Anthony Smallwood - Macro Thread

AnthonyS

Okay Coach there has been one noticeable change since I filled out the season planning survey.  I modified the plan but want to see if you agree or have other alternate and probably better suggestions.

OS ends this week.  I had a terrible OS.  I had knee surgery in September and it really wasn't until January that I could train without pain specifically jogging and walking (running I wish I could do that again but it's coming back slowly).  As a result of 2 bad years I have a lot of extra weight to lose.  Before the two bad years I was down to 208.  Today I am 228, and my goal always was and is 175.  That goal has a date of IMFL this year.  I'm tracking all my calories on MyFitnessPal and I track I lose.  I don't track I gain. 

So I'm doing two weeks of Swim Camp next.  Then I enter HIM beginner plan for Galveston 70.3 on April 26th.  I was then doing an Olympic Tri on 6/7, but that isn't going to happen.  I'm taking the wife to Vegas instead for a four day vacation (gonna bank some wife credits).  So instead of the short course plan, the change is to go from HIM ending 4/26 to one week of unstructured training (family camping trip that week too), and then enter 8 weeks of Get Faster (which I desperately need).  Get Faster will end on 6/28 which is the same day as a great local open water TRI of either Olympic distance or 50 miles (1/40/9).  I want to do this race now instead; probably the Olympic and save my family another 90+ minutes of cooking in the TX sun if I were to do the 50. 

Then I was going to take one more week of unstructured over 4th of July week and take the family to Santa Fe.  Then I was going to begin the IM plan on week 3 for IMFL on 7/6/2015. 

So in short:

Swim Camp 2/2 to 2/15, HIM beginner week 11 start 2/16, local Sprint TRI 3/15, HIM end at Galveston 70.3 on 4/26, 1 wk unstructured, 5/4 get faster beginner week 1, local sprint tri 5/16, end GFer with Olympic on 6/28, 1 wk unstructured, IM beginner wk 3 start 7/6, local sprint 7/18, local sprint 9/12, IMFL on 11/7, then probably 2 or 3 weeks unstructured and then worry about 2016 OS. 

Coach Rich

Posted By Anthony Smallwood on 29 Jan 2015 01:58 PM

Okay Coach there has been one noticeable change since I filled out the season planning survey.  I modified the plan but want to see if you agree or have other alternate and probably better suggestions.

OS ends this week.  I had a terrible OS.  I had knee surgery in September and it really wasn't until January that I could train without pain specifically jogging and walking (running I wish I could do that again but it's coming back slowly).  As a result of 2 bad years I have a lot of extra weight to lose.  Before the two bad years I was down to 208.  Today I am 228, and my goal always was and is 175.  That goal has a date of IMFL this year.  I'm tracking all my calories on MyFitnessPal and I track I lose.  I don't track I gain. 

So I'm doing two weeks of Swim Camp next.  Then I enter HIM beginner plan for Galveston 70.3 on April 26th.  I was then doing an Olympic Tri on 6/7, but that isn't going to happen.  I'm taking the wife to Vegas instead for a four day vacation (gonna bank some wife credits).  So instead of the short course plan, the change is to go from HIM ending 4/26 to one week of unstructured training (family camping trip that week too), and then enter 8 weeks of Get Faster (which I desperately need).  Get Faster will end on 6/28 which is the same day as a great local open water TRI of either Olympic distance or 50 miles (1/40/9).  I want to do this race now instead; probably the Olympic and save my family another 90+ minutes of cooking in the TX sun if I were to do the 50. 

Then I was going to take one more week of unstructured over 4th of July week and take the family to Santa Fe.  Then I was going to begin the IM plan on week 3 for IMFL on 7/6/2015. 

So in short:

Swim Camp 2/2 to 2/15, HIM beginner week 11 start 2/16, local Sprint TRI 3/15, HIM end at Galveston 70.3 on 4/26, 1 wk unstructured, 5/4 get faster beginner week 1, local sprint tri 5/16, end GFer with Olympic on 6/28, 1 wk unstructured, IM beginner wk 3 start 7/6, local sprint 7/18, local sprint 9/12, IMFL on 11/7, then probably 2 or 3 weeks unstructured and then worry about 2016 OS. 

Ok, thanks the detail. Notes:

• After all of ^that^ you won't need to start the IM plan in Wk3, you'll be much more fit than wk3 assumes you to be. I generally only put EN athletes in the last ~12wks of the IM plan, instead filling gaps with either the Get Faster or one of the Focus plans.
• So, I think I've got IMFL folks dropping into their IM plan about mid August or so. Is there another Oly or something similar that you could do in early August? Then you'll repeat the GF plan, finishing it on this Oly, then transition over to the IM plan mid Aug. 
• Doesn't necessarily have to be a formal race, but basically I'd want you in the GF plan until 12wks out from FL. Putting a race on the calendar would be a bonus, as it would give you short term goals. 

AnthonyS

Olympic Tri in Austin on 9/2; one in San Angelo on 9/9 and another in Arkansas (same driving distance) on 9/15. Or I could do a bike focus and ride a 100 miler on 9/2 or 9/9. There are some organized 100 milers within a few hours drive as well. My wife likes the rides because she can always pick a lesser distance. 9/2 is 102 miles in the Hill Country, and 9/9 is 100 miles in North TX near Dallas.

I can coax my wife into any of these events, but the event rides always get more SAUs since she rides too. Speaking of which... on my HIM and IM training plans. She likes to ride with me one of the days (Saturday or Sunday). She cannot maintain the pace I need to hit for Z3, Z4 or Z5 work. She is Z2 low Z3 for me. (Hope she doesn't read this). So should I take her on Saturday or Sunday rides? I have been completing all the interval work towards the end of the rides after she heads back home. I'm thinking Saturdays should be devoted to me and my goal intervals. And she should ride with me on Sundays when the focus is less interval oriented. Ideas? Next year I can put our new daughter in a bike trailer which should slow me down more than enough.

AnthonyS

Spoke with wife this weekend and she is in support of Austin Tri on 9/2. She used to live in Austin so there is always something there she wants to see or do. So potential changes are listed below.

Swim Camp 2/2 to 2/15, HIM beginner week 11 start 2/16, local Sprint TRI 3/15, HIM end at Galveston 70.3 on 4/26, 1 wk unstructured, 5/4 get faster beginner week 1, local sprint tri 5/16, end GFer with Olympic on 6/28, 1 wk unstructured, 4 weeks of GF or bike focus ending 9/2 with Olympic in Austin, 1 week of unstructured, start IMFL plan in week 8 on 9/10 to end 11/7.

Coach Rich

Posted By Anthony Smallwood on 02 Feb 2015 07:53 AM


Spoke with wife this weekend and she is in support of Austin Tri on 9/2. She used to live in Austin so there is always something there she wants to see or do. So potential changes are listed below.



Swim Camp 2/2 to 2/15, HIM beginner week 11 start 2/16, local Sprint TRI 3/15, HIM end at Galveston 70.3 on 4/26, 1 wk unstructured, 5/4 get faster beginner week 1, local sprint tri 5/16, end GFer with Olympic on 6/28, 1 wk unstructured, 4 weeks of GF or bike focus ending 9/2 with Olympic in Austin, 1 week of unstructured, start IMFL plan in week 8 on 9/10 to end 11/7.

Sorry, hard for me to put all of this together. Me not so smart...and those dates/times don't look correct to me? Please resubmit your TSR and I'll plan it out for you. 

Re the wife and you calling her slow but still wanting to ride with her...even though she's slow : I had a similar situation in '05 when I was training a bunch of local athletes for IMCDA and I was racing also and trying to have us all train together -- we basically did an interval on the top and bottom of the hours, terrain-dependent, and then regrouped during the rests, as the leaders flipping it and coming back. So you could still do these rides with her, just flip it at the end of the interval and come back for serious SAU points. You could also teach her how to draft...or buy a tandem. Joanne and I did that and I was never able to get away from her, no matter how hard I rode...

AnthonyS

Blow up the entire season again! Yes the first part of this year is blown. Two weeks ago my dad called and his sister passed away. It's been expected for a while, but the exact timing was never known. This makes my father my oldest living relative now (genetically not on my wife's side). So dad's bonehead idea was to try and drive to the funeral his self which would be 1200 miles solo driving. In order to help dad cut some expenses I had him drive to Dallas and then I went with him. Dad was already sick when he arrived at my house. We drove the additional 800 miles straight and spent 3 days at the various services and visiting family. On the way home at the end of the week I had caught his flu / cold. We also had a fun time with all the potholes on the roads made due to the ice and snow all over the country. Today my coughing / chest congestion has finally subsided enough I can consider working out but I have lost another two weeks this season.

Due to the slow recovery my knee has taken from September surgery and so many missed workouts there is no way I can safely race HIM Texas in Galveston. I could do the swim and make the bike ride but attempting to complete the run would be foolish.

Option 1: I could just slog through the long training sessions and not race. We are still going to Galveston to relax and get away from work. I could slog through the training, do the swim and bike and just not even worry about the run, or I could make it a walk jog sufferfest.

Option 2: Update my plan and work on developing some fitness / speed instead for the shorter races I am doing this summer and the focus on distance for IM FL, which has always been AAAA priority.

My schedule of races now is:

5/16/2015 Cooper Sprint (350m pool swim, 12 mi / 5k). Our local easy race.

6/28/2015 Disco Olympic Distance or X50 (1,40,9). I will let you advise me on Olympic or longer distance. I can be ready for either, but it's gonna be hot.

7/18/2015 Cooper Race #2.

8/2/2015 Austin Generic Olympic

9/12/2015 Copper Race #3

11/7/2015 IMFL

I really hope you will help guide me to a smarter way to approach this. The best news is that my knee is really feeling a lot better. I did a lot of furniture moving the day before the funeral, have done more of that since. I also did a lot of walking and talking to dad. This chest cold has been evil though. The sad part is that I am in the best shape of anyone in my family and I intend for it to stay that way. My one uncle that was always very fit too had a horrible car wreck a few years back and is now wheelchair bound.

Coach help me make a smarter plan to get ready for IMFL and have some fun racing this summer at shorter distances. I will be at Galveston cheering for the team, but I don't think me racing it right now would be of much benefit. I missed my race rehearsal #1 due to the funeral and lost a lot of key workout time I really needed. I'm just not strong enough right now to do a HIM.

Coach Rich

Hey Anthony,

Sorry to hear about your friction. 3rd week of Feb Joanne brought home something nasty for week, knocked me out for a week+, then I had my nephew in town, etc, so I'm only just now getting back to where I was ~mid-Feb. Feels like I lost a solid month...

Since you're going to be in Galveston anyway, I supposed you could do the swim and bike and whatever pace/effort feels right for you and then do whatever on the run? That is, if it's a two-loop run course, just do the first loop? That would be a solid training day, as HIM swim, 56mi bike, and 6mi run. 

As for everything else, please submit this to me via the Triathlon Season RoadMap page, under Training above, and I'll plan it out formally for you. 

AnthonyS

Roadmap request submitted. There shall be no interruptions to triathlon training until after 11/7/2015...... there will be no interruptions to triathlon training until after 11/7/2015. I may get a tattoo of this.

AnthonyS

Hey Coach, Did you forget about me and my update to my TSR? Just stick with the current plan even though I'm not doing the HIM at the end of the month?

Coach Rich

Posted By Anthony Smallwood on 01 Apr 2015 08:33 PM


Hey Coach, Did you forget about me and my update to my TSR? Just stick with the current plan even though I'm not doing the HIM at the end of the month?

Hey Anthony, sorry about that! I'll get this done for you later today.