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Sam Marshall Official Coach Thread

@sam marshall


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/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 Notes

Racing:
  • St Anthony's Oly Tri (4-27-2017 2:52
  • IM 70.3 Panama City Beach (05-13-17) No Swim 5:17
  • Fort Desoto Sprint Tri (7-8-17) 1:06
  • IM 70.3 Miami (10-22-2017) 6:36
  • River Run 10K (12-2-2017) 49:50
  • Naples Christmas Sprint Tri (12-17-17) 1:07
  • River Trail Run Half Marathon (1-7-2018) 2:02
  • Frogman 5K Swim Tampa Bay (1-21-2018) 1:55 (current!)
  • FGCU Sprint Tri (4-5-18) 1:02
  • Naples Reverse Sprint Tri (5-5-18) 1:06

Training:

  • Very good health.  Plant Based diet since 7/3/17.  
  • Masters Pool Swimming 2-3 times per week total 5,000-7,500 yards
  • Bike Spin 2 times per week total 2 hrs
  • Bike Road 1 time per week ranges 20 - 40 miles
  • Run 3 times per week, 1 x intervals (5-6 miles), 1 x 6 mile run, 1 x 10-12 mile run
  • Gym strength training 1-2 times per week (1 with coach)


Your Races

  • 08/12/2018 (Olympic tri) Multi Race Miami Triathlon
  • 09/16/2018 (Sprint Tri) Captiva Triathlon
  • Ironman Cozumel (2018-11-18) #IMCoz_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 June 29, 2018
  • On 6/25/2018 Load the Beginner Get Faster Training Plan, 10wks to end on 9/2/2018
  • >> Transition Early << 
  • On 8/27/2018 Load the Intermediate EN*Full to end on 11/18/2018
  • On 11/19/2018 Load the -- Post Ironman Transition Plan, All Levels (4wks) to end on 12/16/2018
  • On 12/17/2018 Load the -- Run Durability 1 (9 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 1/13/2019
  • On 1/14/2019 Load the -- Run Durability 1 (9 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 2/10/2019

 

Coach Notes

I have you in the GetFaster plan as it's a great transition from where you ARE to where we want you to BE for the IM block. You and I will need to move workouts around (back to back weekend rides are better for your fitness but maybe not for your life), but you'll get the general idea. During the Get Fast Plan you can certainly continue the strength work, but once you get to September we'll need to dial that down to make room for the volume of the Ironman® plan. Again, we can discuss. 

And this is the Beginner GF plan, as a bridge to the Intermediate level Full, Bike Focused Plan. 

You can easily work in the races during the GF plan, no issues there. I would say putting a Century ride or similar endurance work on the bike before September would be a smart investment. 

 

Coach Homework

Tell Me Your Season Goals

  • What will make you consider 2018 a success?
  • What's your biggest limiter right now?


Contact Points

As part of your journey to becoming a Self Coached Triathlete inside TeamEN, we are prepared to give you excellent support for your first 90 days. Our goal is to transition you from live, in-person support to using our digital resources and the Team to help you continue your progress as you execute your Three Year Plan.


These are all the key points in your first year where we must talk. 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 (TBD in this Coach Thread)


Questions


Coach Questions - Right here in this thread. Always reply to this same thread, it keeps a record for us as we evolve together!

General Questions - Simple stuff can go to the Q & A Central Forum for the Team to answer. For example, Best Bike? How to improve run cadence? How to flip turn?

Need Help? - Please check the EN Help Site first!

Admin Questions - Billing or orders or whatnot? Use the red chat button at the bottom of the Members Site (not forums) or email us here.

Specific Questions about a Race or Power, etc? - You can post those into the targeted forum for that topic. Power questions to the Power and Pace Forum. Race questions to your specific race forum, etc. Not sure where to post? Put it in the General Discussion forum and we’ll sort it out. Whatever you do, PLEASE ask your questions!!


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 / Trial Member Welcome.  

 

Your First Year Inside Endurance Nation

This will be unlocked after your trial expires.


Looking forward to working with you this year,


~ Coach P

Comments

  • edited July 26, 2018 12:27AM
    @Sam Marshall -

    Welcome to your SECOND MONTH  inside Endurance Nation!


    To help you continue your progress, we have a few short questions for you. You can copy the questions and put your answers in your reply to this thread (no need to copy the questions, just keep the numbers the same!).


    ** Rankings **

    Please rate the following items on a Scale of 1 to 3 (1 = Unsatisfactory,  2 = Satisfactory, 3 = Great!):

    • Swim Fitness:

    • Bike Fitness:

    • Run Fitness:

    • Weight / Body Composition:

     

    ** Subjective Information **

    • What is Your Biggest Improvement So Far?

    • In What Area Do You Need Additional Support?

    • Would You Recommend Endurance Nation to a Friend?

     

    ** Additional Learning **

    Now that we are beyond the initial learning curve of Endurance Nation, it's time to give deeper into some additional resources that can really help you out.

    You have several options:


    ** Need Coach Input? **

    Don’t forget you can schedule a check in call with Coach Patrick online here: https://calendly.com/pmccrann/15min


    We are looking forward to your answers!


  • ** Rankings **

    Please rate the following items on a Scale of 1 to 3 (1 = Unsatisfactory,  2 = Satisfactory, 3 = Great!):

    • Swim Fitness: 2 and improving

    • Bike Fitness: 2 and improving

    • Run Fitness:  2 and improving

    • Weight / Body Composition: 3 (Happy with body composition but always room for improvement!)

     

    ** Subjective Information **

    • What is Your Biggest Improvement So Far? Bike speed, really like the interval workouts.

    • In What Area Do You Need Additional Support? Need to get into the forums for race nutrition and start integrating that into practice, especially on the bike on longer rides.

    • Would You Recommend Endurance Nation to a Friend? Yes!

  • Need to add IM 70.3 Augusta on Sept 23
  • edited August 1, 2018 4:53PM
     Sam –

    Thanks for the heads up. We have two options here. First, remember that you are on the get faster play now. We could just transition you to the house list so that you are treating with us the 50 towards Augusta. You would still make the leap to the IRONMAN plan when schedules and Simply factor of the race into the weekend itself.

    The other option is to just stay with the plans that you have them now, knowing that Augusta is not a very important race for you. Please Let me know the importance of the race and then I can make my recommendations accordingly.
  • Patrick: I am inclined to keep on the current plans if that is OK with you.  Augusta is not an "A" race for me, so probably some slight training adjustments around it, but otherwise I am OK training through it.  My main goals for Augusta are successful bike/run balance and successful nutrition testing before IMCOZ. 
    Thanks, Sam
  • Sounds good. Do you know your body better than me! I’ll keep an eye on those workouts rolling in and let me know how you feel in mid-September.
  • edited August 27, 2018 3:19PM

    @"Sam Marshall"

    Welcome to your THIRD MONTH  inside Endurance Nation!


    This month we focus on helping you become more independent as part of your growth as a Self-Coached Athlete.  Whether you are planning your season, preparing to race or transitioning to a new endurance challenge...Team Endurance Nation is ready to help!


    If you haven’t done so already, please set up your Month Three Coach Call here.



    ** Training Focus **

    We consider anytime in your season when you are more than 12 weeks away from your event to be a training focus. There are different phases of training (OutSeason®, General Prep, Sport Specific), but they are fall under the same umbrella.


    Now that you are through your first two months of Endurance Nation, You have learned a few key “rules” of how we play the game, and you are ready to take charge of your experience.


    Training Lesson Recap:

    • No single workout is more important than your health, or your season goal.
    • Prioritize your “key” workouts each week, then fill the rest of your space.
    • We can always fix over rested. We can’t fix broken, exhausted or sick.
    • Have a specific goal for each training block - what is the desired end state?


    Taking Charge:

    • You should be comfortable moving your own workouts around at this point.
    • You can change plan ability levels as needed to keep yourself on track.
    • You can use the Test Week at any time to confirm a fitness change.
    • If you want to take a different path that we suggest...do it and keep us posted!


    ** Racing Focus **

    Once you are within the final 12 week window to your event, it’s time to really focus. From key workouts to nutrition to logistics, there’s a great deal to cover. There’s a fine line between a great day and a day where you want a total do-over.


    Key components of your final push should include:


    • Simulation Workouts to replicate the mental, physical and nutritional scenario you expect on race day.
    • A tried and true nutrition plan for your event; this is your last chance to lock it in!
    • Draft and review of a Race Plan to make sure you are 100% ready to take this on.
    • Optional rest as needed, and a defined taper in the last two to three weeks as necessary.
    • 13 Weeks out from your race you should be getting a race preparation email and an invitation to GroupMe - if you haven’t gotten that yet - let us know!


    ** Additional Support **

    In addition to The Forums and other Team-related support, you still have the chance to connect with Coach Patrick across your first year. Right now it’s time for your three month call with Coach Patrick; and you can book it here.


    Tip: Find all your other call windows across your first year, please visit the EN Staff page.


    Be sure to check out our Three Year Plan in Resources / Wiki so you can see how we recommend improving from season to season.


    Coach Phone Consults

    If you are looking for support above and beyond the traditional Endurance Nation experience, you can book a consult with Coach Patrick. These are billed at $100/hour and Can be on almost any training or racing topic. Please click here to learn more / get started.



    Congratulations for moving forward with you training as you build to your race goals. We can’t wait to see what you are capable of this season!

  • Brenda and Patrick:

    Thanks for the notes!  The get faster plan is going well and I am looking forward to the next race specific phase.  I had a long ride (82 miles Sat) and long run (11 miles Sun) that were both steady and sustainable, definitely a noticeable improvement I my fitness base.  The bike and run strides and interval workouts are making a big difference in pace too!

    I set up a 3rd month coach call for next week.  My short term thoughts are to read up on Augusta 70.3 for race specific advise, but still "train through" it as IM Cozumel is still the "A" race.  Any advise on how to use the 70.3 as a training tool during the 12 week race prep is appreciated!  Traveling up on Fri and return to Fort Myers on Monday after.  My longer term thoughts are to keep increasing my fitness base, it has been very encouraging so far. 

    Added the Tampa Bay 5K Frogman Swim on January 13th 2019, so November and December will also add some weekend 2-3 mile open water / chilly water swims.  This is more of a fundraiser than a race, a great event if you ever get a chance!  My 9th time swimming it and you never know what conditions to expect!

    Thanks again,

    Sam

  • @Sam Marshall Great to hear about your progress. That’s a pretty stellar work out and means you’re in a very good place right now.

    The last thing I want you to do is to raise a half Iron Man at tireman piece. It’s simply wouldn’t be “hard“ enough to justify the dollars for time.

    I think the biggest upside of choosing Augusta is the incredibly high liklihood of dealing with heat. This will force you to really take a good look at your nutrition plan (have you done a sweat test?) which will also serve you well in Cozumel.

    as you prepare for our call next week, please take a minute to review resources/wiki/nutrition and prepare some notes for me on what you use.


    ~ Coach P

  • Hello Coach P:

    I am trying to send you my Augusta Race Plan, if it does not attach as a word document I will try something else.

    Thanks!

    Sam


     

  • You should put it in the race plan forum, and post a link to it here. The best way to do it is to just copy and paste it into the body of a forum post, do not attach it

  • Coach P - OK added my race plan into the forum.  It's not as pretty as in MSWord format, but it's there.

    Thanks,

    Sam

  • Weekly Accountability (From IM 70.3 Augusta 9/23/18)

     

    three (3) things that went well this week

    1. Pre race nutrition and planning, felt good at race start.  Well fueled and hydrated.
    2. PR for me on 70.3 distance by about 20 minutes!  (Could have been much better, but good progress!)
    3. Familiarized with transition area logistics before the race.

    three (3) things i can improve upon.

    1. Not familiar with bike course, ejected bottles and nutrition twice at RR tracks.  Lost some salt tabs.
    2. Awkward getting salt tabs from storage to mouth and course provided Gatorade into aero drink bottle.  Need a better way.
    3. Did not stick to heart rate limits early in the bike.  About 15 bpm too high.  Felt good and had the INCORRECT thought that I could be speedy on the first half and ease up on the second half of the bike with no consequence to the run.  Yep, WRONG!
    4. Bottom of feet were very soggy and sore on the run.  I am used to heat/humidity, so need to figure out why this was worse than usual training runs.


  • Thank you so much for posting this year I look! Some great lessons learned later. People always seem to divide their own special way of managing salt pills thank urged you to check out with the team said. I personally use the small canister with a pop top that’s attached so I can easily flip it open and get what I need while I’m in the aero bars.

    I don’t know what you mean about getting the fluid into your arrow bottle, I prefer user profile design one with a baffle on the top that that’s me just jammed the bottle in there without letting fluids splash back out. Tell me more about the set up you have.

    I am so glad you picked up on the pacing thing, imagine how fast you could’ve been if you had executed properly! Kudos to you for still getting it done. I hope your recovery is going well.

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