Request Coach / Member input: Zig-zagging, Mid-OS
I’d appreciate thoughts, insights and input on a minor adjustment I am considering in the period between now and Race Prep. Also putting it out there as a general discussion point to show how freaked an otherwise mellow dude can get, a zillion days out from his race season. Or at least introduce you to a old-timey vet's thought process.
Parameters:
-There are 9 weeks between today and the beginning of Race Prep.
-Race Prep period is sacrosanct. I’m just not yet in a mental place to do single-sport blocks in those weeks.
-The Epic Weeks below are sacrosanct. I needs my Vitamin D.
-At the minimum, I want my bike and run markers to be at least where they were at any point last year.
-as a larger competitive season strategy, It would be optimal if my run numbers going into the Race Prep were just a bit higher.
-as of today, my bike metrics are about 2 weeks ahead of last year’s: I’m at numbers where I was around OS 11/12 in 2014, following which I experienced little progression in power.
-My run metrics are slightly behind last year’s markers. 2015 treadmill LT paces are about .2 mph slower than 2014 treadmill LT paces.
-Every other year, I have followed something resembling the middle column. If I took a “no intervention” approach, I would do the same this year.
-However, this year, I’m contemplating a run alternative, laid out in Column 3, between OS 11 and 13.
-The goal is finding one further VDOT point using a plan modeled on a “Daniel’s 5k” schedule. It would entail a slightly larger volume of running than at present, as 2 x v02 sessions, plus one FT session, to about 40-45 weekly miles per week for three weeks.
-Cycling would drop way down from the present 1 vo2, 2 x FTP, to one weekly session only, as 90 mins total, 40 FTP, remainder ABP.
-Swimming would go from current 4 x week (as 3 x 3000m, 1 x 1500m), to two weekly sessions only, as 2 x 1500m, using the “Rich Classic” mainsets of 100hard /50easy.
-I’d then flip to 2 x Epic Weeks, which are 12 days of 4-5 hrs riding (taking every 3rd day as easier), plus run or swim alternate days, to a total 60h over 12 days.
-I’d then take 3 days off mostly / entirely. Or whatever I need.
-I’d then use 2 weeks as hybrid “OS / Race Prep,” incorporating LT and / or HMP running, and any remaining v02/LT biking.
|
block |
Week Feature, If I went with plan as written |
If I went with Run Alternative |
|
OS 9 |
Vo2 bike, v02 run |
Vo2 bike, v02 run |
|
OS 10 |
Vo2 bike, v02 run |
Vo2 bike, v02 run |
|
OS 11 |
Vo2 bike, v02 run |
V02 Run x 2, FT Run |
|
OS 12 |
Vo2 bike, v02 run |
V02 Run x 2, FT Run |
|
OS 13 |
Vo2 bike, v02 run |
V02 Run x 2, FT Run |
|
Epic |
Epic Tucson |
Epic Tucson |
|
Epic |
Epic Tucson |
Epic Tucson |
|
Post Epic 1 |
Go-faster, bike and run LT focus |
Go-faster: run LT & bike v02 + LT |
|
Post Epic 2 |
Go-faster, bike and run LT focus |
Go-faster: run LT & bike v02 + LT |
|
Start of 12-Week Race Prep |
||
-Downsides?
-Main one is sacrificing possible late-season bike gains, and not fully maximizing ceiling by forgoing v02 work
-Swim is where I identified that really can / have to find time if I want to meet Kona sub-10 goal. Any sacrificed swim at this time is … missed <g class="gr_ gr_134 gr-alert gr_gramm Punctuation only-del replaceWithoutSep" id="134" data-gr-id="134">work,</g> and <g class="gr_ gr_133 gr-alert gr_gramm Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="133" data-gr-id="133">opportunity</g> lost. </p>
-“whack-a-mole” approach – just when I get strong in 1 sport, I am abandoning it to focus on another, and possibly letting gains fall away
- reality check: mentally I’m good, and what I’ve done in the past works well enough. So why change?
-possibly erosion of confidence. I am at my best knowing I’ve been capital C consistent for a full OS, and this single sport block throws a wrench in it.
-Risk?
-increased risk of injury from running intensity / volume. It is critical I am 100% uninjured come race prep.
-arriving at Epic bike weeks with lower bike fitness from prev years; would not be able to gain as much from Epic based of lower starting point
-possible run staleness emerging downstream
-Possible gains / opportunities?
-faster runner to further exploit competitive advantage
-run program accelerates weight loss / body composition to leaner in-season frame earlier in the season. This begets faster running paces in-season, and higher w/kg in-season.
-my AG shows a dramatic dropoff in <g class="gr_ gr_127 gr-alert gr_gramm Grammar only-ins doubleReplace replaceWithoutSep" id="127" data-gr-id="127">number</g> of competitors per field with superior “run off the bike” times - I want to squeeze that / exploit that drop to the greatest extent </p>
-Cheese Factor / Big Picture: all this speaks to a Dave Brailsford quote that’s driving my thinking this season … “Let’s work from crossing the line with your hands in the air … and you work back to try to create this ideal … this perfect program.” For me, the line is Kona with a clock reading <9:59:59, and for me, the working back part is a larger strategy piece I’ve already worked out. All of this thread is really about a mid-year adjustment to make sure I’m on strategy and on track. </p>
Comments
Dave - immediate thoughts
Conclusion: is there any way you can see during weeks 11-13 a weekly 2.5-3 hour ride, maybe 30' @ FTP, 30' @ 85%, and the rest @ 75%, + a weekly shortened VO2 session on the bike, say 6-10' of 60-90" intervals @ 120% IF?
Dave, my thinking was, I was trying to find the minimum bike work necessary to keep from losing fitness. If you were to find that you could not meet your work load on the run sessions, then I would drop the Saturday ride to 2 hrs, 20' FTP work (2 x 10'?) with 30' @ 80-85%, and the rest spread among warm up and 70-75% as cool down.
I really would be surprised if those two bike sessions kept you from getting the run work in. Personally, my greatest fear/worry during the time leading up to race prep is that my fitness will backslide. In 2012, when it seemed like I was getting a minor oral surgery done every couple of months, I found it only took 2 weeks of not swimming to put me back on square one, where I was at the start of the OS. Cycling is the same way, and, for me at least, takes the longest to get back. I think *planning* to lose fitness in the winter, like after the last race of the year, or (for me) during ski season, is an OK thing, but after 2.5 months of hard OS-type work - it's just not worth it.
Dave,
A few questions / thoughts:
- Are you doing the run plan because of the current slightly behind yearly metric? Is the 1 vdot point worth more than the swim work/bike gains? As you noted the swim was something you wanted to work on, is the ROI there?
- Is body comp an issue at present or more than previous race seasons? Are you pressing your race weight too early in the season or going for a leaner composition overall to help the run and w/kg?
- Are you working for 9:59:59 or looking to exploit your competitive advantage? This does not have to be mutually exclusive but will running more achieve both or just the latter? Again look at gains on the bike and swim vs run.
- Could you flip the run block to weeks 9-11 then get back to the OS wk's 12-13. This would allow for some more biking prior to the epic weeks and also a reduced run volume for two weeks.
- Finally you've been doing this for a long time and know your data points and what your body is capable of. Pushing outside the box can lead to some indecision but also additional gains. I'd say review the posts you and Tim had earlier about plateau's and ask yourself if enough has changed from your decision point following that thread until now to warrant this plan alteration.
Hopefully this helps.
Take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt b/c most of my improvisations tend to be rather kooky.
Forget the medium length, medium TSS bike during that period. Consider plugging in 2 very short HITT sessions on the bike. Can be done in 45'. That's 1.5 hrs on the bike for the week. But, pop this before or after a run, preferably NOT a recovery run b/c that ruins the recovery day, and it's a very flexible plug-in. Assuming your schedule is sort of like most folks, that's easy to manage on the weekend for one session and you can get creative for the mid week session.
I made this change to my Run Durability Plan back in Nov and Dec. I was pleasantly surprised at the results. If I understand your post correctly, you are looking to hack a couple of weeks, at most. That is definitely a different time frame than what I had the luxury of having. But, it sounds like you are just looking for efficient maintenance of the bike while you focus on the run. I think 2 shorter sessions may keep the feel better than one medium session, IMO, and 2 session is the minimum that I can get away with. You've done this before so you know what to expect. Even if you distance yourself from the bike over a couple of weeks, you'll get that right back as soon as you get back on that IM race prep stretch.
The particular HITT sessions I used were a little different than EN's version. Very short intervals, even shorter recovery time in between. I won't throw it out there unless you are interested. Don't want to put a non-EN apple out there for somebody try to bite.
Good luck. And, yeah, quit stressin'! If you got to have problems, these are good problems to have!
Risks?- For the 3 week run focus My first thought was 3 speed sessions per week is too much... But upon further review since your going to cut back so far on the bike/swim I think its fine.... I like Chris's idea of 2 shorter bikes of 45 min , I'd do V02 work (5-10min each session) just to keep you stimulated but the rest easy...Reason for V02 instead of FTP is its least specific and your more than 16 weeks away..... There will be plenty of FTP work in those 16 weeks... IMO these are easier to recover from and wont interrupt your run speed work....You've already done a lot of OS bike work, you won't lose much, and it will come back and then some with the EPIC camp.... I like Gordon's suggestion of moving the run focus up 1-2 weeks... You could finish it and get in some saddle time for EPIC prep.... Whats missing in your run focus plan is the actual wko's? I have some self-imposed amounts of v02 or FT work I think I can handle and recover from in a run session.... These top out at 12 x 400 V02 and 4 x 1 FT repeats....So if I were laying out the plan for myself I'd be looking hard at those daily speed wko's...
Whack a Mole.... I think when Us type A's wanna do a single sport focus on paper.... Our fear is losing in the other sports.... I think the real risk is trying to continue to cover all bases (all sports all zones so we can maintain and not lose anything)... So what we do is start adding back the 2 we cut out removing the whole point of single sport focus...So if your going to do a single sport focus ? Make it so!
My Vote- Do the run focus. Move it up 2 weeks. Make it 4 weeks long. Minimize the bike/swim with 2 short sessions of each (V02 work) and really focus on the run speed which is the goal of those 4 weeks. 1 week recovery or transition back to the saddle in prep for 2 weeks of EPIC camp.... That is a huge bike focus and the run/swim mileage wont be too shabby either... A very easy week recovery, 1 prep week for your conventional 12 Race Prep!
But also a flag on the play - when I say things like "when I race Kona" it isn't meant as arrogance, and I'm very aware that it's far from a given that I would get to go. That's actually where the "competitive advantage" pieces come in: I know it's a tough fight to get it, and I've been just barely on the right side of the bubble in the past. The competitive advantage really comes into play in the KQ part of the season ... which has to go right on order to proceed on to the other goals.
Dave,
I read no arrogance in your post, perhaps because I've been here for a long time and know you are posting this as your thoughts for input from the team. Yes, there is an assumption of getting to Kona but you have earned the right to talk like this. After review by the replay official no flag on the play.
What I'm hearing as consensus - or maybe what I'm choosing to hear - is to go ahead with the run weeks. I'll probably take three weeks as modified run, and limit riding to FTP work, though: I'm proposing 2 x v02 run sets per week plus run LT, and my experience is the acuity of the higher-end stuff hits me very hard and very suddenly, and then knocks me incapacitated on my ass for a few days. I feel like the bike v02 might accelerate that. Besides that ... I'm not feeling like there is a ton of v02 room to grow, so these bike sessions might not be as critical.
Swim is going to have to fall away. worst case, I'll be in the same swim position as last year in time for my KQ attempt, and it's not great but it's not terrible for OA race competitiveness. If I get a slot, I'll then do a lot of work on training at threshold and race pace ... think 30m tt every week seated in 4-5 weekly sessions - in prep for a kona swim. where experience shows I have a LOT of room for improvement.
Overall placement of run is to (1) raise it as a competitive advantage for a KQ effort - I made gains last year where I never thought I would experience run gains again, and I'm hoping to do the same small gain again. But essentially, it will be training to not slow down as much as other guys in my AG, and to not slow down at a slightly greater pace. If I KQ, then the build to Kona would be a shift in run training to shorter, more frequent work with a lot of HMP. The different stimulus, plus this race-pace-plus work, might target things to get me to mi 18 in few minutes faster with a little still in the tank.
The post-epic 2 weeks would be a good time to hit more run v02, I agree, but it's also a little too close to the beginning of the in-season for comfort. The risk for run injury increases pretty dramatically with this type of running, and while I could deal with an injury in late OS and take the necessary standdown in order to arrive at Race Prep in good shape, I just can't risk the possibility of anything that might impair Race Prep. These two weeks between Epic and Prace Prep might, however, target bike v02 if I feel like I have some ceiling to raise.
Oh - to Tim's Q - run sessions in the run blocks would probably be 6 x week, with two weekly v02 sessions done as 8 x 400 (on equal recovery intervals) each. Week 2 would probably be 4 x 400s 2 x 800s, and week 3 the same, or maybe 800s or 1000s. The longer stuff is better, agreed, but the late-interval for has also been a trigger for a few pervasive pulls and tears in the past, so I'm trying to keep those at bay. Last, FT would probably be ol' faithful: 3 x 8' (3 or 4 ri). I don't envision Daniel's Interval Pace stuff, though - I will reserve that for a fall "run only" period.
Body comp is a campaign to get a lighter frame earlier in the year for functional purposes only: it's just a way to get (marginally) more miles done in the same time via a faster pace, and accrue those over the season.