Hi Coach??, I'm super jealous about you being out in Kona, hopefully someday I can make it. I'm doing okay, still fighting some residual fatigue from 6 Gap. Last week I did a couple of OW swims, a short trail run and on Thursday I did my 18 mile long run. The long run was going well until mile 14 and I started feeling some tightness in the back of the right knee, but I just slowed down and after another mile it settled down and I was able to finish the run. Friday was a travel (rest) day and on the weekend I skipped the Saturday run and just did my bikes on Saturday and Sunday, which went well. The calf was a little sore Fri/Sat, no soreness on Sunday's ride, rested again on Monday and moved the 12 mile Tuesday run to Thursday and just did a 45 min TRP run on Tuesday with no issues?? and got a massage that night, so hopefully I'm back on track. This weekend, provided we have no hurricane issues, I'm doing a supported Century ride on Saturday with the 60 min brick run, then Sunday I'm planning two loops of the GFT race route which I hope will give me an idea of how my legs will feel on the third loop come race day.
Thanks for checking on me and let me know what you think, oh, and have a great time out I Kona!!
RD, I really appreciate you taking rest after 6 Gap. Many athletes miss the fact that they will hurt more from a not-terrible effort just because it's later in the season. At this point you have all the fatigue you need, now we need to keep you going (a session a day) as you recover so you are ready for the big show.
If you haven't already, maybe line up some massage to fast track that muscular recovery, and continue to be conservative. At this point it's race performance we are hedging on!
Hi Coach, just an update, I was still really feeling the fatigue last weekend and add in a nasty sore boil on my ischium derailed my bike rides a bit over the weekend. Saturday I got my 90 minute swim in okay, got on the bike and really started fighting the pain right away which I feel was a factor on the fatigue I was feeling also, so I only got in 72 miles before I just couldn't take it any longer, transitioned right to the 60 min run which went really well so 2 out of three ain't bad. Sunday's ride was equally as painful and I called I quits after 61 miles. I swam on Monday, did my bike/run brick on Tuesday, which is the best I felt since 6 gap so I believe the fatigue is starting to abate, yea taper time. I do my 80 min run tomorrow and plan to do my run and bike on the GFT course Saturday since the rides I planned over there last weekend got derailed by the hurricane?? Thanks for reading, thoughts? RD
Hi Coach P, Just a couple of questions, looking at wk 20 leading to the GFT ( Saturday )the plan shows a 90 min bike to check out the course on Wednesday, but I'll be riding a loop of the course this weekend, so I'll just be doing a regular ride on Wed and wanted to know what type of WO you recommend. Second, they offer a practice swim on Friday and I don't feel I need this the day before the race and would just like to do an easy pool swim on Thursday just to keep loose and rest on Fri. Thoughts? Thanks RD
thanks for checking in. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. I'm glad the fatigue is lessening, but it's never as fast as you wanted to be. :-) I agree, you don't need to do a recon ride on Wednesday. I will be looking for an hour to 75 minutes with a few five-minute efforts at race pace -- call it three or four. Everything else is just easy or steady. Ask for yes to the pool on Thursday to stay loose. Friday should be a day off for sure as you pack your bags and get prepared.
Do you think your undercarriage will be healed in time?
Hi Coach P Well crap! I strained my left calf yesterday while doing my run, so it looks like I'm out for the GFT this weekend, yes it's that bad??. I'm checking on maybe doing the aqua bike event if they'll let me transfer to that event. Thanks for all your help this season, guess I'll heal this up and move to the out season program and figure out what I want to do next year. RD
Hi Coach P, Well I'm moving forward with this problem. I just transferred to the Aqua Bike event, so with that I was planning about .68 intensity factor for the full 140.6 but thinking I can hit it a bit harder with no marathon to worry about. What would you suggest? Thanks. RD
for the race you can absolutely go a bit harder. I would still recommend you swim as planned because changing intensity there can prove too costly. For the bike I suggest you start off with a smart first 30 minutes but that you worked to build the intensity factor incrementally over time. This is nice because it means you won't burn any matches too early. think something like this:
that is close to the five hour mark in anywhere after that will be close to .74 or the best possible effort.
the bigger question is what happened to the calf? It's important to capture that so we can make sure it doesn't happen again. Was there anything in particular that tripped it?
Let's make a mental note to focus on how we can get it strong enough for this winter... for now, good luck!
Thanks for the advice on race intensity, as for the calf tweek, I've had this before and all I seem to be able to attribute it to is too is a combination of too much short term stress be it intensity and/or volume of which I had both with Six Gap. Going forward I think I'll need to really be sure to spread out my events to give me adequate recovery. I thought I could just use six gap as part of my training to GFT, but it was more taxing then I expected. The injury usually just happens suddenly at low intensity running with no warning. What do you think? Thanks RD
RD - I think that's annoying as crap, that's what I think it is. A random injury at random times is like getting athletically mugged. If I were you I would find a friendly physical therapist who can walk you through some good protocols for doing as much strengthening and flexibility workers possibleTo avoid this in the future.
I also agree that you should space out this critical training events before your races. At the very least you'll have time to recover should something go wrong and then still race. Does that make sense?
I'm pleased to hear that you're at least in the right mindset. Now we just need a good course of action.
Hi Coach P, Sorry to get back so late, I've just been taking a little time off to get over the dissapointment of not getting to do the GFT, but all is okay now. Actually I am a Physical Therapist and have consulted with many colleges about my injury history as well I've attended several running injury rehab continuing ed courses trying to not only help myself, but help the folks in my running/Tri clubs get past their injuries. The Aqua Bike went well but felt incomplete missing the run, oh well I really feel I made the right call as I'm back to cycling and running for the last two weeks and would never know that I had a problem. So I got my season plan from Coach Rich and will begin in ernest starting with the December OS and getting back into the gym for some good strengthening to prepare for next year. I don't have any full IMs for next year, need to catch up on some household things that have gotten neglected and working on some SAUs doing the Sugarloaf Marathon in Maine next May as my wife is more of a runner than a Triathlete (though she has completed IMFL in 2012) , but I will be doing HIM Steelhead in August. Thanks for all your help this season, I feel as long as I keep my training/racing stress loads in check I'll be fing going forward, I'm loving Enation and all it has to offer. RD
Rodney, wow, that's great news. I did a quick Google Search and found lots of hypotheses on what it could be. You might also benefit from going through your training log and looking at the patterns of training / training stress in the weeks leading up to the last few incidents. That investigative process is typically very instructive for me.
I am glad to hear you are back on track. Do you think you will need to modify the OS to keep the calf happy?
Hi Coach P, Haven't checked in for a while but I'm doing well, I did the Dec out season program and ran some races during that period. I've been gearing up for the Sugarloaf Marathon in Maine coming up here in two weeks, the training is going really well. Coach R has me doing the intermediate balanced plan and I just finished with a 42 mile week and will taper the next two heading into the race. I'm planning on doing IM 70.3 Steelhead in August so will be looking for some guidance on my transition to that plan following the marathon. Hope you are well. Thanks, RD
@Rodney Daulton - thanks for checking in brother! That's a great race....if you have a race plan outlined (info on pacing in the Run Wiki) I'd be happy to check it out. Keep a close eye on the weather...still iffy this time of year.
Hi @Coach Patrick well just a week to go. Feeling good, I did a 5k test a couple of weeks ago per the plan and it put me at a zone two pace of 10:00. After reading the wiki and from what I've been seeing on my long runs I'd think a 10:20 - 10:30 overall pace should work. So fo the first 5 I'm planning a run/walk strategy of 6:1 which give me a pretty comfortable 10:45 pace, after that I'll continue with the 6:1 until I get to the top of the mountain at mile 10 then move to the walk 30 steps every mile until mile 20 then try to take it in from there hoping to keep about a 10:20 from there legs and heart rate permitting
Hi @Coach Patrick, Well had another great event at the Sugarloaf Marathon thank to Enation. I followed my race plan as explained above and pretty much executed the race as planned. It was a beautiful day, 37 degrees at the start but did start to get warm by the end at 67 degrees, but I planned for this and had a tank top for my final layer. I averaged a 10:48 pace going up the mountain for the first 11 miles and then I let the downhill kick in with a 10:07 pace for the next 9 miles then held on as the course had a few rollers coming in on the last 10K with a 9:59 pace which I'm proudest of really passing a lot of runners that last 10K. I just started to feel potential cramps the last mile which i feel tells me I gave it all I had. I am going to do the half Ironman recovery plan for two weeks then I move into the HIM intermediate program leading into HIM Steelhead in August. I think I'll also just keep my runs at a TRP pace for the two weeks into that plan before starting any speed training outlined in the plan ( you know those calf issues I can have ). Oh, and on that note, I had no real issues with the marathon traning but i did step up to deep tissue massages every two weeks this time and I feel this really helped. Let me know if you have any suggestions, I know i'll be in touch more with the tri training comming up. Thanks Rodney
@Rodney Daulton - congratulations! That's a fantastically executed race. I am most with impressed with how close that performance was with what we had predicted from your 5K. Especially considering the terrain and how everything played out.
I agree with your recovery plans and the adjustment to TRP pace. You may even need a little more self-care on that calf for the next few weeks just to make sure it stays happy as you go through the recovery process.
For now, no runs for longer than you want call it a total of two weeks. Swim and bike and and to make sure it stays happy as you go through the recovery process.
For now, no runs for longer than you want -- call it a total of two weeks. Swim and bike and walk and let's get you back on track why you absorb this!
Hi @Coach Patrick, Sorry, a little late getting to you, but I had a pretty good race at Steelhead 70.3 last month. The swim went well, about a minute longer than I wanted and the water was good, the bike went well, pretty much as planned with a 161NP and a 1.04 VI even though that was a little higher than I wanted. The run was a little slower that I wanted, I planned a 10:00 pace, but could only keep a 10:25 average, the legs felt a little heavy and I just could not get them going. I think part of it was doing the marathon in May and I just did not seem to be able to make my numbers on the bike while training. Oh well, that pretty well finishes this season other than a sprint tri at the end of the month and maybe a half marathon at the end of October leading into the November out season plan. The primary race next year is IM Canada, so with that in mind should I just go through the Nov out season then start with the IM Full intermediate plan after that. Thanks Rodney
@Rodney Daulton - it's always hard to continue building or year after a marathon, kudos to you for coming as close to your top and speed as you did. I'm very pleased with the bike as that's the biggest place for your growth.
You should definitely plan in a couple weeks off. I would consider September to just be free time and do what you want when you want, but no pressure.
In other words, if the weather is great on the weekend go for a long ride, but if it's crappy stay in and eat pancakes.
If you're serious about the half marathon, then make sure you keep one run a week in the 60 minute range for September. We can always wrap you up pretty quickly in October so you are competent for the race.
That event is not required however, and if you weren't racing I would put you on our run durability program for October to set you up for the 10/30 start date. 100% your call!!!
Comments
Thanks for checking on me and let me know what you think, oh, and have a great time out I Kona!!
RD
If you haven't already, maybe line up some massage to fast track that muscular recovery, and continue to be conservative. At this point it's race performance we are hedging on!
~ Coach P
Thanks for reading, thoughts?
RD
Thanks
RD
thanks for checking in. Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to you. I'm glad the fatigue is lessening, but it's never as fast as you wanted to be. :-) I agree, you don't need to do a recon ride on Wednesday. I will be looking for an hour to 75 minutes with a few five-minute efforts at race pace -- call it three or four. Everything else is just easy or steady. Ask for yes to the pool on Thursday to stay loose. Friday should be a day off for sure as you pack your bags and get prepared.
Do you think your undercarriage will be healed in time?
Well crap! I strained my left calf yesterday while doing my run, so it looks like I'm out for the GFT this weekend, yes it's that bad??. I'm checking on maybe doing the aqua bike event if they'll let me transfer to that event.
Thanks for all your help this season, guess I'll heal this up and move to the out season program and figure out what I want to do next year.
RD
for the race you can absolutely go a bit harder. I would still recommend you swim as planned because changing intensity there can prove too costly. For the bike I suggest you start off with a smart first 30 minutes but that you worked to build the intensity factor incrementally over time. This is nice because it means you won't burn any matches too early. think something like this:
+ 30' to settle in.
+ 30' @ .68
+ 90' @ .70
+ 90' @ .72
+ 60' @ .74
that is close to the five hour mark in anywhere after that will be close to .74 or the best possible effort.
the bigger question is what happened to the calf? It's important to capture that so we can make sure it doesn't happen again. Was there anything in particular that tripped it?
Let's make a mental note to focus on how we can get it strong enough for this winter... for now, good luck!
~ Coach P
Thanks
RD
I also agree that you should space out this critical training events before your races. At the very least you'll have time to recover should something go wrong and then still race. Does that make sense?
I'm pleased to hear that you're at least in the right mindset. Now we just need a good course of action.
I am glad to hear you are back on track. Do you think you will need to modify the OS to keep the calf happy?
~ Coach P
I am going to do the half Ironman recovery plan for two weeks then I move into the HIM intermediate program leading into HIM Steelhead in August. I think I'll also just keep my runs at a TRP pace for the two weeks into that plan before starting any speed training outlined in the plan ( you know those calf issues I can have ). Oh, and on that note, I had no real issues with the marathon traning but i did step up to deep tissue massages every two weeks this time and I feel this really helped.
Let me know if you have any suggestions, I know i'll be in touch more with the tri training comming up.
Thanks
Rodney
Sorry, a little late getting to you, but I had a pretty good race at Steelhead 70.3 last month. The swim went well, about a minute longer than I wanted and the water was good, the bike went well, pretty much as planned with a 161NP and a 1.04 VI even though that was a little higher than I wanted. The run was a little slower that I wanted, I planned a 10:00 pace, but could only keep a 10:25 average, the legs felt a little heavy and I just could not get them going. I think part of it was doing the marathon in May and I just did not seem to be able to make my numbers on the bike while training. Oh well, that pretty well finishes this season other than a sprint tri at the end of the month and maybe a half marathon at the end of October leading into the November out season plan. The primary race next year is IM Canada, so with that in mind should I just go through the Nov out season then start with the IM Full intermediate plan after that.
Thanks
Rodney
In other words, if the weather is great on the weekend go for a long ride, but if it's crappy stay in and eat pancakes.
If you're serious about the half marathon, then make sure you keep one run a week in the 60 minute range for September. We can always wrap you up pretty quickly in October so you are competent for the race.
That event is not required however, and if you weren't racing I would put you on our run durability program for October to set you up for the 10/30 start date. 100% your call!!!