Week 1 of 12 The IMAZ Journey
@ Daniel - welcome bro - you're in great hands with this group. Don't be shy.
@ Betsy - Nice job this weekend, especially in this heat!
@Al - Keep raising the bar for us along the way! I too like to look at TSS from a weekly basis and monitor. This week was testing for me, about 850 TSS. Last 3 weeks of GF plan were between 1,000 - 1,100 TSS weekly. I usually just count each minute of the swim as 1 TSS point for tracking purposes and put it all in WK0+ each day....... Am jealous of your CO location and workouts!
http://www.strava.com/activities/185141180
Early morning swim for me, then 1st day of school duties dropping kids off...........
TM run at lunch hopefully....
Have a great week all!!
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Hi Mary! Congrats on IMMT....well Done!!
Hard to beat the trainer for flat, sustained, steady outputs that generate low VIs and efficient bike segments.......probably will do you well if you can stomach the boredom.
SS
@Shaughn. Thanks for answering Mary's question, since it help to address my unasked question.
I find I do a much better job of doing the workouts as written on the trainer. If you use trainer road, you can make it a horizontal band on bottom of laptop and queue up Netflix. Since 1/6 I have watched both seasons House of Cards, 1st season Orange is the New Black and True Detective, and am starting season 5 of Breaking Bad. I don't watch TV otherwise
Two key points to think about: (1) You have to *like* the training you are doing; it's impossible for me to tolerate more than 1 hour a week on the trainer, no matter how much I like the TV show I;m watching. Outdoors is more "fun", and sometimes there are even other people to ride with. (2) The top priority for IM AZ is the ability to stay in the aerobars ALL the time. It is almost impossible to NOT ride steady on that course if you stay in the aerobars. I don;t think there's a lot of translation from the trainer to the road in terms of learning how to ride steady. To learn how to ride steady on the road, practice riding steady on the road, including staying aero when going up or down (easier up than down, IMO).
So, for me, I make it a point of emphasis when training in hills to stay aero going up or down. Hills make especially good locations for interval work - up x 8 minutes, down x 3 minutes, repeat. At whatever NP I think I should be doing in that workout.
Where I really prefer the trainer over outside is my weekday o'dark thirty 1hour FTP wko. I don't like the dark, stop lights , weekday traffic and feel I get a better job at getting it done.
Am swim-not anything close to written wko. I did WU,/800 single arm drill trying to imprint new skill tucking head to shoulder. Then I did the 300s. I had to slow down my tempo trainer as I was totally winded. I felt like I was able to pull harder and glide better. I ended with a swim golf and got 105 which is a PR. I don't think I've ever been below 112
Happy Tuesday all! Good discussion on training for flat course.......
TM lunch run yesterday: http://www.strava.com/activities/185217938
2X1s early this morning in terrible 85% humidity (not fun): http://www.strava.com/activities/185517638
Maybe a swim at lunch.....
Thoughts on trainer and flat course:
I raced IMTX about 3 months ago which is a relatively flat course. I did my Wed rides and a few 3+ hr rides on the trainer holding the prescribed intervals. I also did most of my long rides and camp outdoors, so a good mix of both trainer and outdoor rides. I train with a PowerTap in the back hub, joule 2.0 head gear and a 910 XT. While I am embarrassing slow in the water, I have been known to deliver occasionally for the bike leg on race day.
There is probably not a better substitute for instilling the ability to hold a steady power output over a long period of time outside on the road. I'm going to be candid, it takes a lot of practice and a lot of work over a long time. Al is probably our best resource and sounding board when it comes to this and he leads by example.
Best thing to do is just start getting out there, putting in the miles, being consistent, sharing your ride information with the team and allowing the team to critique so that you can go back again and again to perfect over the next 12 weeks.....
SS
Back on after a two day work trip, no training possible, unless you count sweating in 105+ in the mojave desert 'training'!
Saturday was IM week # 8 Big Training day. I abbreviated it to some degree due to time constraints and my available energy.
OWSwim 1:00 2.1 mi; Ride: 3:35 75mi. Run: 23:15, 3 mi. Pacing is on target for where I'd like to be in Nov, but I had to cut down my times to make family commitments. I screwed up my power targets on the ride a bit and went too hard in the first half, then paid for it in the second, but since its just a training day and not a RR I can live with it. Gut was a little wonky at the end of the ride, I think I need to find gels without caffeine to mix in to my regime.
Today is run and swim. Looks like they'll be in the rain. Be safe!
I only had time this am for 3x .5 but was able to almost get to z5(7:58):
8:06, 8:02, 7:59. It was hot already and humid (for Arizona-still monsoon season)
I'm on late call today so not sure I will get to the swim or not.
Very good week this past week. Nailed everything on my big day on Saturday and enjoyed having Sunday off. I swap my Tuesdays and Wednesdays, so today was a bike day. Rather than screw around with putting my bike on the trainer at the end of a ride, I did a sweat test on the trainer today. I tell ya.... the legs were still a little slow from the big day. Staying at a steady 70% FTP for an hour was tough at 5:30 in the morning, but I got through it.
Now it's off to the 45 minute zone 2 zone 3 run.
Suffice it to say I'm feeling a little tired today...TSS of 388, NP for ride including a short WU/CD and RI=343, IF 1.56 (220W FTP "old" haven't changed anything since Race) My IM race a few weeks ago was TSS ~350
But multiple KOMs
I flatted quite dramatically on the start of a steep descent -would have been ugly if 100 more feet..... and after tire change and taking a call from home I realized I had less than 45 min of light out (no light/reflective gear) but >18 miles to get back home...so much for the planned noodle-recovery back. 47 min later I was takin my bike up the stairs.
I may skip run today. I did hard hill repeats SUN...feet are quite sore.
Nice work Rian and Joe on the Big Day Bonanzas!
Looking good on those intervals Betsy! Keep'em coming!
Lunch swim slog yesterday: http://www.strava.com/activities/185712613
Early morning Pain Cave Hurt: http://www.strava.com/activities/186008937
If you are training with power and tracking IF/TSS, a few things to keep in mind to ensure your numbers are meaningful:
1) Your real FTP baseline represents what you can put out for 1 hour leaving nothing on the table, or another words a 1.0 IF. Therefore if you are a seeing numbers for more than an hour greater than 1.0, it means that the FTP baseline you are using is not your real FTP and needs to be updated or corrected and you are overstating your IF and TSS.
2) There are several ways to determine your true FTP as defined by Coggan:
A) Go all out for 1 hour preferably in the same environment and with the same tools you will train. Since 1 hour of hammering all out is about as fun as drinking gasoline, there are shorter methods that will yield very close to the same result.
C) Do the 5' Vo2 all out, followed by 10' recovery then 20' all out. Take the 20' NP and multiply by 95% to get your estimated 1 hour FTP baseline. Very important here to do the 5' Vo2 first in order to soften the legs up and get an accurate read on the following 20' test.
All 3 of the above will yield something very close to the same result as I have done them all multiple times. Use the FTP you get from these test as your baseline for calculating bike TSS and IF. Use the same power meter and set up as well. In other words, don't take the test on a Computrainer and use that wattage outside with a Powertap, they will inevitably be different.
Happy Wednesday all!
Nice summary of FTP protocols Shaughn. Thanks for that!
Everyone is getting out and suffering! --> big payoffs in November coming your way! Remember, recovery is just as important as work, so make sure you are paying attention to doing your recovery and your what your body tells you about your fatigue: remember to get lots of sleep; keep fueling: before, during, and after workouts; and go EASY when it says easy or z1. If you start feeling sluggish or unmotivated look to modify the week, by dropping the low priority and even the medium priority days, and throttling your efforts on the long days. There is no shame in an extra day off if needed, it will not set you back, its the smarter option.
Yesterday
Run: 2x1 mile @z4 (6:15, 6:17) with remainder @ z2 (7:00) went well nice cool day with light drizzle, my favorite kind of running weather..
Swim: Came up short in yardage 2600 vs 3200, due to time constraints, but got some good 200 & 100 repeats in at threshold pace.
Happy Hump Day!
@ Rian - looks like some solid work on those 2X1 intervals bro! Prob best advice we have seen this week is to "make sure you're getting enough rest....." Keep leading.....
TM run yesterday: http://www.strava.com/activities/186250703
Longish run this morning: http://www.strava.com/activities/186476803
Need some coffee!!
SS
Game on Mary and Scott! Great work Shaughn.
Did 14.1mi in 1:43 run this am. 60' @ z1/z2, 30'@z2, and 15'@z3+. Much easier run than those Thurs Am runs in the HIM plan (z2/z3/z4). Running by paces but focusing on what that means for HR, as I'll be looking to HR at the race to guide my pacing. HR zones seem to be matching up nicely. Beautiful morning, cool and foggy. Now if I can make it thru the rest of the day without falling asleep at my desk!
And Rian-thanks for the other reminders. I for one, am forever guilty of not getting enough sleep-a classic 'burn the candle at both ends' pace of life.
That being said, i worked in the OR until 1am Tuesday night/Wed AM so needless to say i never got to the pool. I am Grateful for the gift of being unscheduled wednesday (without having to take a vacation day!) However, 5hr sleep between 2am and 7 is never the same as 11-4. I did the wed bike with my new 2 W higher FTP and it was rough!
.97, .96 for the 10' and 12' then Only 1.05-1.06 for the 4x4' 110% sprints. Then did the 25' run-10 s over z2 out, but nailed z3 back!
After a trip to chiropractor (weekly maintenance) i hit the pool for my modified swim:
1000 wu and one arm drill then 300x4 maintaining t pace and good form. (Unlike Monday when i couldn't keep pace at all)
Then before dinner, weight workout.
Today: 80 minute run (required 0345 wakeup as i had a 0630 meeting): 1st mile sub z000 then maintained z1 +/- 5s remainder of hour. Then did a z2 mile and 10s sub z2. (But not z3) .5 before i had to quit.
Happy Thursday all!
You may have noted that I'm a Newbie, but by far my weakness is the swim. I learned to swim as an adult 15 months ago, pretty much by watch Total Immersion videos. I know everyone seems to have an opinion about TI, but it got me from 25 meter gasping to completing the swim portion of a 70.3 in 54:10 (without breaks or safety stroke, yes very very slow). It helped me become comfortable but I really scarified on ROI since I spent so many o'dark thirty hours in the pool over the winter months to just learn. It also led to some bad habits (overgliding, one sided breathing with associated horrible sighting) that now I'm trying to break these habits with a swim coach and working all aspects of the swim eBook. I'm just putting this out there, saying I appreciate any input and will keep everyone updated on my progress. My T pace is 2:01/100m, which gets slower in open water due to overgliding I presume. I'll keep you updated, as I approach the 1 year anniversary of my first 70.3 on Sept 20th, Redman in Oklahoma City, where I'm hoping for better than 54:11.
I appreciate the support. Oh ya, and it's my 38th birthday today (only a new guy would have to mention that!)
You will get better with every race. Comfort will come....then confidence ...which will add relaxed smoothness...which will then allow for applied power and fitness.
OH, and ALWASE get a swim warm up. if just to get that face in the water over with....a few fast strokes then settle in to some relaxed ez swimming ....this always gets my swim anxiety under control (I do jumping jacks, arm circles and even a short couple run surges in wetsuit to get blood to extremities first ....the swim is for finding your balance and rhythm.) Hang in there!
Im Taking a 2 day taper for a Sprint on SAT. ...yeh I know..... But I am realy exited and confused by these huge #s coming out of me on the bike. -Just for history I only ever did a modified Oly -ish race once before my first 1/2IM and then IM....then only 70.3 and Full IM's so this speed is crazy to me. Ive done several 10-12 mile max effort rides(this and last week had sorta 20min+20min type rides [-25(8')23']) as well as the 1st Sprint that I had no reference for (Crazy high hr-for me on bike, yet RPE wasn't too bad and power/speed was awesome) These suggest FTP in the 320-336 range (I never did a outdoor FTP test before, rather, going off of an outside 20w higher than inside difference from EN testing protocol) My pre IM race FTP I used 236 as recently as july (which was consistent with predicted from GC from my longer outside endurance rides too). Last race I PRd my 5k with some short steep hills and sand coming off a 285w NP ride ......
Shoot for 300....320?w? ~23mph+ (I don't know if I'll need to slow down like I had to in other race -a few rough sharp turns)
Also...the swim....
Shoulder still "not right"....no bad sharp pain -no swim WKOs since last race, just PT
Last race I seeded to the very back...just trying to find clear water off to inside line had me work a -little more than planned but not full out.....turned into a 1:40 pace and out in 11th of 89. Wow.
Only hurt driving home.
We'll see I guess. Haven't found a great area to do a formal Bike test that doesn't have at least one hill/major dip in it big enough to significantly impact power/speed. (the 10 miles x 2 rides I do front to back so it "averages out" well-ish.
Check out the administrative thread-message from you Race Captain (yes, me)
@David- I know, I know. I am feeling the fatigue, and its part of the reason I didn't even contemplate a HIM this year. I am making a concerted effort to go to bed earlier. I am out of town weekend of wk 11 for a family wedding so I have accepted that I won't actually have that saturday 'big day' and will actually take a few days for R&R-earn SAUs. I make my husband crazy the way I live. And I am jealous of your progress on the swim. I went from 1:50 to 1:40 IM swim and I am certain the 10 minutes was 100% execution. I am hoping all my hard work this past year, and execution, will net me a 1:30 this year.
Swim this am-no drills, got the wu and first set done, tempo timer at my t pace, maintained form (in my mind.)
@ David Ware, yes, I am determined to learn to love to swim!
@ Daniel- Keep at it. Your 100 t pace is faster than mine!! I have been learning to swim for 3.5 years, have spent weeks on one drill after another, breaking the stroke into all its aspects. I started with TI too and think its great for learning balance, hip rotation. (I watched the videos and went through a period of my life with Terry's voice in my head). Sadly, Terry only teaches half the stroke-once your hand enters, he says 'if you enter correctly you are fine. " He doesn't teach early vertical catch. You will benefit from direct coaching and video! picture is always work a thousand words (horrors!! I really do that?….). I over glide too and have started using the tempo trainer to force me to increase stroke count. As for sghtting, what really helped me last year was several sessions in my coach's endless pool. He set up a cone on the end of the tub and I swam for an hour, practicing raising my head every 4-6 strokes and looking at the cone. As I mentioned above, my 10 min improvement 2012 to 2013 was execution. Al has a great post from last year on his thoughts on how to navigate the tempe town puddle that we should all review. 2013 I was actually under the east mill bridge at the starting line when the gun went off, in the middle, where Al noted there is always an empty hole. I never got kicked, sighted well (from all my practice), never stopped treading water lost like 2012.
@Shaughn, I just asked to join the strava club-I will try to remember to turn on the program on my iPhone tomorrow.
@ David H. - Good luck on your Sprint race. Kill it and try to have some fun!
@Betsy - congrats on the Captain role, Captain! Just let me, (and the rest) know how we can help. I may have pushed the wrong button on my iPhone when I tried to accept your request to join the IMAZ club, so just try it one more time if it did not go through.
Reminder for others who like to use Strava, join the EN IMAZ club here:
http://www.strava.com/clubs/2014IMAZ
JRA Recovery ride last night:
http://www.strava.com/activities/187053723
EZ 5K run this morning:
http://www.strava.com/activities/187053719
Lunch Swim:
http://www.strava.com/activities/187053709
Be safe on those long bikes this weekend!
SS
All...good work everybody. You are guys are rocking it.
This is my 2nd week after IMMT so I'm still taking it easy. Ran 3 miles yesterday for the first time since the IM and everything felt ok. I did a MB ride last night with LBS on some sand/dirt trails. Just 90 minutes of fun and stayed in HR Z1 the whole time. Swam easy this am for 50 minutes, & didn't even count the the laps.
I have 5 weeks to Kona and IMAZ 5 weeks after that. I've only done one IM per year the last 3 years. Not sure what's going to happen trying to to do 3 IMs in 13 weeks; could be a train wreck. We'll see what condition I'm in after KONA, then decide what kind of training I do before AZ. Taking things one day at a time.
I've been watching this space for some time and figure it's time to join the fun (share the pain?) Arizona will be my first long course race having completed Oceanside 70.3 earlier this yea so I'm finding the tips, perspectives (and inspiration) invaluable! I'd be curious to know which age group in which some of the posters will be competing. I'll be the old man in the 45-49 year bracket and I'm hoping all those with FTPs north of 300 are somewhere/anywhere else! AA full Ironman wasn't on my radar screen until very recently. The link below tells a bit about my story and why I'm where I'm at (may have too cut and paste):
http://support.smiletrain.org/site/TR?px=3525272&fr_id=1350&pg=personal
One question I have for the group as I head into the weekend, the old IM plan (apparently) had more Z4 level intervals in the Saturday ride vs. the new plan which is high Z2-low Z3 steady. Thoughts if I'm still working to build my FTP (at 234 targeting minimum of 250 by race day). It's going to be a looonnnngg day in the garage tomorrow!