Options
Jorge Duque Micro Thread
Hi Coach,
What are your thoughts on running a Saint Patrick's half marathon taking place on March 11 (Week 9 of the OS)?
What are your thoughts on running a Saint Patrick's half marathon taking place on March 11 (Week 9 of the OS)?
0
Comments
If you want to do something different or you have different goals, let me know!
~ Coach P
Wanted to give you a recap of the Half Marathon. The plan worked beautiful, but before I get in the details let me tell you that I have been running half marathons for over 7 years and I have never been able to break the 2 hour mark. My best attempts came last year at 2:01 & 2:04. One of my goals for this year was to break that 2 hour mark.
I started at TRP and was feeling very good (despite heavy rain all day), then after mile three I pushed to Z3 and realize that I wasn't that off from the 9:09 pace to break the 2 hour limit. I gave it a go and push it a little bit more and realize I was in pace to break that mark. The last three miles I went for Z4 to cross the line at 1:58:11. I gave it all, the tank was empty but I didn't want to have any regrets.
I could not believe it. It has been 7 years training on my own without being able to break the 2 hour mark, and after only 9 weeks with EN I finally achieved it. I should have join 9 years ago.
THANKS EN!!!!!
I hope it's OK with you, but I shared your story with the admin team. They love hearing great stuff like that! I hope you are recovering quickly, let me know how I can help you with the next steps.
I already wrote to Mariah. For now I will continue with the plan. It seems to be working just fine.
Quick update. Its been 6 weeks after surgery (gallbladder and hernia) and I am back to regular schedule (I have Dr's approval for it). I have been on regular schedule for 2 weeks now. Here is what I have noticed:
Swim: I am not a strong swimmer so it sucked that I had to miss the swim camp. I have been swimming according to the program and have joined some master swim groups and I have gained some speed. (3,200 in 1:10:00). I am planing on continuing with regular training on the water.
Bike: I am happy with the bike performance. I will be testing today to compare with the end of the OS. I don't expect any gains but don't expect significant losses either. I just did a century on Sunday at race execution pace and it felt good. I felt like I could go for a run afterwards. The only downside on the bike is that most of the miles have been logged in my road bike and not the tri-bike (Dr's recommendation to avoid extra abdominal pressure). I will start riding the tri-bike this weekend at an Olympic distance race and see how it feels.
Run: Lost some speed on the run but didn't lost endurance; I can still do long runs without feeling maxed out or having a super high HR, but have to do them at a slower pace (I was at 8:50 and now I am at 9:40 per mile).
Overall I am feeling good. The good news is that I know I will be able to finish IMCA. I have accepted that it's going to take more time than I thought initially but I am fine with that.
Thoughts or advise at this point?
Thanks
You have exactly 60 days right now, or just under nine weeks to go. The bulk of your training is yet to come, and if you can navigate the volume carefully enough, you will definitely see some increased fitness games. The most important thing you can do is not to try and overcompensate for what you "lost." There is very little room for extra work in these training plans.
One of the best ways to track your progress is to benchmark your metrics for all of these long rides and runs. Capture your average heart rate and average pace and average power if possible. Each week you'll have a different data point, and that will start to give you some good sense of not only what's possible and race day, but how are you are improving.
Quick question. I know this is the big week but unexpected plans screwed up my plans. I am traveling for work over the weekend and wont be able to do any of the race rehearsals. I was planning on doing the long days tomorrow and Friday and something came up at work that will require for me to be at the office so I can say goodbye to that idea.
I will have about 2 hours Tomorrow and Friday to put some workouts in and from Sunday to Wednesday about an hour per day. After Wednesday I go back to regular schedule and can continue on the training plan.
Should I try to do the rehearsals next week? Or should I just miss them?
Any advice is appreciated.
JD
Here is a tentative plan:
Week 15
Today: 90 min run
Friday: 120 min ride ABP
Saturday: Travel & work day (Seattle - Nashville) - Maybe a 30 min run in the evening
Sunday: 60 min run
Week 16
Monday: 60 min run
Tuesday: 60 min run
Wednesday: Travel (Nashville - Seattle) - 90 min run in the morning
Thursday: Swim Endurance 60 min
Friday: Swim Race rehearsal 90 min + Bike race sim 360 min + run race pace brick 60 min
Saturday: Bike race sim 360 min + run race pace brick 30 min
Sunday: Run long 140 min
Week 17 - Back to regular schedule
Yay or Nay? or would you like to make any adjustments?
Thanks,
JD
Otherwise the rest of the plan looks good, keep me posted!
Was able to find some extra time yesterday and pushed the long run to 120 mins. I have been reviewing the travel schedule and morning meetings are starting 1 hour later than expected. This should give me an extra 60 mins per day. Should I increase the running time or maybe try to mix a swim or two? (there is a crappy small pool at the hotel but we work with what we have).
Thanks for your advise.
JD
There is plenty of work to be done at the end of this week so I want you to be ready for it versus overly tired from extra work plus travel.
For tomorrow I have:
Friday: Swim Race rehearsal 90 min + Bike race sim 360 min + run race pace brick 60 min
I might have to move it around and do the run before the bike so it would be swim, run, bike.
What are your thoughts on this?
I had something work related on Friday so I had to move the race rehearsal to Yesterday (Sat), Today (Sun), and Tomorrow (Mon).
Session one (Swim, Bike, Run) was good. I was able to do 100% of the swim distance, then 96 miles on the bike with 3,900 ft of elevation including 10 mins lost due to mechanical issues (Normalized Power 193 Watts, Avg Cadence 70, Total Time 6:09:51) and the run was a 5 mile walk-run @ 12 min pace (not even close to my race pace of 9:30). Very tired by the end of the session. Also cramping badly on my left leg.
Session two (Bike, Run) - This morning I didn't feel I could ride the tri-bike, I needed something more comfortable so I took the road bike and did 75 miles in 6 hours with 4,200 ft of elevation (multiple stops required today and I decided to ride without Power Meter today so I don't have extra data). I wasn't as tired as I expected to be out of the bike, but the run was disappointing - only 2.75 miles in 30 mins. Feeling pretty good at the end of the session and I'm not sure if it was because of the road bike or the shorter ride.
Session three (Run) was with mixed feelings: Felt pretty good during the entire run. Heart rate was as good as it has ever been (most of the time at TRP). I thought I would have to walk-run just like the past two days but that was not the case at all. I had a very steady pace and I felt like I could go all day long. THe nutrition plan seemed to work very good. The only concern continues to be speed. I was able to do a 13.1 mile run in 2:20:38 which puts me at a 10:44 pace which continues to be more than a minute over my race pace. Overall I am very satisfied with today's run.
As for the rest of the week should I just jump back to regular schedule?
Thanks
JD
You will need to remind me if that race pace was set off of a 5K test and "extrapolation" or if it is from prior racing history. Knowing that will help me discern what numbers you should be seeing.
As a reminder, as the fatigue goes up, the pace will drop. That is just the reality of training for a long race.
Yes please to getting back on the regular plan!
My last real test was a Half-Marathon earlier this year and I was able to pace under 9 mins/mile. On my long runs (just the run without swim and/or bike) I average 9:30 @ Zone 3.
Being this my first IM I do not have any previous history. The only reference would be IMAZ 70.3 last year and the run was terrible (2:37:00).
JD
I wouldn't be the surprise to find out that you running at that same race effort but with the accumulated fatigue you're seeing a slightly higher pace right now. That and the weather will affect the situation.
I have more news for you. After the rehearsal weekend I developed pain and swelling of my left Achilles Tendon. To make the story short I went to see two different doctors and they agree there is no tear, just inflammation caused by overuse.
There is minor pain and discomfort but nothing unmanageable. Both recommend to continue swimming and biking but no running until race day (IMCA - 19 days from now). They put me in an orthopedic boot to accelerate the healing process.
I went for the Saturday ride on my Tri-bike and the pain came up again - really bad pain (couldn't even ride for 2 miles). I turned back home and switched to the road bike and the pain went away and I was able to ride for 6 hours without any problem. For Sunday ride I took the road bike again and it worked perfectly.
It's hard to make so many adjustments just weeks away from your first race but I think adaptation is the name of the game here. This is my plan (please tell me what you think about it):
1. The tri-bike hurts like crazy, the road bike feels fantastic: For IMCA Use the road bike with aero wheels. I know I won't be as fast but who cares at this point. After the race, take the tri-bike for another fitting and use it again for IMAZ in November.
2. Have a quick pedal fitting: My road bike has Ultegra pedals and I will replace them with the P1's I have on the Tri-bike. Want to make sure that they are as comfortable as possible.
3. Follow doctors' advice and stop running until the race. There is not much I can do about it at this point. I don't think I will lose much "running fitness" in this last three weeks. I have done my long run and it felt good: pace and heart rate right where they should be. Race day will determine my ability to run, or walk/run depending on pain - I have no control of this.
4. Replace the running workouts of weeks 18-20 with swim and bike sessions.
5. Continue to use the orthopedic boot 24/7 and follow rehab instructions.
6. Forget about time and focus on comfort: Use cycling and running specific kit rather than tri-suit. The extra time on T1 & T2 won't matter much at this point but comfort can make a world of difference.
Advice is highly appreciated.
JD
* I had no idea there was such thing as pedal fitting. I just put them on and ride, but do check out that thing about the cleats above.
*If you want to outline what the week looks like for you, I'm happy to give you feedback. For now where the boat and rest that bad boy… And see what you can do about that bike. It's definitely a fit thing.
I usually ride Shimano Ultegra pedals with Shimano cleats and Shimano Shoes on the road and Powertap P1 pedals with P1 cleats and Sidi shoes on the tri, but I switch the P1 pedals back and forth between bikes (powermeter) and I have never had trouble before. I have done all my training and a couple short races this year without changing any of the settings of either bike and I have been forced to alternate between bikes (I had to ride the road for a long time after the Gallbladder and Hernia Surgery earlier this year) and had no problem before. I think everything is more sensitive now due to the injury so it just needs a better adjustment. I will follow your advice on cleat positioning.
For race day I will use the Shimano shoes with P1 cleats. I am working on fitting those two together right now. I also fitted the race wheels on the road bike and it worked really good when I took it yesterday for a spin. I am not concerned about hydration and food with that bike. I have done several centuries and multi day rides on that thing so I have faced those challenges before. The long rides this weekend will provide any final adjustment if needed.
I plan to do the swim and bike training as scheduled and replace the runs with swim & water running. No need to go over specifics on schedule, but thanks for your concern.
Next stop IMCA, where the running will be determined on race day.
please let me know how the ride goes this weekend, I'm super curious!
Race is over and successfully completed. Just wrote a race report with all the details on it.
Wanted to to thank you for all your help during this process.
JD
Step One: Give your self about 14 days to get into a groove. I'll take any activity at this point, so don't feel pressured to swim/ bike / run on a particular day as long as you are doing SOMETHING.
Step Two: Take your time. For these first two weeks do not run back to back days or longer than 5 miles at one time.
Step Three: Try to hit the long rides on the weekends...these are the safest, most effective way to reactivate your fitness.
Step Four: Line up those long term things that need to get done. Your bike refit and nutrition changes come to mind....bike fit as those take time to set up and get used to; nutrition as the sooner we do that, the bigger the changes will be for you.
> Practical Strategy for Improving Body Composition
Let's get to work!!
~ Coach P
Looking forward for next year. I am signed up for Victoria 70.3 and IM Louisville, and plan to do some bike rides and probably a couple of half marathons in between.
How does the training plan works in year 2? Do we do it ourselves based on the day of the races or do you lay out the plan. Not sure what’s the protocol here.
I am planning on a couple weeks off and then play it by ear until the end of the year. Start with Jan OS and switch to either beginner or intermediate half plan to prepare for Victoria. Once the half is done switch to full beginner or intermediate to prepare for IMLOU. Does this makes sense?
My my goals for year 2 are to become competitive. I don’t want to just finish the races, I want to race them. There is a lot of room for improvement and I have been able to identify many weak areas (check the report) that I can work on.
Finally I want to thank you and the rest of the team for a spectacular first year full of pain, suffering, and insane rewards. I’m glad Doug Sutherland pushed me to get on the team. The advice, knowledge and camaraderie of EN are simply spectacular.