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Noorussad Armar Year One Coach Thread

edited July 18, 2017 2:34PM in Coaching Forum 🧢

Here's your personal Coach Thread, as promised. This is where you'll return to post all your "coach" questions as responses; I'll see them and reply. This first post is here to guide you through your first year on EN, so you can always come back here. 

As you'll see in this forum, I handle all manner of edits and changes.  So post away, know that I reply here usually M/W/F each week.

Power User Tip: Click the Star icon by the Title of this thread to subscribe, and you'll get email updates when I do reply. 

Your WHY and Goals

Coming soon...see homework below!

 

Your Season Outline

These are your recommended training plans, including the date you should start each one (sometimes you won’t complete a full plan but transition to another one).  You can change your plans on the Training Plan page by clicking the Move / Change button. Learn more about each plan on the Training Plan Central Page.

  • Last updated by Coach on 06/21/2017 
  • Complete the Trial Testing Week, save your Bike and Run Zones to the My Zones Page.
  • On 6/12 Follow the Template Trial Plan to end on 6/20/2017
  • On 6/21 Load the Intermediate 2017 Short Course, 20wks to end on 9/19/2017 - You will do 8 weeks of this plan, then transition to the IM plan (below) and we'll work the triathlon into that particular weekend. 
  • On 8/30 Load the Beginner 2017 EN*Full, 12 Weeks to end on 11/21/2017 -  You'll do the full 12 weeks into your race. 

Coach Notes

Sorry this took a while! When we do talk, you'll need to tell me more about your foot situation so I can help you adjust the plans. 

  • Also, you are FREE to do any extra biking you want in during your Short Course Plans. Century rides, etc are all welcome as "prep" for the big push to Arizona. 
  • While you are poking around, you'll want to check out our Official AZ Race Page


Coach Contact Points

These are all the key points in your first year where we must talk. You can schedule all calls with me for these times online here. Please remember to include your phone number.

  • Welcome Call in Week One (set it up here)
  • Coach Call in Week Two to talk about your season (set it up here)
  • End of Trial Call -- We review your experience & Unlock Year One / Race Execution for you (set it up here)
  • End of Season Call -- We review your year & Strategize for your “gap” and Year Two (to be announced)

For short or last minute questions, we recommend you use the Red Chat Icon on the main Members website
We have also organized a complete chart of the best ways to contact us online here

Your First Month on the Team

You have quite a few things to do when you start up. There are instructions on the top of the website, but you can review them under Resources / 0-- First 30 Days on EN.  If you have any trouble, don’t hesitate to reach out via the chat icon on the main Members website here.

 

Your First Year Inside Endurance Nation

RACE EXECUTION and how we can help you get faster by being smarter on race day. There are no medals for great swims or getting to the top of a hill first — on race day only your finish time counts. There are many ways of being faster, and here are some of the resources we have to help you out.

- The Four Keys of Race Execution Video: The Coaches walk you through the macro level elements of a successful race.

- Distance Specific Guidance: Learn the fundamentals of racing Short Course and Long Course events, from each discipline to pacing zones, etc.

- Race Specific Pages: We have aggregated information on specific races from the internet, race reports and even our own coaching resources. You can find your race Master Racing Page section.  

- The Race Forums:  You can search for race reports or connect with your teammates. There are sections for 70.3, 140.6, and Marathons.


Your Homework

Tell Us Why You Choose EN & Your Season Goals

  • Please reply below with WHY you chose Endurance Nation and WHY you train/compete.
  • Whenever possible, please identify your goals -- time, body composition, completion...the sooner you put them down the sooner we can get towards achieving them. 

Looking forward to working with you this year,

~ Coach P

Comments

  • edited June 21, 2017 11:21PM
    Firstly, thank you for taking time to put this together. Still a lot of information so i'm trying to go through it and process it fast. 

    Why I train/compete?
    Always been an athlete and grew up competing with track and field all though my school, played soccer for my schools and competed with division A teams in my school league. Competing to me is a thrill, one that cannot be described and can only be experienced. Setting a goal a chasing it down gives me a sense of adventure but most importantly it is SOOO much FUN! Especially the triathlon community!! I did my first sprint tri in Aug 2015, got instantly hooked and since then i have progressively improved and graduated to bigger and better races. I started doing triathlons knowing that one day i will be crowned an Ironman. Made a decision while volunteering at IMAZ 2016 to get this accomplished at IMAZ 2017! So here i am chasing what i have long yearned for.

    Why EN?
    My swim coach (who i have been working with since early 2015 and who i trust for advice) competed at IMAZ 2016, used EN for help and support and ended up winning his AG and qualifying Kona. He suggested EN for my IMAZ prep so it was a no brainer to me.

    Goal for IMAZ:
    I'd like to finish a strong race at IMAZ, preferably around the 13:00 - 13:30 mark or so. 
    Below are the results of the last 70.3 (Oceanside) I raced this year.

    Swim: 47:05
    Bike: 3:34:45
    Run: 2:31:36 (I normally run my 13.1 at 1:50 so i know i can improve here for sure)
    Total: 7:08:57
    T1: 8:58
    T2: 6:33

    Foot Injury Update:
    I had my X-rays done and after a detailed inspection by my orthopedic doctor he was happy to inform me that i had nothing broken or fractures. Just some minor swelling in the foot muscles. He has however advised me to stay off running for about 4 weeks. (So i'd like to do my run test after that) and most importantly work on strengthening my foot strength and stabilization. And buy a new pair of shoes. I have been using the HOKA Clayton 2 and now looking break in a new pair of HOKA Clifton 3.

    Work Travel Update:
    • Travel to South Korea July 8-19. Its a nice hotel with a fully equipped gym and a small pool (about 20 yds) so i can still continue with strength training sessions and a few tread mill work as well.
    • Travel to Canada end July or early August (dates TBD)

    Training resources available: 
    • I have access to a fully equipped gym and a junior Olympic swimming pool right in my apartment community.
    • I have a CycleOps Fluid 2 trainer, with a power meter on my rear wheel and full access to Trainer Road.  
    • I am a part of a triathlon team and on a weekly basis we do hill repeats (Tuesday nights ~2 hrs), track runs (Wednesday nights ~90 mins) and long bike rides (Saturday mornings anywhere between 50-80 miles).
    • I am a member of a masters swim program (Nova Masters) with coached sessions 7 days a week with multiple times available throughout the day. 

    IMAZ Training Camps I plan to do:
    • Camp #1 – IRONMAN 4 Day Race Preparation Camp – August 10-13, 2017 at Lake Tahoe, CA
    • Camp # 2 – IRONMAN 3 Day Race Rehearsal Camp – Sept 22-24, 2017 at SlowTwitch Ranch, Valyermo, CA
    • More Details: http://www.coachsbr.com/2017-training-camps/

    I have a coaches call set up with you for Wednesday 06/28/2017 at 10:10am so i look forward to it. Let me know if there is anything I missed out on or anything specific you'd like to know.

    Thanks,
    Noor
  • @Noorussaad Armar - Great to talk with you, and I have to say… Holy cow you are organized! I really appreciate this attention to detail, it makes my job so much easier.

    Here are the group workouts that you mention our resources for you:

    • Tuesday Nights = Hill Repeat Ride
    • Saturday = Longer Ride is 50 to 80 miles. 
    • Sunday = OWS + Longer Run (not attending those). 
    • Masters Swim (Mike) - Mon / Wed / Friday AMs
    Based off of those workouts here are my suggestions for while you're in the short course plan:
    • Mon - Swim with mike
    • Tue - drop VO2 bike and do your group hill ride, run after if you can. 
    • Wed - Run as planned, optional swim.
    • Thu - Bike as planned.
    • Fri - Swim day.
    • Sat - Group ride.
    • Sun - OWS and run long... Note that if you do decide to attend the swim, when you don't need to do three swims a week with Mike.

    Return to Running -- Given the issue with your foot after the marathon, I want to make sure you return to running the right way. Here's a link to the article I was mentioning before, I suggest you start in Week One when you're ready and let me know when you hit week for… Got to make a start to pick things back up again when you have some running on your legs. You can keep this up on the road. 

    Travel Plans -- because it's a work trip I don't want you to go to crazy with your training. Baseline goal is to get 30 to 45 minutes of aerobic activity every day, your choice of modality. The only thing that I would"Ask" of you will be to get in a long ride of roughly the duration your plan has for that week. Even if it's on a stationary or spin bike. Maybe pack some cycling shorts just in case you need the comfort!

    Lower Leg Strength Training - we discussed this briefly, I think it's something best refer to your physical therapist. They will be able to give you something more specific to your current situation. The only thing I would add to the discussion is suggesting that you purchase a Yamuna "half ball" for your home/office. I love mine and massage my feet out on it all the time. 

    https://www.yamunausa.com/products/foot-fitness-kit

    That link is the whole kit, but you can probably find that for much cheaper on Amazon.

    Training Camps -- let's talk about what you're going to do at those camps once you're back from Korea. Okay, time to get to work!

    ~ Coach P
  • @Noorussaad Armar

    Great call last week, and you sound as though you are in a very good place with your training right now. Going through Mike's camp was tough, but you will be stronger for it. Stacking the training stress back-to-back has a powerful effect!

    Since you are about 12 weeks out, it's time to make sure that you are tightening things up. 

    Your Basic Week:
    • M: AM swim, PM brick 
    • T: Hills 2h 
    • W: long swim 
    • Th: Split 5/5 
    • F: AM swim, PM brick 
    • S: long bike 
    • S: long run   
    I think your schedule looks really good. I want to encourage you to both push the hills on the Tuesday ride and the last hour of your Saturday ride. Time to start challenging yourself on the bike while we still remain steady on the run (no flash there please). 

    Upcoming Events:
    • Sept 9 - Amtrak Century -- This is always fun...enjoy it, and make it more race specific by Swimming Long on Friday (no brick), doing the Century on Sat, and then your long run on Sunday.
    • 9/16: Olympic race -- Plan on a regular training week, but take Friday off, Saturday Race, Sunday drop the long run in favor of your long ride...we need those rides!
    • 9/22: IM Camp -- Time to get back to work here with Mike!!!

    Other Items:
    • Make sure you have a Sweat Test done (you can do this on any long weekend ride) to make sure we can dial in your nutrition. 
    • Make sure you shoes have less than 350-400 miles on them (you might need new ones as you start the Race Prep Phase).
    • Remember that if you need a day off...just take it and reach out to me here. I can fix rested, but not overtrained or sick!!!
    Onwards, 

    ~ Coach P



  • Hi coach,

    Sorry this took a while but below are the pics that you requested me off the bike.





    Thank you for your valuable feedback regarding the weekend events planned for September. I'll get the sweat test done this weekend and share the results shortly. 

    Let me know what you think of my bike posture and if i would need any adjustments.

    Thank you,
    Noor 
  • @Noorussaad Amar - thank you for sending along the pictures. My only concern is that your shoulder is not over your aerobars pads. You can see the red line where it is vs the green line where I'd like it to be. Not everyone can get to the green line, but the closer you are the better. Right now you will be using your core a great deal of the time to keep yourself supported which will eventually fail.

    The best way to achieve this is to move the seat forward. As you can see from the bottom picture the nose of  your saddle (if you dropped a straight string from it should be over the center of your crank / green line) or a little in front. In your case it is very far behind. So a bike shop/filter should be able to help you move your seat forward and upward's (it moves on a diagonal) which will then open up your head bagel and get your shoulders closer to the top of your pads.

     You have room to do this because if you can see from the orange box, here he'll is almost parallel with the pedal, which is good for a road bike fit but not for tri bike… It's OK if your heel is higher on a tri bike because were trying to achieve a better body position.  I hope this helps! 



  • I'm a visual person and that now makes SO much sense! Thanks for the valuable feedback coach, time to go get a bike fit done :) I'll keep you updated as i make progress through my weekly workouts as well and schedule a call in the next 2 weeks to discuss my training.

    Thanks again,
    Noor
  • @Noorussaad Armar - great!!! I am standing by here in the forums as well. If  we can make these changes within the next few weeks, you will have plenty of time to adapt to them and reap the benefits on race day! 
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