How We Coach Series: Ramping the Run to a Half Iron
Folks -
There's always a ton of stuff going on inside team, and not everyone gets to see it all. I think it's probably valuable for some of you to see how we approach solving particular problems. My hope is that this will give you a sense of our coaching approach, and maybe even give you some good advice or thoughts to improve your own training. I will place the snapshot in hear of the topic at hand, but you are welcome to comment here and not on the athletes personal phone channel.
In this installment, I am working with Larry to outlined the specifics of getting his run up to good half Ironman levels. This is one of the trickiest parts of the season for people who are coming back from a running layoff / run issue. Let me know what you think!!!
There's always a ton of stuff going on inside team, and not everyone gets to see it all. I think it's probably valuable for some of you to see how we approach solving particular problems. My hope is that this will give you a sense of our coaching approach, and maybe even give you some good advice or thoughts to improve your own training. I will place the snapshot in hear of the topic at hand, but you are welcome to comment here and not on the athletes personal phone channel.
In this installment, I am working with Larry to outlined the specifics of getting his run up to good half Ironman levels. This is one of the trickiest parts of the season for people who are coming back from a running layoff / run issue. Let me know what you think!!!
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Comments
Coach P,
Having come in to several OS's, not able to run I'll post my thoughts on how to ramp up from no running. With this recent JOS having the longest run layoff here are a few things I have found coming from very little running and mostly some mountain biking since the 2016 OS. Plantar fasciitis, knee soreness were my typical issues due to weight and ramping up too quickly.
Keys for my ramp up.
1) Walking is very important I walk 4-5X week in to work, 1 mile each way 30-32 minutes walking per day. This is 8-10 miles/week or around 160' of walking. This was going on before my run started up and has seem to help the transition to running. Just getting the extra walking in has been important. Don't discount this aspect even though we all want to run more and right now.
2) I started with 1 run day a week, move to two then three. I'm still not at 4X week and won't consider running two days in a row until I'm getting in at least 60' of total run time. IM ramp up makes this a challenge as I need to build some time for a long run.
3) The 1 run was 30" (Seconds) X 4 to start. Then next week I added in 2X (30" X 4), Monday/Friday. Then 2X 3' of running. I started this in November with some cycling, and lost a couple weeks in December. For my 4 OS weeks my total running time has been 13' (3,5,5), 16', 21'(7,7,7) and 27' (9,9,9). I also found prior to the OS that the second run was where I sometime lowered the time or did not even do the workout to ensure continued workouts the following week.
4) Split run - On the aforementioned 1 mile walks in to work I have split up my run time before and after work, say for a 5' run I would do 2.5' running in to work and 2.5' in the afternoon. Again this is not straight running time, the workout would be something like this= 2X(5' walk then 2X1' run (3' walk) 1X30" run (2' walk). The weekend run is on the treadmill where I get in the whole run time in one workout but still not as a single block 5' walk 5X1' (2-3').
3) I set time goals and maximum's weekly and for each session. I also have a max run time for each week, that is for week 4 I'm looking for a stretch goal of 27' with a 9' max of run time each day. My goal for this week is actually 20-25'. This guards against the urge to run more when you are feeling good in one particular session. If you have 2-3 greats session in a row then consider a slightly larger bump but in past experience
4) Track mileage as well - I try to do all runs at the same pace trying not to push it to get a gradual increase in running mileage. With cycling the cardiovascular system will be adapting and you can push harder/faster but speed can add in more mileage particularly as you start running more. Track both time and mileage limiting the latter through consistent running speed. At some point I'm sure I'll need to change this thinking but until I'm running 90-120' a week I need consistency more than any speed.
5) Don't work the plan in to a hole - If the knees or feet are tired I take an extra day off and do a brick run with the bike. Don't hit your targets this week to not run of need days off next week. I've settled in to a Wednesday, Friday, Sunday for runs.
6) Stretch, roll and ice for me. That is I do preventative work pretty much every day for 5-15 minutes. I even started getting up 15' minutes earlier to ensure I have this time.
7) I've got a similar schedule of adding in 5' of running in two of the three running session (10'/week) once I get past 60' and 15'/week once I'm running 90' total per week. With this progression I will go from 13' of running in week one of the JOS to 225' in week 4 of the IM plan. This will be one long long run in of 125' and two other 50' runs. Not ideal but more running than I got in for the race 2015, assuming I stay injury free and on target.
I've also thought about when to move to running 4X week but given the limited amount of time I have to run not sure when, if and how I will manage this. If I do continue to hit my stretch goals I could see hitting two runs of two hours plus and perhaps an opportunity to incorporate a 4X/week running schedule.
@Tommy Bonds - talk about challenges. I am super impressed. I am happy to help you out in the micro forum as needed; sounds like we might be doing some tweaking to get you back by race day. Let me know!!!
What are your cues for losing run form?
One very important thing I have learned with PTTD, posterior tibial tendon dysfunction, is that my pain during the run may have been minimal and very manageable but the following day or two is when I could asses how I was progressing.