chris Ciannella · April 2, 2014 11:31AM

Hey Coach,

I'm in week 9 of the HIM. As I look out for the rest of this week's training block, I'm going to run into a few issues. Due to weather (I don't do well in the cold) there's no way I'm going to get in the long rides on Saturday or Sunday. However, I can ride on my trainer. Also, probably won't be able to get in the long run on Thursday. Any suggestions on how to modify would be great
Thanks,
Chris

Coach Patrick · April 2, 2014 7:53PM

@Chris, this early you can cut the rides by 2/3 on the trainer, just keeping the Main Set at full duration. Example: 3 hour ride with 2 x 20' (2') @ Z4/FTP is now 2 hours with that same main set. We only go into "full ride time on trainer mode" starting in Week 13....

Long run...I'd like you to do as much of it as you can. If you can't go indoors the whole time, maybe you split it (AM / PM)....or, if that's not an option, do as much as you can...that long run takes much longer to build up that the bike...but I want you to be healthy...let me know what you decide!

Chris Ciannella · April 3, 2014 11:54AM

Thanks Patrick

I think what I'll do is the long run on Saturday and the bike trainer on Sunday for 2 hours. Depending on how I feel, maybe I'll do a short easy run (30 minutes) after Sunday's bike too.

Chris Ciannella · April 19, 2014 5:33PM

Hey Coach,

I blew up my calfs and can't run for at least a week maybe 2. Any insights on what to do to compensate?

Thanks
Chris

Chris Ciannella · April 20, 2014 5:09PM

After researching my calf issue, I think it might be more than just a week or two - not good with Rev 3 Wisconsin on the calendar

Coach Patrick · April 23, 2014 9:32PM

CC - got any new updates for me? Can you find out anything about what you got going on in these videos here? www.athletestreatingathletes.com

Chris Ciannella · April 25, 2014 2:38PM

Hey coach,

That website is pretty informative - thanks. I went to the doctor today and it doesn't appear to be anything serious - no shin splint or stress fracture. I've had one week of being run free and going to take this week off too. So hopefully when I start running again next weekend, I'm all good.

Any thoughts on how I start back up? I was going to take it real easy the first week - all runs in Z1/Z2 and nothing over 5 miles

Coach Patrick · April 27, 2014 8:31PM

Great!! I think you should be even more conservative. I'd recommend four runs each no more than 3 miles. The next week we can go four runs at 5 miles each. We can reconnect before the third week. Remember it's all about consistency right now, not speed or flash.

Chris Ciannella · April 28, 2014 2:34PM

Thanks! I'll let you know how my first run goes.

Chris Ciannella · May 7, 2014 8:12PM

Coach

First run went great. My second run not so well - my left calf pain is back. I'm seriously considering deferring Rev3 Wisconsin at this point. I'll probably take another 2 weeks off. Not happy!

Coach Patrick · May 8, 2014 8:08PM

What were the distances/efforts and when did you do them (day of week). I'm just curious as we try to understand the severity of what you're dealing with.

Chris Ciannella · May 8, 2014 8:16PM

I went 2.6 miles on Sunday at a 9:25 pace, which is between Z1 and Z2 and then I ran 2.9 miles at a 9:15 pace on Tuesday. I had zero pain on Sundays run. The pain on Tuesday was very very minor.

Chris Ciannella · May 8, 2014 8:20PM

I have no pain when I walk or ride my bike either

Coach Patrick · May 11, 2014 7:47PM

Okay on a scale of 1 to 10 I put that about a 6--10 being awesome. I'm concerned about the pain when you run but the fact that you don't feel it any other time is good. Curious to know if your footwear is anything to do with it, or if you want to consider some changes there as that may be part of the issue.

I would continue the short runs, this week you could look to do 4 x 30 minutes also on a flat, soft surface. Let's see how those go.

Chris Ciannella · May 12, 2014 10:26AM

ha - I just bought a new pair shoes last weekend. I plan to start back running on Thursday and see how it goes - 30 minutes max.

Thanks,
Chris

Chris Ciannella · May 26, 2014 9:01AM

Hey coach,

After over a month, I finally figured out my calf problem. That's the good news. The bad news is my run training suffered from over 6 weeks of no or very little running. I've managed to run 4x the past week with my two longest runs being 4.7 miles - one being a bric.

With Rev3 wisconsin being just under 4 weeks from now, I'm a bit nervous about being able to run 13 miles - the
Swim and bike are no problem. So, I was thinking about contacting Rev3 and switching my race to the Olympic distance instead of the HIM distance.

Any thoughts on switching the distances and how should I proceed on my running in the next few weeks

BTW - my calves were so tight it was causing my pain. Still need to get a few more massages before I'm 100%, but at least I can run now

Thank you
Chris

Coach Patrick · May 27, 2014 7:26PM

While it's a bummer to know where you're at, it's awesome that you have a solution and a path forward. You still have a couple weeks. Why you'll never be able to get your long run up to 12 miles, say, you could certainly do a bunch of runs at the medium distance -- probably in the 6 to 7 mile range. All that would mean is setting different pacing expectations for the big day. Totally up to you.

Let me know if you want to map that out.

Chris Ciannella · May 28, 2014 9:43AM

Coach Patrick,

Given my history of injury when I push the envelope, I think I'll take the conservative route and just do the OLY distance. I have to keep my eye on IMWI as that's my key race and first ironman so I don't want to do anything to screw that up.

If you could map out my run training that would be great

Thanks,
Chris

Chris Ciannella · July 8, 2014 6:08AM

Hey Coach,

Well my season is shaping up to be terrible. Looks like I'll be scaling back my goals on IMWI. Last Friday I crashed and completely destroyed my bike. Outside of some road rash and a very bruised right ankle, I'm OK. I have not done any training since. I tried to do my bike FTP test this morning but my ankle started hurting so to be conservative I stopped. As a result, I'm out of commission whens it comes to running and biking. I'm guessing I'll be able to hop back on the bike by Thursday or Friday. Run is still a TBD. I'm also guessing I could swim now - road rash shouldn't stop me from doing that. Any thoughts on how to proceed with my training would be great.

Thanks,
Chris

Coach Patrick · July 8, 2014 10:04PM

So sorry bout your crash but it's not game over - you are healthy and that's truly the most important thing. You still have 8(?) weeks to get ready...I'd like to have you spinning EASY for the rest of this week with the goal of running by the weekend --- perhaps a short brick off of a 2-3 hour spin. I don't say RIDE as intensity isn't until next week at the earliest.

By next week you should be able to get back into the pool again. One more week build up your baseline abilities should do the trick....let me know what else you need!

Chris Ciannella · July 14, 2014 6:02AM

Hey coach,

My ankle is still a mess so no biking or running this weekend. I'm getting concerned about be able to be fit enough enough for IMWI. Due to my earlier calf issues, my longest run was 8 miles and my long bike was 80 miles, which il only did once. If I go another week of this crap, I'm considering pulling the plug for 2014.

Coach Patrick · July 14, 2014 9:26PM

How do you feel this week?

Chris Ciannella · July 15, 2014 9:26AM

My ankle does feel better, but certainly not 100% and there is no way I could run. I swam this morning and toward the end of my swim, my ankle started to hurt. I'm going to try and hop on my bike (trainer) tomorrow and see how I feel. Just looking to spin with no serious work efforts. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks,
Chris

Coach Patrick · July 15, 2014 6:02PM

Ok....sending you solid vibes...

Chris Ciannella · July 16, 2014 6:06AM

Hey Patrick,

My spinning is OK. Ankle have me a little problem but nothing to worrisome. However, I don't feel comfortable running yet. Not sure if I can still change races, but i was thinking about changing my race from IMWI to Steelhead. What do you think?

Chris Ciannella · July 16, 2014 2:31PM

After looking at the transfer program, it looks like I wouldn't be able to transfer to Steelhead anyway. So I'm all in at IMWI - if I have to walk/run so be it. My plan is to ride my trainer tomorrow (normal workout), swim on Friday, and bike Saturday and Sunday. I hope to get a run in on either Saturday or Sunday. I'll keep you posted.

If nothing else IMWI will be a learning experience for 2015

Thanks,
Chris

Coach Patrick · July 16, 2014 8:03PM

Great positive energy and focus...I think that you'll be okay as long as we keep focused on short-term gains vs what today means for your race and you'll be much better off. Make sense??

Chris Ciannella · July 17, 2014 10:55AM

Yes sir - I have 17 hours, haha

Chris's Micro Thread

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