The Midseason Bike Volume Pop Explained [Video, Etc], Comments & Questions Welcome

Coach Patrick

Hey, this month's Coach Chat was about using a block of cycling volume to bump your overall fitness. This is a favorite topic of mine, as I think most triathletes get stuck in two specific mindsets that can limit their overall progression. Or you might just think this is an excuse to go out and ride your bike. Either way, you win! 

Please Note: This is for athletes with time in between race periods, or more than 8 weeks out from their next race!

Mode 1: Swim / Bike / Run, Not Just One

Some athletes feel like they won't progress as a triathlete if they aren't doing all three sports. What they don't realize is that sometimes the ability to do all three sports is as much a constraint as it is a benefit. This is never more true when we are mid-season, like the Summer. Volume is higher, weather is hotter, and you still have a job and a family. Workouts are closer together, and often finished off with the "Mow the Lawn" brick, or the "Swim with Kids" brick, etc.

In this scenario, the fact your long run is 48 hours from your long bike (with a Race Rehearsal swim in between) means that you are building the fitness to handle your race load...but you aren't going to boost your fitness. In fact, it's because of this consist 24-hour repeat loading that your in-season training makes you look like my next point...


Mode 2: Steady Eddie

Variety is not your friend in season. Consistency is key, especially when the volume goes up. Heaven forbid you bonk on a workout with poor nutrition -- depending on your current fatigue level, you might have just nuked the next three days of training! 

But as the volume goes up, consistency is about all you can muster. Your rides need to be steady not just for race day, but because it's all you can do to make them steady. There is no room in this schedule for shocking the system. 

So yes, you will get race fit..but if you are looking to improve by an order of fitness, then it's time to think of a bike volume boost. 


What Does Camp Do?

Here's what happened to my bike, pre vs post camp. This is the Peak Power Chart from TrainingPeaks.com. Part of it is mental (new definition of hard) but the adaptations are there...



And here is my run boost. Interestingly enough, haven't done mile repeats all year in my comeback....but improvements abound everywhere BUT my threshold mile area! Note run dates slightly different to remove a 5k race I did on 4/1 that was an outlier (and a bad idea!).



Watch the Video

https://endurancenation.wistia.com/medias/uqf6qzx5ks?embedType=iframe&seo=false&videoWidth=640

Four Main Talking Points

1. Take your weekly average bike volume and aim to double it in a week.
2. The closer together the days can go (with rest when needed) the bigger the effect.
3. Ride steady all day, with a focus on a strong last hour. 
4. Fuel these rides like a champ so you are ready the next day!

Additional Resources
Of course, we also have a Big Bike Week Training Plan that you can load and follow on your My Plan Page. Or you can read more about this volume stuff under Resources > Wiki here:

    Volume Strategy Series, Part I: Why Go Long
    Volume Strategy Series, Part II: The Big Bike Week
    Volume Strategy Series, Part II: The Big Tri Week
    Volume Strategy Series, Part IV: The Camp Week

Please share your tips and experiences with the bike volume!

Coach Patrick

No comments???? Crazy talk...

Jeremy Behler

@Coach Patrick I'm a huge believer in this.   I personally saw huge, increasing benefits with each.   My first was Blue Ridge '13 leading up to my first IMWI where I went from top 8% on the bike to top 6%.  At the same time my run went from top 9% to top 3%.     

Two years later (and after a VERY light year in 2014) I did the week long TOC camp in prep for IMWI '15.   On that same course I knocked off 11 minutes from my bike and 90 seconds from my run..ultimately leading to a KQ.

Then last year I did the week in Aspen with Al and crew which was 6 straight days of biking followed by the Ragnar Trail relay in prep for Kona.   I don't have any comparisons as this was a new race but I finished in the top 20% of my AG and entered the race as fit as I've been my entire life.

Now, certainly there are other elements of training that led into this, but the huge volumes strategically placed can have a few benefits.   First, it increases your 'base' significantly and ultimately lessens the impact of other priority calls you may need to make down the road from a personal or overtraining standpoint.    Second, as you mention it's sometimes difficult to get each WKO in around work, kids, etc.   Spending a week (or long weekend) allows you to focus solely on training....friends/family/bosses etc know you are out and you don't have to worry about rushing to get back for anything.  You can ride/run as long as you want.  If you want to go to bed at 8:30 because you are crushed you can without missing your kid's evening activity, etc.      And finally..you are surrounded by a group of like minded folks who push you harder than you'd likely push yourself.

Scott Alexander

I am also a big believer in big camp weeks, for all three disciplines.

I just got back from my 7th annual Mallorca cycling camp, where I get from 500-800 miles (with a ton of climbing) in a 7-10 day period. I also have several 3-day big bike weekends peppered throughout the year to provide boosts at the right times in prep for my key races.

Last year I had a big run block as well, where i was building to my first 50k, and was crushing runs after that.

"Supercompensation" works people!

Al Truscott

I didn't respond when this appeared last week, as I was getting crushed in a week long volume camp with Tim Cronk and Dave Tallo. As two of EN's most successful athletes, they showed a level of commitment and fitness which was inspiring, and tiring. Dave in particular cycled for 7 straight days (including a day when 6"+ snow had fallen, and another with temps in the upper 30s), 4-5 hours most days, as well as running an hour at least four times and even swimming for 90 minutes once. He was still smiling at the end. He felt this was perfect timing for his assault on IM Canada end of July. Tim, at the tail end of his recovery from Ultraman FL three months earlier, and on his semiannual cross-country trek between Tucson and AZ, had no intention of keeping up with Dave, even though he's aiming for IM LP a week earlier. His main focus is Kona in October, and he used this week to kick start his ramp up to training for that.

I attribute a fair part of my long success in triathlon to several decades of multi-day efforts, primarily in cycling. I swam competitively (not very well) from age 11-21, and I have a natural talent (due tony body type) for running. While I have never been in a cycling race, nonetheless I have spent a LOT of time doing things like: cycling across the USA in 1997, annual week long bike tours with family and friends 1999-2005 (Pacific Coast, Eastern Oregon, Canadian Rockies, BC/Vancouver Island, etc.), and since 2005, twice yearly 1-3 week "camps" at my family's retreat in the central Colorado mountains near Aspen, along with Rich's ToC in 2015 &16.

Getting such efforts right requires balancing a delicate equation which includes the following:

• bike fitness leading into the event
• number of days to be cycling
• timing in relation to the season's target ("A") race
• hours of cycling each day
• resulting in: daily effort goals, and managing efforts within each day's ride

Attention to the factors on Training Peaks'  Performance Management Chart - CTL, ATL, TSB, Ramp - is critical, as is attention to nutrition and recovery. I have a lot to say on this, but I have to go out and run 45 minutes, followed by a swim as the Aspen Rec Center, so I'll return in the PM with a synopsis of my spring, which has basically been one cycling camp after another (Cuba: 12 days; Blue Ridge: 5 days; SoCal: 5 days; Tim/Dave camp: 6 days; Al T
'Tude camp June 2-11), and an exploration of how I'm trying to solve the above quadratic equation to achieve best performance in my goal race this year, the ITU Long Course WC in Penticton, August 26.

Gordon Cherwoniak

While I'm no volume pop expert I did one such personal camp of almost 9 hours on the trainer before Lake Placid 2015.  My full notes on the experience are in the link below. Even though I was slow on race day, mainly due to my weight w/kg the 4 day volume pop made the IM ride one of the best I've done.  Good execution helped as well. 

I've had problems in the past stretching out the rides from the OS to the IM plan and setting up this mini volume camp did wonders for me mentally and physically for the 12 week IM plan. 

To your point 3, ride steady all day long and push the last hour, doing this builds confidence and also there's a lot of benefit when you are able to push that final hour.

https://endurancenation.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/18453/plan-for-3-4-days-7-10-hours-on-the-trainer#latest

Dave Tallo

My bike volume Pop experience is pretty good.  Me and the missus don’t have kids, and I do have a job with  predictable time demands, so this helps with getting to the starting line, sometimes a few times every season.  A gradual and patient approach is another.   You’ll note in the ^sequence^ above that Al is moving from Pop to Pop … and actually declared our camp last week as preparation for an upcoming camp.  Gotta love that.  

Additional points to the comments from Patrick and others:

 - the stance of “I train high ROI all year in EN, so my Pop/camp should also be high ROI” won't work.  As your volume in a Pop gets bigger, ROI falls.  It can’t be all steak AND all sizzle.  With the VERY rare exception, expecting to be able to do intensity and volume will be unsustainable, either during your Pop, or beyond.  

-A Pop doesn’t have to be a destination.   I know this disagrees with our new Team Holiday Camp Focus, but I have done many, many camps from home –solo, and with different local buddies - with some careful planning and task management.   In fact, in some cases, this is actually preferable to travelling for a camp, as it finds an extra day on either end for training or recovery, and removes the high recovery cost of travel.   It takes effort (ie make deposits of spousal approval units; commit to only screwing around online / on email after the bike work is done; make sure you have pre-made meals; have the laundry, bike gear and other infrastructure covered off as if you were in a distant locale, etc).   Gordon takes this to an impressive extreme above, and probably developed Chuck Norris -level mental toughness as a byproduct.  

-But if you live somewhere with shitty weather, a destination certainly doesn’t hurt in the winter. 

-Having done highly prescribed and precise Pops, with measurements of time in zone/calories, CHO-PRO-fat in, TSS-goals-per-day as a multiple of average TSS, etc etc on one extreme, and a much more holistic approach of “you’re here to train, more than normal” on the other, I have learned that the latter is normally where I land when, even if I try to get all fancy about the goal setting I go through the planning and execution exercise each time a Pop comes up.      While I think it’s good to follow very specific objectives, for me, it really does boil down to some of parboiled thinking I’ve adapted from Steve Fleck on ST:

-ride big every day, 4 or 5 hours.  Run or swim (or both) every day, too. 

-every third day, recover via riding a reduced number of hours and at a reduced duration. 

-string this together to get to Pops of 3 days, 6 days, 9 days, and so on. 

 

My additions - as Lived Experience (I HATE that term - what experience is un-lived?) and lessons learned the hard way: 

-eat and perform for tomorrow’s ride.   Intensity is your enemy.  More food than you think you need is better. 

-Carbohydrates.   Last week I saw Al eating a potato.  And he still had 6% bf afterwards!  OMGOMGOMG.   It flies in the face of the Fat Adapted science.   

-More sleep.  I saw Tim taking naps after rides last week, the smart bastard.  But more sleep than normal.   Naps really are gold, and early to bed, early to rise.  Unless it's 3 degrees when you rise .. then start the ride later.

-if you’re planning to get into a dick-measuring contest on Strava and showcase e-numbers, count on the last day, or two, or three, to be diminished in either quality, enjoyment or both.    

-You will be unpopular with your crew, yourself or both if you show up with patched tires, a chain that drops everytime you shift to the SCR, or any other malady. 

-Bring gear for every riding condition. 

-get a really good, really regimented recovery plan for the period after the Pop, and follow it.    More rest, better quality food, sleep, reduced intensity and activity, etc.  

Pops are also central to triathlon prep, but the moment they compromise consistency is exactly when they become problematic.   What I mean by that is a Pop is best used in service of preparation for a big race, but when it starts to become a camp for the sake of camp, or spill over to other non-tri objectives, it starts to become a problem.   It’s attractive to go apeshit on an mountain because that’s what the rest of the team is doing at camp, and you want the award of best camper, but … think it through.   You still have 5-10 weeks to get through, and can chew through that (and watch your OS gains erode as you spend a post-Pop in recovery) pretty dramatically if you treat a camp like a three-day stage race.     Acknowledge you are bringing an ego, and then Leave your ego.  In some ways (or even to a greater extent), I think it’s preferable to follow the same EN advice when the coaches suggest that doing a Marathon in the same season as an IM Marathon is a bad idea.   Treat the Pop as something that should be handled carefully.   

Last, I like Pops as mental prep, and I think there’s some value to coming into them with that goal.  You’re forking over $$ every month to an Endurance outfit, and Enduring something normally means overcoming some kind of adversity, obstacle or other force and persisting.  So the Pop isn’t a pleasure trip all the way.  Sorry … but I think the Pop should stretch you, should push you to do work beyond what is reasonable, and should have you having to make a larger-than-normal mental effort than normal.  The art is getting that stretch just right.