Andrew Lull - Macro Forum

[Deleted User]

Rich,

I am a 30-day Trial Member who is trying to decide whether to join EN or not. I have two "macro" questions for you regarding training volume and component focus.

Question #1. I am an age group athlete but I typically have more time available to focus on training than others do (I've retired, my kids are grown and out of the house, and my "spousal approval units" are way up there because my wife enjoys traveling to race locations with me and is willing to allow me to invest whatever time is necessary). So my question is, are the training plans developed to the point where there is no opportunity for individual flexibility? For example, if the weekend bike ride is a 3-hour ride (because that 's the amount of time most people have to allocate to a weekend ride) but I have more hours I could devote to the weekend ride (4, 5, 6+) can the training plan be revamped to include my additional availability of time?

Question #2. Can the training plans be focused on certain components of triathlon? To be specific, I had hip surgery a few months ago (torn labrum, bone spurs, etc.) but was still able to complete IM Chattanooga. For the next couple of months I'd like to focus on swim stroke efficiency and bike power while giving my hip more time to heal and prepare for the run portion of ironman training. So my question is, can the training be adapted to focus on swimming and biking with just a minimal amount of running for a couple of months, then return to a more balanced focus later?

Coach Rich

Posted By Andrew Lull on 27 Oct 2014 12:12 PM

Rich,

I am a 30-day Trial Member who is trying to decide whether to join EN or not. I have two "macro" questions for you regarding training volume and component focus.

Question #1. I am an age group athlete but I typically have more time available to focus on training than others do (I've retired, my kids are grown and out of the house, and my "spousal approval units" are way up there because my wife enjoys traveling to race locations with me and is willing to allow me to invest whatever time is necessary). So my question is, are the training plans developed to the point where there is no opportunity for individual flexibility? For example, if the weekend bike ride is a 3-hour ride (because that 's the amount of time most people have to allocate to a weekend ride) but I have more hours I could devote to the weekend ride (4, 5, 6+) can the training plan be revamped to include my additional availability of time?

Yes, with the following notes:

• The plan is written as 3hrs (for example). If you say / want to do more, then plan can't be changed to say 4-5hrs, you'll need to make that change yourself in your head, with a sharpened #2 pixel, etc.
• If you have questions about how to make these week to week modifications, please post those to Patrick in the Micro Forum, starting your own Micro Thread
• That said...it's very common for athletes to flip to the back of the book, so to speak, to see what the volumes in our plans look like closer to their race, and think they are on the low side. All I can say is that we cram a lot of work into the time that we have scheduled for you. In other words, the volume of the session doesn't tell the complete story of the session, you need to also look at the intensity. 
• I would strongly encourage you to not consider doing weekend after weekend of 5-6hrs rides. The plans, as written, work very well and opportunities to strategically insert BIG volume closer to your race are conversations that we can have later. 

Question #2. Can the training plans be focused on certain components of triathlon? To be specific, I had hip surgery a few months ago (torn labrum, bone spurs, etc.) but was still able to complete IM Chattanooga. For the next couple of months I'd like to focus on swim stroke efficiency and bike power while giving my hip more time to heal and prepare for the run portion of ironman training. So my question is, can the training be adapted to focus on swimming and biking with just a minimal amount of running for a couple of months, then return to a more balanced focus later?

Yes. You can do our Bike Focus plan vs the OutSeason and work swimming into that. 

[Deleted User]

Thank you for the prompt reply. I certainly didn't mean to give the impression that I'd be riding 6 hours every weekend, just wanted to give that as an example. I do however, typically have more disposable time than most folks, and I'd like to take advantage of that.

You mention a bike focus plan, is that something I could preview as a Trial Member? I did a search on the website for it but couldn't seem to locate it. 

Coach Rich

Posted By Andrew Lull on 27 Oct 2014 01:17 PM

Thank you for the prompt reply. I certainly didn't mean to give the impression that I'd be riding 6 hours every weekend, just wanted to give that as an example. I do however, typically have more disposable time than most folks, and I'd like to take advantage of that.

You mention a bike focus plan, is that something I could preview as a Trial Member? I did a search on the website for it but couldn't seem to locate it. 

No, the Move/Change My Training Plan feature isn't activated until you become a full member. But the highlights are:

• 4x rides per week, all focused on lifting your power/speed at threshold
• 3-4x runs per week, as 2-3x "strides" / forms runs + 1x sorta long run with a bit of tempo. IOW, just enough running to maintain your run, sorta, while we focus on the bike.