Gabe Peterson's "Get Faster" Thread
I recently joined Endurance Nation to continue my development in triathlons. I did my first half-iron distance tri last year, SuperFrog down in San Diego. Even though I hadn't ridden a bike in 20 years, I set it as a goal to complete before my 40th birthday. I had a blast, so I signed up for St George 70.3, which I completed last week.
I have to balance my training with a busy job and family (wife, two young girls, and a dog).
My two major goals for the remainder of this season are:
- Increase my FTP on the bike. I got a Stages power meter a couple months ago, and it has total changed how I train. My current FTP is about 200W. After St George, I want to get faster and have more power for climbing.
- Improve my swim execution in races (and swim speed in general). My swim time was about 5 minutes slower than what I did in practice open water swims. With all the chaos in the water of bodies churning, I lose focus and my form goes south. I'd like to get those 5 minutes back. I've been self coached for the last year, using the Total Immersion videos for form and Swim Secrets book and workouts for the pull. I took Coach Rich's triathlon swim clinic last year (which is how I heard of Endurance Nation). I got a lot out of his screencast video of me swimming. I think I would benefit from a swim coach.
I've run pretty consistently for about 15 years and done several half and full marathon (although not competitively), so I just want to maintain my run. It is usually the least stressful leg of the race for me. I am probably one of the few people excited to get off the bike and run. 
I'm planning to do one more late season 70.3, either Silverman or SuperFrog again (which occur within a week of each other in late Sept/early Oct). I'll do the Hansen Dam Olympic in August to focus on getting faster over a shorter distance (and because it is a 30 minute drive from my house).
I am also planning to do Mt Whitney the week of June 9th (got a permit!). I am doing the 22 mile, 6000ft elevation gain to 14k ft hike in one day with some buddies. Therefore, I'm thinking I'll switch out some running in May and early June for hiking and/or trail running. Feedback on which workouts to modify?
Below is the excellent Season Roadmap that Coach Rich put together for me. I'd welcome feedback from the community on how I can achieve my goals of increasing FTP on the bike and improving swim execution and speed.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Comments
Hey Gabe,
Welcome to the Team! My short answer to your question is to just do the plan. You'll get plenty fast. Nothing fancy here, just hard work.
I'm going to change the title of your thread and move it to the General Discussion forum. This forum, and your thread, are for you and me only conversations. The Team won't post to your thread here in the Macro Forum.
FYI, I'm in Monrovia also, I live on Parker, between Monterrey and Mayflower. Moved here in 2000
Hey Rich,
Thanks for your guidance!I reviewed the workouts in the Get Faster plan and like what I saw. The plan I did for St George, which was one of the most popular on TrainingPeaks, had so many Z2 runs and Z1 "recovery" rides that I didn't feel like I was working hard enough -- and it was like eating glass because it was so boring.I like the intensity of the workouts in your plan.I like to work hard.
We're practically neighbors -- I live off Mayflower down near Jeffries.I'd love suggestions for training rides in the area.I've put a of of time on the Rio Hondo and San Gabriel River Bike Trails in the last year, so they're starting to get boring. I did Azusa Canyon up the 39 towards Crystal Lake most weekends to prepare for the hills of St George over the last few months. I actually bought a CycleOps fluid trainer because I was so tired of ride the bike trails early in the mornings on the weekdays.
That reminds me of a question -- can I substitute Sufferfest videos for the Tuesday and/or Thursday rides in the Get Faster plan? I really like Fight Club. It motivates me to push hard.
I was thinking I would substitute the Sunday run with a hike like Mt Wilson or Baldy to prepare for my Mt Whitney hike in early June. Any concerns?
Thanks!
Gabe
Chantry Flats is your friend. Most time efficient workout in the SGV, period. Climb up Santa Anita to the gate at the bottom. Hit your lap timer and TT up. It's 5k at 5-6%. Descend, repeat, descend, ride home, upload to Strava, come back next week and try to beat yourself. I've been doing some flavor of that since ~'05. Dino and I also have a good Urban Assault Course, TT route to the top of Lake.
You need to run on Sunday's, not hike. Running will prepare you for hiking and will make you a faster runner.
Thanks for the quick response!
I'll add Chantry into the regular rotation. I have done it a couple times and agree it is a great workout. It can get a little scary on the weekends with a non-existent shoulder and convoys of minivans headed up the road, but it is great on a weekday.
Are your bike courses for the Urban Assault and TT to the top of the Lake on MapMyRide or Strava where I could check them out?
I'll stick to running on Sundays. Will probably do them as trail runs to get my legs and ankles ready for the uneven surfaces I'll encounter at Whitney. I like the Mt Wilson Trail and Monrovia Canyon (up the Ben Overturff trail and back down the fire road) for time efficient and scenic trail runs.
Yep, Chantry is strictly a weekday morning thing, never weekends. Too crazy. UAC is on Strava somewhere, there's probably a search feature.
I finished 6 weeks of the Get Faster plan (yeah!). I did the bike FTP test this morning. I measured my FTP at around 200W in late April before St George. Drum roll...my FTP came in at 220W. I'll take a 10% improvement in 6 weeks!
Coming from a training plan loaded with Z1/Z2 workouts with occasional forays into Z3 and never into the forbidden Z4, I love that EN has given me permission to work hard. The Triathlete Training Bible makes it sound like you'll burst into flames or disappaerate if you go into Z4.
Looking forward to the swim test tomorrow and run test this weekend. Next week, I start 4 weeks of the bike focused plan (with swimming added in) to try to give my FTP another pop.
I did my swim test earlier this week. I used the critical swim speed (CSS) test protocol (http://www.swimsmooth.com/training.html) to test both swimming unaided and swimming with a pull buoy. My observation from previous swimming was that I was faster with a pull buoy, so I wanted to measure the difference.
My results came out:
CSS: .76 / .87
Unaided: 2:12/100yd
Pull Buoy: 1:56/100yd
I don't have a really good baseline to compare it to since this was my first time formally measuring CSS. I swam Gt George 70.3 (open water in a full wetsuit) at 2:06/100yd. I would estimate my time with a pull buoy would be comparable to my wetsuit times. So roughly 10 seconds / 100yd faster.
I've been working with a swim coach and feel like my form has improved, but still has a long way to go. I've also been recording my solo swims with my Garmin VIRB so I can self correct bad form. Swimming is so different from the other two sports. Like Coach Rich says, it's like learning to play the flute. It sure is frustrating at times.
Up next is my run test this weekend...
I did my 5k run test this morning. I didn't formally test my vdot before joining EN, but I'd estimate it was right at 39.
Of the three sports, I have the strongest run background. I've done several marathons and half marathons as a recreational runner. My approach was to do hard runs, probably too hard. I'd do intervals, tempo runs, and long runs on mountain trails. I not a great sprinter but have a lot of endurance for distance runs.
Before the kids came along, I'd usually disappear into the Santa Monica or San Gabriel Mountains for a long trail runs on the weekends. After the kids, I switched to 90X workouts early in the morning with shorter high quality runs mixed in. I'd have to spend too many SAU to disappear for the better part of a day on the weekend.
It wasn't until I started doing triathlon training that I started doing easy runs. I love that the EN run plans have some hard runs, even the easy runs include strides.
I'd expect the needle will move slowest on run improvements. I was pleasantly surprised that my vdot came out at 41. I'll take a 2 point improvement! However, I suspect this surge is because I went a year without doing speed work following non-EN triathlon training plans.
I am curious how much vdot numbers typically improve per season? 1-2 points?