Julien Pequegnot Official Coach Thread
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.
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Your Notes
In total I have done 3 olympics (quassy, NYC tri, Westchester tri) and 2 70.3s (Eagleman in 2014, IM Atlantic City in 2016). I have done a marathon and a few halves (probably about 5 years ago).
I train moderately 3-4 times a week, almost no swimming recently so mostly cycling / running.
Your Races
- Syracuse 70.3™ (6/17/18)
- Ironman Mont Tremblant (8/19/18)
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 09/20/2017
- Complete the Trial Testing Week, save your Bike and Run Zones to the My Zones Page.
- Follow the Template Trial Week to end on 9/24/2017
- On 9/25/2017 Load the Intermediate Run Durability 1 (9 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 10/22/2017
- On 10/23/2017 Load the -- Run Durability 2 (8 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 11/19/2017
- On 11/20/2017 Load the -- Run Durability 3 (7 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 12/17/2017
- On 12/18/2017 Load the -- Run Durability 3 (7 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 1/14/2018
- On 1/8/2018 Load the Intermediate OutSeason / Run Durability Plan, 14wks to end on 4/15/2018
- On 4/16/2018 Load the -- Swim Camp to end on 4/29/2018
- On 4/30/2018 Load the Intermediate Bike Focus Block, 6 Weeks to end on 06/10/2018
- On 5/28/2018 Load the -- EN*Full to end on 8/19/2018
- >> Race Syracuse 70.3 <<
- On 8/20/2018 Load the -- Post Ironman Transition Plan, All Levels (4wks) to end on 9/16/2018
- On 9/17/2018 Load the -- Run Durability 1 (9 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 10/14/2018
Coach Notes
Julien, gerat to have you on the Team and excited to take you to your Ironman in Tremblant (we love it there)!!!!
Lots to discuss. We can cover most of the center coach called want me to talk on the phone. In the meantime you can see this season outlined above for what I'm considering to be your schedule. After you do your testing this week, only if you think it's required, we will put you in the Run Durability Plan for all three segments. In fact you may very well end up repeating that third segment around the holidays in December.
Then you will jump into our OutSeason Plan which is our most valuable and effective program. It is here you will build the run and bike strength that will carry you throughout the year. Then you transition from that into the Swim Camp plan which is your chance to recover.
You will do a few weeks of our Bike Focus plan to give your bike a jumpstart for diving right into our Full Plan in your race build. These are all dates that you can add to your calendar and we will work off of them as we go through the season.
You can learn more about the run durability approach here: How to Train This (And Every Fall) Inside Endurance Nation and I encourage you to join our chat group here:
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
In terms of your questions, I chose EN as I am looking for a bit more structure in my training - so far I have used whatever I found online to train for races. I race mostly for long term health and races are there to help achieve these long term goals, so I tend to have 2-3 races maximum a year and shooting for bucket races.
In terms of goals, I would say:
Tri: Ironman (aiming at completing), half (current PB 6:02 so would like to break 6 or 5:45), olympic (current PB 2:45)
Running: improve current PBs (1:48 half, 4:08 full so would like to get towards 3:45)
Julien
I have been following as planned the "Run Durability 1 (9 months out) -- 4 weeks" plan. So far so good.
1) I would point though that my HR is quite elevated (about avg 165 or so vs a MAF of 145). I am not bothering too much about that as a) it's not different from past experiences and b) I assume that with fitness gains / time on feet the HR would trend down. However if you feel it deserves adjusting down the paces please let me know.
2) For the next 2 (possibly 3) weeks I dont have access to a pool; I thought of replacing the pool session with a bike session and swim cords, does that make sense?
Thanks,
Julien
Jenn Edwards here. Coach P has asked a few WSMs to cover the Coaches Thread while he is in Kona kicking butt and taking names. :-)
1 - Assuming your paces are based on a recent test, then yes, I'd recommend you simply carry on and that HR will likely come down as you build fitness.
2 - Bummer! Absolutely hit the swim cords to keep those muscles working. As for the bike, I'd pass on that or keep it easy as you really want to be able to hit those run workouts.
Hope that helps and don't hesitate to reach back out here if it doesn't or certainly no hard feelings if you'd prefer to circle back with P when he returns.
Great call..thanks again for your time! Are are some of my notes...
Let me know if I missed anything!
~ Patrick
Ps, let's get you to change your profile picture here when you get a chance!!!
I will see which half makes sense to include in the June time frame and get back to you.
Many thanks!
Julien
I am now booked for Syracuse 70.3 on June 17. Feels like it's best aligned wrt course profile.
Couple (newbie) questions to ensure I got this right:
1) I saw the OutSeason mails / thread. I assume I am part of the January OutSeason group.
2) for RDP, I assume that it's fine / even recommended to add moderate runs beyond what's in the program? I see many people running every day.
3) Any guideline on frequency of testing or should I keep what I have until the plan tells me to retest?
Thanks,
Julien
For now, we just want you consistent, even when traveling. As I mentioned, you'll be able to run solo (or with the Team in our Holiday Challenge) so don't let a minor inconvenience deter you from keep up the workout streak!
Onwards!
~ Coach P
Update from my side:
1) I signed up for the Brooklyn Half Marathon on May 19th. It's about a month after outseason and I am treating it as rehearsal for summer races and not looking for any performance
2) Outseason is going well, I havent missed any workout yet (besides the optional swims). I bumped my FTP from 195 to 211 this week, and I feel I can do more, so positive on the bike.
The run test though, I had to bail half way through. This was on treadmill (where I spend a lot of time) and with very modest target (about 10secs faster over 5k). The blocker is breathing rather than the legs. Not sure if it's because I spent all my time at lower intensity or because I did back to back bike test day followed by run test day.
For now I will keep the zones as they are (I think they are already conservative), should I try to retest (maybe in the week-end or in a week) or would you advise I just let it go and wait for week 8 tests?
Thanks,
Julien
That half sounds perfect. It’s a great time set the benchmark, like you said, for the rest of your season runs.
An update on my progress:
1) I finished OS feeling not too tired. I opted out of testing the last week because I was on vacation abroad at week 13 for spring break and thought it better to repeat week 13 than do a test that would likely not be representative. Golden Cheetah has been pretty accurate to estimate my FTP and has me at 220W (I started at 190 then 210 mid OS).
2) I am in process of changing jobs now; the nice side effect is I have about 9 weeks of garden leave where I can put more volume / spend more time. For now I have been adding bike sessions on zwift, maybe it would be good to add more swims or simply scale everything up in volume? I feel that if I could push my bike fitness to around ~240-250 or so, that should trickle down fitness wise and give the required buffer for Tremblant.
My run though seems a bit stagnant and in the past I have tended to crumble on the run so maybe building durability would be good (presumably more run off the bike sessions?). It's definitely the part that intimidates me the most, especially since I have not had runs above 1h30 for quite some time.
3) Is it too early to start thinking about the bike setup (fit etc) and look at race execution examples? Maybe the bike setup, fit etc might not be too critical given my races (syracuse, tremblant) are hilly.
Thanks,
Julien
1) Smart move and nice gains in the OS.
2) Congrats. Garden leave is the best invention ever!!! The safest way to add some more work if you have extra time on your hands is to add in some bike volume. I personally love the Zwift races (which you could do after a scheduled workout if you wanted to). There are also a lot of people doing swim camps now. Most people don't add more swim volume because the gains can seem marginal for the admin time required, but if you suddenly have a lot of extra time, you can do more swim workouts and have the added benefit that it will actually help your legs recover from the incremental bike work. (And better swim fitness will set your day up better and actually help you late in the run even if your swim split is no faster). And since you mentioned the run, getting in the extra run frequency is also something that makes sense now that you're still pretty far away form IMMT. I would honestly not be afraid to add a short 1-3 mile run after (or before as a warmup) every bike session. But word of caution, I just said to do A LOT of extra work. Don't do that all at once... ramp it up over a couple of weeks. The run pounding will be the more likely thing to get you injured, so keep these extra "frequency" runs relatively easy... You could probably add 15-20 mins to each bike workout the first week, then another 15-20 mins to each one the next week and so on as your life allows. I would personally also add a full hour to EVERY night sleep as well. This will help you recover better from this added workload.
3) It is NEVER too early to think about bike setup, ESPECIALLY the bike fit. Doing that now will give you plenty of time to adapt well before your A race. This is critical for EVERY Ironman race...
I am in final week of swim camp scheduled to move to Bike focus next week for 4 weeks. Looking at the plans and keeping in mind that I have a Half in 8 weeks, I wonder if replacing that time with the equivalent in the EN HALF plan (probably bike focused) would make sense? They seem similar in structure but EN HALF is heavier on volume which suits well my current schedule.
I will look for a bike fit as well, maybe ask my LBS for advice for a fitter around NY. There is a lot of info of prior race reports at IMMT on the site - both exciting and intimidating!
Many thanks,
Julien
http://ttbikefit.com/
x100 on Todd. He’s the best, but he’s usually booked out so reach out on the sooner side!!!
~ Coach P
ps bonus of coffee with me in RI!
I am still going through the EN half plan and so far the increased volume is going fine. As per the plan above, I would switch to the EN Full on 5/28 (despite racing a half on 6/17, unless you think I should keep the EN half plan until the half race and then switch to the full plan).
Swim: I followed the EN e-book which has lots of great advice - I surprised myself in swimming sub 1:30 min / 100yds. Even the late 300s in the sessions, I can still hold sub 1:30 so I think the focus is on keeping that pace longer. I am also looking at the swim faster e-book, though I am quite happy to just maintain what I have, grow endurance, do daily swim cords sessions, etc. I also have an in-ground pool and bought a harness so plan on using that a bit to reduce the admin cost of swimming. I will put in daily core + cords sessions as it likely also helps on the run form.
Bike: I have increased volume and can cope with that. My FTP seems to plateau around 230. I am thinking I should stop being obsessed on that too much but instead look at getting longer sessions in (that part terrifies me a bit for the full)? I am still working on getting a bike fit; unfortunately when doing a tune up, turns out I have to change the handlebar and extensions, so I need to get that fixed before doing the fit.
Run: My vdot has remained as per before outseason, think I am doing something wrong here as across the board I have improved except on the run. I am averaging about 50km / week, maybe it's a question of time? I dropped weight (about 5lbs), body fat (about 3%) and avg HR seems to drop too, so maybe I should not worry too much about it.
I have a half marathon this week-end, I am planning on treating it as my long run training session, focus on keeping things under control, form, hydration, etc with no pressure on the time. The next race in a month is Syracuse 70.3, that will be a good test of the progress so far. Bit nervous as it's quite hilly and the run part is a major question mark.
Let me know if I should change any of this or if there is anything else I should pay attention to. I have another 5 weeks of garden leave during which I want to put a lot of focus, after that I will have to juggle a bit more to get the sessions in.
Thanks,
Julien
Some of the suppress the numbers might be a result of what you’re doing with the run durability work which is great investment in your overall year, and future years as well! Let’s see how the half goes this weekend and we can adjust as needed!
I did the Brooklyn half this morning, was quite rainy. I finished in 1:48:10 which is a PR (just 13 seconds, from 5 years ago but felt more controlled). The vdot I have was putting my HMP at 8:28 min/mi, but that results solves to about 8:15 min/mi. Do you think there should be some adjustment (like boosting up the vdot to reach that pace?). [EDIT: I went to the testing page and realize you can put a 13.1 test number, so keyed that in and it boosted a bit all my paces - assume that's the right thing to do]
I also should point - my comment above was probably understating some parts:
- body composition: I did drop about 8 lbs, that does take me to my lightest ever (it's probably a good thing for tremblant). I do find it harder to hold my ftp sessions on the bike.
- heart rate has always been high, but it's trending down. The half was @ 160 avg which is low for me. I wonder if I should start incorporating some HR capped runs since I see it on the execution part (i.e. keep HR below last hour of the bike, etc). Before, doing a MAF type of effort would have been a brisk walk...
- My swim pace is easily under 1:30 min/yds, in fact more like around 1:25 min/yds. I am getting more confident about that part, maybe that will mean I can put more time on the bike / run, though the swim improvement has been motivating in itself.
Thanks,
Julien
The other option is to not worry so much about the threshold work but getting a “pop” of a volume on the bike. This would be a Saturday plus Sunday long ride weekend. Typically baked into weeks 15 of your training plan. In your case this would be back to back for our rights, freestanding. A chance to help your system step up with additional load but without the work that would ruin other training sessions. Any sense as to which you prefer? The other option is to not worry so much about the threshold work but get in a “pop“ of a volume on the bike. This would be a Saturday plus Sunday long ride weekend. Typically baked into weeks 15 of your training plan. In your case this would be back to back for our rights, freestanding. A chance to help your system step up with additional load but without the work that would ruin other training sessions. Any sense as to which you prefer?
To summarize:
- I keep running by pace (the slightly faster ones post half marathon result) and monitor my HR. I hope to see HR trend down.
- For the bike, I am going to go option 1 and keep it light the day before the FTP session. I want to give as much chance for further development; it's probably the best indicator for success at Tremblant. Given I am currently on garden leave with plenty of time, I can put a bit more volume for the next 4 weeks. For this I plan to go by feel; maybe a zwift race when feeling good and no FTP session close by, or just time in the saddle, moderate HR time (your second option).
[EDIT: today's FTP session was calling for 10'-12'-8'-8' @z4, I had to pause the workout for 1' at 10' into the second interval and halfway through interval 3 and 4. Not good, but better than previous weeks - I felt that doing the time in the zone even with more rest time was better than bailing out altogether.]
Sorry for multiple messages.. In the last run session, I may have pushed a bit harder than necessary and started feeling a pain on my left adductor, it's not impacting swim or bike (walking is completely fine too) - just when extending it while running. I took a full day off and plan on keeping the running light or eliminate it altogether. 2 days later it feels already better, but I will monitor it. Maybe this steers me to add low(er) intensity bike volume after all.
I am due to switch to the full plan this week-end; I assume being a first year, it would be run focused(?)
Thanks
Here is a great short warm-up you can do before your runs that might help you out as you keep an eye on your adductor
We have a call wednesday, thought I would summarize where I stand:
- Swim: Focusing on my form. I did a stroke video analysis and have been playing around with the suggestions. I seem to have quite good pace, so I try and build some routine on the movement, and continue with the stretch cords for propulsion.
- Bike: tried to put a bit more volume. I still struggle on the FTP sessions, but I did drop about 4kg so you would expect a drop in power. I lowered my ftp estimate (230 -> 220) so I dont get in the habit of cutting sessions short. If I can push it back up all the better, my thinking is not to get too hung up on that, build confidence by getting more comfortable longer and maybe I will get free FTP improvement or switch back to focus on FTP pop up when the FTP session become less out of control. I dont feel chronic fatigue is a factor, I have energy in the run and swim session, I dont seem to have the legs. I also did a fit that improved comfort in aero quite a bit.
- Run: No problem with my adductor anymore at all - very relieved. I have no issue with the sessions (except sometimes for motivation getting out) - even the cruising intervals are challenging to keep that slow (so I do cheat but only because it feels from the comment that this should be feeling tough).
In couple weeks, I have syracuse 70.3. I am in two minds how to approach it. It doesn't come across as a course to smash it, and I dont want to "waste" too much time tapering and recovering since the "prize" is tremblant. After Syracuse, I will start a new job and may have less time so what I am trying to bank whatever I can until then.
sorry...would you like me to asnwer these questions now or wait until next
week?
I also wanted to mention; I did look at all the nutrition info on the wiki, did a sweat test, etc. I feel like my "need" is high (about 2 bottles per hour but I am about 66kg), but most importantly it gives me a plan for Syracuse and Tremblant. For my past 70.3s, I improvised... I also only took water - better be careful not to drink gatorade if I am not used to it is what I thought. So I feel more informed on that front it will be good to see if I can get a run time that doesnt look like my bike time.