Mark Thoma Official Coach Thread

Coach Patrick

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 Races

• 02/04/2018 - Kaiser Permanente San Francisco Half Marathon (B)
  
• 03/25/2018 - Oakland Half Marathon (C)
• 04/07/2018 - Oceanside 70.3® 
• 05/12/2018 - Ironman Santa Rosa (A)

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 08/31/2017
• Complete the Trial Testing Week, save your Bike and Run Zones to the My Zones Page.
• On 9/4/2017 Load the -- Run Durability 2 (8 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 10/1/2017
• On 10/2/2017 Load the -- Run Durability 3 (7 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 10/29/2017
• On 10/30/2017 Load the Intermediate OutSeason / Run Durability Plan, 14wks to end on 2/4/2018
• On 2/5/2018 Load the Intermediate Swim Camp to end on 2/18/2018
• On 2/19/2018 Load the Intermediate EN*Full to end on 5/13/2018
• On 5/14/2018 Load the -- Post Ironman Transition Plan, All Levels (4wks) to end on 6/10/2018
• On 6/11/2018 Load the Intermediate Bike Focus Block, 6 Weeks to end on 7/22/2018

 

Coach Notes

Mark, great to have you back and an honor to help you train for IMSR. By all accounts a great race (even if the roads are bumpy) and so you'll need to be ready. Your basic outline of a year looks good. Here's what you'll doing:

• Short Course plan thru HITs, then one block of our Run Durability Program (RDP) to get some base without overdoing the training.
• Dive into the OutSeason® in October (you could wait a week, but it's tight if you do) where you build our FAST to get you ready for the year and the upcoming volume. We'll work in your 13.1 for sure. 
• We exit the OutSeason® early right into your Race Prep plan for the Ironman. Its game on at that point.

Of course, if you have the chance / weather to get in some earlier bike miles, we'll take it. That is something we can discuss in our Coach Call, as well has how to make the basic schedule work for you as you reintegrate  with EN. I am excited you have a clear set of goals and you are already back to a basic level of work. 

While you get started, you might want to dive into our IMSR resource page and read up on the 2017 plan updates so you can see what's new since you were last on the Team!  

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

Coach Patrick

@mark thoma - Great to talk to you last week. I know we talked about your tight scheduling, but I believe you have plenty of time to IMSR. The big thing right now is locking you into some consistency. Whether or not you so the Short Course Plan, we'll want you dialing in a daily session...and not fighting it if you need that "day off" during the week to make life flow better. 

You can set up a follow up call with me here for October: https://calendly.com/pmccrann/15min 

In the meantime, feel free to update me here in this Thread and ask any questions you have about making adjustments, etc!

~ Coach P

Mark Thoma

Hi Coach!  Thanks for getting back to me and outlining the training course for IMSR.  I'm super excited about getting back into the training and racing.

One point thought, as we chatted about in my other coaches thread last week, I'm going to drop HITS in the December and just have the 13.1, Oceanside and IMSR.  Will my season plan look different then?

Coach Patrick

@Mark Thoma - I thought there was something there...which is why I left that sort of open. 

I edited the plan ^above^ to have you roll from the Run Durability Program (RDP) right into the October OS and out (via Swim Camp) into your IM plan. We can incorporate Oceanside 70.3® into it...but this will get it done!

Mark Thoma

Sweet!!!  Thanks.  Looking forward to getting on a schedule and getting started!

Mark Thoma

Hi Coach

Thanks for your Kona narrative and representing the team.  It was really awesome to follow you in the weeks leading up to such a huge race.  

I'm moving well through the RDP and I'm on Week3 of RDP3.  Its been a while since I have tested (5K on 8/31) and I feel have improved and I'm now underpaced.  Yesterday I did 2x1 mi @ Z4 and even at 20 sec/mi faster per mile, my HR was 6-8 BPM below threshold and it felt easy.  I've also dropped 15lbs which is helping.  I start the Outseason in a week and half but is there any benefit to testing now?  Thinking forward, should athletes self test as they go along if the perceive a dramatic improvement and could that be built into the RDP's?

Second question:  Your original outline has me doing Outseason/Run Durability Intermediate.  Awesome - I'm so excited to start.  I noticed you added "Outseason18 Run (or Bike) Focus" to the list of training plans.  Which would you suggest.  

Thanks

Coach Patrick

@“mark Thoma” -  thank you for the kind words, always proud to represent for sure!

As you improve you are free to simply make the adjustments yourself. There’s nothing wrong with adjusting your zones buy a couple seconds here and there to continue progression.

The difference is that on the run we do it we actively, seeing that we ran faster and sustained it, then making a change to our zones. On the bike we do it proactively, aggressively adjusting Zones to try and chase the fitness.

I don’t think you always need to retest as the cost of a test is pretty high but I support you in making those micro adjustments especially in short windows like this one. 

 As for the out season,  I am asking people to choose by number about seasons. If you are in an odd outseason like one, three, etc., do the run focus. If you aren’t even out season like two, four, etc. then do the bike focused. I’ll see you in the OS!

Mark Thoma

Great, that really helpful about times.

Good to know about the outseason planning and off years.  To be specific, do I do "Outseason18 Run Focus" or "Outseason17 RDP".  

Mark Thoma

disregard, just saw the posting w the answer.

Coach Patrick

  

Mark Thoma

Testing this week was really helpful. It was nice getting some solid numbers to show the training paying off.  Granted coming from a lower level of fitness, the bumps aren't that surprising.

I was reading in the wiki or somewhere that you like to see the 5min test be about 1.2 of the FTP and above 1.22 means FTP is lower than it could/should be.  I came in about 1.27 on yesterday's test and I was about the same starting the OS.  I have been doing Level 2 bike workouts, but was considering jumping up to Level 3 to work FTP more.  Thoughts?  Other ideas? Am I over analyzing? 

Testing on back to back days was tough.  I had considered rearranging the week to get some rest between tests but circumstances didn't allow it.  The run test still went well but it was pretty taxing.  Not sure if you would consider adjusting the plans in the future for this.  Just a thought

Coach Patrick

I think our best bet is to have you stay at level two, but to move your FTP number up five or 10 Watts.  Try the five watts first, and if you can do it across the entire workout then let’s aim for 10. I said I guess it’s not that you have a shortcoming, it’s just that you have more bandwidth there and we should try to get it!

Mark Thoma

Hi Coach
So I've somehow gone and injured my hamstring?piriformis?Glute?TFL?  I had backed off a bit from the offseason work due to outside stressors and allowed my CTL to drift a smidge.  On gradual return, this problem flared up.  Was it something old or something new?  I dont know.  I'm doing the appropriate things (NSAIDs, foam roller, roller ball, stretch, no running, ez riding, etc) and its feeling better.

I cancelled my plans to run a half marathon this weekend but was wondering what I should do going forward.  Thanks

Coach Patrick

 Man, I am so sorry to hear that. Remember, sometimes it’s not the exercise. Could be an extended trip in the car or even just extra time at the desk. Do yourself a favor and make sure you aren’t sitting with your legs at 90° for more than 45 minutes at a time. Even a little walk around the office will loosen things up.

I would also suggest getting a lacrosse ball that you can put in your chair and sit on the sensitive part of the upper hamstring a couple times a day that also helps keep loose. I keep one of those in my car.

 I’m OK with you continuing to run, but we have to make sure you’re very warmed up first. That means a couple minutes of walking and slow jogging at the start of every run, or maybe a 10 to 15 minutes spin on the bike first. Don’t worry about pace right now just worry about form and try and keep it on flat surfaces for the next two weeks. That should do it. 

Mark Thoma

Hi Coach

there has been decent improvement with lots of stretching and rolling. Runs have been easy and flat.  I talked to an Ortho Sports guy at work who didn’t think it warrented imaging at this point - but did get me set up w a PT who specializes in running.  I see him next week.  I’m leary to do hill repeats till this clears up more. 

Also, are there any modifications I need to do to the IM plan for when I squeeze in Oceanside?

Coach Patrick

OK, sounds good. We usually only modify the week of Oceanside. You would do the regular training plan through Wednesday and drop the long run from Thursday, replacing it with a short break: 60 minute bike/30 minute run. Friday is swim only and then you have the race that weekend. We get back into things the following Monday with workouts for time not intensity!