OMG I thought you were out there LAST week and then I see all these photos...I was starting to worry you'd forget how to swim bike and run with all that POW!!!
I love that you have the skin skills to get something epic like that done with only aerobic and muscular issues...and not the hammy. You are doing an incredible amount of base work, which is great.
I think your hardest challenge will be returning to "boring" indoor tri life and keeping the pressure up.
Funny, until you mentioned it, I forgot about the Hammy, that is a good thing! just did a half day with Al & heading to the airport soon... will have to visit that Vasa tomorrow! maybe the trainer. debating on doing a skimo race at burke on saturday, with 7 days of altitude living, I should do well!
okay... bad week. Came back from Al's after skiing a bit on Thursday. Went to work Friday, up to Amherst, then VT, planned on a skimo race saturday. Couldn't get out of bed... Couldn't get to okemo to even to a recreational skin, caught a bug that sidelined me..
have 12 days including today (did a 91 TSS 2x18 bike this AM already) before I go to Park City. Goal is to hit strong workouts for that time period that will be on a ramp rate of 700 TSS/week. (this week will be short for missing monday possibly) I have bailed on a potential skimo race this coming weekend to do SBR specific WKOs.
my first 7 days in Utah, I am at a property that has a small but equipped workout room. Bringing clothes to run outside as I think the bike path there is plowed as well. I hope to string together a few good weeks of run volume and get back into this.
Thanks for checking in. Unfortunately the problem you're experiencing time and makes sense. Right, travel plus long active days outside plus Fort stress plus logistics. It all comes down to just how much work you can force into your system. We have to be really cautious here not to do any damage.
First level success is something consistent every day, as long it is swim, bike or run. Second level success is alternating days of intensity. Solid bike day followed by an easy run or swim day. Third level of success is Daily short runs. Quality bike came with an easy break, followed by easy run day.
Nothing in my experience says you need to be hard-core every day to achieve your goals, but everything points to consistently. And that means taking the good days when you get them and rolling with the bad ones when you don't.
Good advice. I got where I am which was and is feeling successful by hitting up 1st level success and aside from the bug, am focused on that.
2nd level success was also achieved during this period.
i flirted with the 3rd level and goal from now until I leave for Utah is to get in a 2-3 mile run with one or two 4 mile runs in the next 11 days. I am going to toss in a 2+ hr hike on Saturday on top of a long bike & short run. Per previous discussion, goal this weekend is 5 hrs total endurance effort on bike (hike will be additional)
@scott dinhofer big weekend brobeans! Did you even sit down on Saturday? Like until you just passed out? 🤣 Love the jump start...assuming Monday might need to be a light day to recover, but then let's get back on it!
i am pissed at my lack of running and consistency last week, but I was still fighting a bug. Legs were trashed yesterday. Solving for that today. going straight to bike path/ gym at end of day. I need to plan that more. Need a perfect run week this week, 20 miles as 2-3MPD with 1-2days at 4-5 slow miles. Bike will come and is..
Question on bike in VO2 phase - am I doing WKOs as written or do i get special FRP intervals from you? Feeling like my 2x20FTP i likely in the 235-240 range, curious what you think looking at charts.
Also, if I were to toss in a couple of those group Tuesday Night gravel rides, would that hurt me in the VO2 phase?
Don't worry too much about your overall training, I feel like you've done a good job given all of the travel he had. And I think it's a bit early for those custom Intervals but I will check it out. Finally, yes the consistency of your run training is really important.
Think of it as your piggy bank for the run. Every little bit you put in there adds up and you'll definitely need to empty that thing on race day! 🐷💰
out in UT for a 12 day spread, got in some good runs in the week before I left (4 for 14 miles) and got in 5 treddy runs last week pre-ski. Took yesterday off from skiing and got in a 5x2' VO2 session on my friend's trainer.. trying to hold the line with a travel day today and find time to do a skin up big cottonwood canyon!
Totally...hard to keep up with you. I think until you are on a "normal" schedule, you Should:
Try to run even 1 mile a day; one run of an hour during the week.
2 x the VO2 stuff...long rides replaced by skimo and time outdoors.
15' of Core Strength a day...get it done.
When you are back we'll need to transfer fitness to the bike; this will mean some longer days on the bike - even at a lower IF than you might otherwise want. We just need to jump start it pre BWR!
back from UT tonight.. VO2 tomorrow, Steve boer put me in a 5 hr rubber band group ride saturday, will do big volume this weekend. Goal is to run 20 mpw starting next week, try to build a run streak.
Going to VT for weekend of 3/7-8 Long Skimo expedition with the guy who set 2.5million uphill feet record on Saturday, if I go without jill bringing bike and getting on zwift sunday. Ally is coming for spring break sunday afternoon, see her, then leave and see Lauren in Amherst on way home. back to a normal week.
Weekend of March 14/15 - Skimo race on Saturday (that's a 3 hr affair) ski on sunday.
for both weekends, will try to get a 2 hr endurance ride on Friday.
then it's AZ camp the following weekend where you will make me suffer!
This is great....time on the bike matters now with these weekend events of awesomeness...so that means logging a good Tue / Thu VO2 bike and then one aerobic session (Friday works), then be epic on your Weekends. That's the best play.
Run durability as you are able...the Skimo counts for the run stuff, so make sure you are frequent and that your Thursday run is the bomb!!!
the weekend went like this since returning from UT on Weds..
Zwift 5x30 Vo2 Friday
Saturday - 1:20 on Zwift by myself, 1:15 on the S Boer Rubberband
Sunday 5 mi run/17' Zwift to spin tired legz out.
this week, moving everything a day forward to get tues-Sat wkos done mon-Fri, then the weekend with a big skimo day on Saturday, all day.. 8am-4pm... backcountry with a beast of a leader..
Sunday tbd, will bring bike with me to possibly do a trainer ride
I saw the weekend in TP.com and considering how much time you had away from Le Trainers I think you should be pretty satisfied with that Saturday work!
@scott dinhofer Thanks for the call yesterday; always good to have a few laughs and plot adventures (I'll be following that FB group for sure).
Short Term
Prep / Build for June Adventure
June 17th for a month in VT For Multisport time.
Mid-July return to NY for "normal" training, events TBD such as bike packing, etc.
Fall Event Options
October: Steamtown or Mohawk
50k Route in Hudson (back up)
Plan Guidance
Running - Top priority. Keep frequency going and mileage low. I'd prefer 2 miles zippy than 6 miles with 4 slow. Goal will be to get to 30 days, then take 5 days off and repeat through to mid June (two days off then before chasing Young Buck on the hills.
Cycling - Build mileage, then transition to strength.
Vasa - Always maintenance here. It will pay dividends, but no need to go longer than 20 minutes, most sessions should be 15 minutes.
Tuesday Bike Power Targets
30" = 465
45" = 400
1' = 370
1.5' = 300
2' = 285
Zwift Ride Options on Thursdays, Tuesdays have sessions.
Great weekend doing the Ultra training madness. For me the weekend was interesting and fulfilling. My goal for this was to use it as a launchpad to up my training regimen. The start was 9 days after doing my 50k self guided tour of Rockland County. I heeded your advice of starting out at the pace I expected to finish, so I pushed myself hard to try and run slower than 9:30 and even 10 in the 1st two runs. In run #4, the wheels came off and I did a bit of walking. Mentally I felt like I would end up run/walking with the emphasis on walk in runs 5 & 6, to my surprise #5 went off without a hitch and #6 allowed me to even push to a faster pace. (1'/mi faster than any run in the weekend).
Got in some bigger bikes the weekend before the ultra.
So what I think I need.
1-run -continue to build, mix in some short (4 mi) trail runs in Harriman, Feel after the ultra weekend and the 50k the week before that I can likely handle 29-30mpw given that I was at 24/25 before that all started. Should we start to introduce some speedwork?
2-bike- need a program of focused attention on watts during the weekday sessions and building weekend distance..
3-swim - must get on Vasa and build, in 2 1/2 weeks I will be in the lake and swim almost daily. while no event on the horizon, good opportunity to use the lake to make some gains on upper body strength AND zone 1/2 cardio from swimming.
"events" -
would like to be able to do a solo six gaps around July 4
Patrick Marsh reached out and we have at least 3 -4 guys so far for a 200 mile bike on July 25
Sorry for the delay, I started this several times yesterday but couldn't close it out. Here we go.
Vasa isn't critical for OWS, but it's nice to have some swim "resiliency" in there. After all OWS is in a wetsuit and you aren't racing. It's only as hard as you want it to be. I would suggest you plan on 30' for 3x a week. Really nothing special here...And it's in the plan. Now if you were RACING with a time goal in the next 3 months, that would be different. We are in swim maintenance mode here.
For the running, we have to be careful. You did 3 weeks in the low 20s, then a 40 mile week (50k) then a short week and this big one. But before that, you were barely running. So you are "run rested" but the durability is questionable. Is there a potential? Absolutely, but we don't want to be too aggressive. I would recommend something like this:
6/1 20 miles
6/8 25 miles
6/15 30 miles
6/22 25 miles
6/29 30 miles
7/6 30 miles
7/13 20 miles
7/20 30 miles (you are now Durable, and on the 3x30, 1x20 program that follows).
30 miles
30 miles
20 miles
For cycling, you can get to work for sure. There's so much room for growth there. Your plan has these too, from 1' upwards. Here are those zones for you for the interval day.
1' = 365
1.5' = 330
2' = 315
As a bonus since you have volume / outdoor time coming I have put in some Sweet Spot work, keeping the weekends to just a long bike and a long run. These are on Thursdays...
Looking ahead, triathlon is unlikely here in the NorthEast, but a Fall 13.1 or 26.2 is a potential For sure. Even if it isn't official we can put you into a great run time while you continue To deepen your strength on the bike.
You are good for three weeks but then we need to talk planning of VT with the "flex" schedule you'll have up there!
THIS is great and what I needed! just checked it all out in FS.. will be getting it done, just giving myself a break until thursday before going hard again after this past weekend.
Perfect!!! I think you're doing as well as you can given the conditions. You've already started to turn the ship in the right direction now we just start to build off of it. Don't forget to focus a lot on hydration.
These early-season hot days are going to sneak up on you, particularly when you're outside.
yea, so did 2 strong bikes, 2nd one was a bit easier as I was dragging around a guy slower than me, legs were still shattered mon/tues this week after that, again, probably didn't give enough rest after ultramay... but they came around this AM and I knocked out a great 7+ mi run. Might do 1.5 later on today as a split run. and a bike, but no intervals, just get out and ride the new 3T gravel bike that withrow's guy built for me a few months ago.
Saturday I was out in the heat and drank a lot, took GE powder with me to mix up additional bottles, which I did. Also got caught in some showers which was a help, and allowed me to practice riding in rain. Sunday was out very early, so hydration less of an issue, but a good pro-tip!
so, last week was a bust.. didnt get in the run mileage, no vasa (and again not this week) hard to motivate when there is really no race in sight!
did a 109 mile ride on Saturday solo. Headwinds all the out, was very cool and didn't hydrate, that turned into a disaster later in the ride. After ride, my legs locked up fully cramp on the couch, have never had that before.
Sunday AM, went for a hike in harriman with Sami, turned around to say something to her, misnegotiated a boulder and went down on my quad really hard on the point of a rock.. full stop for 2 days after. Going to try and do an EZ ride this afternoon, did run 2 miles this AM. using this as a light week before hitting it hard in VT next week.
@scott dinhofer - Hey, sorry to hear about le quad. Hopefully you were able to shake it off, the runs look decent again to me so we can get you back on track.
Speaking of which, with LP on 8/30 we need to refocus.
First, some background thoughts. Why are you had to "down" weeks after ultra may… Overall you're in a great place. You've put up some solid bike sessions and some big weeks as well. Despite your mild case of Covid it's clear that high levels of fitness for you are right around the corner.
Bonus that you thrive on deadlines and can focus.
Second, knowing the basics. I have loaded our bike focus plan into your final surgery count. It has the standard workouts to complete between now and race day. This is affectively the baseline auto pilot way of doing things. But I want you to see what's out there in terms of direction.
Third, finding space for gains. The next question is how can we effectively hack this plan to accelerate your growth. I am recommending that we alternate bike and run focus weeks to give you space for each discipline to grow while the other is in maintenance mode.
Bike Week = 250 to 300 miles, 30 miles running.
Run Week = 40 miles running, 150 to 175 miles on the bike.
Both Weeks = 3 swims either OWS or VASA. Water = 60' cap, Vasa = 45' cap.
Bike Week: = 250 to 300 miles, 30 miles running.
4 x 5 miles (1 with Speed), 1 x 10 mile as 2 mi warm up, 8 miles at Zone 3 / HMP.
3 during week (1 quality, 1 easy+sprint, 1 steady), 2 on weekend (one BIG, other Medium).
Run Week = 40 miles running, 150 to 175 miles on the bike.
3 x 5 miles (1 with speed), 1 x 10 mile on Wed, 1 x 15 mile on Sunday.
3 during week (1 quality, 1 easy+sprint, 1 steady), 1 on Weekend.
Let me know what you think of the above.
Meantime, I know that you have flexibility right now in Vermont. You should definitely be getting up in the morning and doing easy runs to get them out of the way. Enjoy your bike ride when the suns out to challenge your fitness on the hills in the heat. Close things out with an easy wet suit swim before dinner it's just a stretch things out and remember how to swim.
yes, quad came around, yesterday's run was a confidence builder. In VT now and figuring out when I can do what, seems like thunderstorms in the forecast every day. Will reel off a morning run, and get the swims in when it's not crackling outside. And figure out the bikes.
I brought up three bikes, plan is to ride something every day, can be a short 20-35 mile ride, a ride from house to top of okemo and back (22miles total) or hitting the gravel roads for a few hours and some MTB rides with friends.
@scott dinhofer - always good to catch up! Sorry so short this time around, you should do less epic stuff so we have less to talk about!
Key Takeaways:
Hit Your Weekly Run Targets in Alternating Fashion: 30(10) mpw, 40(10/15) mpw
Just Ride Your Bike. The more riding you do, the stronger you are going to get. This is the time of a "season" where TIME matters...so ride it out. You can fast track a great deal of development now.
Swims are early evening recovery. I recommend wetsuit so you are safe, and these are just "touring" workouts. If you want FITNESS, bang out 10 x 100 on the vasa and be done with it....you could do that in the AM before the day starts or as a midday workout break from calls.
We will have 6 weeks of time to get specific...so until then, FUN!
looks like I probably dodged the bullet on the back disc issue. It's been 2 weeks, I am back on the trainer as of Sunday. That seems to be ok. It's great to look back at summer 2015 when I herniated the disc in LP and see what I was doing right after. The time off feet is helpful for recovering whatever I did to my hammy right before this. I am also doing the Leadville 100,000' challenge. I have 4 weeks to climb 65000' - going to focus on checking off the climbing routes on zwift this week, I am back up to VT next Tuesday or Wednesday. Will hope to ride gravel then. I'll stay away from CAT 4 roads to avoid shocks to the back.
So the short term is
-bike up a storm on Zwift doing climbing routes
-work on core and build those workouts
-work on overall body strength with weights
-get on vasa for a daily "swim"
In VT
-Lake swims
-Gravel rides
-get time on feet doing some big hikes
-SUP
goal is to do bike & Beerz camp in September, possible 6 Gaps in late August (See email)
@Scott Alexander Thanks for the update. So glad to hear that things are turning a corner for you. You ask a lot of your body, but you also can count on a great level of baseline fitness to keep you healthy. People who tweak their back but are not athletes are typically in a really bad spot for a long time.
I really like the idea of you finding spaces to be aerobic without stressing the back. There are plenty of places you can explore online and in Vermont that will keep you rolling for days without going aggro. If needed, you can just hop off and walk up a steep part (when you are riding solo...I won't tell anyone).
Swim and SUP are great total body / core work...with all these sports, I think your biggest challenge is going to be finding the time to make them happen! 🤣
I think active, fun stuff now building to a late summer epic ride...and fall gravel adventures is great. From the macro perspective, we want to be ready for the OutSeason® in early November to kick off another great season.
soooo - looks like I dodged the back bullet. I've maintained some bike fitness by focusing on the Leadville Climbing challenge and have now gotten on the VASA & Treddy 2x each. Focusing on building overall fitness and huge focus on diet and body comp (I was on the ice cream diet for a fair amount of covid and I am now above my "break up" weight where jill gets to dump me🙄 )
In reference to your comment about Skimo not doing it for me, I think the issue is bigger than that. I think it would do it for me, IF i did it long enough on the days I do it. I also think I have the same issue with weekend Zwifting, so I need to solve for both. You previously wanted me on 1000TSS/Week and I only ever managed to get up to 650-750 as my peaks. We can't really say X didnt do it, when I wasn't hitting the overall parameters for total weekly fitness.
soooo, I am dedicating myself to
3x Vasa per week, slowly building up. I should be up to 2000+M/'swim" within 2 weeks.
trying to start with a Run streak of 1.5mpd or more and get that going
keep going with bike fitness
getting to 1000 TSS / Week by end of September.
3x/week core with some strength workouts
I also want to work in the following as we roll into fall:
MTB & Gravel - I have good places to explore for MTB near me (Ramapo & Sterling), will head to VT in Mid October for a few weeks and do more of all there (issue is going to be swimming as lake is too cold and no vasa) hopefully the local lap pool will be open.
Trail running, I have Harriman in my back yard and have scouted some good 20-30 mile epic trail runs there and elsewhere and have a couple of guys interested in doing those.
winter - I plan on being in VT for stretches of 9-10 days at a time (I have a renter for my "off" weekends) - drill will be daily run, trail runs as long as there is no snow, biking (should be able to gravel bike with my lauf (knobby tires) or 29er Hardtail MTB all winter on roads, have a trainer up there and plan to do full OS no matter what else I am doing. Given that I can ski during the week, I can easily do weekend bike WKO while everyone is at the mountain and I can join later. Can also work in an almost daily skin.
Weight goal - get to 150 and stay below. I KNOW what 148-150 looks like. I really need to get down there and then explore getting down to 140. I honestly believe that a super lean race weight for me would be 138-142 and that 145-150 should be my "comfort" weight. This has always been my nemesis, if done right, this is likely my last IM year as I will do 2 (LP & other to be chosen) which will get me to 12. But I think we both know that if I can solve THIS issue, I can seriously think about KQ.
@scott dinhofer - we're getting closer to being on the same page, but I still there's a think there's a bit more work for us to do. Specifically I think there's some value in you layering in your approach as opposed to doing all the things at once.
Yes, you need to be doing all the things at some point in time.
No, you don't need to do all the things right now.
That's what I was hinting at with Skimo. Do you want to do it, but you also want to do the Outseason and keep your cycling fitness up and maintaining the run. And also doing some vasa. That meant less time for you to be on the snow but when he went on the snow, do you want to go long. That impacted your ability to do the bike and run, and the breakdown eventually lead to those hamstring issues.
We can't control how your body responds to training load until we manage how we stack that load.
That's why I like your MTB and Gravel stuff...is pretty much a 1:1 trade.
This is sort of what I am thinking for you on...we can discuss on Sunday!
Phase 1 (Sept): Bike Maintenance and Run Streak of 15 days
4x bikes
4x runs until Run Streak
1x Vasa, 2 x Core per week
Phase 2 (Oct): Bike Maintenance, Run Streak of 25 days
4x bikes
4x runs until Run Streak
2x Vasa, 2 x Core per week
Phase 3 (Nov): OutSeason work, modified with Best Bike Camp info
Comments
OMG I thought you were out there LAST week and then I see all these photos...I was starting to worry you'd forget how to swim bike and run with all that POW!!!
I love that you have the skin skills to get something epic like that done with only aerobic and muscular issues...and not the hammy. You are doing an incredible amount of base work, which is great.
I think your hardest challenge will be returning to "boring" indoor tri life and keeping the pressure up.
Have fun out there!
P
Funny, until you mentioned it, I forgot about the Hammy, that is a good thing! just did a half day with Al & heading to the airport soon... will have to visit that Vasa tomorrow! maybe the trainer. debating on doing a skimo race at burke on saturday, with 7 days of altitude living, I should do well!
okay... bad week. Came back from Al's after skiing a bit on Thursday. Went to work Friday, up to Amherst, then VT, planned on a skimo race saturday. Couldn't get out of bed... Couldn't get to okemo to even to a recreational skin, caught a bug that sidelined me..
have 12 days including today (did a 91 TSS 2x18 bike this AM already) before I go to Park City. Goal is to hit strong workouts for that time period that will be on a ramp rate of 700 TSS/week. (this week will be short for missing monday possibly) I have bailed on a potential skimo race this coming weekend to do SBR specific WKOs.
my first 7 days in Utah, I am at a property that has a small but equipped workout room. Bringing clothes to run outside as I think the bike path there is plowed as well. I hope to string together a few good weeks of run volume and get back into this.
Thanks for checking in. Unfortunately the problem you're experiencing time and makes sense. Right, travel plus long active days outside plus Fort stress plus logistics. It all comes down to just how much work you can force into your system. We have to be really cautious here not to do any damage.
First level success is something consistent every day, as long it is swim, bike or run. Second level success is alternating days of intensity. Solid bike day followed by an easy run or swim day. Third level of success is Daily short runs. Quality bike came with an easy break, followed by easy run day.
Nothing in my experience says you need to be hard-core every day to achieve your goals, but everything points to consistently. And that means taking the good days when you get them and rolling with the bad ones when you don't.
Good advice. I got where I am which was and is feeling successful by hitting up 1st level success and aside from the bug, am focused on that.
2nd level success was also achieved during this period.
i flirted with the 3rd level and goal from now until I leave for Utah is to get in a 2-3 mile run with one or two 4 mile runs in the next 11 days. I am going to toss in a 2+ hr hike on Saturday on top of a long bike & short run. Per previous discussion, goal this weekend is 5 hrs total endurance effort on bike (hike will be additional)
Perfect! Remember, even 15 minutes counts for a run..let's get those days connected to make some gains!
~ Coach P
@scott dinhofer big weekend brobeans! Did you even sit down on Saturday? Like until you just passed out? 🤣 Love the jump start...assuming Monday might need to be a light day to recover, but then let's get back on it!
~ Coach P
i am pissed at my lack of running and consistency last week, but I was still fighting a bug. Legs were trashed yesterday. Solving for that today. going straight to bike path/ gym at end of day. I need to plan that more. Need a perfect run week this week, 20 miles as 2-3MPD with 1-2days at 4-5 slow miles. Bike will come and is..
Question on bike in VO2 phase - am I doing WKOs as written or do i get special FRP intervals from you? Feeling like my 2x20FTP i likely in the 235-240 range, curious what you think looking at charts.
Also, if I were to toss in a couple of those group Tuesday Night gravel rides, would that hurt me in the VO2 phase?
Don't worry too much about your overall training, I feel like you've done a good job given all of the travel he had. And I think it's a bit early for those custom Intervals but I will check it out. Finally, yes the consistency of your run training is really important.
Think of it as your piggy bank for the run. Every little bit you put in there adds up and you'll definitely need to empty that thing on race day! 🐷💰
yo, much changed in 16 days since I wrote that🙄
out in UT for a 12 day spread, got in some good runs in the week before I left (4 for 14 miles) and got in 5 treddy runs last week pre-ski. Took yesterday off from skiing and got in a 5x2' VO2 session on my friend's trainer.. trying to hold the line with a travel day today and find time to do a skin up big cottonwood canyon!
Totally...hard to keep up with you. I think until you are on a "normal" schedule, you Should:
When you are back we'll need to transfer fitness to the bike; this will mean some longer days on the bike - even at a lower IF than you might otherwise want. We just need to jump start it pre BWR!
Keep me posted on your schedule,
~ Coach P
back from UT tonight.. VO2 tomorrow, Steve boer put me in a 5 hr rubber band group ride saturday, will do big volume this weekend. Goal is to run 20 mpw starting next week, try to build a run streak.
Going to VT for weekend of 3/7-8 Long Skimo expedition with the guy who set 2.5million uphill feet record on Saturday, if I go without jill bringing bike and getting on zwift sunday. Ally is coming for spring break sunday afternoon, see her, then leave and see Lauren in Amherst on way home. back to a normal week.
Weekend of March 14/15 - Skimo race on Saturday (that's a 3 hr affair) ski on sunday.
for both weekends, will try to get a 2 hr endurance ride on Friday.
then it's AZ camp the following weekend where you will make me suffer!
This is great....time on the bike matters now with these weekend events of awesomeness...so that means logging a good Tue / Thu VO2 bike and then one aerobic session (Friday works), then be epic on your Weekends. That's the best play.
Run durability as you are able...the Skimo counts for the run stuff, so make sure you are frequent and that your Thursday run is the bomb!!!
~ Coach P
sooooo
the weekend went like this since returning from UT on Weds..
Zwift 5x30 Vo2 Friday
Saturday - 1:20 on Zwift by myself, 1:15 on the S Boer Rubberband
Sunday 5 mi run/17' Zwift to spin tired legz out.
this week, moving everything a day forward to get tues-Sat wkos done mon-Fri, then the weekend with a big skimo day on Saturday, all day.. 8am-4pm... backcountry with a beast of a leader..
Sunday tbd, will bring bike with me to possibly do a trainer ride
run streak started yesterday...
I saw the weekend in TP.com and considering how much time you had away from Le Trainers I think you should be pretty satisfied with that Saturday work!
Onwards with this week! #earnyourepic
~ Coach P
@scott dinhofer Thanks for the call yesterday; always good to have a few laughs and plot adventures (I'll be following that FB group for sure).
Short Term
Fall Event Options
Plan Guidance
Tuesday Bike Power Targets
Zwift Ride Options on Thursdays, Tuesdays have sessions.
Let me know what you think!
~ Patrick
update -
Great weekend doing the Ultra training madness. For me the weekend was interesting and fulfilling. My goal for this was to use it as a launchpad to up my training regimen. The start was 9 days after doing my 50k self guided tour of Rockland County. I heeded your advice of starting out at the pace I expected to finish, so I pushed myself hard to try and run slower than 9:30 and even 10 in the 1st two runs. In run #4, the wheels came off and I did a bit of walking. Mentally I felt like I would end up run/walking with the emphasis on walk in runs 5 & 6, to my surprise #5 went off without a hitch and #6 allowed me to even push to a faster pace. (1'/mi faster than any run in the weekend).
Got in some bigger bikes the weekend before the ultra.
So what I think I need.
1-run -continue to build, mix in some short (4 mi) trail runs in Harriman, Feel after the ultra weekend and the 50k the week before that I can likely handle 29-30mpw given that I was at 24/25 before that all started. Should we start to introduce some speedwork?
2-bike- need a program of focused attention on watts during the weekday sessions and building weekend distance..
3-swim - must get on Vasa and build, in 2 1/2 weeks I will be in the lake and swim almost daily. while no event on the horizon, good opportunity to use the lake to make some gains on upper body strength AND zone 1/2 cardio from swimming.
"events" -
would like to be able to do a solo six gaps around July 4
Patrick Marsh reached out and we have at least 3 -4 guys so far for a 200 mile bike on July 25
Scott -
Sorry for the delay, I started this several times yesterday but couldn't close it out. Here we go.
Vasa isn't critical for OWS, but it's nice to have some swim "resiliency" in there. After all OWS is in a wetsuit and you aren't racing. It's only as hard as you want it to be. I would suggest you plan on 30' for 3x a week. Really nothing special here...And it's in the plan. Now if you were RACING with a time goal in the next 3 months, that would be different. We are in swim maintenance mode here.
For the running, we have to be careful. You did 3 weeks in the low 20s, then a 40 mile week (50k) then a short week and this big one. But before that, you were barely running. So you are "run rested" but the durability is questionable. Is there a potential? Absolutely, but we don't want to be too aggressive. I would recommend something like this:
For cycling, you can get to work for sure. There's so much room for growth there. Your plan has these too, from 1' upwards. Here are those zones for you for the interval day.
As a bonus since you have volume / outdoor time coming I have put in some Sweet Spot work, keeping the weekends to just a long bike and a long run. These are on Thursdays...
Looking ahead, triathlon is unlikely here in the NorthEast, but a Fall 13.1 or 26.2 is a potential For sure. Even if it isn't official we can put you into a great run time while you continue To deepen your strength on the bike.
You are good for three weeks but then we need to talk planning of VT with the "flex" schedule you'll have up there!
~ Patrick
THIS is great and what I needed! just checked it all out in FS.. will be getting it done, just giving myself a break until thursday before going hard again after this past weekend.
Perfect!!! I think you're doing as well as you can given the conditions. You've already started to turn the ship in the right direction now we just start to build off of it. Don't forget to focus a lot on hydration.
These early-season hot days are going to sneak up on you, particularly when you're outside.
~ Coach P
yea, so did 2 strong bikes, 2nd one was a bit easier as I was dragging around a guy slower than me, legs were still shattered mon/tues this week after that, again, probably didn't give enough rest after ultramay... but they came around this AM and I knocked out a great 7+ mi run. Might do 1.5 later on today as a split run. and a bike, but no intervals, just get out and ride the new 3T gravel bike that withrow's guy built for me a few months ago.
Saturday I was out in the heat and drank a lot, took GE powder with me to mix up additional bottles, which I did. Also got caught in some showers which was a help, and allowed me to practice riding in rain. Sunday was out very early, so hydration less of an issue, but a good pro-tip!
so, last week was a bust.. didnt get in the run mileage, no vasa (and again not this week) hard to motivate when there is really no race in sight!
did a 109 mile ride on Saturday solo. Headwinds all the out, was very cool and didn't hydrate, that turned into a disaster later in the ride. After ride, my legs locked up fully cramp on the couch, have never had that before.
Sunday AM, went for a hike in harriman with Sami, turned around to say something to her, misnegotiated a boulder and went down on my quad really hard on the point of a rock.. full stop for 2 days after. Going to try and do an EZ ride this afternoon, did run 2 miles this AM. using this as a light week before hitting it hard in VT next week.
@scott dinhofer - Hey, sorry to hear about le quad. Hopefully you were able to shake it off, the runs look decent again to me so we can get you back on track.
Speaking of which, with LP on 8/30 we need to refocus.
First, some background thoughts. Why are you had to "down" weeks after ultra may… Overall you're in a great place. You've put up some solid bike sessions and some big weeks as well. Despite your mild case of Covid it's clear that high levels of fitness for you are right around the corner.
Bonus that you thrive on deadlines and can focus.
Second, knowing the basics. I have loaded our bike focus plan into your final surgery count. It has the standard workouts to complete between now and race day. This is affectively the baseline auto pilot way of doing things. But I want you to see what's out there in terms of direction.
Third, finding space for gains. The next question is how can we effectively hack this plan to accelerate your growth. I am recommending that we alternate bike and run focus weeks to give you space for each discipline to grow while the other is in maintenance mode.
Bike Week: = 250 to 300 miles, 30 miles running.
Run Week = 40 miles running, 150 to 175 miles on the bike.
Let me know what you think of the above.
Meantime, I know that you have flexibility right now in Vermont. You should definitely be getting up in the morning and doing easy runs to get them out of the way. Enjoy your bike ride when the suns out to challenge your fitness on the hills in the heat. Close things out with an easy wet suit swim before dinner it's just a stretch things out and remember how to swim.
Let's talk monday!
~ Coach P
love this!
yes, quad came around, yesterday's run was a confidence builder. In VT now and figuring out when I can do what, seems like thunderstorms in the forecast every day. Will reel off a morning run, and get the swims in when it's not crackling outside. And figure out the bikes.
I brought up three bikes, plan is to ride something every day, can be a short 20-35 mile ride, a ride from house to top of okemo and back (22miles total) or hitting the gravel roads for a few hours and some MTB rides with friends.
I do like the alternating weeks bike/run focus.
Flexibility is there after this first week.
@scott dinhofer - always good to catch up! Sorry so short this time around, you should do less epic stuff so we have less to talk about!
Key Takeaways:
I'll be stalking you...
~ Patrick
Update -
looks like I probably dodged the bullet on the back disc issue. It's been 2 weeks, I am back on the trainer as of Sunday. That seems to be ok. It's great to look back at summer 2015 when I herniated the disc in LP and see what I was doing right after. The time off feet is helpful for recovering whatever I did to my hammy right before this. I am also doing the Leadville 100,000' challenge. I have 4 weeks to climb 65000' - going to focus on checking off the climbing routes on zwift this week, I am back up to VT next Tuesday or Wednesday. Will hope to ride gravel then. I'll stay away from CAT 4 roads to avoid shocks to the back.
So the short term is
-bike up a storm on Zwift doing climbing routes
-work on core and build those workouts
-work on overall body strength with weights
-get on vasa for a daily "swim"
In VT
-Lake swims
-Gravel rides
-get time on feet doing some big hikes
-SUP
goal is to do bike & Beerz camp in September, possible 6 Gaps in late August (See email)
@Scott Alexander Thanks for the update. So glad to hear that things are turning a corner for you. You ask a lot of your body, but you also can count on a great level of baseline fitness to keep you healthy. People who tweak their back but are not athletes are typically in a really bad spot for a long time.
I really like the idea of you finding spaces to be aerobic without stressing the back. There are plenty of places you can explore online and in Vermont that will keep you rolling for days without going aggro. If needed, you can just hop off and walk up a steep part (when you are riding solo...I won't tell anyone).
Swim and SUP are great total body / core work...with all these sports, I think your biggest challenge is going to be finding the time to make them happen! 🤣
I think active, fun stuff now building to a late summer epic ride...and fall gravel adventures is great. From the macro perspective, we want to be ready for the OutSeason® in early November to kick off another great season.
~ Coach P
soooo - looks like I dodged the back bullet. I've maintained some bike fitness by focusing on the Leadville Climbing challenge and have now gotten on the VASA & Treddy 2x each. Focusing on building overall fitness and huge focus on diet and body comp (I was on the ice cream diet for a fair amount of covid and I am now above my "break up" weight where jill gets to dump me🙄 )
In reference to your comment about Skimo not doing it for me, I think the issue is bigger than that. I think it would do it for me, IF i did it long enough on the days I do it. I also think I have the same issue with weekend Zwifting, so I need to solve for both. You previously wanted me on 1000TSS/Week and I only ever managed to get up to 650-750 as my peaks. We can't really say X didnt do it, when I wasn't hitting the overall parameters for total weekly fitness.
soooo, I am dedicating myself to
I also want to work in the following as we roll into fall:
Weight goal - get to 150 and stay below. I KNOW what 148-150 looks like. I really need to get down there and then explore getting down to 140. I honestly believe that a super lean race weight for me would be 138-142 and that 145-150 should be my "comfort" weight. This has always been my nemesis, if done right, this is likely my last IM year as I will do 2 (LP & other to be chosen) which will get me to 12. But I think we both know that if I can solve THIS issue, I can seriously think about KQ.
this pic is me racing at 148 - https://photos.app.goo.gl/eeqmcr7pkzAazzNk9 IMLP 2017 which was a 10:54 day..
@scott dinhofer - we're getting closer to being on the same page, but I still there's a think there's a bit more work for us to do. Specifically I think there's some value in you layering in your approach as opposed to doing all the things at once.
That's what I was hinting at with Skimo. Do you want to do it, but you also want to do the Outseason and keep your cycling fitness up and maintaining the run. And also doing some vasa. That meant less time for you to be on the snow but when he went on the snow, do you want to go long. That impacted your ability to do the bike and run, and the breakdown eventually lead to those hamstring issues.
We can't control how your body responds to training load until we manage how we stack that load.
That's why I like your MTB and Gravel stuff...is pretty much a 1:1 trade.
This is sort of what I am thinking for you on...we can discuss on Sunday!
Phase 1 (Sept): Bike Maintenance and Run Streak of 15 days
Phase 2 (Oct): Bike Maintenance, Run Streak of 25 days
Phase 3 (Nov): OutSeason work, modified with Best Bike Camp info
^^this^^ is why you are the coach!
looks good, but lets talk about it in a chat next week. Sunday=Funday!
Vasa - right now, frequency is important as I build swim fitness. Only able to do do wkos that look like:
2x100;2x75;4x50;8x25... but the frequency of this 15-20 minute wko 3x a week will build me to bigger numbers sooner... i think...