Barbara Feinstein's Macro Forum

Barbara Feinstein

I just loaded my next 14 weeks of workouts (Intermediate Run Durablility 2) and in scanning through the weeks of workouts, did not see any swimming until week 11. I did see that Mondays and Fridays include core and swim strength mini workouts. I actually tried those the past few weeks and found the push-ups hurt my elbows.

Swimming is my weakest link for which I was hoping to work on that during the off season. I also find swimming to be a great way to recover from other workouts. I also just joined a new pool complex and would hate to be wasting the monthly fee I'm paying to swim there 

Running is my strongest discipline and I am planning on running 2 half marathons in the off season in early March and mid April, so I do want to build my run strength, but carefully so as to make sure my left knee stays strong and "healthy".

Is there a way to modify this plan to include some swimming?

Barbara Feinstein

My half marathon is on 4/17/16. The Intermediate Run Durability plan ends on 4/10. What happens in the week between the end of the plan and my half marathon?

Coach Rich

Posted By Barbara Feinstein on 03 Jan 2016 03:48 PM

I just loaded my next 14 weeks of workouts (Intermediate Run Durablility 2) and in scanning through the weeks of workouts, did not see any swimming until week 11. I did see that Mondays and Fridays include core and swim strength mini workouts. I actually tried those the past few weeks and found the push-ups hurt my elbows.

Swimming is my weakest link for which I was hoping to work on that during the off season. I also find swimming to be a great way to recover from other workouts. I also just joined a new pool complex and would hate to be wasting the monthly fee I'm paying to swim there 

Running is my strongest discipline and I am planning on running 2 half marathons in the off season in early March and mid April, so I do want to build my run strength, but carefully so as to make sure my left knee stays strong and "healthy".

Is there a way to modify this plan to include some swimming?

Barbara, please see our thoughts on swimming in the OutSeason here. Your time, in Wks1-10 would be better spent getting individual swim technique instruction from a quality local swim coach. Some other resources here, including a .pdf of swim workouts you can add to your OS plan. 

Coach Rich

Posted By Barbara Feinstein on 03 Jan 2016 08:02 PM


My half marathon is on 4/17/16. The Intermediate Run Durability plan ends on 4/10. What happens in the week between the end of the plan and my half marathon?

Please note that in your TSR I have you repeating wk13, so that your OS is actually 15wks vs 14wks, and ends on that half marathon. 

Barbara Feinstein

I am officially qualified for USA Tri Age Group Nationals Olympic Race in Omaha, NE on 8/13 and also plan on racing the Sprint on 8/14. My plan leading up to that only shows me racing the Sprint. Does the plan need to be modified?

Also, it's highly likely I will be riding 100 miles on July 9 in Burlington, VT and again on 10/29 in Amelia Island, FL as part of the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes, for which I am a ride coach. These are not races, so the pace is casual, but I will want to be prepared to cover the distance. Should my training plan be modified to allow for building my ride mileage while preparing for my other priority events (Age Group Nationals and Ironman 70.3 AC on 9/18)? I know I'm covering a lot of different events and distances, but these are my plans.

Coach Rich

Posted By Barbara Feinstein on 15 Jan 2016 08:19 PM


I am officially qualified for USA Tri Age Group Nationals Olympic Race in Omaha, NE on 8/13 and also plan on racing the Sprint on 8/14. My plan leading up to that only shows me racing the Sprint. Does the plan need to be modified? 

Also, it's highly likely I will be riding 100 miles on July 9 in Burlington, VT and again on 10/29 in Amelia Island, FL as part of the JDRF Ride to Cure Diabetes, for which I am a ride coach. These are not races, so the pace is casual, but I will want to be prepared to cover the distance. Should my training plan be modified to allow for building my ride mileage while preparing for my other priority events (Age Group Nationals and Ironman 70.3 AC on 9/18)? I know I'm covering a lot of different events and distances, but these are my plans.

On 6/20 load up the EN*Half Plan to end on 9/18. Then, during that block when you're in the Get Faster training plan, fine to add whatever volume you want to the long bike in that training plan, up to a max of about 3.5hrs. In other words, you'll have no problems going from a ~3hr ride to a casually paced century. You'll be fine. Good luck!

Barbara Feinstein

Thanks Coach for letting me know how to modify my plan. My only concern is having a maximum long ride of 3 1/5 hours leading up to riding 100 miles, which will have me on the roads close to 6 hours. How will the shorter training time translate to a good century ride?

Coach Rich

Posted By Barbara Feinstein on 17 Jan 2016 02:44 PM

Thanks Coach for letting me know how to modify my plan. My only concern is having a maximum long ride of 3 1/5 hours leading up to riding 100 miles, which will have me on the roads close to 6 hours. How will the shorter training time translate to a good century ride?

Barbara, if you can ride 3.5hrs you can absolutely ride 6hrs, as the added time/distance is 100% about simply pacing and fueling yourself properly. You simply don't need to incur the cost of long rides in preparation for this event, you're better off keeping the rides relatively short, hard, and then applying that fitness to this century. 

Trust me, you'll be fine, this will be a non-issue for you. Good luck!

Barbara Feinstein

Hi Coach,

I just started the Intermediate Get Faster Plan and have a few questions.

I see that there are longer rides on Saturday and Sunday. Do they have to be done back to back and do they have to be done on the weekend? I am a stay at home Mom and have more time to myself during the week. I know I'll be racing on the weekends, but would prefer to get the longer workouts done during the week to allow more family time on the weekends.

I also see that this weekend starts with a 2 1/2 hour ride on Saturday and 2 hour ride on Sunday. That's a big jump from the prior plan I was following with a max of about 1 1/2 hours on the bike (all indoors due to weather). Should I increase my time in the saddle that quickly or allow for a more gradual increase?

Now that the weather is finally improving and I'll be able to go outside and train with others, how do I best incorporate the bike training workouts while still providing me with opportunities to ride with others?

I will also be able to participate in open water swims very soon (hopefully). Is there a way to structure those so I benefit similarly to pool swimming?

Should I be updating my race schedule as I add races? I recently signed up for an Olympic Tri on 7/24 and will definitely be racing more Sprint tris. I also see that my season does not show the USA Tri AG Olympic race on 8/13, with the Sprint on 8/14 - I am registered for both.

I'd appreciate any input you can provide.

Thanks!
Barbara

Barbara Feinstein

Replying to this with hopes that I'll get a response. I was hoping to get input on how to proceed.

Thanks,

Barbara

Coach Rich

Posted By Barbara Feinstein on 03 May 2016 01:55 PM


Hi Coach,



I just started the Intermediate Get Faster Plan and have a few questions.



I see that there are longer rides on Saturday and Sunday. Do they have to be done back to back and do they have to be done on the weekend? I am a stay at home Mom and have more time to myself during the week. I know I'll be racing on the weekends, but would prefer to get the longer workouts done during the week to allow more family time on the weekends. 

Yes, you can do that. My advice is to post here your preferred tweaking(?) of our training week. That is, 'the training plan says to do X, Y, and Z but given my week, A, B, and C works best." I check that out, give you my recommendation and you can make those changes going forward to the weeks of the plan.   



I also see that this weekend starts with a 2 1/2 hour ride on Saturday and 2 hour ride on Sunday. That's a big jump from the prior plan I was following with a max of about 1 1/2 hours on the bike (all indoors due to weather). Should I increase my time in the saddle that quickly or allow for a more gradual increase? You'll be fine, don't sweat the jump in volume. You'll just to be more careful with pacing and maybe fueling but that's it. You have more endurance than you think you do. 



Now that the weather is finally improving and I'll be able to go outside and train with others, how do I best incorporate the bike training workouts while still providing me with opportunities to ride with others?Ideally you get them on board with your workout as written. Is that a possibility. 



I will also be able to participate in open water swims very soon (hopefully). Is there a way to structure those so I benefit similarly to pool swimming? Are you talking about doing intervals in open water similar to what you'd be doing in the pool? I don't think that's necessary but you could simply do your best to replicate the intervals? Probably easiest to do with the longer vs shorter intervals.



Should I be updating my race schedule as I add races? I recently signed up for an Olympic Tri on 7/24 and will definitely be racing more Sprint tris. I also see that my season does not show the USA Tri AG Olympic race on 8/13, with the Sprint on 8/14 - I am registered for both. There's no need to adjust your TSR from these shorter races and the TSR I've created for you will prepare you for that USAT AG weekend with two races so no need to change it. 

I'd appreciate any input you can provide.



Thanks!

Barbara

Let me know if you need anything else!

Barbara Feinstein

Thanks for the responses. Only 1 question not answered...do the long weekend rides have to be back to back, even if moved to during the week. This weekend showed 2 1/2 hours on Saturday and 2 hours on Sunday. I was traveling until Monday night, so moved some of this week's workouts around and rode 2 1/2 hours on Thursday and 2 hours today (Saturday). Is it more important to do the rides back to back or is it okay to split them with a different training day between them (I did Friday's swim/run on Friday)?

Coach Rich

Posted By Barbara Feinstein on 07 May 2016 10:55 AM


Thanks for the responses. Only 1 question not answered...do the long weekend rides have to be back to back, even if moved to during the week. This weekend showed 2 1/2 hours on Saturday and 2 hours on Sunday. I was traveling until Monday night, so moved some of this week's workouts around and rode 2 1/2 hours on Thursday and 2 hours today (Saturday). Is it more important to do the rides back to back or is it okay to split them with a different training day between them (I did Friday's swim/run on Friday)?

Sorry about that. They don't need to be done back to back. We schedule those rides on the weekend vs the weekday because most people have more time available on the weekend vs the weekday. But if things are different for you then move them around in a manner that works for you. That said, this is generally how we've structured our training weeks, so you have an idea of why we position workouts relative to relative to each other:

• Monday: generally an easy-ish day, with just swimming and/or light running
• Tues: run interval day and a swim. The run interval day is kinda stressful so we put it early in the week.
• Wed: bike intervals. We've learned that doing these on Wed, it's easier to back it up with...
• Thurs: long run. We put this here vs how it's often done, on the weekend
• Fri: another swim, easy-ish on the legs day
• Sat and Sun: your long rides

The net is that you should be careful doing back to back hard runs. For example, an interval run day followed by a long run day = no good. 

Hope this helps!

Barbara Feinstein

Hi Coach,

I need guidance on whether or not I should race back to back in July and August...

I am registered for both the Olympic and Sprint Age Group Nationals races on August 13 and 14 (Olympic Saturday, Sprint Sunday).

I am registered for the NJ State Triathlon Olympic race on Sunday, July 24. There's an option to race the Sprint on Saturday, July 23rd. It is a fairly flat course, but notoriously hot and humid. Would it be a good idea to race both 3 weeks before Age Group Nationals or should I just stick with the Olympic distance?

Thanks for your help.

Barbara

Coach Rich

Posted By Barbara Feinstein on 19 May 2016 02:56 PM


Hi Coach,



I need guidance on whether or not I should race back to back in July and August...



I am registered for both the Olympic and Sprint Age Group Nationals races on August 13 and 14 (Olympic Saturday, Sprint Sunday).



I am registered for the NJ State Triathlon Olympic race on Sunday, July 24. There's an option to race the Sprint on Saturday, July 23rd. It is a fairly flat course, but notoriously hot and humid. Would it be a good idea to race both 3 weeks before Age Group Nationals or should I just stick with the Olympic distance?



Thanks for your help.



Barbara

I think it's a good idea, to use it as tune up for Nationals. And if you were to race both of those races on that July weekend, you'll learn a lot about how your body reacts to back to back races in the same weekend. Plus...all of ^that^ sounds fun . Good luck!

Barbara Feinstein

I have a new Season Road Map for 2017, but have had to modify my schedule due to some conflicts/change of plans. The most significant difference is that I signed up for the IM 70.3 in Atlantic City on 9/17/17 instead of my originally planned B2B 70.3 on 10/22. I know this will change when I start the HIM plan. I also will only be racing the Sprint distance at Nationals in Omaha, NE in August (my daughter moves into Iowa State as a Freshman that same weekend). This is a less significant change, but I didn't want to omit that change. Should I submit a new plan request to get these dates modified?

Coach Rich

Posted By Barbara Feinstein on 12 Nov 2016 07:51 PM


I have a new Season Road Map for 2017, but have had to modify my schedule due to some conflicts/change of plans. The most significant difference is that I signed up for the IM 70.3 in Atlantic City on 9/17/17 instead of my originally planned B2B 70.3 on 10/22. I know this will change when I start the HIM plan. I also will only be racing the Sprint distance at Nationals in Omaha, NE in August (my daughter moves into Iowa State as a Freshman that same weekend). This is a less significant change, but I didn't want to omit that change. Should I submit a new plan request to get these dates modified?

Yes, please do that, thanks