Bruce Thompson's 2015 Plan
I’ve been following the posts from Tim C, Al T, and Matt A about their plans for 2015, and I feel like I need to change things up too. I’ve spend 4 solid years building my IM skills and capability, culminating in a Kona qualification in 2014. While I now believe I can be competitive in my AG in any IM race for a Kona slot, I’m not going to “chase” a KQ. I KQed once, & it was an awesome dream come true, but I don’t feel obsessed to get back there. Rather, I want to add in some new races (non-IM) to my schedule for variety and fun, and if another KQ happens, that’s icing on the cake.
Background - I’ve done 4 Outseasons with EN, with big gains the first 2 years and only slight incremental improvements the last 2 years. In 2014, I did the Long Term IM Improvement plan that focused on run frequency & durability while building overall strength on the swim & bike. Overall, this plan was very successful as I was able to hold my swim, bike and run paces deeper into an IM race. The other big benefit was the durability I built that allowed me to finish 3 IMs in 13 weeks without a major injury.
2015 Goals Are: 1) Stay injury free, 2) Qualify for the 2016 Boston Marathon, 3) Execute a solid race at the ITU Long Course World Championship in June where I’ll be representing the USA, 4) Have superior execution at IM Mt Tremblant in August and see what happens, & 5) Have some fun at shorter races, both road races and triathlons, and 6) help some other athletes achieve their goals.
The big change up is to run a standalone marathon this year in a BQ attempt. Barring injury, I’m confident I can BQ since I almost run a BQ time at IM Mt Tremblant (missed it by 3 minutes). I’m thinking of the Wisconsin Marathon on May 2 since it is close to home, a flat course along the shores of Lake Michigan, and I have 5 friends who will be training/racing spring marathons in a BQ attempt too.
So I’m going to do 8 weeks of the JOS and then transition to the Advanced marathon plan leading up to the Wisconsin race on May 2. Then 2 weeks of swim camp. Then load up the Advanced IM plan ending on August 16 @ Mt Tremblant. I’ll just train right thru the Long Course Worlds with just couple days taper and a week of taking it easy after.
The trade off on this plan is that I’ll lose some bike fitness during the marathon build up. But I feel good that I can get that bike fitness back with some long weekend rides in June and July leading up to Mt Tremblant.
I also signed up for the AG sprint race at the ITU worlds in Chicago in Sept. This is the regular open registration sprint race that will be held the same weekend as the ITU Worlds for sprint and Olympic distances. I figured it’s in my town so why not participate for the heck of it.
I’m also going to see if I can fit in one or two events this year where I serve as a guide to physically challenged athletes who are trying to finish a triathlon. I’ve joined a club in Chicago called Dare2Tri that helps folks compete in various types of races. They are looking for experienced triathletes to serve as volunteers and guides, so I guess I fit that bill. I’m hoping this will be a fun way to help others enjoy our crazy sport while them achieving their dreams.
Comments? Thoughts?
Comments
I also like your overall approach to what will fulfill you this season. If you were seriously on the Kona treadmill I'd suggest a different race than IMMT but in your case I think it will work well. I'm looking forward to some rides this year with you, although your new location is a bit tougher for a meetup.
Above everything else, the simple act of laying all this out for yourself and others to ponder gives you a solid base to build on. And, making "giving back" a key part of your plan will up the feeling of fulfillment, I'm sure.
Specifics:
@ Al...Thanks. I agree that getting 10 minutes under the BQ time should be my goal. That would be a 3:45 marathon. I believe that is very possible. I also looked up the wining times in my AG for the last 2 years at this race. A 3:45 would be an AG win.
For MT, I'd like to break 11 hours...that is 5 minutes faster than last year. Of couurse that depends on so much - my training, no injuries, the weather, no flats, etc.
I've been thinking about the USAT championship race in Milwaukee. I have qualified for the Oly race but not for the sprint. Not sure if I can get into that or not, so I'll have to find out . It is very close to IMMT and that is why I didn't race it last year.
I am thinking of racing it this year too. I have friends in the area and can crash with them. Extra incentive.
I would love to pick your brain on the run durability plan. Unlike you, I learned how to run to play the game of triathlon, and while I have had 2 solid IM runs for me in IMAZ and IMMT, I am still a "newer" (less than 10 years running) runner and looking for improvement for IMCHOO this fall, which according to Kori is a tougher run than IMMT.
I like how you are ready to BQ (omg, you can totally do a 3:45!) and have non Kona goals this year. I think you will do great!
Bruce - I kinda zoned out after this first paragraph, because it more or less said it all. This is the kind of very, very healthy headspace that we should all aspire to. Having arrived at it as the centrepiece of your strategy makes all the other stuff just details. That's my first impression, anyhow.
But I'll set that aside, and for sport, be a contrarian. A contrarian who answers most questions with "More Ironman" in the way Deep Purple answer questions with "More Cowbell." What the "More Ironman" racer would do is scratch the stand-alone Marathon as the vehicle to BQ, put all of that running mileage and rTSS work into becoming a half-marathon killing machine during the same designated period, and come back to KQ at Tremblant. That's right: I'd have you doubling down in Quebec, and within the larger framework of "I'll enjoy the season and find joy in things, and not be caught on the KQ treadmill," aim to absolutely dominate on the Tremblant run.
Why? well, completing a marathon is a big challenge. you've done it. Ditto Ironman. You've done it, and been to Kona. but mashing those up and targetting a BQ in an IM is an absolutely audacious, few-can-do-it, crazy over the top goal. But it's also one that is just tough enough to make things VERY interesting and challenging over the next 9 months, but still possible.
- If all you want to do is BQ, then do what Dave suggests, and if you don't BQ in the ironman just run a standalone marathon a few weeks later where you are guaranteed to get a BQ time. Or run the marathon as a training run and take your BQ without incurring the injury risk and recovery cost that characterizes the marathon race and "punches the hole" into a tri season. This is somewhat why I was going into the "why not set a more aggressive goal" comment (not only because I'm predisposed to running these days!!).
- The "more ironman" and "double down on IMMT" answer may be incompatible with the Dare2Tri stuff (??)
- Given when IMMT falls on the calendar (late August), I'm not sure you are digging yourself into too much of a hole by doing the marathon. Surely it will help your running (as long as you don't get injured...). Does it materially impact your bike considering you'll be doing balanced training to begin with and your in-season bike approach is essentially a mega-volume approach (assuming you do what you did last year)? If you were looking for the last 0.01% of performance I would say. But I don't think that's where your head is at.
@ Trish...thanks for your faith in me. Nice to hear you think I'm fast/durable/smart. I'll take those qualities anyday. As far as the durability program is concerned, I was very worried at the start that it would acutally "break me" rather than "make me". I thought it was just too many runs and I'd get injured. But I didn't get hurt, and it really helped me build my strength and lowered my HR at my LRP. By the end of it, I could run at my LRP at least 10 bpm lower than before. However, the one thing i didn't do on the plan was the part about running 28 consecqutive days. I still made sure I got at least one day/week of no running to let the legs recover; I ran 24 out of 28 days during that part of the plan.
@ Dave...You hit the nail on the head. I've been wrestling in my heart since IMAZ if I should double down and do "more Ironman" or take the path that I put in my post below. I'm just not sure I have the mental and emotional strength to go hard again in 2015 after a very hard 2014 (3 IMs, wife filing for divorce, moving out of my house, new job). I burned alot of emotional energy the past 12 months, and so 2015 may need to be a re-charge year for me. Maybe that is why I want to help some physically challenged athletes...hope to get some emotional mojo from their achievements. Anyway, my secret goal (my brother JT knew it was secret goal) at IMMT last year was to run a BQ marathon, and I just missed it. I thought I might be able to do it at IMAZ since it was a flatter course, but as the last part of my 3rd IM in 13 weeks, I just didn't have it in the gas tank. Perhaps at IMMT this year I might sacrifice the swim and bike legs to save it for the run and see if I can do it this year, even if I BQ in a stand alone marathon earlier in the year. It would be pretty amesome to BQ in an IM.
@ Matt...thanks. You know me so well.