Matt Aaronson mirco - 2015 OS
Coaches,
Due to some really bizarre business travel this winter I am
unable to bike Mon/Tues/Wed and Thurs will be sporadic. Not ideal at all,
although I am doing a run-heavy OS in order to be in shape for the Boston
Marathon April 20 (not trying for a PR there but don't intend to show up and do
it as a "fun run" either).
I have 2 specific questions and one general one.
1. Should I try to follow the progression of the OS bike workouts
(i.e. progressively longer FTP intervals from 2x2 and 3x8 to 2x20 and 3x15) knowing
that (a) there are some weeks I'll be on the bike only twice and therefore my
FTP development may not keep pace and the workouts may not be possible and (b)
I'll be running ~50mpw so that will impact the biking too.
2. Question about my weekly long run. My run schedule will
end up being 5-6x/week with 2 quality workouts: one ~10-11 miler with 6 mi of
LT intervals ranging from 1-2 miles each, and one ~9-10 miler with 5@HMP
building to 7@HMP then becoming a 13-miler with 10@MP. That is a lot of quality
work so I wonder if I should try to follow the OS guidance for the long run
(more LT work) or if I should run it as a progressive which I've done in prior
running blocks.
The more general question concerns the weekly workout configuration
and relates to the above 2 items. Based on my travel schedule I am trying to
load 3 bike workouts into the end of the week (Thurs night / Sat morning / Sun
evening). Also I am targeting the long run on Sunday morning. So the week looks
like:
Monday – off (or, ideally, evening LT run)
Tuesday – LT run (or off if I got the run done Monday
evening)
Wednesday – HMP run
Thursday – easy 5-6 in the morning, FTP bike in evening
Friday – easy 5-6
Saturday – FTP bike plus 5mi brick (morning)
Sunday – Long run (morning), ABP bike in evening
Given the way the bike workouts are loaded I don't see any
way to do 3 quality bike sessions per the OS plan and thus the Sunday bike is
an ABP. If you have other suggestions (a) for how to configure the workouts
given the constraints and (b) alternative bike workouts instead of the OS
workouts, I would love to hear them.
Comments
I think you are better off just calling it two quality sessions a week is best. Planning is one thing, but being 3 to 5 weeks into the work with the fatigue and travel and things can look very different. I think your proposed weekly schedule, keeping your runs as laid out, is pretty good.
Monday – Evening LT Run.
Tuesday – OFF (or make up LT run from Monday evening)
Wednesday – HMP Run
Thursday – Run easy 5-6 in the morning. VO2 bike in evening.
Friday – Run easy 5-6
Saturday – FTP Bike plus 5mi brick (morning)
Sunday – Long Run (morning).
I don't see any value in attempting a hard or mod-hard ride after a long run, in anyway. If you wanted to get crazy, you could do an ABP ride on Friday, run long on Sat, then try to FTP on Sunday, but I don't see the need to "force" the FTP / quality here.
IOW, by virtue of picking Boston, deciding to run it "well enough" and determining that is about 50 miles per week, you have also selected the "increased bike performance" box.
Instead of the traditional OutSeason® progression, I suggest you use a fixed week as I have been doing for the past few months. I find this especially good if there is a focus on running and increased running (in your case distance and intensity at distance).
I'd like to see you pick a Saturday FTP interval that's hard enough -- I use 2 x 12' with 6' recovery -- and you can do that week to week...we are looking to see watt gains there. Instead of increasing time at the same FTP, I am fixing the time and expect to see the watts go from 275 in week 1 to 278 in week 2 to 280 in week 3, etc.
Then the Other Ride (first one in your week) is an VO2 ride. You will do 4 x 4' (4') at 110%, with the same goal...looking to boost the watts each week. I like the VO2 during your week as you can shorten that set in the PM as needed, whereas you won't be in a rush to do the Saturday FTP work and could get in 80-maybe even 90' on the bike if you so desire.
As for your run, I say keep it as progressive as you have done before. We can go with FTP work there only if you can't get the volume in on that given day (you could do 2 x 1 mile @ FTP + 6 miles steady if you couldn't run 13 miles, for example. I like the idea of holding the FTP out until later in your season; should be a nice build upon these early season miles!
Thanks so much for the thoughtful and comprehensive input. This is really great and helpful.
I really like the possibility to ride Thurs/Fri/Sun with the long run on Saturday. It's a lot but I'd love to make it work. My issue is that Fridays aren't always easy for me to get in a workout…that's been a pain in the ass for the last 3 years (esp on the in-season swim/run or swim Fridays). I'll have to play it by ear a bit.
As for the intervals, that is great. I'm going to do 2x10' this week (I've been doing 8' up until now) then will get to 12' and hold it there with increased watts as you suggest.
I'll keep you posted.
Thanks again
1. You are saying to do 6' recoveries. Why is that? I have never seen an FTP workout from you or Rich with recoveries longer than 4'...even when the intervals are 20'. I'm not sure the logic for this unless it plays into the next question...
2. How hard am I supposed to ride these 12' intervals? As I said, today I rode 1.03 / 1.05 with 4' recoveries. I didn't kill myself and in fact ~3 hours later went out to make up my missed LT run from earlier this week clocking 10.5 miles with 6 mile repeats (400m recoveries) beating my LT pace on every one of them. So I rode hard but not nearly to my limits. So clearly I can repeat this week-over-week so how do you "see higher wattage each week"? Am I supposed to be riding these literally all-out like an FTP test? That would put the 6' recoveries into a different context for sure. So I'm a bit unclear here on the intensity of these 12' intervals.
I think an early target for the 12' intervals is getting them to "last year's FTP" number...so if you were 300 outside but have been riding 280 as you rebuild, then aiming for 3000 is the goal...once you hit that, it's about moving it even further north, knowing (at least for me) that my outside FTP is like 10% higher than what I can do inside.
On a micro level, yes the rest is there to make sure both sets are equally solid -- as in .03 then .05 (better on #2). There is no material difference in the amount of work (24' of work) just that 3 more minutes of rest allow you to really hit #2 harder.
If you are in a time crunch, you can certainly shorten that up, but right now I say if it ain't broke, and next week is 1.05 then 1.07, etc, let's keep the party rolling. Remember, there is some cumulative fatigue building we want to be mindful of..even if it's a few weeks away from "hitting" you...