Pat Koss 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.
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
Beginner Level, need to get back "into it."
Your Races
- 10/28/2018 IM 70.3 Waco, TX
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 In Final Surge once you have activated that account. There should be an email in your inbox from Final Surge that gives you a code and a link. Learn more about each plan on the Training Plan Central Page.
- Last updated by Coach on July 23, 2018
- On 07/23/2018 Load the -- Bike Focus Block, 6 Weeks to end on 8/26/2018
- On 8/6/2018 Load the Intermediate EN*Half to end on 10/28/2018
- On 10/29/2018 Load the -- Post Half Iron Transition Plan, All Levels (2wks) to end on 11/11/2018
Coach Notes
Hope you are well!!! Right now I have you returning via a few weeks in the Bike Focus plan to build some consistency and strength there it’s just a few weeks, but it should do the trick before you become a “proper” triathlete.
Coach Homework
1. Set up your Final Surge account!
2. 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
Didn't get all this done before Virginia and I hit the track for the day (Tuesday track day for us). I'll review your above email in detail and get the first segment loaded.
Great to be back and again, congratulations on some stellar results at IMLP.
p.s. I now have a daughter in Easton, CT. She arrives here today with her family, and while they are here in Arkansas, Virginia and I are going to plan a trip to Michigan in September (a wedding) and then possibly the east coast. We bought a 35' fifth wheel when we retired. So some of this training will be on the road, but I can bring a Kickr and do the bike on Zwift if all else fails. Plus we might be up your way.
I've got all the linkages figured out with the forums and FinalSurge. Workouts are loaded and getting updated as they occur from a Strava uplink. All is well on that front.
Thx for the point about the Wiki and using Strava to locate routes on the road. I've used their widget for my Forerunner 935 when we were at my daughter's in Easton, CT the weekend before Christmas. That was helpful on runs. I use a Wahoo Element on the bike and it has a great mapping function for following new routes in unfamiliar territory.
Daughter from CT is here with her husband and 3 kids, plus two more local grandkids. Busy at the house this week. But I do love retirement. Have a great week.
pat
Agree. Time well spent. And agree on bike focus. Now to get to work.
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:
Learn Big in our Video Course Section, where Coach Patrick is building our new library of EN Video Lessons to make sure you are 100% up to speed on our most critical topics.
Learn Quick in the Question and Answer Central, where your fellow teammates work together to give you the best possible answer to your questions (one at a time please)!
Learn Deep by Exploring the EN Wiki, the repository of all things taught and learned by EN. There is more info in there than you could read in a year, so pace yourself! Worst case scenario, go to the All Pages section and use "Control +F" on your keyboard to search for the most relevant article.
** 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!
@Coach Patrick, Went down hard within a mile of our start this morning. Was on Week 11 and decided to do the Bike Challenge ride (in half IM Bike Focus plan). Likely going to take a few days off. Sore and a little dazed but ok. Thank God for helmets. Any advice for getting back on the horse in a few days is welcome. Waco 70.3 is about 9 weeks out so plenty of time.
@Brenda Ross I'll get to the questions. Maybe later today since my day opened up.
I took up ham radio (passed Extra class last fall), so I think today is going to be about playing on the radio and talking all over the world...after I take my bike in to my mechanic (it will be ok).
New helmet day. What is everyone liking for everyday aero helmets? I was using a Giro Air Attack since they first came out years ago.
I am glad to hear that you are OK. Please take it easy. I recommend one or two train arrives first just to make sure the functionality is good before you take things outside. I am glad you are having a mechanic check out your bike.
These days are most helmets are the same. Just find one that you like! And has red in it, because it’s faster. 😂
@Coach Patrick going to try an easy run this morning with Virginia. Might try some 1K repeats. Hip where I hit is still sore to the touch. Will see if the hip can handle running. I have not had any head issues since Sunday, the day after the fall.
Just found a closeout Giro Air Attack, which was the old helmet. Love old model closeouts. But its yellow...that was a specific request from Virg for visibility. How could I argue.
If things go well, I'll shift this week's tests to later in the week or early next week.
Hope all is well with you.
ok. Just keep the intensity down. We don’t need you to be a hero!!
let me know how it goes!
~ Coach P
Ran 4.5ish with Virginia at just over an 11 pace. We are at Petit Jean state park in Arkansas (a CCC built state park on a mesa ... fantastic) in the RV. Ran an easy paved path to the lodge and back to the campground. I felt and feel no ill effects. I could feel the hip, but it was never very much of a bother. Worked outside on the RV up/down a ladder after the run and breakfast, and as I write this near noon I feel well.
I'll listen to your good advice and take it easy another day.
Assuming all is well, I would like to hear your thoughts. This week is test week. I could ease back in and keep the tests till next week. What are your thoughts?
Take care.
@Coach Patrick , took today off. Packed up and drove home. I don't have my TT bike back yet, but I do have my road bike and it (both), work equally well on Zwift, so I have options.
I would value your advice on how to ease back in. The hip still was sore to the touch today. Yesterday on the run it was as I said above, particularly after warmed up a mile or so.
I'm thinking ease back in the volume and intensity, and move testing to next week.
Thanks!
pat
Yes, the Hippel take a little bit of time to stabilize. Nonweightbearing frequency is key. Swimming or cycling are optimal for sure. Part of testing week it is also resting week! So let’s take advantage of that and give your hip a bit of a break. No pun intended.
this means, easy aerobic sessions of 30 to 45 minutes a day for a few days as well as light stretching of the hip. You can try if you break runs on the weekend but keep it short and see how you feel. Please keep me posted!
@Coach Patrick , took your advice for a couple of days and kept time volume and intensity low. Hip can still be an issue, particularly when I get up in the morning before I'm moving. (Virginia reminded me that when she fell running a trail in May, some things took a few months to go away completely, but none were severe enough to completely sideline her)
With the weekend, I had an 8am meeting across town today and woke at about 4;30, so decided to see what I could get done on the bike with the time available. Felt stiff, but I have not been acute sore for a few days. Looked at today's challenge ride (2 x 26' z3/z4, 2 x 20' z3) and decided to try to do one of each. (workout is on FS).
Hit my numbers for one of each of the intervals on Zwift. Felt good throughout, but ran out of time at 90 minutes, so went to my meeting.
As I write this at 1:30pm, I feel no ill effects of pushing time and intensity.
Tomorrow I'll try an ABP (again likely on Zwift for convenience before church). Again, listen to the body and don't do anything stupid.
I have not run since the easy Tuesday run, so no impact. I'll take Monday off and with the coming week attempt to re-engage the bike focus HIM schedule, including the run.
Overall I feel good. Still riding the road bike (need to call my bike shop for status), but that is OK.
Mentally I had a low day yesterday. Today is far superior. I told you that with my 4th place finish, and the execution mis-steps last fall I'm confident that I could have had 2nd at IM Austin last year. Before the crash my mind was ready to train to win ... then the crash. Given the 70.3 championships today I'm getting closer back to the train-to-win mindset.
Keep me honest. I do appreciate your feedback.
excellent. Thank you for the update. Honestly, I think the bike is really your friend right now with some shoulder frequent runs just to get back into it. Remember, you’re almost relearning how to run given the situation. Hip injuries are super funky like that so there’s no point in pushing your way through it. It’s not like your fitness just evaporated. steady and consistent will have you back in no token
@Coach Patrick thought about this a lot this morning. I know where this route leads and the time I will need to recover. Too much training time lost. I'm probably weeks to a month away from being where I can put in the volume and intensity necessary to compete as I prefer. So all this has become for me is just a lot of stress.
So I'm calling it for the Waco 70.3.
Thanks to you and the team (again). Not sure where I go from here, but definitely want to get back to being comfortable running with Virginia. And I'm not there right now.
@Pat Koss I totally get where your head is at. With the artificial deadline of a race, returning from an injury becomes that much more mentally challenging. And if the work required in the short term outweighs the overall benefit there’s really zero motivation. I hear you 110%.
I’m glad that you’ve decided to focus on what really matters on a daily basis. At the end of the day, I think that will just make you happier, actually.
As you mentioned, we are really talking about 4 to 6 weeks of consistency before getting back to some kind of intensity. I recommend that you take as much time as you need with a focus on consistency.
You will know when you are ready to make the leap back. And of course, we are standing by to help you.
@Pat Koss
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:
Taking Charge:
** 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:
** 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!
~ Team EN
@Coach Patrick
Back from our Michigan trip. Kept volume really low due to lots of family time and just recover. Have been on the fence about whether to even do Waco on Oct 28, if I can get back into training. So after spending all day doing the unpack, post trip todo's, I sat on the couch at 9pm wondering what do to about workouts and getting back, or even to get back on the horse. Then comes Andy Starycowicz on Twitter:
I liked it and replied, thanking him for letting me know what to do. Train it is.
My plan is to move my schedule back to last week's "camp" week, starting with Wednesday from last week, keeping the power targets down for now to see how my body reacts. My logic is that if I survive through Sunday without any material issues post crash, then I'll be ok. If my body still revolts, then evaluate and adjust.
So back on the crash TT bike (picked it up yesterday). 60 minutes with a 10', 12' and 10' with power targets in Z3 and not Z4. Felt one muscular issue and a chronic tendon issue (hamstring in my butt). The former abated as the workout progressed. The latter is from some years old tendonitis and just needs to be watched and stretched.
So what do you think?
You're going to Kona, right?
Well hopefully we can improve upon Andrews relentless cycle, I’m happy you’re going to give the weekend a shot and see what happens. Sometimes it’s the fear of what will happen and we need the courage to just see what happens. I look forward to an update on Monday after camp.
Yes, I am headed to Kona try and survive another year!!! 👍
@Coach Patrick , Yes, let's improve on that cycle.
My goal was to see if I survive the full camp weekend volume as my first weekend back training post crash 5 weeks ago. Mission accomplished. Very pleased. The only thing I cut was Saturday's bike (3 or 4 20' intervals, and the post bike 30 minute run...wanted a good Sunday long run).
Things to work on:
1) running slower at the beginning of the run (Friday I ran negatives like I had something to prove)
2) bike in aero (good on Friday, not so much on Saturday which was on Zwift)
I have 15 minutes with you on Tuesday. Let's talk - Your observations, how to take it from here up to Oct 28 race). Taking Monday off to rest (CW practice and ham radio time).
Hoping you are at Choo today. Love that race, even though I DNF'ed in 2016.
Great call...love where you are at right now.
Onwards!
~ Coach P
@Coach Patrick , you wanted two good long runs. Check.
:-)
Enjoy Kona.
💪 Nicely done!
Race week. Feel good.
Texas rivers are swollen and a Cat 4 hurricane In the Pacific off Mexico will bring more rain to the area by mid-week. Possible swim cancellation discussed. If this were Austin 2017 with my 4th place finish, then that would play into my hand (weak swim).
Not much I can do about it. Just readying the RV to pull there on Friday.
Just roll with the punches. I was watching the weather about that storm as well and will just have to see what happens. Just be ready for anything, then stay safe!
Back from maintenance mode.
Have not been in a tri mindset since Waco, but time to get going. Will engage with the Jan 7 start of that OS session. Goals for now are to not get dropped on the Zwift rides (damn, you people are serious on Zwift ;-).
My rough 2 year plan thoughts are that I'm going to be 64 in April. Still have it in me to do half IM's and I'm seriously in a better mindset when I'm flogging myself toward a training goal. So here are the thoughts for the next 2 years:
Talked to the broker today so I think the retirement cash flow will support this if I'm careful with planning/expenses. Sure would be nice if EN had a retiree discount...
Have not yet picked out races for 2019. Picking races is on the list, as well as long RV trip planning. Family is in Michigan and Connecticut. Need to get to see my daughter in Easton, CT!!!
Thoughts?
Talk soon.
Pat
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