Mary Beth Smith Official Coach Thread [PlanEN]
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 (Watch the Video)
Your Races
- JUNE 2020 70.3 (Tinman Tupper Lake 70.3 on 6/28/20 OR Rev 3 Williamsburg 6/27-6/28)
Your Notes
Recently completed IM Lake Placid (2019) Previously completed four 55ks (2015-2018), 4 70.3s (2013, 2014, 2016, 2017), 4 marathons (2008, 2009, 2011, 2017), a numerous shorter races (2008 - current)
I've also been on a running streak since October 1, 2011.
Additionally I am a certified USATF Level 1 and RRCA Level 1 coach. I'm still in the post-Ironman Lake Placid phase. I'm running again, about 20-25 miles a week, but have only recently returned casually to my bike. In the triathlon off season I try to keep running mileage between 20 and 30 miles 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 August 28, 2019
- On 8/26/2019 Load the -- Run Durability for Triathletes 1 (9 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 9/22/2019
- On 9/23/2019 Load the -- Run Durability for Triathletes 2 (8 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 10/20/2019
- On 10/21/2019 Load the -- Run Durability for Triathletes 3 (7 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 11/17/2019
- On 10/28/2019 Load the OutSeason (Bike Focus) Plan, 14wks to end on 2/2/2020
- On 2/3/2020 Load the Swim Camp to end on 2/16/2020
- On 2/17/2020 Load the EN*Half Bike Focused to end In JUNE
- Recover!
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
Mary Beth,
Congrats again on Lake Placid. Great to have you on the team. The venue for Tinman looks fantastic!
I'm Matt and I'm here to help make your first 30 days as easy and awesome as possible.
I'll send some links to articles, forums or coach videos that apply to your training. I encourage you to look around and let me know what you are interested in. There are ton of videos, coach lessons and forums that are available to you as a TeamEN member. Here are some easy steps to get the most out of your training plan, Coach Thread, EN learning library and Final Surge. Get smarter to get faster.
Again, Power user tip! Subscribe to this Coach Thread and get an email when respond. It keeps the communication moving. 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:
Next, get 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.) Just chose one, otherwise you will get double workouts recorded in Final Surge.
In Final Surge: Workouts -> Garmin / Device Upload
Consider downloading the Final Surge App. This makes 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 for your race.
Final Surge | Mobile Apps
https://www.finalsurge.com/apps
It's super easy to make comments about your workout. Click on the "pencil" icon to tap "how I felt" or "perceived effort." You can 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. 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. Just a quick not goes a long way.
You can also setup Final Surge to send you emails with your workouts every day. We can also talk about integrating your heart rate and power zones if you have a recent 5k run or 20 FTP test. You can use that test data to customize your workouts to your individual zones. Once you customize them, the workouts will say 20' @ (135-145 heart rate) vs. 20' @ Zone 2. We can talk more about that later
Learn more about your training Plan.
Check out our videos that explain the why and how, behind the Run Durability plans. Coach Patrick lays explains the purpose and how they fit into your overall season here (scroll about 3/4's down the page and check out the overview, Part I and Part II videos.
http://members.endurancenation.us/TrainingPlan/TrainingPlanCentralPage.aspx#rdp
I look forward to watching you log that run streak in Final Surge.
It would be great to have you join our group run chat (GroupMe). Your experience would be really valuable to the rest of the team. Join here:
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.
Matt, Training Plan Coordinator
Thanks Patrick and Matt! Looking forward to training with y'all this year! Question about zones. I own a HR monitor but have never really used it to any great affect. What would be the best way to determine my HR zones for both the bike and the run? For the bike I've used FTP indoors (which in the Northeast is basically 6-9 months it seems), but outdoors I've gone by RPE since I don't own a power meter. I also use RPE and pace for the run (when I run with my watch).
Oh, and Patrick, you were right, it is Mary Beth (not Mary!) thank you for asking :)
Mary Beth, We look forward to training with you this year too!
Your heart rate monitor can be a great tool when combined with RPE and gives you additional insight into how your body is responding. We like to use in combination with RPE because heart rate can be impacted by weather, hydration etc, but it is another way to manage your effort just like how you used FTP indoors. We use your average heart rate during a 5k and your average heart rate during a 20' maximum effort on the bike.
You can learn more about the protocol here:
Run:
or here, about half way down the page there is a video
Bike:
Typically we like athletes to have a couple of weeks of consistent training before we test. But, you are coming off IM Lake Placid and have enough experience to know when your body is fully recovered to get a good assessment of your fitness and establish a baseline.
Scheduling tests:
I put the bike and run test workouts on 10-11 Sept - you can move them around to any day that will work for you. They generally fit well into the beginning of the week Tues/Wed and when you are rested. You are early enough in the season plan that we can work them in when you are ready for them. You can also schedule a 5k race if you would and use the data from that event too if you would rather race than time trial.
Once you have that data you can update your training plans with integrated zones. Coach Patrick has made a video here:
If you are looking for more, we also have a forum where many of our members talk training with power and heart heart in Training Discussions:
@Mary Beth Smith Mary Beth, just checking in. I saw your notes from Saturday's Long run - it will come around, I'm glad you are back at it. Did you get a chance to look at the info about the run and bike tests coming up?
Everything ok?
Hi Matt! So sorry for not responding to the above, I read it and it sounded great and then just forgot to respond! I may need to move the run test to Thursday just because of my general work/coaching schedule this week, but otherwise, all looks good!
Good to hear! Glad you liked the info. When you move the run test to Thurs - skip the swim (or move it to Wed or do it second). We want you as fresh as possible for the run test. So make it the first workout of the day. The run test is challenging enough!
Once you have your data from the bike and run tests - you can further customize your workouts!
You can change the instructions to reflect YOUR numbers. For example, a tempo run looks like:
MS: 2 x 1 mile (4') @ Zone 4, remainder @ Zone 1.
if you update your integrated zones it will then read
MS: 2 x 1 mile (4') @ (148-155) , remainder @ (120-125). It will replace the "zones" with HR numbers.
Here is how to make the change (w/ video from Coach Patrick):
GO GET 'EM!
Hi Matt,
Quick update here, my work week kind of exploded so I needed to push these two tests to the weekend. My plan is to do the bike test today and the run test tomorrow (Sunday). Hope that's ok!
Good idea. That will work. I'm glad you are taking them on. Consider it a
bit extra rest in prep for the tests. Let me know how they go. Then you can
update the rest of your plan. Empty the tank! Go get 'em!🔥👊
Mary Beth, I saw your chat post to Brenda.
You certainly can move the workouts around. In fact, we want to help you find the right schedule that works for you. It is easier to see the entire week/calendar via the web version on your computer. If you click and hold on the workout - you can drag and drop it anywhere on your calendar. ~ Matt
Mary Beth, I saw that you felt much better on Sunday's run - its a win! Even though your week exploded, you still have a nice consistency streak started. Nice work.
Nice job with your Run Test! 🏃♀️👊 And updating your plan with integrated heart rate zones!🔥 Love your consistency.
@Mary Beth Smith Hey Mary Beth, you are doing a great job with your consistency. You are coming up on your 30 day mark - Brenda will contact you about your account. If you continue with PlanEN - we will freeze this Coach Thread and send you a copy. You will keep your season plan and Final Surge account. If you want to continue the dialogue here on your Coach Thread and keep access to all of the Forums and Coach Lessons then you will want to consider our TeamEN option. With TeamEN you will continue to get help from me or Coach Patrick and everything stays the same as it is now. The Run Durability and Outseason phases coming up are really where you build a lot of fitness. Whatever works for you. Congratulations on Lake Placid and nice job with you consistency. It is a total game changer.