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Don Nowak's micro thread

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  • Hi Coach, don't know if you saw the thread I created in the medical form, but I had a bike crash on Sunday. I want to ER yesterday and then to the orthopedic surgeon today for evaluation. I have an A-C joint dislocation it Turns out that I do not need surgery which is really good. However, my arm will be in a sling for two weeks and then I will start rehab on the shoulder. I've now had about six weeks of really good solid consistent training and Of course this is very disappointing to happen at this point in time.

    For the time being, I cannot swim but I can ride the bike on the trainer and I can walk but not run yet.
    My thought is to spend as much time as I can on the bike trainer and to walk on the treadmill with incline set high.

    I would like to get your input on how I should structure my training during my recovery.
  • Hi Don, Hang in there! I am wishing you a speedy recovery. Stay healthy!
  • Don, so sorry to hear about the injury, but I think you have about as positive an outlook as possible (with great teammate guidance).

    As SS noted, you can still be active and work on macro things (better diet?) while in recovery. I can't plot a timeline where you WILL be 100% but you will be back before Chattanooga...and I can't think of a more swim friendly option for you (with start and current).

    My advice is:

    Two Weeks = Walking, some upright spin (but not much). Anything you can do to keep forearm strong (squeeze ball?), etc, is good.

    Six Weeks = Crush rehab like a champ and don't skip anything. Do all the exercises. And include water time (weightless movement of arm in water -- not out of it on the early side -- can help). During this time you should be back to some cycling with weight on your hands..trainer first...and even some running.

    Shortened race prep.

    I can't be more specific until we see how the next two weeks go. Feel free to outline what you are thinking so we can give you some more direction!

    ~ Coach P
  • Just met with doc...I am cleared to run now, start swimming in a week.
    No rehab prescribed, so I will do some exercises aimed at strengthening the joint.

    I have been walking or indoor cycling every day.

    Doc said let pain be my guide, but I am good to go.

    Should I jump into the plan now or how would you suggest I modify?
  • Don -

    thanks for the update and letting you know how things have evolved. It sounds like you're right on track for getting back into the plan. However we really want to be mindful of the load reporting underbody.

    I suggest you do the following:

    1) commits assuming two times or three times a week but keeping a very short period you probably will need 2 to 3 weeks just to feel normal in the water again. The sooner we get that out of the way the better.

    2) You can bike and run as your shoulder will tolerate. Let's start off by aiming for the time in your workouts. Once you've been consistent for three weeks we can start talking about what intensity might need. For right now we just need to get you back into a place where your training schedule is a normal part of your day-to-day life.

    Have a great Fourth of July!
  • Hi Coach,
    I've had two full training weeks since your last message.
    Workouts are all going well. I have followed the plan exactly and had no trouble meeting the workout times.
    My last swim, this past Friday, felt pretty close to my pre-crash self. I do not have any pain in swim, bike or run.
    My shoulder is a little sore after swimming, but not too bad.
    I am sticking to the indoor trainer for the bike rides (doing 80% of volume) for now.
    I was on the fence about going to camp in Chattanooga and I've decided to go.
    Do you have any advice for me with regards to the Big Day training session this Saturday?
    I plan to do the bike indoors...should I do the full 4 hours or 80%?
  • Don -

    That's great news!! Congrats on the return this far. You are in a great place all no need to go wiggly balls this weekend and go backwards. I say 80% is the way to go this weekend -- remember you are still building here. Only now you have an interim target of camp (good call).

    One last thing -- let's not go to crazy with the swim re your shoulder. Frequency is a better friend than volume for you in the water.

    Let me know how this weekend goes!!

    ~ P
  • My "big day" on Saturday went really well.

    3+ on the trainer is not much fun, but I did knock out a bunch of Netflix episodes.

    The telltale sign for me was how I felt on the run.

    After the first mile, I really started to feel good...and strong.

    I felt like I got in the zone...just clicking away the time.

    This was a good confidence builder workout.

    As far as my running goes, if you recall I have been using a run/walk and increasing the run to walk ratio a little each week.

    I have progressed to where I am now doing 1/2 mile run, 45-60 sec walk.

    Tomorrow will be the first long run where I try to sustain that, but I am confident it will be no problem since I've been slowly working up to it. I think I can do the race with this interval - it works better with regard to the aid stations vs doing time intervals. I think as I get more fit closer to race day, I can decrease the amount of walking a little.

    7/29 (Friday morning): The long run yesterday was a success - my best long run of the season. No problem holding the run for 1/2 mile. This morning was a 90 min swim, but I had to cut short to 75 minutes due to my shoulder starting to ache. I wanted to see (cautiously) where I was fitness-wise on the swim. I could have pushed to the 90 min mark, but played it safe. The shoulder is sore, but ok. I got in 3200m, which puts me on pace with my IMLP swim last year.

     

  • Don, that's GREAT news. You are really dong a great job of staying on track...how are you feeling mentally about the current pace / progress?

    ~ Coach P
  • I feel really good about where I am now. My confidence is back, I feel good, I can feel the run improving and I just set my best FTP on the test this week. I think I have finally gotten to a place this season where I feel confident about finishing the race and doing well. I really think I can set a PR with this race. What I don't want to do though is to try to run faster than I currently am because I feel like when I was doing the intervals last year that's when I had an injury that cost me a month of running before the race. If I can just build my endurance with my current speed such that I can run the entire marathon except for the planned walk breaks, then I should beat my marathon in Lake Placid by 45 minutes or more
  • Man I am so pumped to hear you say that. Not only because of where your fitness is that (considering where you come from), but also how smart you're being with your goals. It's all about the steady run right now. Let's keep you healthy continue to refine that fueling plan and get you ready to ride the smart bike that's going to set you up for that run!!! Yeah!
  • Hi Coach,
    Finished camp today and had mixed results, but I think mostly good.

    Friday: Rode 103 of 116 miles. Got overheated (temps were 100+) and watts fell and HR was high, so I called the Coach Rich for a rescue. While waiting on him, I sat in an air conditioned restaurant and pounded a few large waters. I did not do the brick run. https://www.strava.com/activities/665704501

    Saturday: Rode one loop + brick run. I felt good enough to continue to a second loop, but I did not want to push it since I wanted to do the brick run and also have a good Sunday. Given that before Friday, my longest ride since IMLP has been 3:15 on the trainer - one time.
    Bike: https://www.strava.com/activities/666693263 Run: https://www.strava.com/activities/666693022

    Sunday: Ran one loop - 13.1 miles. I did the first 6 miles trying to keep HR below 140 (my bike avg HR). After mile 6, I let it go up to about 150, spiking higher on the hills. I executed my plan of walking every 1/2 mile and I did not have to add any extra walk breaks. I did feel very fatigued in the last 1.5 miles, and my pace slowed. My legs were really sore by that point. It was similar to how I felt in the last mile of IMLP. Tonight I am feeling fine. Walking around with only mild soreness. I had not run more than 90 minutes at one time in a year (due to the split runs on Thursdays), so I think that had something to do with the wearing down at the end...plus the bike fatigue.
    https://www.strava.com/activities/667828313

    Do you think I did enough? I mean with regards to skipping the second loop on Saturday?
    Should I change anything or just keep on following the plan as written?

    For this week, I was going to do this:
    Mon: off
    Tues: swim easy
    Wed: Interval bike - best effort
    Thu: Swim (move long run to Sunday per Coach Rich)
    Fri: Swim
    Sat: Week 14 long bike per plan with run before
    Sun: Long Run
  • Please stand by...more coming....
  • Don, great workouts and thank you for the files. Big picture wise you should be please. Other folks are peaked and holding, you are still building up through Week 18….and very well I might add.

    As I look at the files, I see that your HR / Power on Day 1 was good through Mile 75…from there your AP went from 125 to 95 for the rest….totally cracked. Day Two your HR was much lower, yet interestingly your AP was 123 vs the 125 for the 75 miles on day one. And you were faster. I don’t know the difference on how your rode day two, but I like that day’s riding much better for you. image

    My only edit for your proposed week is a run off the Wed bike (short) and a 45’ strides run on either Thurs or Fri, mostly at TRP effort with a few strides at the end.

    Let’s get that recovery going!!

    ~ Coach P
  • I had good workouts this week.
    I am wondering about my FTP and the IF of my long rides.
    My last FTP test a few weeks ago was 208, an all time high.
    However, I struggle to avg 130+ on a long ride.
    What do we make of this? I can go "hard" for 20 minutes but not 70% of that for 5 hours?

    Long Ride from yesterday: https://www.strava.com/activities/674812071
    Long Run from today: https://www.strava.com/activities/675865455

    Also, for next week...It's week 15 - training camp week. However, I have signed up for a swim on the chattanooga course the following weekend and was going to make that my "training camp" weekend. What week's workouts should I follow this week?
  • Don, 132 NP is consistent with 65% of FTP. So I am not that surprised..but I don't know how hard you rode the 5 hours.

    I don't know what your target race watts are (number wise) for race day, but you can work to improve that 132 from this past weekend to, say 142. That's what the Race Pace Plus intervals were designed to do...20' at a higher IF, followed by 5 to 10 minutes steady riding (say at .65 IF) for some recovery.

    As for next weekend, I would repeat this weekend's workouts. Plan on Saturday being 30' warm up, then repeat intervals of 20' at 142-145 with 10' to recover, fuel and then be steady at around 130. If you get too tired, back it down to just steady time at 132....but will be interesting to see what that looks like!

    Onwards!!!

    ~ Coach P
  • Training is going well. I had back to back 15 hour weeks.

    I did a practice swim on the course on Saturday - 1:02!! Unfortunately, there was a strong current that we will not get on race day.

    I met up with EN teammates Amy Ferguson and Kim Siebold.

    We rode one loop after (planned on 2) but the temps were over 100 heat index at the end of the loop, so Amy and I bailed out. Kim went for a partial 2nd loop.

    Since I weenied out on the 2nd loop on Sat, I rode about 5 hrs today + 35 min run after. Felt stronger today. Interestingly, I recorded a perfect 1.0 VI for the ride...a first. I would trade that VI for another 50 watts though!

    Here is my PMC: https://www.dropbox.com/s/ql351669y...c.jpg?dl=0 

    I plan to increase my swimming frequency for the remaining 4 weeks by adding 1 or 2 extra swims per week. My shoulder is not doing well on the longer swims, so I am going to do what I can, just more often.



    Any comments other than stick to the plan?
  • Don, great changes (smart!) this weekend and incredible volume. You are going to have to tell me more about the bike...Strava says AVG is 120W and the Weighted AVG is 130 that's 1.o8 (but sometimes these sites are whacked). Regardless, a great ride.

    I don't think we can ask much more of your bike fitness at this point. I do want to make sure that your shoulder stays okay, so recommend that you spend time swimming more frequently but not necessarily a ton of volume in each session. Remember, you much you fit but not fatigued. Curious to hear how your nutrition plan went for you.
  • I was going by normalized power vs avg power here: https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1325858344
    Regarding the bike effort, I guess I am just not pushing hard enough for long enough.
    When I get uncomfortable in the saddle, I tend to take more breaks to relieve the discomfort.
    I will try harder next weekend and push some bigger numbers to see what happens.
    My average heart rate for the above ride was 128, which is low I think.
    That's about how I rode for IMLP and it took me over 7:30 to finish the bike!

    My CoreDiet nutrition plan is spot on. I have had no issues so far.
    I am racing in the new EN M-2 tri suit which has no back pockets, so I'm not sure how to store my bars and gel flask.
    maybe on the inside pocket? Or maybe use bento.
  • Don, don't get me wrong. I don't want bigger numbers per se, I want SMOOTHER NUMBERS at the end. That in and of itself will lead to speed.

    Placid isn't bike friendly on the hills...CHOO is better...but you still have to stay on it. It's not about riding harder when it's hard, it's keeping the pedals turning later in the day when you are tired.

    As for race day, get a belt to carry stuff in....SO easy to slide it around, unzip to access, zip up, etc...just zip it up before you start eating as you don't want to forget it's open!!!

    Here's the link: https://www.fuelbelt.com/product/Helium_Super_Stretch_Race_Waistpack
  • I feel like I had a breakthrough workout today - https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1336403692
    I really tried to stay on the gas the whole way.
    I felt like I stayed aero for a larger percentage of the ride time then ever before.
    My nutrition was spot on - good energy all day.

    Also, on Thursday I had a very good RR Run - 3 hours, my longest run other than IMLP.
    Nutrition plan worked perfectly, good energy. Sore knees at 2:30 on, but I think that's to be expected.
    https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1331781324
  • Don, both are fantastic workouts! I think the bike is a bit hotter than I'd like to see for a full IM (IF was .74x) but how you rode it was perfect. Steady, focused, and strong at the end. No fade...and the fade is what gets you on race day. You can literally see how well the nutrition worked...so basically I want that ride on race day, a little easier, after 1 hour easy (15 free miles)...that puts you at 98 miles until home...and if you fuel and pace right, not a problem.

    image
  • I completed my RR2 today - rough, rough day. Swam 1:15 (3200yd); rode 5:18 and was really struggling with the heat (95 deg) and my GED was hot and it SUCKED! I was totally busted, so I stopped and went to the run, for 1 hour which also sucked because there is just no way I can run that bike HR. Maybe that advise is for people who are not so slow like me. If your Zone 1 is a 9 min mile, you have lots of room to back down to a 10 or 11 or even 12 min mile. But for me, who hopes to avg 12 min miles, there seems to be little point is "running" a 15 min mile...I can about walk that. So, what to do? I was feeling so good after last weekend! grrr
  • Don, every up brings a down...and vice versa! There are lessons to be learned in both situations.

    If you are dehydrated and behind on fluids, then yes, you will need to run slower than you normally run. That's just reality...your body simply won't function in that state (or, rather, continue to funtion).

    Doesn't matter if you are a 7:00/miler or a 12:00/miler.

    IF that should happen again in the future, you'd be better of stopping for 20' to get soaking wet (save the feet) and aggressively hydrate before heading out again. Id you were to get back to your 12:00 miles vs 15:00, you'd make up that 20' before you hit mile 7.

    Lessons here are how to improve hydration execution...there's no avoiding it. How can you adjust in future (pit stop at car? Powder in bags and buy water?) should the same conditions arise?

    As you recover this week you should see things turn around for you!

    ~ Coach P
  • Don -

    Per our call, recover first is most important. So yes to the four weeks of the post IM plan. I recommend that you set those metrics early, so you have time to consider them and set systems in place to keep you compliant. Some thoughts for you:

    + Run Frequency
    + Daily Core (for a set period of time not forever)
    + A healthy food choice or diet focus (I'd choose 1 per 14 days for variety, not all have to stick)
    + Sleep tracking

    After the recovery, it's off to the Run Durability Program (RDP) with you... image

    ~ Coach P
  • So I may have an opportunity to run the Las Vegas Rock'n Roll Half Marathon on Nov 13 - one month away.
    I would do it just for fun...no time goals.
    How should I prepare?
  • Don, Can you give me a sense of the work you been doing since the race? I know we talked about doing some run durability but it's quite possible that you've only been recovering.

    There's not a lot of comparing meaning to do since you have a ton of one volume on your legs. If anything I would load up the balanced half marathon plan and follow two of the scheduled quality mid week runs (substitute Z3/HMP for anything FTP) anything else can just be bonus running and the cycling would all be steady/Zone 2, not hard.

    so to recap, I don't want you running too hard… The hardest to do is half marathon effort. sounds like it will be fun!

    Let me know what you think!

    ~ Patrick
  • I've been following the Post Ironman Recovery plan. I have skipped 2 or 3 swims in the 3 weeks so far but I have played tennis in place of it.
    I've done all the runs (2 @ 45 minutes and a couple of 15 minute brick runs).
    Do you think I should do week 4 of the post ironman or jump into the balanced half marathon next week?
  • Don, it's okay either way...as long as you feel ready, then you are ready. What's the 411 right now?

    Thanks!

    ~ Coach P
  • Hi Coach...I've decided I'm going to cancel my membership for now and go it on my own.
    I want to thank you for all your support over the last 3 years - it's been a pleasure having you as my coach.
    If I decide to return to long course racing, I will re-join.
    Don
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