What I Have Learned
A 20 week OS, including the Power Clinic, followed by a two week transition period and then stepping into 12 weeks of IM training is too much too soon for me.
The immediate vertical volume climb put me into a deep hole and even with an unscheduled easy week, when the training volume/intensity returned I was right back in the hole.
As a self-coached athlete, I have learned that I need a more extended volume ramp up. A 20 week IM plan I can handle – a 12 week plan after a 20 week OS – not so much.
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Comments
Do you think more transition time would have helped in your case?
I struggled going from OS to IM plan with the jump in volume. Heck I struggled in OS with all that bike and run intensity. I was dreaming of "just riding" and "just running" as in whatever pace I felt like.
Being a self coached athlete, I train in a constant state of modification. I modify the heck out of the EN plan because I get tired and mentally sometimes just want to swim, ride or run for the joy of it and not to complete a prescribed session with intensity.
I did IMSG May 1st. Now I am supposedly in training for Vineman 70.3 but can't bring myself to look at the plan. Don't make me please:-(. I just get in what I can in an EN kind of way and bet I will be just fine race day.
Anyway. I hope you get out of the hole soon. Just train by feel for a while. Forget power/heart rate and just train cause you love it:-)
CC
Are you injured or just burnt?
I was in the same boat last year. Here's how I worked through it.
I stripped out all running intensity; the long run at IM pace is enough stress without adding higher paces.
I toned down the intensity on the bike; the "long" bike often consisted of 8x10min@z3(5), after a two hour warmup.
Any, and I mean any, sign of overreaching meant I took at least a day off. We all have our "tells"; what's yours?
All the above combined with a three week taper brought me to my IM cracking fit; I even broke my 21-year old PR!
Al - Some thoughts from my own multi-year IM training journey:
On the way from 50 to 60, I have been taking more frequent recovery weeks, from 3:1 at the start to 1:1 last year, meaning alternate 17-20+ hours/10-11 hours. This year, switching to EN, the hours were fewer (13.5-16.5), but the intensity was greater, and I only used a couple of recovery weeks - one for transition after a *12* week OS, and one 3 weeks ago. What I did to get more rest was: swimming 2 days instead of three, 1 hour instead of 75 min. each session. And I dropped weight lifting as well, 4 times total in the last nine weeks instead of 1-2 times a week last year (maybe a mistake from a broader health perspective, I fear.)
Right now, literally yesterday and today, should be the low point in how we feel; we've abused our bodies, and they really need a rest. I took yesterday off, and only lifted weights for 30 minutes today after last week's long run and RR. I suggest two things: take all the time you need NOW to rest until you feel ready to go; that might be 2-4 days of no or very light work. Once your muscles start to grumble and you feel itching to run and bike, then pick up at that point in the plan; don't worry about the days you didn't do, they wouldn't have helped you, only made the hole deeper. And, wait until the entire cycle is done, and you are three+ weeks post IM, before you make a final analysis of how to design your next attempt at training for an IM. You need to see how you recover during the taper, and of course take the final exam on June 27th, and see how well you recover after that, before you decide how you might do things differently next time.
Wow, what a great thread! Very helpful for me. Coming off injury, I have often times felt wimpy or what's wrong with me?, with some of the intensities. I am slowly coming back, but have had to back down a bit at times. Another challenge for me has been to do some of these intense workouts with a rotating schedule of days/ evening /nights. Some days my body just says No way
Carrie- I love your idea of just training to enjoy it,cause that is where we all started
Thanks for posting all this. Man, am I glad I allowed myself to "know what I know." No way could I go from OS to race prep. I've been following the intensity in the HIM build with modifications, but am now in self-imposed transition mode before a final IM build. I'm getting that frayed-around-the-edges feeling, am feeling unhappy about facing every workout with so much intensity, and am feeling the fun is evaptorating. Time to self coach, and work it out for myself. I like a lot of the suggestions here, and am incorporating some of them based on previous convos on the forum. Thanks so much for sharing! Makes me feel much better.
I was talkiing to my gf this morning. Due to knee issues, she is now Ms. Roadie, has a bike coach and is training for Everest Challenge, some road races and Gran Fondos. Her coach said to her, "and then you have a week fully off, which NO ONE wants to do..." And I thought, that is so damn true.
The not training is really hard and really necessary. And Linda articulated something that I've been thinking about lately which is basically, if I only had a brain. The thing is, if you've been doing tri a while and have been a student of the game, you do almost always know what is right for you. You just have to have the confidence to trust what you know and how you feel and what you know will work for you. If things aren't working and you do what you've always done, then you'll get what you've always gotten. Linda (wsm) also said a while back and has reiterated the point that we are SELF coached, and as such we have to make these calls and take responsibility for them. True dat.
One of my big "tells" is overconfidence; sort of a pride before the fall kind of thing. Right when I'm feeling I've got it all sorted and I'm thinking podium, I'm about to enter Comeuppance County and if I don't slow down and recover I will be humbled. Gotta stay steady.
These are great discussions. Thanks all!
Great thread. I also have felt that 20 weeks in the OS was a bit too long for me. Took off every day of the two week transition and then jumped into the 12 week Int HIM plan. It took me about 3 weeks to finally feel like I was able to do all volume work in the HIM plan. So, for me, I think 16 weeks of OS would have worked better, with the same 2 week tranition and then maybe 2 or 3 weeks of general prep before starting the 12 week volume. Being able to analyze one's training, what to do different and what to do the same is very impowering.....I am all for the self coaching mentatlity in EN and for threads like this! I am a bit nervous about jumping into the 12 week IM training come June 21st!! I know the volume is going up exponetially! Prolly take me a couple of weeks again to get in the groove after tapering, racing and transition.....just gonna do what I can do and let the other stuff go.
Thanks for sharing. As others have said, rest is paramount...you can keep testing your "readiness" with some basic workouts as your body will recovery. Being in a hole sucks, but know that to get there you had to do some great work...it's a function of how to absorb it and get back on track that matters. Please keep us posted!
Patrick
I blew up after the OS with a Power Hack last year and had to take a little break from all intervals on the bike (both mentally and physically). This year I'm in exactly the opposite place. With the injury preventing me from really doing much of the OS plan at all, I'm now entering the 12 week build with very little OS under my belt. That's a completely different problem.
Thanks very much to everyone for your insightful comments. I will definitely remember them and do a better job at being proactive and adapting the next time through rather than following the plan into the wall in the hope that things would come around.
After the first IM RR where I absolutely cratered I bailed on IM CDA while I could still get a small refund. I have done an IM previously where I slogged through the run and could not see the point in replicating that once again – been there done that.
thanks for posting this, Al... this has been great to read through.
I'm not quite in the same boat (I wasn't able to do all 20 weeks of OS because of starting late due to injury so I didn't get totally burned out before "real" training began). But I will say that going from 2 days off per week to zippo has been really hard for me and there are days when I can't drag myself out of bed and others that I just don't want to train. I have taken rest days randomly just because I wasn't feeling it... and typically felt guilty and tried to make them up (usually, I did - but I've only done 2 swims per week and haven't felt the slightest bit guilty since, by triathlon standards, I'm a decent swimmer).
I've got a very, very long training road ahead of me... after my HIM this weekend I'll take a week off, then do 8 weeks of general prep (block 2 2x per the coaches) then 12 of IM prep... so keeping my head in a good place and my body from revolting will be key. I will say that I'm looking forward to the rest of June (no races) and July (fun races)... but I agree I do miss just going out and having fun (i.e., running with my running group on a Saturday morning) - having to explain my bike workouts to my boyfriend (and anyone else who offers to ride with me) is rough... no I don't just go out and ride to get mileage... no, it's okay go on ahead, I'm gonna drop back for 3 minutes... please don't mind me as I hammer past you for the next 15 minutes, yes I know my watch is beeping and I'm sorry it's annoying but I'm training... but at the end of the day I am uber disciplined and I like these sorts of workouts... because it breaks up the monotony and the whole workout into bite-sized pieces. Instead of staring down the face of a 60 mile ride, I'm only thinking about the next 15 minute work segment...
I all my experience. I did 20 weeks OS took 2 off, was sick and came back to 5 more weeks of OS. I missed a few workouts in the final 5 weeks but focused more on the run as I did not do any running for the first 10 weeks.
I then went in to a general prep block and again had to take some days off and felt like I was slacking it. At the end of the general prep block I did all the test and bump up my FTP by 7 and my vdot by 3 (weigh loss helped here).
I have just moved in to the 12 wekk IM plan and we will see how the volume goes. I was having some issues with it in the general prep block and honestly the 3 test in the gerneral prep week shelled me.
Also the 7 watt bump and 3 point vdot increase won't help alleviate any fatigue. Trying to hold the new zones could be difficult. I just have to check my ego and realize that sometimes when coach p says z1-z2 I have to stick to zone 1. Same on the bike remainder of the ride how I feel 75%. If I am below those levels then it's time for a day or two off.
Gordon