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Francis Picard Official Coach Thread

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  • edited July 29, 2017 3:10PM
    @Coach Patrick


    I saw your post too late and went for a 5hrs bike ride and a brick. I didnt feel trash.

    I was able to walk easily, probably I didnt push the run too hard knowing not to destroy rest of the week..

    I understand your point about being rested.. but dont forget I just got bck from 12 days family vacation in Costa Rica which I barely ran 40M per week, so feel pretty rested

    Will take it easy today and tomorrow to be rdy for camp week next week which will be done as follow :

    Monday :
    SWIM, BIKE, AND RUN RR 

    Tuesday :
    6hr ride and 30minutes brick

    Wednesday:
    100 mile ride

    Thursday:
    2hrs run

    Friday:
    2.4m swim

    Sat:
    Last long bike ride

    Sunday:
    rest or t/shold bike training

    In summary I am doing my camp days at the beginning of the week as its easier for me, wife is working, kids at summer camp and have perfect weather planned. Rest of the week is whats in the plan except the Sat ride which is my personal addition.

    what you think ??

    Random stuff:

    Also took a look for the first time in the last week to my power curve and the 5hrs is now at 187 which means 68% of my FTP of 275. Dunno how to interprete that data.

    Body composition is back to pre vacation, I came back from vacation at 74kg and now back at 69kg, cutting all beer and wine until the race, that should help maintain, the lower I was able to get is 65kg. I am 5'8'.
  • @Francis Picard -   I am still laughing how you said you "barely hit 40 miles a week" on your vacation. It's a lot of running!  :o

    I think your week looks great. Especially since it syncs up with your family life. I would probably have you swimming again on Sunday instead of a threshold work out. Swimming is a limiter and that's the thing you should work on the most whether it's an open water or a pool. Time to start ramping that up.

     The five hour power number is nice, it's an indicator of what you've been able to sustain for these longer rides and a good opportunity for you to look at all of your data for the long rides to set your proper zones for race day.

    You can use the Saturday long ride to work at Race Watts, which means easy, and trying to find as much speed as possible without going too hard. 

    I agree with your body composition of August, just don't skimp on the in workout nutrition. We need to keep practicing taking in the right fluids and calories are the right intervals so you are prepared for that exercise on race day.
  • @Francis Picard - Here's your personal Coach Thread, as promised. This is where you'll return to post all your "coach" questions as responses; I'll see them and reply. This first post is here to guide you through your first year on EN, so you can always come back here. 


    Power User Tip: Click the Star icon by the Title of this thread to subscribe, and you'll get email updates when I do reply. 


    Your Notes

    Doing the ADV IM training plan - week 17/20 for IMMT. Goal is to beat my PR of 11h01 in IMMT and be a stronger cyclist


    Your Races

    • 08/20/2017 - IM MONT Tremblant (A)
    • 10/15/2017 - Ironman Louisville 2017 (A)


    Your Season Update

    These are your recommended training plans, including the date you should start each one (sometimes you won’t complete a full plan but transition to another one).  You can change your plans on the Training Plan page by clicking the Move / Change button. 


    Learn more about each plan on the Training Plan Central Page.

    • Last updated by Coach on 06/26/2017 
    • Continue with the IM plan into IMMT.
    • Plan on recovering for two weeks with plenty of swimming instruction. Even some easy light biking.
    • When you return to training, you will have four weeks of work into weeks of Taper. 


    Coach Notes

    The work is already done for Tremblant outside of your race plan and a final Race Sim. But we can focus on Louisville. Just by definition you're run will not be as strong because you have just come off of Tremblant. So your only option is really time on the bike. We have only a fixed period of time within which we can do the cycling, so we will need to get to work.

    When you have a chance, please tell me about your race set up here. Specifically, what gears you run the bike and how you set up your bike on race day. I want to know about your cassette your aero bottle all the good stuff.

    Let's get to work!

    ~ Coach P

  • @Coach Patrick
    Thanks ! i wasnt expecting a quick answer regarding IMLV since my head and focus is only on IMMT as of now, we could discuss about the planning during the 2 weeks recovery (I guess we will use the transition plan).

    Will do as you suggest for the Sunday workout, anyway I will do 4 long rides this week.  Thinking of switching Sat's long ride for Sunday's Zwift ABP and swim on Saturday to flush the legs of the big work done during the week.

    With that swim include, it will be my third week that I swim over 13K, is that consider "ramping up" ;)
  • hey @Coach Patrick

    Done with the 3 big days. Glad how it went and also happy that the 2nd day was the best day out of the 3.

    Today was mentaly hard and I bonked half way (around KM80)


    Swim:

    https://www.strava.com/activities/1110340849

    Decided to race IMMT without wetsuit, I am pretty sure that the reason why I cant get same OWS time.

    Bike:

    https://www.strava.com/activities/1111019450

    Was a warm day here today, so really paid attention to the nutrition and hydratation and on execution, avg speed is below the targeted pace but thats mainly due to lights and stops and places where I had to slow down. Happy with the execution and how my day went.

    90% of the HR was in zone 2

    Tried to focus on keeping cadence and steady power but realized its impossible with all the stops and lights.

    Got caught in the rain in my way back on the bridge coming back home

    Run : 

    https://www.strava.com/activities/1111135258

    It was really cool after the storms, so that explains why I could ran that fast, that wasnt suppose to happened !

    Day 2:

    Bike:

    https://www.strava.com/activities/1112640680

    I honestly think the 2nd bike ride was better executed, I went faster and the watts were steady, the road was gorgeous, no cars so I felt safe! My cadence was steady.. also I "bombed" a few downhills that I rode and starting to feel confident going over 40km/h while doing downhill - I am so happy

    Day 3:

    Bike:

    https://www.strava.com/activities/1114316130

    That one was tuff, I started feeling the bonk coming at km 80-85 and was still far from home. Had to dig deep, couldnt feel the taste of my sport drinks hah.. at least its done and my butt is glad that all this biking is over !

    Tomorrow doing 2hrs long run, goal will be not slow down, focus hydratation and rest hard when getting back home.

    FP

  • @Francis Picard -  you're not only getting stronger, you're also getting funnier!   B)  you're right, the day to ride with epic. Hi ho what's in Sistine heart rate indicate smart pacing on day one and great discipline him both these.

    I'd be curious to know more about your wetsuit, if it's really old or what. I wonder if he would be successful swimming and lava pants? Those are just wet suit bottoms, no top. Just a thought. 
     Given your own strength, success for you and trombone will be all about setting up the third leg of the race.

     Your swim is going to be what it will be…
    At the beginning of the bike has to be smart because you know the second half of hills and eventually went. I'm confident you will be successful there given the strength you shown in your training.

     Then you need to be patient at the start of the run until the first turn around before you can really get into it.

    But first, the hardest part of your training: not training for Monday and Tuesday. That's right, you heard it here first… I want two days off. I don't want to see anything on Strava until Wednesday would you actually are more like a human. Good luck out there!
  • @Coach Patrick

    The wetsuit I use is a vortex exterra sleeveless. I have it since 3 years but I don't think I used it more than 30-40times since I owned it.

    When you say no workout, does that also mean no eazy swim tomorrow morning ? (Monday) and Tuesday night, I got 2 window opportunities to add swim this week.

    Considering that we have Sunday as a rest day, that would make 3 rest days in the same week, I am gonna eat the walls! =)

    Cheers!
  • @Francis Picard -  sorry I missed this earlier, but yes more rest. Don't underestimate the volume of work that you have already done especially on the run. You made some very distinct choices this block to do the full distance running and as a result you have a pretty high training load. I don't know the data specifically, this is just my gut talking after seeing your Strava.  

    If you are "to rested" we can always put in something easy on Sunday. But I always prefer to frontload the rest during taper to make sure that you've got it dialed in. Keep me posted!
  • @Coach Patrick
    no worry ! I took the decision of following the training plan considering I've done the 4 big days at the beginning of last week instead of the end of last week.

    Actually CTL is 156.2, ATL is 162.6 and TSB is -12.9

    I will prefer to take total rest this week end and take that time to prepare my stuff, clean the bike, write the race plan etc, that means no ABP zwift this Sunday, if you see me online, tell me to GTFU hah =)

    And for next week, will follow the plan as written already.

    See you soon !
  • @Francis Picard -  wow, that is an epic fatigue. You definitely need to work on shutting it pretty quickly so please follow the plan. You have done more than enough work! I hope you can stay sane over the next couple days!!!
  • Took 2 days off, took a nap in both afternoon of about 3hrs.. I guess I needed it. And I achieve the challenge ;)

    Felt good during the swim this morning.

    Wrote the plan and posted it, greats comments usual by Mike Roberts

    See you in a few days !
  • @Francis Picard -  my hero! Same thing happened to me, took two days off and I slept both nights like a baby. Clearly I was more exhausted than I appreciate it! See you soon in Tremblant.
  • @Coach Patrick
    Grats again on your super race & come back ! 

    I wanted to touch base regarding the rest of my season - IMLV

    1) The next 2 weeks will be recovery and rest focus, so basically mostly swim only and few zwift session with no big intervals and will resume a bit of running next week by adding 15' bricks.

    2) When I get back into IM training, it will already be week 15 (!!!) - which is a camp week. Should I follow the plan as is or make any adjustments ? my thoughts would be to dial back the run to avoid getting back to high volume too quickly.

    3) I've read the wiki regarding the revenge race, it suggests that long run not be more than 1/3 of the expected marathon time on race day, as such I shouldnt run more than 90-100minutes.

    4) Will post my race report this week end but by looking at the files seems like I messed up on the bike 74% with a 1.13 VI

    Not urgent to answer as I am ok with the next 2 weeks =)

  • @Francis Picard -  I know we talked about it a bit last night on the video call, but I suggest to rest a little harder this first week. Really focus on a great sleep and good nutrition I don't worry about doing anything that resembles exercise until the weekend. Her body is still cycling through a lot, processing toxins and incredible fatigue. I promise you will thank me  in 3 to 4 weeks when you're actually trying again and your body isn't rebelling against you. 

     Looking extra data I think the bike wasn't terribly problematic. Your average heart rate was 138 and you're able to build it across the road. It also will drop when you start pedaling which means you weren't overexerting.  Yes, you likely left a little bit of speed on the course by not paddling, but I could also depend on your gearing choices. You did suffer in the second loop with slower speeds, but that just tells me you're not aerodynamic enough.

     The killer for you with the heart rate on the run. With an average heart rate of 138 at the end of the bike, you needed to start the run at that heart rate but you went right to 150 and built up quickly to 160. You can only sustain that for so long and that's when you really hit the wall.



    If we can get you to match the bike and run heart rate for the first 6 miles in Louisville, it should be a different experience completely!
  • @Coach Patrick
    Yup my post was before our talk last night.

    To summarize it:

    1) Total rest until next Monday ("W1"), focus on nutrition, sleep well and eat well, I am on vacations this week and I am finally reading all the books I bought during winter =) 

    2) next week ("W2") : 
    1. resume swimming training per plan
    2. on the bike, try FTP work, if cant hit numbers just back it off and only get time on the saddle and focus on having a smooth ride in aero position (IOW forget the power during those rides)
    3. NO long ride, try to do a ABP ride and call it a day if I still feel fatigue
    4. Try an EZ of 3 miles in the middle of the week to see how I feel and be able to be prepared for week 3
    5. If feeling good after and during the run, resume running every 2 days with a 5k, goal will be to get a total of 60' during that week
    6. I will get around a total of 2hrs bike commute to work during that week (25 minutes everyday)
    3) W3
    1. Swimming training per plan
    2. on the bike, try FTP work, if cant hit numbers just back it off and only get time on the saddle and focus on having a smooth ride in aero position (IOW forget the power during those rides)
    3. I think not doing the RR is OK since like you said, I just did the biggest RR.. so no need to do this during week 15 of the plan.
    4. Start rebuilding the run, instead of doing long run starting from here, what do you think about split long run ? 1h in the morning and 45 mins in the evening. 
    5. I will get around a total of 2hrs bike commute to work during that week (25 minutes everyday)

    All this is based on assumption that recovery will go well, I looked back in my last year file when I started rebuilding for IMAZ after IMMT :
    This is run:
     

    Also last year you had me doing rides no longer than 100M, I guess we will follow the same path considering we have 4 weeks of work and I did around 10 rides of 112M since June.

    Thanks again for all the advice !
  • @Francis Picard - those first two weeks are awesome. My guess is you're still pretty goodbye the time you hit week three. Don't worry so much about the single long run as by week three you should almost be running every day. Short on some but you can go longer on the others up to your split run day. The day after Split run no running please. 

     I want lots of ABP rides, if you can get a weekend with Saturday + Sunday versions of that you'll be really good. Likely not until week four. 

     To recap:

    *Run frequency is more important than run volume. Focus on cadence and really good form and lacking in the proper heart rate for race day.

    *Any long ride more than an hour should be focused on a BP effort. I expect to see you and future Sundays online.

    *Take a look at your swim and see how you can improve it. Can we improve your cadence at all?  What does the data say?

    *We just need one good long ride again before the race so plan ahead and see when that is. I am sure there's a line where riding outside is no longer any good so make sure you get a few rides and to enjoy the weather before that changes. 
  • @Coach Patrick on it !

    To answer your questions

    the swim : I dont know if that could had help get a PR on the swim considering I went off course by 300M. But when swimming in the pool I added some "water polo swim" drills - so that I can focus on keeping form while sprinting a 25m with the head out. I was usually doing 10X25 during the 2 weeks taper.

    The run : so basicaly if I was used to run 6h30 by week, by doing at least a long run of 2 hours, it will be a 2X1hrs, IOW, its better to have a higher freqency by doing short to mid run instead of incorporating a weekly big one.

    The bike : yup, ABP will be the key IMO. I will be able to still ride outside before the race when I look at last years data, obviously my 2 weeks taper will be on the trainer for safety.

    This morning I meed with my LBS to review my bike fitting and showed him my pic and he explained me that my position is not yet optimal by looking at the last 5 bike pics :

    http://www.finisherpix.com/gallery/photos/en/CAD/1833/421

    1- I dont get a perfect 90 degrees angle between elbow and shoulders
    2- My bars seems to be have too much in between so that my elbows angle is not equal to my shoulders, he says that could create some draft in the wind issue
    3- remove the downtube bottle cage

    Was thinking to maybe make those adjustments but wanted to touch base with you on what you think, I think we have enough time before Louisville to do those changes
  • @Francis Picard  you have all the guidance you need now and the revised page that I sent you via GroupMe.

    I agree with you removing a bottle of the downtube, but the biggest change you need to make is that your aerobars are the same height as your seat. Even in your aerobars you are not anymore aero. 



    This anglenisnt great but see see how my head is below the curve
    of my back (aka out of the wind)? That's what you need. 
  • @Coach Patrick
     thanks , you are the best !

    Will also try to see in BBS some configuration, will try to understand that tool
  • @Francis Picard -  of course, happy to help. You have done so much good work that it's my job to make sure you reap all the speed from it! 
  • Hey @Coach Patrick here is what I posted in the IMLOU weekly forum:

    Pools are all closed this week near me for annual cleaning, as such no swim for me this week. Saturday and Sunday were rest days as we were out of town with family, I am feeling total rested, mentaly ready to attack all this, adjust and work on what went wrong in MT but keep in mind what went well too.

    On my side, week 15 will be a "ramp up" week as follow:

    Monday : Interval run - 4X1M @ HMP-Z4 - 60' + core work = did it today, was 7,6M total
    Tuesday : 60' FTP work on the trainer + 4M Run
    Wednesday : "long run" - goal is to go 65'-70'
    Thursday : 60' FTP work on the trainer + 4M Run
    Friday : 210-240' bike ride by focus on execution (low VI, IF close to 72-73) plus 2M brick
    Saturday : easy 30' run just to keep up frequency
    Sunday : Zwift EN ABP ride

    Goals for this week:

    1) Run 6 times, do not exceed 28M - Frequency (6 run per week) is key so next week I can be able to do 2X90' run
    2)Get back to 4hrs bike ride
    3)Be prepared for 9/15 full RR - my plan is to be able to do one on week 16 and one on week 18

    I am a bit worry by the "low" volume I will be doing, but I have to trust what Patrick suggested me to do, its a learning process to do 2 races so closed.

    ---------

    What's your thoughts on this ? I based this on what I read in the wiki, it sucks to not swim this week, but cant do anything about it.

    Thanks!
  • @Francis Picard -  this all looks really great. Remember while your mind is frustrated, your body is still in recovery mode! My biggest is for you the brick run on Friday and just run 15 minutes longer on Saturday. A little more spacing would be nice.

     You'll easily get back to the full race rehearsal on the bike, but run will just take a little bit longer until it feels normal.  But remembered your Run fitness is still there so it's not like you are building from scratch.

    and don't worry about the swimming, nothing you can do. Stay inside your box!
  • Here's your updated Season Plan, as promised. This is where you'll return to post all your "coach" questions as responses; I'll see them and reply. This first post is my best outline of how to proceed with your races, but you can ask any / all questions you want. So post away, know that I reply here usually M/W/F each week.

    Power User Tip: Click the Star icon by the Title of this thread to subscribe, and you'll get email updates when I do reply. 


    Your Notes

    I've been with EN since 2 years, which means I am entering my third year.

    My ultimate goal is to KQ, but I think a reasonnable goal for this year is to crack top 10 in my AG.

    I am a 10:25h-11h IM and 4h50 HIM.


    Your Races

    • 2/16/2018 Ultraman Florida - Crew member and run pacer
    • 6/24/2018 Mont Tremblant 70.3
    • 07/22/2018 IRONMAN Lake Placid


    Season Update

    These are your recommended training plans, including the date you should start each one (sometimes you won’t complete a full plan but transition to another one).  You can change your plans on the Training Plan page by clicking the Move / Change button. Learn more about each plan on the Training Plan Central Page.

    • Last updated by Coach on 09/22/2017 
    • On 10/9/2017 Load the -- Post Ironman Transition Plan, All Levels (4wks) to end on 11/5/2017
    • On 10/30/2017 Load the Intermediate OutSeason / Run Durability Plan, 14wks to end on 2/4/2018
    • On 2/5/2018 Load the -- Swim Camp to end on 2/18/2018
    • On 2/19/2018 Load the Intermediate Get Faster Training Plan, 10wks to end on 4/29/2018
    • On 4/30/2018 Load the Intermediate EN*Full to end on 7/22/2018
    • On 7/23/2018 Load the -- Post Ironman Transition Plan, All Levels (4wks) to end on 8/19/2018


    Coach Notes

    https://endurancenation.wistia.com/medias/f6rl67d2fo 



    Let's get to work!


    ~ Coach P

  • I created my TSR but didnt expect a quick reply since you are busy.. you must be a Type A person too :)

    I agree we should book a consul post IMLOU to do a deep review and to adjust if necessary. I am so looking fwd to see the results in Louisville with what was done on the bike in the last 4 weeks.

    Feeling good on the run, I kind of realized that running at a 4:55/km is easy for me, HR doesnt go over 120 at that pace.. and a full marathon at that pace would be 3h28, which would be a 15' PR on the run. No idea why I never realized that.. must be the triathlete learning curve =)

    This week is week 18 I dont expect to do all the big work but will do the following:

    1) Cap the run to 90' unless you tell me I should try to do a 13Miles which would make it to 95-100'
    2) Will do a full RR on Friday, the bike will be done on Zwift
    3) Familly is out of town on Saturday so will do the last big ride
    4) Rest on Sunday, we need to go to Burlington and I havent take a rest day in the last 4 weeks.
    5) Rest hard starting on week 19, nothing flashy, resist the need to zwift race 3X during that week
  • @Francis Picard -   I think we chatted online, so we are pretty good. My only add it to what I see here is that now I know what your family schedule is for the weekend. Rather than doing the Sunday ride with the team, I would really prefer that you take that day off and just chill. It will be big for you and the family for sure. In that case, ride with us on Friday to get the long ride in, and then work with the Tim or someone else to get a shorter ABP ride in on Saturday. Then Sunday is off.

    Your fitness is high, now is just the point of refining and staying fit. You may want to begin to move a short run to the evening before dinner to help keep the weight down. That is 100% your call and Only if t works with your schedule...cut bricks, spread the workouts. :smile:
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