Volume and Intensity - I've cut back on volume and increased intensity across the board.... It seems to be taking me several weeks to adjust to this and absorb the new stimulus.... Proving to me anyway that all TSS is not created equal... With 200-300 TSS pts less per week I have actually been feeling worse.... This is starting to get better though...
The Swim - Recent 900yd TT @ a 1:30 per 100yd average , was right inline with my best ever 1000yd TT from past years ... So Ironically the sport I spent the least amount of time on all winter is just as good as its ever been... Supports the EN swim theory.... Note: I never stopped swimming but it was my lowest swim volume winter ever!
The Bike - I have not done any real or conventional FTP tests .... However , I have done some very serious AERO FTP intervals in which my power curve suggests a FTP of 220-222.... Note: I have been solidly in the 220-230 FTP range for every official test for the last 3 years.... Recent TT Race (Crank the Kanc 21 mile uphill TT w/2300' elevation gain) was completed in 74 minutes and 210 watts (you could reverse engineer this by adding 5% and call my FTP 220) ..... This was performed glued to the AERO bars for 50min then the remainder sitting as the grade turned up.... 210 watts falls inline with all of my OLY bike splits in that time frame .... So even though it appears the FTP is near the low of my range , I was still able to produce the watts for an OLY distance when my FTP has been confirmed at a higher number....
The Run - Vdot from a 5k race was 48.6 ..... Vdot from a HM race was 48.7 ..... Both of these are again near my lower range over the last couple years.... My peak vdot's have been in the 50-51 range....
My Weight - I like to race at 120lbs or even a little under.... Spent the winter at 128ish.... So far I'm down to 124lbs.... For some reason I'm struggling a bit more this year with the discipline required to lower this number.... With 10 weeks to go , I have no doubt I will hit race day at 120lbs.... This alone will bump my vdot 1point and put me back over w/kg of 4.0+ on the bike....
Going forward into IMLP - I have scheduled the Quassy OLY/HIM double in June, 2 weeks after that the Patriotman HIM , the week after that is going to be a BIG weekend in Lake Placid (4 weeks out).... So maybe not the best layout with the racing in there but lots of good IM volume .... KONA will be much more structured.....
What I have learned or what do I think I would change? - I would allow room for 8-10 weeks of structured OS type training before starting the 12 week IM build.... I tend to peak my numbers in the OS at 8-10 weeks and I'm feeling a little behind on the bike/run... We will see !
@Bob my last 3 weeks have been 301, 792, 801..... For reference I spent most of my winter between 800-1000 with around 8 weeks above 1000, and 3 weeks above 1200.....
@Tim: Thanks. I'm not surprised to read that your TSS has been above 1000 and 1200. Another question: Do you know what your peak CTL has been before your last few races, especially those where you KQ?
I watched this Podcast video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SFuG0KJuN8) on YouTube sponsored by Training Peaks with Gordo Byrn and Alan Couzens. They emphasized that for their athletes, a peak CTL (long-term daily average TSS training load) before a race of 140 or greater has been what it took to KQ. They back that up with a chart about 25 minutes in to the video that shows their athletes' highest CTL vs. their Ironman performance that shows a very close relationship. Sounds like you validate their hypothesis. It would be interesting to know what your CTL has been before your races. I want to start using TSS and CTL to better "tune" my training. Right now my CTL is about 100. So I have a ways to go to gradually increase my CTL to get to 140. But we all have to start somewhere!
PS. Thought of you this weekend. I did the Auburn World's Toughest High Distance tri. During the run along a part of the Western States 100-Miler, I could see the Foresthill Bridge that you said you bungee off. Crazy!
@Bob I have DATA in TP since Jan 1 2013 which incorporates all of my KQ's. That was an awesome webinar....Much better than I expected it to be.... I played it while busy and missed a lot.... I have to listen to it again ....But learned some interesting stuff.... I remember hearing somewhere before that most KQ's have accumulated on average 150 TSS points per day for 5 months.... This was validated in the webinar , my numbers also confirm this.... I like to accumulate as close as possible to 150 TSS per day and 800-1200 pts per week... Below is the CTL #'s requested.... Thanks for posting.... You should re-post that in the PMC thread Coach R started !
2013 IMTX peak CTL 152 1st-KQ NOTE: picture perfect steady build for 5 months just like they talk about in webinar (no highs , no lows)
2013 KONA/IMFL double peak CTL 132 NOTE: build interrupted by bike crash broken clavicle
2014 IMTX peak CTL 171 3rd KQ NOTE: Peak reached at the end of a 31hr BTW
2014 IMCHOO/KONA double peak CTL 173 IMCHOO 4th KQ and KONA was a bust NOTE: this build started from a CTL of 148 maintained thru racing 3 HIM's in 3 Months
2015 peak CTL so far 154 w/current CTL at 125 NOTE: peak was reached after 3 huge volume weeks (22,30,27hrs) but low intensity
Some interesting Annual TSS #'s to help validate the picture of the CTL #'s
2013 - 42,678 or 820 per week
2014- 48,800 or 938 per week
2015- 18,800 or 750 per week so far this year.... better get to work huh?
@Tim: Great data! Thanks for sharing. Interesting how your CTL numbers correlate with your performances. Last year before Ironman Arizona, my peak CTL was a little below 100. During the webinar, they showed a chart that predicts a time of 11:13 for a CTL of 100. I finished in 11:11. I know there are a lot of variables in our performance during race day, but it appears that intelligently targeting a peak CTL can increase our odds of a KQ. I appreciate your willingness to share and teach. I'll post the webinar at Coach R's PMC thread as you suggest. Thanks.
I looked back thru my WKO+ PMC data since 2007. First note: its worthless when you don't have a reliable power meter (2007-10). Second note: I do better when my CTL peaks about 2.5-3 weeks before a race in the 130s (not including swim). Third note: I can handle 6-10 weeks of about 920 TSS with good result. When the TSS is less consistent, meaning I throw a race in the middle of the last 8 weeks, or otherwise mess up the plan, I don;t do as well. I can also handle a couple of weeks' burst of 1100-1200 by adding an extra bike or two ion that critical time with 9 >> 3 weeks to go.
In addition to the "140" rule, I would also suggest that a rate of rise of 6-10 per week in the CTL is a sweet spot. Less, and you can't get enough work in the final 12-16 weeks; more and you throw things off kilter. Consistency and a steady weekly increase in TSS might be as important as reaching the absolute level. Given that, the TSB will sort itself out, and that number seems less important than how fast the CTL is rising on a weekly basis.
Having a bunch of broken down old men to race against helps as well. I avoid being in that category by keeping to a "steady as she goes" plan.
I second Al's motion that "steady as she goes" becomes more and more important as we age. My experience this past March demonstrates that trying to do too much at too fast a speed is likely to break, not build, us older guys.
@Al: thank you for your "teaching notes". I understand that we are all different, but I appreciate learning what has worked for you. The webinar recommends maintaining a CTL of 100-150. Getting consistently above 150-200 is usually a set-up for overtraining/burning out. I disagree that you are racing against broken down old men. You are face-to-face against the best in your AG at Kona.
@Bruce: Agreed. Did I miss what happened in March? If so, plz direct me to the thread.
Tim...don't want to hijack your thread, but do want to respond to Bob's question.
@ Bob...I hurt my hip and lower back in early March doing a 2 mile interval at 6:40 pace. Was trying to keep up with some folks training for the Boston marathon who were 20 years younger than I. Bad idea!! Had to stop running for 5 weeks and am slowing returning to running. Doing better now, but it is amazing how fast you loose fitness when you are older and have to stop training.
IMLP is done and I thought it was time for another update.... I think I have enough data to say that the run focus/ultra plan has definitely improved my triathlon run results... I was able to set a run PR at the OLY distance in Quassy , ran very well the next day at the Quassy HIM distance , and then set a PR for the HIM run at Patriot (all 3 of these runs were negative splits which are very rare and even more rare for me) IMLP was not my fastest run but it was by far my best AG ranked run , again validating the work from the run focus.... However , Pure run speed did not improve , as I was unable to test or even match a higher Vdot from previous years...
Is it , was it worth it? For me yes... I was looking for seconds/minutes and found them.... However the return on investment is very small with this approach so not sure I would recommend it unless you believed yourself to be truly plateaue'ed ...
2 weeks recovery from IMLP is over and will be starting the KONA build.... Racing KONA and then IMAZ 5 weeks after....
Very much looking for some downtime after IMAZ... Next winter will probably bring another run focus (although a bit shorter , more speed work involved, and ending with a 50k , NO 50 miler) this would allow time for some OS work that I missed this year....The only thing that could derail this plan is if I get picked up for Ultraman Florida which I am currently on the waitlist for Febuary 2016... Other than that I will only be doing 1 Ironman in 2016 and it will most likely be IMMD or IMLOU.... But have no fear I will most certainly come up with something :-)
Comments
Bumping this to the top to get a progress report, now that you're a few weeks into IM training.
Volume and Intensity - I've cut back on volume and increased intensity across the board.... It seems to be taking me several weeks to adjust to this and absorb the new stimulus.... Proving to me anyway that all TSS is not created equal... With 200-300 TSS pts less per week I have actually been feeling worse.... This is starting to get better though...
The Swim - Recent 900yd TT @ a 1:30 per 100yd average , was right inline with my best ever 1000yd TT from past years ... So Ironically the sport I spent the least amount of time on all winter is just as good as its ever been... Supports the EN swim theory.... Note: I never stopped swimming but it was my lowest swim volume winter ever!
The Bike - I have not done any real or conventional FTP tests .... However , I have done some very serious AERO FTP intervals in which my power curve suggests a FTP of 220-222.... Note: I have been solidly in the 220-230 FTP range for every official test for the last 3 years.... Recent TT Race (Crank the Kanc 21 mile uphill TT w/2300' elevation gain) was completed in 74 minutes and 210 watts (you could reverse engineer this by adding 5% and call my FTP 220) ..... This was performed glued to the AERO bars for 50min then the remainder sitting as the grade turned up.... 210 watts falls inline with all of my OLY bike splits in that time frame .... So even though it appears the FTP is near the low of my range , I was still able to produce the watts for an OLY distance when my FTP has been confirmed at a higher number....
The Run - Vdot from a 5k race was 48.6 ..... Vdot from a HM race was 48.7 ..... Both of these are again near my lower range over the last couple years.... My peak vdot's have been in the 50-51 range....
My Weight - I like to race at 120lbs or even a little under.... Spent the winter at 128ish.... So far I'm down to 124lbs.... For some reason I'm struggling a bit more this year with the discipline required to lower this number.... With 10 weeks to go , I have no doubt I will hit race day at 120lbs.... This alone will bump my vdot 1point and put me back over w/kg of 4.0+ on the bike....
Going forward into IMLP - I have scheduled the Quassy OLY/HIM double in June, 2 weeks after that the Patriotman HIM , the week after that is going to be a BIG weekend in Lake Placid (4 weeks out).... So maybe not the best layout with the racing in there but lots of good IM volume .... KONA will be much more structured.....
What I have learned or what do I think I would change? - I would allow room for 8-10 weeks of structured OS type training before starting the 12 week IM build.... I tend to peak my numbers in the OS at 8-10 weeks and I'm feeling a little behind on the bike/run... We will see !
I watched this Podcast video (
PS. Thought of you this weekend. I did the Auburn World's Toughest High Distance tri. During the run along a part of the Western States 100-Miler, I could see the Foresthill Bridge that you said you bungee off. Crazy!
2013 IMTX peak CTL 152 1st-KQ NOTE: picture perfect steady build for 5 months just like they talk about in webinar (no highs , no lows)
2013 KONA/IMFL double peak CTL 132 NOTE: build interrupted by bike crash broken clavicle
2014 IMTX peak CTL 171 3rd KQ NOTE: Peak reached at the end of a 31hr BTW
2014 IMCHOO/KONA double peak CTL 173 IMCHOO 4th KQ and KONA was a bust NOTE: this build started from a CTL of 148 maintained thru racing 3 HIM's in 3 Months
2015 peak CTL so far 154 w/current CTL at 125 NOTE: peak was reached after 3 huge volume weeks (22,30,27hrs) but low intensity
Some interesting Annual TSS #'s to help validate the picture of the CTL #'s
2013 - 42,678 or 820 per week
2014- 48,800 or 938 per week
2015- 18,800 or 750 per week so far this year.... better get to work huh?
I looked back thru my WKO+ PMC data since 2007. First note: its worthless when you don't have a reliable power meter (2007-10). Second note: I do better when my CTL peaks about 2.5-3 weeks before a race in the 130s (not including swim). Third note: I can handle 6-10 weeks of about 920 TSS with good result. When the TSS is less consistent, meaning I throw a race in the middle of the last 8 weeks, or otherwise mess up the plan, I don;t do as well. I can also handle a couple of weeks' burst of 1100-1200 by adding an extra bike or two ion that critical time with 9 >> 3 weeks to go.
In addition to the "140" rule, I would also suggest that a rate of rise of 6-10 per week in the CTL is a sweet spot. Less, and you can't get enough work in the final 12-16 weeks; more and you throw things off kilter. Consistency and a steady weekly increase in TSS might be as important as reaching the absolute level. Given that, the TSB will sort itself out, and that number seems less important than how fast the CTL is rising on a weekly basis.
Having a bunch of broken down old men to race against helps as well. I avoid being in that category by keeping to a "steady as she goes" plan.
I second Al's motion that "steady as she goes" becomes more and more important as we age. My experience this past March demonstrates that trying to do too much at too fast a speed is likely to break, not build, us older guys.
@Bruce: Agreed. Did I miss what happened in March? If so, plz direct me to the thread.
Tim...don't want to hijack your thread, but do want to respond to Bob's question.
@ Bob...I hurt my hip and lower back in early March doing a 2 mile interval at 6:40 pace. Was trying to keep up with some folks training for the Boston marathon who were 20 years younger than I. Bad idea!! Had to stop running for 5 weeks and am slowing returning to running. Doing better now, but it is amazing how fast you loose fitness when you are older and have to stop training.
Is it , was it worth it? For me yes... I was looking for seconds/minutes and found them.... However the return on investment is very small with this approach so not sure I would recommend it unless you believed yourself to be truly plateaue'ed ...
2 weeks recovery from IMLP is over and will be starting the KONA build.... Racing KONA and then IMAZ 5 weeks after....
Very much looking for some downtime after IMAZ... Next winter will probably bring another run focus (although a bit shorter , more speed work involved, and ending with a 50k , NO 50 miler) this would allow time for some OS work that I missed this year....The only thing that could derail this plan is if I get picked up for Ultraman Florida which I am currently on the waitlist for Febuary 2016... Other than that I will only be doing 1 Ironman in 2016 and it will most likely be IMMD or IMLOU.... But have no fear I will most certainly come up with something :-)