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Jordan Marchewka's Micro

Hi Coach,

Fairly new to EN...joined in early February and am loving it so far.  My ultimate goal is to finish Ironman Louisville this October.  Right now I am set up in the intermediate out-season plan and am feeling good with the bike and run workouts.  Doing zero swimming each week is worrying me!  I just started swimming 4 or 5 months ago and am really struggling with endurance.  Should I just keep going with the outseason plan until it ends mid-April and hope to gain the swim fitness I need from then on?  Or should I tweak my current outseason plan to include swimming for fitness?

Thanks!

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Comments

  • April to October is five months of training. I would approve 2 x Skill Swims (1500-ish) ideally on Monday / Friday. But no hardcore swimming until we get into the next plan! Deal?
  • Thanks.  Can you further elaborate on skill swims?  

  • Jordan, the OutSeason plan comes with a "Swim Addendum" -- you can find it in Week 1 under resources or under Resources / Wiki / Self Coaching / Master OutSeason Page.

    We also have the Swim eBook, available in the swim section of the wiki, to be opened ONLY in Adobe, that has guidance for you as well.

    When I think of a 1500 skill swim, I am thinking of a 500 warm up, with drills thereafter. I usually do 100s as Drill 50 / Swim 50 so you are talking 10 x 100 (rest as needed). You can use the drill guidance of the Swim eBook or your own favorite set. I usually will do 5 different drills, each 2x to complete my 10 x 100!
  • I just bought a Quarq power meter and plan on retesting tomorrow since my previous bike numbers were based off heart rate. Below is what is currently scheduled for me. Should I just do the test and continue to bike in Z3 the remainder of the time and then do the brick run? Thanks.

    MS: 2 x 12' (4') @ 95-100%/Zone4/Hard. Remainder of any time you have available (if any, not required) @ 80-85%/Zone3/Mod-Hard. (90 minutes)

    MS: Steady run as MP/Z2/Steady out, HMP/Z3/Mod-Hard back. (40 minutes)
  • Jordan, great to have you on the team. Yes, you can test, but know that test #1 is usually a massive learning experience....from how to lap, capture, display info...and also how to pace yourself. So this one doesn't have to be _perfect_ it's more important that you do it so that #2 (the one that matters more) is just THAT much better. Good luck!
  • Just completed my first triathlon in a cold and rainy Michigan today and pulled out first in the 25-29 AG! However, with the rain I wiped out on the bike and have some serious road rash down my right side. With that being said, I am wondering how to proceed with training. As today is Sunday, should I take Monday and Tuesday off and see if it will heal up a bit and try to jump back in Wednesday? I felt strong on the bike and run, but lousy on the swim today. It appears with Road Rash I may not be in the pool for a bit. Should I buy some paddles until I can get back in the water? Thanks. Next race is Steelhead 70.3 in August.
  • JORDAN! Epic!! Congrats brother...1st with a crash is awesome.

    Road Rash sucks...use the search function at top of site or go to Wiki / Cycling as there are some products that are awesome. No swim for a week, maybe two. Give yourself a light Mon-Friday...you should feel closer to 100% by the weekend.

    Do yourself a favor and:

    1) write down every thing you would / wouldn't do again based on your race.

    2) take a second to look really closely at your bike frame, bike and helmet. if you hit your head at all you'll need a new helmet!
  • Coach, not exactly a Micro topic but quick question regarding running a Marathon. I am scheduled to do IM Lou on Oct 11th this year. Is it too soon to hope to run the Houston Marathon on Jan 17th to BQ? Additionally, do you think I can BQ with a few min under 3:05 based on the current run zones below?


    Run Zones (Based off 7/4/15 5 Mile Run)
    Z1/LRP: 8:01
    Z2/MP: 6:49
    Z3/HMP: 6:32
    Z4/TP: 6:26
    Z5/IP: 6:01
  • Jordan, great question. You are right there and have the potential to do it. It's a function of if you can stay healthy between now and Louisville and how quickly you recover post race, and if you mentally are still into it (some folks check out!)...but on paper you look really good!
  • Hey Coach Patrick, just finished Steelhead 70.3 today. Wondering how much time I should take for recovery this week as I have IM Lou in 2 months.

  • JM, congrats on Steelhead! Hopefully you learned some good lessons for IMLou!

    According to your TSR (http://members.endurancenation.us/TrainingPlan/TriathlonSeasonRoadmap.aspx) you are already on the IM plan. In that case we recommend Monday/Tuesday OFF, then Wed is an easy spin....if you can do the long run (time, not intensity) on Thursday, then just follow the rest of the week (for time, all of it, not intensity, as it will take a while for your legs to come around).

    You should feel 100% by the following Monday.

    If you never loaded up the EN*Full plan for IMLou, then let me know here!
  • Thanks Coach. I have a conference I need to attend for work next Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. This is during week 13 of my IM Plan.

    Tuesday - Plan calls for 60 min swim and 45 min run

    Wednesday- Plan calls for 75 min bike and 30 min run

    Thursday - Plan calls for 2 hour run

    The conference is in Orlando so it should be easy to get some early morning runs in. However, for the bike is it okay to use a spin/exercise bike in the workout room? Thought I saw Coach Rich say somewhere that it was not worth it.

    Also, is the Tuesday swim critical as I will be able to swim Monday and Friday?

    One more question for the future. The only pool I have access to is going to be closed for maintenance from Aug 31 to Sept 9th. Should I just attempt to get some long open water swims in instead?

  • JM, how can you be traveling for work when you are clearly 15 years old in your profile picture? image

    So for travel week drop that Tuesday swim for sure. I suggest you plan on getting your Tuesday FTP run and then "split" the long run into two sessions--one Wed, one Thursday. Friday is swim, re-entry to home. Then ride the weekend baby.

    Moving forward, 2 x OWS would be great. You are lucking it's just 1-ish week...all of mine close at the same time for like 2 weeks.
  • Looking ahead to this Thursday's Long Run of 150 min (Week 16 IM Plan)...in that amount of time I can usually get 19-20 miles. Is there a mileage cutoff that I should stop at? Also, I am doing my camp week long run tomorrow (Monday) which will probably be in the 17-18 mile range.
  • Jordan, at your speeds (and run fitness) you don't _need_ a run longer than 2 hours really other than your Race Simulation Run (week 16?)...so if you ran 18 today, just move to 2-hour long runs and focus instead on RACE PACE (not just what you can do in training but what you will run on race day, ideally by virtue of your HR)...I'd rather you have more specific runs and not build run fatigue that could stick with you for the long haul.

    There's guidance on the Race Run with HR in the Master Execution Page here, under IM / Running: http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/RacingMemberCentral/RaceExecutionDetails/MasterRaceExecutionPage(HalfFull).aspx
  • Quick question...is it ok to race a 5k one week before IM Lou? I would normally stay away from doing so, but I am currently second in the 5k/10k running series my town has and I am pretty confident I can pull off the overall series win if I race. Thoughts?
  • Jordan, as long as it won't f-up your leg or calf or something, do it. Make sure you warm up and cool down well!!!

    Oh, and it's your only speed work for Week 19/20, so cut the other stuff out or back to race pace only! image
  • Hey Coach P, just finished up Ironman Louisville yesterday. How should I be approaching the next few days/weeks. I am eager to get back into it but obviously want to be smart about recovery. Do I submit next years plan to Rich yet? I thought I heard him say that the out season starts around Oct 25th. Thanks!
  • Jordan, you should have gotten an email with instructions, but regardless you want to load up the Post Race Transition Plan to get your recovery started. Basically you would be recovering straight into the OS!!!
  • Hey Coach, starting year 2 with EN. Looking to take my triathlon training to the next level. This was my first year in triathlon and I hit 11:31 for my first IM, but I know I am capable of going much faster (Race Report - http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/19847/Default.aspx ). I really want to throw my whole self into training for LP. What is the best avenue to discuss some of the questions I have? Phone call with you? Post in here? Or post in general forums to get your and the teams advice?
  • JM, I am happy to do a regular call with you: My schedule is online here: http://meetme.so/patrickmccrann -- Please remember to include your phone number.

    We have an outline of an annual progression for Years One to Three in the Wiki under Self coaching / Three Year Plan. If you want to do a forum thread, you can get input from the Team (and coaches there) too. Let's start with these items and then we can see what else is needed...

    ~ Coach P

  • Hi Coach P, Happy Thanksgiving!

    There is a triathlon class at my local Y on Thursdays that I love to go to (Starts Dec 3rd). I have recruited about the half the class and have a lot of friends in it. It's a great workout, but with that being said I wanted to get your input on how I may change up my schedule a bit so I am not totally missing out on getting the results of the EN Thursday bike/run workout. The class does interval runs for about 30 min, a 40 min bike ride with intervals and then about 25 minutes of swimming. I am currently in the OS Advanced Plan. I was thinking of shifting everything a day and having this class instead of my "Friday Run/Core" workout...What are your thoughts?
  • Jordan...that class sounds awesome! How fortunate that you have it on your schedule...I love it. I say that the "one day forward" plan is perfect! Let me know how that first "saturday" ride feels and we can determine if we need to do any further tweaking!
  • Question for the running Guru. I want to run Boston in 2017. I have been having some good results at local road races lately and think I have the speed to do it (run 3:02-3:03 or so). I ran a 1:21 half in December and a 1:24 10 days after so I think the speed is there. I am doing Lake Placid on July 24th and am thinking of running the Air Force Marathon (seems fairly flat, 3.5 hours away, and there is a 3:05 pace group) on on September 17th (my understanding is that this is the absolutely last day to qualify). That would give me about 8 weeks in between. I would think this would be doable depending on proper recovery, right? If so, is there a way I can set up a plan through EN to pull this off? Or join Marathon Nation?
  • Jordan..I could see a phase where you built some baseline endurance and then through LP and then sharpened it afterwards. Those are two great results and I think your changes are good. The big thing is (A) staying healthy this year and (B) making sure you race fueling is really good for the marathon. I think a lot of people just wing the marathon food and I believe attention is required.

    So regular IM plan through LP. Once you are done with LP it's into mega recovery mode to get you back to light running after 14 weeks...so you can do 2 bigger run weeks before the taper happens on the other side for the marathon.

    I don't want you running too fast right now and undermining the plan we have set in place for you....
  • Hi Coach P, I have Raleigh 70.3 (B Race) in Week 13 of my IM Full Plan. How should I approach the race? Should I take it easier Thursday-Saturday before? Then maybe take off Monday & Tuesday and hit the times but not the intensity the rest of the week for my plan? Let me know, thanks!
  • JM, I hope you are excited...yes, the general protocol is:

    + Normal week through Wednesday (so no long run day, saving that for the race).
    + Thursday is a repeat of the Tuesday run, or rather, 2 x 1 mile at FTP with plenty of recoveries.
    + Friday is scheduled swim with an Optional short bike, mostly Z2, with a few 1' efforts in Z5 to stay sharp.
    + Saturday is OFF / practice swim if optional.
    + Sunday is RACE.
    + Monday is OFF
    + Tuesday is SWIM only.
    + Wed is back on plan, and the Wed/Thu sessions are both for time not intensity (give yourself a break).
  • Coach P, about 2 weeks out from Lake Placid...my last tri for the year. I have been feeling pretty good about my long runs...hitting about 7:50 or so. My dream has always been to qualify for Boston. I found a few races this year in October on the 16th, my 27th birthday! Do you think 12 weeks is enough time in between LP and the marathon? I really responded well to the "Get Fast" plan last fall/winter after my IM and ran a 1:21 and 1:25 half about 2 months after IM Lou. Is there any sort of plan that you could help me with to recover, get a little speed back, and get the right mix of endurance within the 12 weeks post LP? Maybe through here or Marathon Nation? Let me know your thoughts!

    Thanks!
  • Jordan -

    ABSOLUTELY. But don't worry about that right now. We have plenty of time to solve that problem after the race. Each portion of how you will train for the fall marathon will be dictated by how you race in Placid. As well as how you recover. I strongly advise you to put 100% effort into crafting a perfect race plan to make sure that everything you need to run close to the 7:50s you want on Race Day.

    Then we're off to tackle the next challenge!
  • Sounds good coach! I know you said not to worry about it right now, but trying to understand your sentence about my training being dictated by how I race at Placid...should I maybe tone it down on the run at LP as to not need as much recovery to get into the Marathon plan. Maybe something like instead of running 7:50's run 8:20-8:30. Unfortunately, my bike has been pretty rough this year so LP won't be the most competitive for me. LP would be my A- race while the marathon would be the A+ and biggest priority for me.

    Also, along the same lines. My fiancee is a runner as well and has done a 2 marathons around the 4 hour mark. If she were to use a Marathon Nation plan, would you suggest the 12 week Intermediate plan for her? She would be running the same October 16th marathon with me. My assumption is that the plan is made up of paces/HR by testing just as EN does?

    Thanks!
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