I need your advice, experiences, opinions on these changes that I want to make
Yep, full 180deg from leaving EN to now diving into ALL of the valuable tools we have around here. Most valuable tool...you guys.
You know I ramble so I apologize in advance.
I love the training, the lifestyle, the challenges of pushing myself. I don't race a ton. And, I prob won't race long again for a few years. The only races will be last second, penciled in, local, prob sprint/oly, maybe Augusta70.3 on the year when it's a no brainer convenience. Because of this lack of a race schedule, there is NO pressure that I'm going to screw up a peak with the changes I'm about to make.
However, I have NO intention of backing off IM (or longer) type training. I do plan on getting a few more IM's (or maybe longer) before I call myself done. I'm just not putting myself on any specific time table. When I do pull the trigger on an IM, I want to be able to bring a machine that has had a VERY patient build, an engine that is VERY used to the handling longer distances. Basically, dropping into IM build without much shock to the system cuz it almost seems normal.
Coming on the heels of John's breakthrough...I'm not demanding to go from 11:45s - 13:30s and bust out a 10:30. If it happened, that would be cool. But, I want to focus on this lonnngg process, not a specific time result at an unknown race in some unknown year within an unknown stage of my life.
'Soul Athlete'. I've heard this referred to on some podcasts in the past. (Think it was Zen & The Art of Triathlon) This really does fit me. Basically, would you/could you continue to drive yourself thru consistent swims/bikes/runs/hikes/climbs/SUPs/etc if there were absolutely NO races out there to do? Imagine that races don't exist. Would you still do this stuff? Yes, yes I would.
That's an honest answer. Honest to you. Honest to me. If college stuff takes signing up, paying, traveling, being distracted by IM off the table, I'm still cool with the daily grind. Rise and Grind as we say!
I'm already making changes that have shown great potential, changes that I didn't make when I was preparing for Wisc or Florida. What I eat and How much I sleep. Getting off a race schedule, going more plant based, and getting more sleep, even if it means not doing that before work workout. I feel fresh again, body comp is better than ever, and I'm not falling asleep in the middle of a conversation, and my workout 'performances' have been plenty solid for what I'm looking for these days (hanging with the stronger riders in this area, not much to compare with run or swim cuz the runs are solo and the swim is usually drills/instruction/recovery).
But, I admit I've been winging it 
and that will only last so long. Swims as mentioned above. Frequent runs that are shorter, mostly HR guided, and 1x week hitting the track for pace work. Bikes have been one FTP or HITT intervals and one recovery spin during the week with a long Saturday ride and/or slightly shorter Sunday ride. Weekend rides have lots of work in them. Again, this has been mostly Self Coached cuz I felt that I didn't merit feedback since there wasn't a desired peak or inherent sabotage involved.
One hangup I have is my work schedule. Long days thru the work week, rotating schedules, on call for the whole weekend once every 5-6 weeks. Mon thru Fri has work hours of 6+, 8+, 10+, 12+, 24 (7a - 11p in house and 11p - 7a beeper). And, like I said, those days rotate every week. My work is pretty cool about my stuff. There's a Lifetime Fitness very close and if things are quiet in the afternoon, they allow me to shoot over there for an hour or so. That's bonus stuff...a quick swim or treadmill work. Can't ever count on that.
So, my own 'winging' it has had VERY short workouts during workdays. No fluff. Quick and to the point. I've become the master of the 45' workout, 2-3 times a day. Then doing the longer stuff on the weekends. When the call weekend comes around, I just use it to rest, maybe do some really short stuff, but mainly a recovery weekend.
And, as Al has been sequestered, I'm commuting by bike and run whenever possible. I work at different facilities but most of the time I'm at a hospital that is 7 rolling hill miles away. Perfect for an ez paced mtn bike ride (~35-40'). And a good distance for 2x 7mi run for a 14mi run day. Both of these done with a heavy back pack with necessities in it, including my swim gear since I'm always ready to drop in for a quick swim if there's 30-45' that opens up.
My concern is that I'm not seeing alot of options to this. Meaning I'm doing this as efficiently as possible. At least,as far as I can see. I know I can, and probably will, Micro each and every week and workout. (Sorry, P
)
Am asking you guys if I'm missing something?
ideas like GF plans during the week and keep doing my long stuff on the weekends?
I do plan on hitting Rich up in the Macro for this, too. He's gonna love it
I suppose I can submit a Season Plan with some phantom Fall race just to be able to insert plans along the way. Maybe Augusta since it's a distant, distant possibility. However, the timing is good.
Any feedback, good or bad, is welcomed. I value everyone's experience and advice.
Comments
Regarding the bike- having been with the team for 4(?) yrs now, I have become very used to the efficient interval work. I can't imagine that there's much else for me to do. Bench Press sets at X%, several weeks of 95%ers, couple of weeks of 120%ers, anyone believe in the AllOut Super Threshold Max Effort for 15''on45''off? All 3 of these workouts can be done in 45' easily with abbreviated warmup and cooldown, 1 hr would be luxurious, and the HITT stuff is my fall back when I only have 30' to work with.
Regarding the run- without actually plugging into the official Run Durability plan, I've worked hard this year to get my leg healthy again. At this time, I'm sold on run frequency. Even 2 miles of working on cadence and feel is a win. 20-24 miles per week seems manageable...that's a bunch of short ez form focus runs including 20' brick runs and usually one demanding run (long steady or hit the track for mile repeats). At this point, I am choosing to err on the side of safety by challenging my run legs only once per week. As my post mentions, not being on a time table may (?) allow me to keep my 'other' runs short & sweet during the my longer work days and slowly build up duration and intensity and number of mile repeats on that weekly big run.
Not that I would do anything as drastic, but I actually know a fella who trained and did very well at an ultra on running 1x week. He had a big base from previous years and he took care of nutrition and stresses at an OCD level but only ran once per week. As I said, I'm not gonna try that method but it is interesting to note. I'm my own study of one. After 4 years of getting hurt, I wonder if I should continue spreading my challenging runs out a bit farther apart from each other than I had.
Good thoughts, Steve. Thanks.
BTW, 4 half mary's in 4 days, eh? pretty cool. good luck!
impact on your prescribed workouts? do you adjust anything?
I am in the middle of the Run Durability/OS hack which has you running 5 to 6 days a week, with 2 FTP interval sessions per week, plus a long run of 90 mins and 1 to 2 60 min runs. The 60 and 90 min runs are on trails. The other run(s) are 30 min ones with 4 to 6 strides. The interesting thing is that all the runs (apart from the FTP intervals) are at a pace half way between EP and MP (eg if your MP is 8:00 min miles and your EP is 9:00 min miles, then your target run pace is 8:30 min miles. Also an added tweek is that on the 60 and 90 min runs, you do 5 mins @ 5 secs per mile below your target pace, then 5 mins @ your target pace, and 5 mins @ 5 secs per mile above your target pace. Rinse and repeat.
Note that you don't do any significant EP running.
So you could incorporate some of these ideas into your running.
In my experience, I think you're going to get yourself into trouble if you put any flavor of IM training stamp on what you want to do. Instead think of creating a weekly schedule that is more HIM-esque and then make it fun to execute that consistently. This week in, week out level of training will make it very easy for you to then shift gears and do whatever you want to do. Here's what I do when I'm on my game, not recovery from a gravity-incursion, etc:
This weekend was a great reminder for me:
So this weekend reminded me of the differences between IM training (Saturday) and HIM training (Sunday). The later was fun, repeatable, very manageable, with a low mental cost. The former was "work." In fact, once rides go north of 3-3.5hrs, the cost goes up exponentially and, in my experience, you're setting yourself up for pushback at some point if you've created a schedule where you feel you "have to" ride 3-4+hrs.
Same with long runs -- 1:10-20 is totally manageable. North of 1:30 it begins to feel like work, something you have to do.
that's def more volume than I'm at right now. Not knowing your paces, looks like about 30mi/week. Something for me to build to, just not there presently. Realistically, where I'm at right now as a baseline, usually get 2-3 4milers (ez pace, form focus), 1-2 2milers (same), 1 long run of 8-10 miles (with steady effort) OR 1 day at the track where I knock out 3-5 mile repeats (5-8miles with warmup & cooldown) at TP. I seem to be crunched for more time. I wonder if I take the workouts you described and spread them out over 10-14 days, would I still adapt and progress despite not falling within the traditional 7 day block. This is something that I've been tinkering with. Doesn't always look impressive in a log, but I don't think the body cares about a Monday or Wednesday. It just recognizes stress/recover/adapt.
@Rich-
well, the good news is that I'm pretty close to that right now. I am not interested in becoming a drone, a poser, not gonna do all the admin stuff just so I can burnout. Just kindof interested in doing it on the sly. I agree that the HIM steady diet is a great way to go. While dropping in the longer 5-6hr ride every now and then to change the stimulus (?) might have some benefit ( I swear I read that somewhere, what do you think?), using every Saturday for a 6hr bike might get me divorced. Spread out, no prob. Every Saturday, nah. So, yes, I dig the ''shorter'', harder 4hrs of varying paces, part of thetime with buddies and part of the time with group rides makes thetime pass by pretty quickly. Of course, looks horrible in WKO+ cuz avg power is oftendown and VI is so high. But, I guess the long term goal is work hard & have fun. Progress happens if you keep showing up.
My next question will be concerning my work schedule. But, gotta go....back to work.
Chris,
My first thought is the running issues/injuries that you have had in the past (hamstring?). Perhaps this is a good time to strengthen that up, even looking at running form or other underlying issues. IIRC this was typically from speed work in the OS. This might put you in run jail for a time allowing you to focus on a bike block then build the run back up. You are in a perfect situation to fix any lingering weaknesses and have time to rebuild the engine if time off is needed.
Gordon
you recall correctly, tho it's been achilles and calf (specifically posterior tibialis tendonitis). Yes, speed work, usually in the OS.
I've spent the majority of 2014 getting healthy. It's taken this long for me to be able to run the little bit that I mentioned above and not be worried every tiime I head out. But, I am there. And, looking forward to the next step (pun intended!). I have no problem being VERY patient ramping up the volume and dripping in intensity slowly, judiciously. I've learned that no matter what kind of PR I might set by trying to bust a Vdot so that I can earn the right to train even faster, it doesn't do me any good if I have to stand down for 6 weeks. Erring on the side of safety this year. Have done the PT, etc stuff.
You're right...this type of approach that I'll be taking over the next year is very good for conservative run builds. Can back off at a moments notice.
1) do core work, lots of it. (Clamshells, bridges, monster walks, 1 legged squats, bulgarian split squats, etc. I think there are a few threads on this in da haus)
2) take your easiest work day (whichever day has you working the 6+ hour shift) and make it a long run day, but break it up. so basically run to and from work. Eventually building that up to where you are adding time to your morning leg of it to like ~10 in the morning, then another 7 at night. obviously don't want to hurt yourself, but this is a good time to do what Peter mentioned and target halfway between your MP and EP. This pace is unlikely to hurt you as it's not all that fast when you're reasonably fresh.
3) I personally enjoy the long rides. I know Rich thinks that makes me crazy. So If it were me, I'd throw in 1 or 2 rides a month that are north of 5 hours. I think you get a TON of value in everything after 3.5 hours, for exactly the same reason most people hate them. You get big fitness gains, big mental gains, positional fitness gains, etc. But, do NOT take these as long boring slow rides because then you're just wasting a bunch of time. Target an IF of like 80% for every ride. Don't necessarily do structured work in them, but make every long ride a competition with your previous long ride best (from a NP perspective). If you can crank out north of 5 hours at north of 0-.80 IF, you will see gains.
4) I also almost never do bike workouts longer than 45 mins during the week. Like you, I do what I can, so don't sweat it...
Doing all of the above will keep "most" of your schedule of the Half-IM variety like Rich suggests, but will have enough of the more demanding workouts (long run day and long bike day) even if they're only once every other week or so, to also be adding some longer harder miles into your legs. If you keep this up over many months/years, you will have to see continued gains.
I'm with ya on those bullets. I am planning on putting my big run day on the shorter work day, splitting it up is a good idea. At first, I was overanalyzing the layout and finding hurdles with the times when this big run day may fall on a Friday or Monday. I think I'm past that, though. If I focus on eating well, getting sleep, very light active recovery on those 2 longer work days, then I'm confident that I can handle a Fri/Sat/Sun big trifecta. I'll just ease into this the first few weeks and see what kind of impact it brings.
Regarding the bike strategy....I'm hearing you loud n clear. I can do that kind of stuff consistently b/c, at this point in my life, I really enjoy doing it. That makes it so much easier. Not work. Pretty sure it'll play out with 3 out of 4 Saturdays doing the 3.5-4 hr PushIt Rides and 1 out of 4 making it a longer ride. Sundays will stay shorter ABP rides and I'll be running some shorter (4-6mi) on those days unless the legs are screaming for a break.
Now...what to call this hack? Hmmmm.....
The Get What You Can When You Can Program, or
The Chaos Program: Where The Structure Comes From The Lack of Structure, or
The Darwin Program: If We Don't Go Beast Fit, We Don't Survive
? ! ? !