Brian Terwilliger Micro Thread...
Hey! Here's your Micro Thread, as promised. As you'll see in this forum, I handle all manner of edits and changes. So post away!
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~ Coach P
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I would be happy with a 30 minute effort, bonus if you get closer to an hour. We're just trying to keep your training load as steady as possible, so any type of run will do the trick.
That assumes a lot of things all aligned to make it work. If that's not the case you be fine with taking this Saturday and Sunday off to just stay on track.
Have a great trip!
~ Coach P
Good to hear from you. I agree getting ahead of it is the best plan right now (and greatly increases your chance of success!). Here is your current road map:
I say that you:
Do Weeks 11, 12 and then 14.
In Week 11, you do the normal week.
In Week 12, you keep the Wed run to 45 minutes, and the Sunday run to 6 miles. Bike as planned, resting Mon and Friday.
In Week 14 (no week 13!): You do the following:
Mon - OFF
Tue - Light run of 30 to 40' with some strides.
Wed - Bike Test Day
Thu - Light run of 30 to 40' with some strides.
Fri - OFF, rest and stretch.
Sat - Warm up and race!
Sun - OFF to recover.
Monday - Load up the Swim Camp plan.
WOWSERS! That's awesome....a solid PR but more importantly SUB ONE THIRTY. That's sick.
And I love that last 5k stat. If there is Beast Mode, today it shall be known as Terwilliger Mode because you just gave 13.1 the beat down.
Sub 4:45 is looming big time...but it's almost time to switch to being a real triathlete with swimming and stuff. How is that going for you?
Again, congrats!
~ Coach P
Knocking out swim camp this week and next, then 70.3 training plan gets uploaded. I'm a swimmer. There will be no issues or worries there. I'll beat a good number of the pro's times. Focusing on increasing my power on the bike and run durability. Question, Thursday is usually a double run. Does it matter which is done in the morning and which in the evening from a results perspective? Thanks!
Monday morning I load up the EN Half Advanced plan for IM Raleigh 70.3 on June 4th.
Have people trying to get me to run the Rock N' Roll Half Marathon in Raleigh on Sunday, April 2nd. Its a pretty damn hilly half. And in no way is it associated with the IM Raleigh run course. Should I race it? I am leaning toward no from a training perspective. But would it be beneficial or wise to race a hilly half, then attempt the ABP ride when I got home? Or just be smart and stick to the ABP ride?
I'd be okay with you using it as an opportunity to work on execution and still put up the good time -- not a personal best. And then riding off of that for an hour or an hour and half of the fine.
Other than a social commitment, I don't see the training upside unless we focus on the mental aspect. 100% your call...let me know!
Also, with the loss of so much training, would it be best to skip the planned Olympic Distance Tri on April 22 and stick to what the training plan has that day? I haven't paid the entry fee yet, so I'm not out anything if I do skip it.
Just because you're sick and not training doesn't mean that your fitness has disappeared. Instead of thinking about it as fitness, think about it like learning a language. If you were speaking French fluently 10 days ago, And stop speaking French... Yes, your first couple conversations back will be awkward. But soon it will all come rushing back... And so too will your fitness.
This is very true in your case, because you have been KILLING IT with your training. If you have been slacking, I can see your concern. But that was not the case. Here's what I recommend:
- NO TESTING. Not worth it. Let's use that week to get back into a routine.
- No swimming until week of 4/10. You don't need to do it, you're a great swimmer and swimming when you're sick is torture.
- Yes to aerobic biking. Any chance you get, get your light over the bike and just spin your legs. Even if it's 30 minutes. We need to get your body used to sweating again and getting those muscles stretched out.
- No running until April 3... And even that first week, it should just be easy/TRP pace.
Ideally you're outside this weekend just enjoying being outside. And then by next weekend your back on track. That's still 8 weeks, and the bulk of your Race Prep to Raleigh in your future.Oly tri, let's hold off until the weekend after next to decide!
~ Coach P
Quick and stupid question. Runs off the bike in the EN Half Advanced plan. Such as Zone 2 out Zone 3 Back, 30 minutes, or 1 mile Zone 3, remainder zone 2, 30 minutes.
Am I to hop off the bike and immediately start running in Zone 3 (or zone 2)? No transitional warm up? Just want to make sure I do it right.
I hope your weekend came together as you had planned!
Yes, this is a quick transition...within 10 minutes. You don't need to run through the house and knock down any doors...this isn't how you will RACE but it's how we'll challenge your fitness in the compressed / time-sensitive nature of our workouts!
~ Coach P
Decision time. Should I race an Olympic Distance Tri next Saturday, April 22nd. Still coming off the illness. The swim is back and back strong. The run, not so much. The bike is doing well. Have a big cycling weekend ahead (week 13 EN Advanced Half plan for IM Raleigh 70.3 on June 4th). So the question is, are the benefits, whatever they may be, of doing a race (1,500M swim, 45K bike, 10K run on a pretty much pancake course) enough to forgo the Saturday workouts in Week 14 of the plan? If I race, should I move Saturday to Sunday instead of the ABP ride?
I'm neutral on doing the race. Have good number of friends doing it and would enjoy doing it, but Raleigh is the focus. If you say race, I race. If you say skip I'll skip.
If I do race, how does one pace an Olympic distance Tri? I've never raced that short before. For the swim, my plan is almost always to hang on the feet of whoever the fastest person is, then race them from the last turn buoy to the exit. Unless they are just so fast they leave me behind, or so slow I just have to take the lead a dust em. No idea how to pace the bike. And a 10K run is long enough that its not a Z4/5 out of the gates effort like a 5K would be.
I can see the benefits of racing. The experience, the ability to shake out logistics, set ups, transitions, execution of strategy, testing ones self, etc... But don't want to sacrifice the training benefits of what's on plan that day. So confused.
Need to register in the next couple days before it closes.
The pacing guidance is in the Short Course area here: http://members.endurancenation.us/TrainingPlan/TrainingPlanCentralPage/ShortCoursePlanResources/PacingandNutrition.aspx
If you want to push that swim, it's cool, but you need to be smart in the first few minutes of the bike.
Follow the regular training week BUT:
- Cut the long run to an hour on Thursday.
- Friday OFF
- Saturday RACE
- Sunday ABP Ride (or as close as you can).
Going to be epic...once you check out that racing guidance, let me know if you have anything else for me re questions!~ Coach P
So, you need to approve me on strava but my guess is your HR is screaming in that "old" Zone 2 pace. It hasn't adapted. So here are my thoughts for you...
1. Let go of the current paces unless you are on a Tmill. If you force it outside, you'll ruin Raleigh and dig a hole. Run as close to the target pace based off of perceived effort. IOW if you and I just landed in Vail and were running at altitude, you'd be 100% ok with slower...."Doode, no air!"...but because you are at home, you are all angry about it. Can't force it. An 8:24 miles in crazy humidity is the physiological equivalent of a 7:09 mile in gorgeous winter weather.
2. Letting go is something to practice as you'll need to do it on (a hot) race day as well. If things are heating up, success will be a result of good pacing, not forcing yourself into some predetermined zone. Adapt or fade on the run. He who slows down the least wins.
3. Our goal is to get you adapted to the heat as quickly as possible. Even if race day isn't terrible, having trained in it will make you better prepared. So we want as many of your runs IN the heat as possible. Embrace the suck. You will need to improve your hydration game (many short loops?). Even if you do a brick with first half in, second half out.
4. You can track adaptation by noting HR performance over these runs. Your HR will eventually "normalize" to the conditions. It won't be perfect, but it will be stable. That new number, honed over next 3.5 weeks, will be a guide to you in Raleigh.
Let me know when I can see those Strava WKOs...
~ Coach P
One thing, on my outdoor bikes, You'll think my power is low. I have a Stages power meter, and as is the case, it likes to drop the signal as my 520 is out in the bars on my aero bottle. And with zeros included, it drops my numbers. Zwift rides, with virtually no drops is a better representation on the bike for power numbers being help.
When I look at that White Lake Half, your Avg HR for the run was 144...which is pretty consistent with where you are now. Last week's 14.2 miles was, you guessed it, 144 AHR...but 8:12 miles.
The difference?
A few more months in the heat and a less hilly run course (your training run was hillier).
To acclimate, more lunch runs, but not in Zone9 please.
Hope that helps!
~ Coach P
So no worries about lunch....maybe run post bike when it's hotter? I just want 1-2 hot runs a week. Not hard runs, just runs in the heat.
Go do it!!! Course experience will be critical...I don't care about the hour...go get some coffee or something. Or mess with everyone by shaving your legs in the parking lot.
Your runs are good...a timed OWS and 2 x course ride, AWESOME!
~ Coach P
So here is my question. Once I settle into the ride and start approaching the half way point, if I'm showing an avg watts in my target range but my HR is still down in the mid to upper 120s (or lower) and I'm feeling good, would it be advisable to at that point abandon watts and ride at a harder effort to get a mid Z3 HR (@138)? Or will that blow up my legs and destroy my run? As a reference, my avg HR on my FTP test was 152. And it takes everything I have or an Everest like climb to get my HR to approach 150.
1. overall, great work. The fact that you were able to broaden that speed after your workout shows, that even without power, you were spot on. That is no small feat! A testament to your execution skills for sure. PS – change those batteries ASAP!!!!
2. remember that both Watts and heart rate are targets we use to create the conditions we want for a successful run and also a good ride. But the run is the most important. I will happily take an underperformed bike but an eight-minute mile run on that course. Especially in a hot day, that will crush the competition. So it's all relative.
You're top priority in the first few miles of the bike is to get Your heart rate down to the normal level, or as close to the normal level, that you see when you start your long Saturday rides. Say that number is 130 Bpms... Since you came out of transition at 150bpms... You have a few miles of soft-pedaling deep breathing and hydrating to try and get that heart rate down as close as you can. Then you can begin pushing.
Generally speaking, when the watts are low I take a look at my speed. I'm working at a certain level of watts to generate enough speed to create the time that I want. If I'm getting the time that I want without working too hard that I'm fine with it. No need to push the watts higher and roll the dice. For example, if I want 22mph and estimate 240W to get that....but I am only riding 220W and getting my 22mph avg...I am WINNING. No need to push harder.
If your Waterlot, and your speed is low, time to check the heart rate. Sometimes your bodies just working hard enough, and not putting out the power. If that is the case, then don't push harder on the bike. Your body is telling you it's already working hard enough and they're still around to go. If all three are low, you could be off calorically speaking or maybe you just need to push it a little bit to get into the next gear. Your call.
3. as for climbing the hills, we recommend three gears.
- Gear One is Your warm-up gear, will be trying at the heart rate down. This is 70%-ish.
- Gear Two is your all-day ride pace, in your case between 80 and 85%.
- Gear Three is 10% higher than race watts, in your case about 230. As always, use heart rate as a guide not just the watts.
- Gear Fourr is your super steep climbs which can be 10 to 15% higher than race watts -- these are sub 1-minute hills. Only for the strong!
Again, you will have to make a call at the end of your ride. More often than not, there's very little to be gained by pushing harder over any specific health. I would much rather that you ride that he'll study, and push the downhill side of it. Remember that you always want to choose the option they give you free speed versus hard earned speed. All of that will pay off in the run. If you bike properly, you will be fast with minimal effort and exit that leg of the race with a lower heart rate. That gives you more bandwidth on the run than the competition!! Good luck!!!!