JFH Micro Thread
Coach - I was (key word) in the JOS and going strong, but fractured my tibia skiing on President's Day. Luckily it was not a very bad fracture. I went to my three week appt. today and got the green light to start back on the trainer and in the pool, pain permitting. The doc says it needs another three weeks to heal before I even think about trying to run on it.
I am supposed to be in Swim Camp starting today and then transitioning to the HIM Plan beginning the 17th. I am registered for the Kinetic Half Distance tri on May 10. If I can run without pain, I want to still try that, particularly given that I have two months to go.
Here is the question (I think it's a "micro" and not a "macro" question): What should I be doing for training right now. As I said, I have to go fairly easy, so I'm not sure I should be doing the Swim Camp and then starting the HIM Plan next Wednesday. That said, I REALLY want to start doing something.
Thanks.
Comments
Per my season plan, I'm in the HIM Intermediate plan on week 16 of 20, although I haven't done any true training for the past 8 weeks due to the injuries. I'm scheduled to do the Kinetic Half Distance Tri on May 10. Depending on how increasing the running feels, I want to try to do it still, though I will go into it with no expectations of a PR.
What is your advice for ramping up the training again?
Thanks for the guidance.
If we can do that, you should be able to incrementally build up pretty quickly to the point where you'll feel pretty good in that final week before your race… The key will be how much you let yourself to rest before the race kicks in.
John
Once I start running, I will have about two and a half weeks until Tri-Rock Philly. After two broken bones and (what will be) sixteen weeks of recovery, I have no expectations of surviving Philly, but I'm going to do it nonetheless. I figure I should just train through the race since it's an Olympic distance. After that, I need to ramp up the training, lose the injury weight, and find another half to do - injuries prevented me from doing the Kinetic half and Rev3 cancelled W. Virginia.
I welcome any thoughts you may have on my plan (as crazy as it may be).
Quick question on the bike during the race. I couldn't find any guidance in the Wiki re the proper power range for an Olympic race. Philly has several short steep hills, as well as some corners, but otherwise is a good course. What percentage of FTP should I be shooting for during the race?
Thanks.
JFH
This is long, so I’ll bottom line the question: Am I doing myself a disservice by running faster paces than called for in the workouts?
Last season I dealt with several injuries that derailed my season (a couple are detailed above). Unfortunately, I did not watch my food intake and put on way too much weight (up to 260 lbs). I am starting to run myself back into shape, and can feel myself getting stronger on the run, together with starting to drop weight (6 lbs last week).
According to my 5k test last week (which I feel was legit) and the EN calculators, my zones are as follows: Z1/LRP: 12:40; Z2/MP: 11:01; Z3/HMP: 10:46; Z4/TP: 10:18; Z5/IP: 9:53. Vdot 30.
Sunday’s OS run called for the following: 60 min run -- MS: 2 miles @ HMP/Zone3/ModHard, 1 mile @ LRP/Z1/Easy to recover, then 4 x 1/2 mile (2') @ TP/Zone4/Hard or best effort. Remainder of run is how you feel, but try to accumulate time @ MP/Z2/Steady.
My run Sunday felt really good and was my best run in months. The total time was 1:10. As the run progressed, I hit better numbers than called for, and ended up with the following: 2 miles - average 10:05 min. v. target of 10:46; 1 mile - 9:27 v target of 12:40; 4 x 1/2 - ~ 9:40 v. target of 10:18; Remaining ~ 10:05 v. target of 11:01.
My sense is that I am not doing anything wrong by running faster than the specified paces as long as I am able to keep up the work, but I wanted to check with the source!
Thanks.
In other words, it's very easy to overachieve now but I really want you to be a rockstar when it's time to race. With that in mind, I suggest that you focus on overachieving in only one area of your run. Perhaps just intervals, or just the half marathon pace, but not ALL of it.
It's also worth noting that every pound you lose it's worth three seconds per mile. Sometimes that's a lot easier on your body than training hard.
I'm thinking ahead and have a question about the Blue Ridge Parkway Camp. I'm signed up for the camp, which runs from April 29 to May 3. Since I signed up for that camp, I signed up for the Raleigh 70.3 on May 31. Is the camp too close to the 70.3, or will we be able to adjust my schedule in a way that allows me to handle both? Thanks.
That gap is totally fine for your race, we might want to adjust what you do after the camp. It's such a big event in terms of your overall fitness as well as your fitness at the end of the year and even next year in 2016. It's that important!
Re the pacing. I will be adjusting my zones. You said in a prior message that every pound lost is 3 seconds faster per mile. I lost 10 lbs in the first week and two days, so I figure I'm looking at a decent gain, particularly once I drop the many more lbs that I want to lose!
Thanks again.