Rob Tune 2019 Official Coach Thread [PlanEN]
Rob -
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.
Coach Notes
Your Races
- Ironman Chattanooga (2019-09-29) #IMCHOO_19
Your Notes
Elkhart Lake Olympic Triathlon (1st Tri), June 8 (3:12)
Bigfoot Olympic Triathlon, June 23 (2:42)
Been taking last two weeks off, prior to that, working out 4-5 times per week (approx 6-9 hours)
Two-A-Day workouts twice a week
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 Final Surge by clicking on Training Plans / My Plans. Learn more about each plan on the Training Plan Central Page.
>> Last updated by Coach on July 15, 2019
- On 7/8/2019 Load the -- EN*Full Bike Focused to end on 9/29/2019
- On 9/30/2019 Load the -- Post Ironman Transition Plan, All Levels (4wks) to end on 10/27/2019
- On 10/28/2019 Load the -- Run Durability for Triathletes 1 (9 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 11/24/2019
- On 11/25/2019 Load the -- Run Durability for Triathletes 1 (9 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 12/22/2019
- On 12/30/2019 Load the -- OutSeason (Bike Focus) Plan, 14wks to end on 4/5/2020
Training Plan Support in Your First Month
You can connect with @matt limbert as needed in your first month to get dialed in with your training plans and data. You can set up a call with him online here: https://calendly.com/new-member-phone-call/1 and he'll be on this thread shortly!
Your Homework
Tell Me Your Season Goals
- What will make you consider this season a success?
- What's your biggest limiter right now?
Start Learning
Every month we hold live events as part of our commitment to make you just as smart as you are fit. Feel free to visit our Coach Lesson page and our Office Hours page to find the next opportunity to connect with Coach Patrick and your Teammates.
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)
- Training Plan 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 End of Year 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 General Discussion Forum and set the title or tags for that topic. Race questions to the Racing Forum, etc. Not sure where to post? Put it in the General Discussion forum and we will 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
Rob, Congratulations on your first triathlon. Our goal is to help you get as fit and as smart as we can for IM Chattanooga.
Here are some easy steps to get the most out out your training plan, Coach Thread and Final Surge.
First, Power user tip! Click on the red star and check box just to the right of your thread title. This way you will get an email when you get a response in your Coach thread. See video here:
I'll monitor this thread for your first thirty days and help you get up to speed with your plan, your basic schedule, terminology, and all of our resources.
Next, getting setup in Final Surge. Coach Patrick has just made your season plan in Final Surge, so you can sync your Garmin or Strava (only one!) and get your workout data uploaded. (Chose Strava if you ride on Zwift.)
In Final Surge: Workouts -> Garmin / Device Upload
Then chose either Garmin or Strava. Just chose one, otherwise you will get double workouts recorded in Final Surge.
As you get all your tech setup (Connecting to Final Surge) either Garmin or Strava. Also consider downloading the Final Surge App. This might make it way easier to add comments about how you felt, ate, weather etc (for the bike) and sets, paces etc (for the swim). Those are all super helpful to you as you track your progress, prepare and plan your 70.3 at Waco.
Final Surge | Mobile Apps
https://www.finalsurge.com/apps
It makes it super easy to add comments about your workout. Click on the "pencil" icon to tap "how I felt" or "perceived effort." Then add a few notes about what you ate/drank (helps to figure out what works best for you on the bike), how you felt mentally, the weather or any aches etc. Just a quick not goes a long way.
Those comments are really handy when you are comparing workouts, tailoring your own training, evaluating progress and planning for your ride. It also makes it easy to look at and plan for your upcoming workouts.
You can also setup Final Surge to send you emails with your workouts every day.
Let me know how I can help. I look forward to hearing more, helping you build your fitness and learn how to execution your race for IM Chattanooga!
My goal is to make your first month of Endurance Nation as simple and as awesome as possible! For any questions you have getting started - chat with me here in this forum or schedule a call with me here: https://calendly.com/new-member-phone-call/1
Talk with you soon.
Rob,
Here is the swim ebook:
https://app.box.com/s/q50ds6x5j9
It is a great place to start for drills and getting smarter about your swimming technique.
You can also look at triswimcoach:
https://www.triswimcoach.com/
They have some free resources too. TEAMEN folks get a 20% discount. FYI.
Remember, you can always post a video the forums. We have several folks who are talented swimmers - they can look at your video and suggest corrections or drills to improve your technique. If you do post a video, try to get a clips of you swimming towards and away from the camera. This helps them look at your hand entry, upper and lower body.
Here is our workout modification guidance if you to change an individual workout:
WorkOut Triage - Modifying individual workouts
If you go to work out and it just ain't happening, we suggest, in order:
Schedule Triage - Modifying Your Training Plan for Work Travel, etc.
Big Picture:
Flavors of travel:
Rob is 12 weeks out and using the minimalist Half plan for Augusta 70.3 in Sept 28. He is most confident in his run (7:15/30 runner). He would like to develop his bike power and improve his swimming technique. He is okay with swimming distance but knows that he needs to focus on swimming technique in order to improve. He is all about developing a consistent workout schedule based on a variety of intensity and using heart or power power as a metric to help measure his effort. He is concerned about the time commitment and the lack of rest days in the plan. We talked about how to modify the workouts or schedule and settled on executing the plan as written for 2-3 weeks at the Level 1 workouts and then checking back in order to see how things are going and make any major adjustments or modifications. We talked about the importance of logging the workout data and comments in Final Surge so we have a baseline. The data and comments will be useful in the first 30 days to dial in the training and become even more useful later on - so he can look back and develop a solid race plan based on the data and how he was feeling during the key workouts. In the meantime, use the workout and schedule triage posted above to adjust as necessary. He is interested in getting a power meter and we talked through some options. It looks like Stages might have a single sided crank that will work with his budget and bike. He has an Apple watch and Polar Heart Monitor. He can download the the heart rate through his phone after the run, but doesn't like to run with the phone.
Post any questions here or set up another call here: https://calendly.com/new-member-phone-call/1
It was great to talk with you. I look forward to hearing more about your training. Talk to you soon.
~Matt
@Rob Tune
Rob, Your comments this week were spot on! That kind of insight on how you felt (perceived effort), nutrition and results are really going to help you dial in your training and recovery - leading you develop quickly as a self-coached athlete. Keep it up!
@Rob Tune
What will make you consider this season a success?
Finishing my HIM (Augusta), Improving my fitness, Becoming a Smarter Racer
What's your biggest limiter right now?
Time.
Rob, Thanks for sharing thoughts on season success and your limiters. I read your comments about your long ride last weekend. You mentioned that you had a hard time the second half (flat tire, fueling). My guess is that you were short on calories if you were just using GU for fuel. Fueling is a key skill and very personalized. Here is an excerpt from some of the TeamEN content to give you an idea of what is part of the the learning resources available in TeamEN and how to become a smarter racer. Coach Patrick also has several video lessons on this and there is a nutritionist on the team that gives great advice. Consider this to get started:
Bike nutrition: Race goal is to get off the bike hydrated and fueled for the run. That requires:
Define your nutrition plan so you can practice it in EVERY SINGLE WORKOUT
Your limiter. Time. Could be your biggest advantage. Many triathletes (beginning and experienced) often over train. In your case, you will be limited in the amount of time to train and it will keep you in a more balanced state of stress and recovery so you can make consistent progress and avoid doing too much.
Keep up the dialogue here and making notes in Final Surge. Take another look at your fueling plan for the long ride this weekend and keep dialing in your fueling.
This is awesome info Matt, and I am sure that I am not consuming enough calories. But, I wanted to assure you that I was also drinking Tailwind as planned for caloric intake... just likely not nearly enough.
Rob,
I saw you had trouble with the Split Run Protocol link. Does this work for you:
http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/91/Default.aspx?topic=Understanding+the+Endurance+Nation+Split+Long+Run
Rob, Nice work on that challenge ride! Book a call with me (https://calendly.com/new-member-phone-call/1) or post here and we can get that data upload sorted out.
I love the consistency and your comments. Super excited for you.
How is the schedule and time commitment working out?
Rob, If you send me your questions. I'll get you answers tonight. We can also reschedule the call. I apologize and don't want waste your time. We are traveling and I chose a poor Wifi location. I will solve my WiFi problem when we talk again.
Here is the background on Nominal Power. https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/what-is-normalized-power/
Using the 3 sec avg gives you an idea of what your are doing on the short term. Normalized Power / Nominal Power (NP) gives you an idea of the longer durations. You can have a lap NP and the overall ride NP. I use 3 sec avg and lap nominal power with the goal of keeping both in the targeted zone.
NormalizUseed Power® (NP®) or Nominal Power is an important metric for cyclists and triathletes to understand. While it sounds complex, it is very valuable to understand what NP is and how you should use it in training and racing. In order to better understand NP, let’s first consider some basic exercise physiology to give us context.
Fundamentally, to build fitness, an athlete needs to apply a stress to the body, and then through recovery from that stress, the body adapts and becomes stronger and is able to accommodate a greater stress in the next round of training. The fundamental components of “stress” are intensity, duration and frequency, or how hard, how long and how often. The “how hard” piece has historically been difficult to quantify, but for cycling, power meters have given us a very direct objective measurement of the actual work an athlete is doing.
Taking Average Power (AP) by simply averaging the highs and lows of an effort over a given duration is pretty simple to understand and calculate and on the surface seems like a great way to capture how hard an effort is over a particular duration. But, it’s actually somewhat limited in its application.
Example.
As an example, let’s take two different efforts of 1 hour. First, a steady 1 hour ride on a trainer with little to no variation in output at an average of say 200 watts might be a fairly easy ride for a particular rider. Next, consider a 1 hour ride on a hilly course, and insert 10 to 15 short intervals where the same rider is putting out 300 to 400 watts for 15 seconds to 1 minute at a time followed by easier pedaling below 200 watts for recovery. With all the higher highs and lower lows, the athlete may still average 200 watts.
However, from a “feel” perspective, the variable ride is much harder and leaves that athlete more fatigued and in need of recovery. Where the 200 watt steady ride may have been easy enough to be considered recovery unto itself, the variable ride may have been more equivalent to a much harder ride physiologically depending on the particulars of the variance. As this example illustrates, average power is not sophisticated enough to capture these nuances, and this is where the concept of normalized power comes into play.
Physiological Cost
Normalized Power is calculated using an algorithm that is a little complex, but in a nutshell takes into account the variance between a steady workout and a fluctuating workout. The resulting value is an attempt to better quantify the physiological “cost” of the harder “feel” of the variable effort. For a highly variable workout, NP can be much higher than average power, where for a very steady workout, NP and average power are equivalent or very close together. A relatively high NP is showing that the workout had a lot of variation, and was harder physiologically than what average power may reveal.
So where do we use Normalized Power? Primarily in any calculation were we speak to training stress, stress balance or training load. The planning challenge for every athlete is how much stress and how much recovery is needed in order to maximize adaptation and in turn maximize fitness. Since there are a lot of individual factors that come into play with each athlete’s situation, anything that can enable us to better quantify “stress” means we can plan workouts and recovery better to meet a particular athlete’s needs and maximize time to help better enable them to reach their goals.
Riding Hills. Solve hills with gearing and cadence first, then apply more power. Shift early and often. Keep power and cadence consistent. Apply more power gradually. Experiment with your style of climbing, but use the mechanical advantage of the gearing first, keep cadence constant or increase it, then apply more power to stay efficient.
https://www.endurancenation.us/cycling/conquering-the-climbs-part-ii-gearing/
Welcome to Part II of my Conquering the Climbs series. In Part I we discussed the physics of getting up a hill more quickly. In Part II of the series we’ll discuss what the gears on your bike will, and won’t, do for your ability to get up that hill more quickly.
Gearing
“If I change the gearing on my bike I’ll get up the hill faster.”
This is not necessarily true. Think of your body and the muscles in your legs as the engine of a car. The gearing on your bike is the transmission that connects that engine to the rear wheel. Work is performed by the engine, is applied through the transmission (gears), and is measured at the rear wheel as watts. Watts are what turns the wheel of the bike and propel the bike/rider system up the hill, at a speed that’s determined via the watts per kilo of body weight discussion we covered in Part I of this series.
As a cyclist, think of watts as a function of:
If Timmy and Tommy are riding side by side at the same watts, but Timmy is riding at 60rpms while Tommy turns the pedals at 100 rpms, Timmy is pressing harder on the pedals with each pedal stroke. Note that while they are both performing the same work (watts) and are going up the hill at identical speeds (oh, Timmy and Tommy are identical twins with the same weight), how they experience/feel their equal work loads are likely very different, due to their different cadences. Let’s now discuss how cadence is related to watts and how this creates some unique conditions when climbing a hill.
Recall that watts is a function of cadence and how hard you press down on each pedal stroke. So if we keep power constant and decrease cadence (for example, staying in a big gear or running out of gears on a hill) we accomplish these watts by pushing harder with each pedal stroke. This “harder” is experienced as increased pressure on the soles of your feet as you pedal the bike.
Likewise, if we keep power constant and increase cadence, we accomplish these watts by pushing less hard on the pedals with each pedal stroke. This “less hard,” or “easier” is experienced as decreased pressure on the soles of your feet.
There are two important considerations to be aware of in these scenarios:
There are No Free Watts: while lower cadence may feel harder and high cadence may feel easier, if the watts of each effort are identical then your body is performing the same work load. Likewise, if your cadence is higher or lower and you find yourself going up the hill faster it’s important to realize that changing the gearing on your bike didn’t magically add watts to you or your bike. The only way you increase your ability to output more watts is to become more fit. But what has changed is your experience of these watts, as a change in pedal pressure and associated cadence. So a gearing change doesn’t make you faster, it simply changes how you experience the watts you produce.
The Dog on a Leash Effect: so given a choice between high and low cadence, which is better? I’d like to make you aware of what I call the Dog on a Leash Effect — as cadence decreases, at the bottom of a hill, for example, our natural tendency is to push harder against this increased resistance, much like a dog pulls against a leash, resulting in a spike in our power. It is very, very difficult for most riders to avoid this “push harder” phenomenon and it’s even more dangerous if it’s applied across the length of the entire hill because your bike is over-geared for the course. And it’s even more difficult when everyone else around you in a race is doing the same thing, spiking their power at the bottom of hills. So being focused on maintaining a higher cadence, especially at the bottom of climbs, is a good technique to avoid this nearly inevitable power spike as the Dog on a Leash Effect begins to express itself.
Finally, higher cadence cycling on hills is generally easier on the muscles of your legs, saving them for the run. But of these two scenarios, avoiding the power spike and easier on your legs, the former is more important to keep in mind. In my experience, if you’re climbing up a hill at low cadence you’re nearly guaranteed to be throwing out much higher wattage than you should.
Coach Patrick’s Gearing Recommendations
Below are my recommendations, based on my experience as a triathlon coach, given the goal to have you run well off the bike. Within this stated context:
After reading this article I highly recommend running out to your bike and identifying what gearing you have your bike. I’ve seen far, far to many extremely poor gearing choices in my time observing triathlon races and it’s clear that many triathletes simply don’t know their gearing or how to change it. Changing your cassette is as easy as turning a bolt and YouTube is here to teach you how.
Join me shortly for Part III as I discuss the various flavors of perspective involved in climbing. Good luck!
Rob, I recommend checking out this post.
Dustin is a new member and posted a question about his race at IM Lake Placid. A lot of experienced folks weighed in and gave him some good advice for race fueling and hydration which can apply to your HIM.
Let me know what you think.
https://endurancenation.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/25966/dustins-2019-ironman-lake-placid-report
Nice work. You have some really good consistency going. You are developing some strong fitness, it would be nice if you could take a look at this race execution guidance. You have a race rehearsal coming up at the end of the month and these are some good ideas to keep in mind.
http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/RacingMemberCentral/RaceExecutionDetails/MasterRaceExecutionPage(HalfFull).aspx
Coach Patrick and his partner (Coach Rich) developed the idea of 4 keys to race execution. You can read or watch the video.
Key #1: Execution, not Fitness
Key #2: The line.
Key #3: The box.
Key #4: The one thing.
@Rob Tune
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!):
** Subjective Information **
** 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!
@Rob Tune I saw your chat post. While Brenda and Patrick sort out your account permissions - this is a cut and paste of the page you were looking for.
Race Rehearsal Protocol
Endurance Nation Full and Half Ironman Race Rehearsal Protocol
Your training plan will include 1-2 race rehearsals before your goal race. The following is guidance to help you navigate this very important training event.
Timing
The timing of your first race rehearsal isn't super critical, nor do we expect you to be rested, etc. This is basically a very focused training event where you'll make your mistakes, fix them, and then rehearse the real deal for real about two weeks out from the race.
So if travel or life dictates that your first RR not happen on it's scheduled weekend, no worries. Just move it forward or backwards on your calendar, ideally so that you have one "normal" training weekend between your 1st RR and 2nd RR. The purpose of this ~2wk gap is so that you can process and apply the lessons you learned from RR #1.
The final race rehearsal is the single most important training session of your training, particularly if you are racing with power. This final RR is two weeks out and, yes, that's plenty of time to do the RR and recover properly for your race. In fact, as you progress through your training plan you'll likely find the race rehearsal and the race itself are your easiest rides within Endurance Nation! Remember, the hyper-important RR is two weeks out so do your best to stick to that timing.
Terrain and Course
The ability to ride EN-style, very steady and disciplined, is a skill you'll develop with our guidance well before your race rehearsal. Therefore, you should be able to turn this skill on and off, essentially "flattening" any course you choose, or certainly doing a better job of flattening it than your competition. For this reason, duplicating locally the terrain of your goal race is not critical. So if you're doing Lake Placid, you don't need to search out an area with a 45' climb at the end of each loop. Have faith in our ability to teach you the skills and mindset you need on race day.
The more important criteria for a successful RR ride is to pick a course that facilitates locking yourself in the aerobars for 98% of the ride, with the bare minimum of stops to only reload fluids. "Positional fitness," the ability to sustain a good aero position for the length of your race is a critical success factor. In our experience, weaknesses in your position, and positional fitness, will only be exposed if you lock yourself in the bars as much as possible during your RR.
Length
Choose a course that allows you to duplicate the expected duration (time) of your goal race, not the distance. In other words, if you expect to ride IMFL in 5:45, but live in a very hilly area, a 112 mile ride will likely take you longer than 5:45...maybe much longer.
This is also true for half Ironman athletes.
So, both half and full Ironman athletes have two options:
Race Rehearsal Execution
Execute your Race Rehearsal according to the detailed guidance laid out for you in the pages below. And bookmark these pages while you're at it!
Equipment
Analysis
Once you have completed your RR, it's time to actually review what you were able to accomplish. Recall that the goal of this rehearsal was to put your body through the same hoops it will have to jump through on race day. As such, examine:
Debrief
We highly recommend you debrief your RR Race Execution Forum. TeamEN has a huge amount of collective, quality experience to answer any question you have.
@Rob Tune
Here is the content on 70.3 race execution too.
Race Execution, Half Ironman
The purpose of this post is to serve as your Half Ironman execution "how-to" resource: everything you need, our latest guidance, all in one place.
The Big Picture:
We begin your education with "The Four Keys," the big picture guidance with which we frame your day. We then drill this down into the specifics of race execution in the remainder of this post.
As you know, EN has more resources focused on Ironman (IM) than 70.3 (HIM) racing. However, ALL of these tools are still very relevant and applicable to HIM racing. In our opinion, the major differences between IM and HIM execution are (don't worry, we go into more detail on these further down):
Pre-Race (assumes Sunday race):
Race Day
Breakfast:
The intent is to take in 600-800 calories in an easily digestible form, giving your body enough time to digest your meal, given that fact that race day nerves will slow down your digestion. This food is critical to prepare you for the rigors of the swim (and not eating during the swim) and the rest of your day.
Two Methods:
Note: If you normally drink coffee every day, you can have a cup here to help make the morning breakfast move more "quickly."
Transition, Pre-Race
Swim:
As most HIM swim starts are in waves, there isn't much opportunity to ask around and seed yourself. That said you can (and should) watch the earlier waves going off in terms of where y0uo should line up, what to sight for, etc. As a general pointer, we'd rather have you line up close to the front and be swum over/through by a few people than to have you start in the back where you'll have to swim over/through a ton of people.
T1:
Half Ironman transitions are generally right at the rack with your bike (whereas Ironman events have T1 and T2 bags with changing tents, etc.). You will need a towel to outline your space on the ground. You will also need to set out the equipment you'll need in order of how you will use it on race day (bike stuff on top of run stuff as T1 happens before T2, for example).
Bike:
Big Picture Cues We Want to Put in Your Head, In Order:
Bike Pacing and Execution Specifics
Your actions and pace in the first ~20-30' of the bike are very important. Consider:
So, for the first 20' (Advanced and Intermediate athletes) to 30' (Beginner), we want you to ride at a Zone 2 power / RPE.
Understand that your heart rate may not reflect this Zone 2 power/RPE so it's important that pay attention to your body.
Bottom line, you should definitely feel like you're holding back while everyone else rockets by you. Remember, this is a good thing!
Then, for the remainder of the bike leg you can do the following. If you want to dig deeper, please see the Team Endurance Nation Race Calculator section in the Wiki.
Bike Nutrition:
Here is some race-specific information, for more details and nutrition planning, please refer to the Nutrition Section of the Wiki.
Additional Half Ironman Bike Resources
T2:
Same guidance as above.
Run:
Run Pacing Specifics:
General Run Pacing Guidance:
Run Pacing in the Heat / High Temps Guidance:
Run Nutrition:
Here is some race-specific information, for more details and nutrition planning, please refer to the Nutrition Section of the Wiki.
Additional Half Ironman Run Resources
@Rob Tune I'm super excited that you are looking through the learning side of EN. There is a lot more content too. Let me know if you have a specific question.
The emails you sent were super helpful. I have had a pretty rough couple of weeks with work, so i found myself not prepared for my RR. I think now I have a good plan of how I want to manage power and pace, and I will have to rely on my past nutrition + backups to help me through the day. Will be great!!!
Rob, is this the link you were looking for?
It is in the Library (Wiki) -> Race Execution -> Advanced Race Execution Resources -> Half Ironman How-To: Race Execution Specifics
The Advanced Race Execution stuff is about half-way down the page. There are also several good links at the bottom of the "Half Ironman How-To: Race Execution Specifics.
Hey Matt, can we chat later this week (Thursday or Friday)? I have a couple of questions while I'm starting to get serious about planning race day.
By the way, the links/materials above are AMAZING! And thanks for helping me figure out how to get to the resources on the EN website. Really helpful teaching me to fish...
Rob, I would love to! Schedule here: : https://calendly.com/new-member-phone-call/1
If those times don't work. Let me know what does and we'll make it happen.
Talk to you soon.
Matt
Rob, Coach Patrick just did a lesson/webinar thing on Taper:
~Matt
something to my lower back (heard a pop). Went to see my nurse
practitioner. Don't think it's serious or permanent, but it is crazy sore
and I am definitely struggling with walking / stretching. Did a quick
search on EN to try and find something on Injury, but wasn't finding what I
was looking for.
I am totally cool taking a couple of days off to rest/ice/rehab... but
wanted to see if there was something a little more detailed in how I should
approach this.
Thoughts?
practitioner say?
back off, or stop entirely. My philosophy is to stop, rest/treat, slow
re-introduction, don't worry about the schedule now.
Since I have never had a back injury, I am a little at a loss. Right now,
it feels like I am just pretty tender/sore. I took yesterday and today
off, and more than likely will take Saturday off depending on how I feel.
I will focus on icing, stretching and heat treatments (as per the NP
orders).
If feeling better, my plan was to try and get on the bike for a little
while and just see how it feels to pedal (maybe saturday or sunday). Then,
do the same for running.
All in all, I think my fitness is there, I think I should be fine if I miss
this week's long workouts, but I wanted to see if you had any
other suggestions.
@Rob Tune I definitely agree with Mat, we want you to take it easy for a few days. Since we are heading into the weekend you might want to reach out to a chiropractor just to get an appointment on the books for early next week just in case. You can always cancel if you need to, but if you wait until Monday and then try you probably won’t see someone until the end of the week. Please make sure you are Being careful even when sitting at the desk, getting in and out of your car, or getting out of bed in the morning. I would recommend sleeping on your side with a pillow between your knees, knees slightly bent.
@Rob Tune
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Rob, how is the back? I saw your short bike and swim? Rest is your friend. If you are on the fence, a couple days more of rest - if necessary - will make the recovery go faster.
Team, just wanted to post an update on my back.
Range of motion has improved daily. Heat and Stretching are improving this more and more
Soreness is improving little by little. I honestly expected this to be quicker, but I have to be patient. Key is moving around a lot during the day. I feel best after I have been up and about alot
My plan today is to get into a lake and just swim 2K-ish. Not looking to go fast. Just want to move. This will also give me a chance to work on sighting and maybe even get into my wetsuit (if cold enough).
My plan tomorrow is to do my bike workout, but probably at less intensity. Focus here is to try and get my body back into a rhythm of work, without stressing the back too much.
I am still on the fence about the running. I will have to play it by ear. I honestly haven't run at all since the injury, but this is where I fear the impact of my foot hitting the ground could cause problems with the back. So my plan here is to be overly-cautious, and careful. If I miss another workout, so be it.
Hopefully this makes sense to you guys. if not, I really appreciate your thoughts! Thanks again for the support!
Rob
Rob, Glad to hear you are seeing progress. You are spot on and have a really smart approach. No need to "test" the run too early - best to be conservative here. You'll know from walking around and how it responds after the swim and bike work. You can start with the treadmill - it is bit more forgiving on impact and you can always just step off.
Team, wanted to share another update on progress
I am mostly back on track now with my workouts. It doesn't hurt that this is a taper week, so it's been easier to get back into it. Workouts do not feel at all constrained by my back. However, I am still feeling some soreness next day. So, I am anticipating race day will be more about executing my race plan, then focusing on smart recovery afterward.
At this point, I'm more concerned with the projected temperature in Augusta this weekend (Mostly Sunny, 96 Degrees on race day)! But, I have been studying up on Coach Patrick's keys to racing in heat, and have tried to adjust my Race Plan accordingly.
If you guys are interested, a copy of my race plan (adjusted to account for heat) is included.
Thanks again for all the help!
Yikes, I just added up my nutrients and realized I may be overdoing in on calories and not enough sodium
Will rework this...