Kevin Miller 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 [Click to Watch the Video]
Your Races
- 08/30/2020 Ironman 70.3 Maine
Your Notes
Haven't raced in years, currently in fairly good fitness (weight lifting, kickboxing, light running) endurance is somewhat low at the moment though.
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 October 16, 2019
- ✅ On 10/14/2019 Load the -- Run Durability for Triathletes 1 (9 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 11/10/2019
- ✅ On 11/11/2019 Load the -- Run Durability for Triathletes 1 (8 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 12/08/2019
- ✅ On 12/9/2019 Load the -- Run Durability for Triathletes 1 (7 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 01/05/2020
- 🔲 On 1/6/2020 Load the OutSeason for Triathletes (Run Focus) Plan, 14wks to end on 04/12/2020
- On 4/13/2020 Load the Swim Camp to end on 4/26/2020
- On 4/27/2020 Load the -- Bike Focus Block, 2019 (6wks) to end on 6/7/2020
- On 6/8/2020 Load the -- EN Half Bike Focused to end on 8/30/2020
- On 8/31/2020 Load the -- Post Half Iron Transition Plan, All Levels (2wks) to end on 9/13/2020
- On 9/14/2020 Load the -- Run Durability for Triathletes 1 (9 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 10/11/2020
- On 10/12/2020 Load the -- Run Durability for Triathletes 3 (7 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 11/8/2020
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
Kevin, Ironman 70.3 Maine!
I'm here to help make your first 30 days as awesome as possible. I want to show you how to get the most out of your workouts, Final Surge, and learn more about how the team can help you get to your race goals. Chat with me here in this forum or schedule another call with me here: https://calendly.com/new-member-phone-call/1
First thing! Subscribe to this Coach Thread and get an email when we respond. Your Coach Thread is the best way to get a hold of us, it documents all of your training and it helps to keep 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 we respond in your Coach thread. See 8 sec video here to set it up:
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
To get the most out your training - you need that workout data and the story behind the workout. Together, they give you (and us) the complete picture of your training. We definitely want to see those hours, miles, and heart beats - but we also want to know how you felt, mood, how mentally easy or hard the workout was, what you ate and drank on those long rides (helps dial in your fueling and hydration for long races), what went good (as a reminder) and what you want to work on next time. This helps quantify your progression and takes your Final Surge account from just workout data to a full on training log - where you become a faster athlete because you are smarter on how you respond to training You understand you better. It's like you 2.0.
***This is also a good place to document any of the other workouts you continue to do. It is important for us (and you) to see the entire physical load you are putting on your body. So, add kickboxing or weightlifting to the calendar and comment on those too so you can see how all that work fits into your overall fitness.
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.
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.
Final Surge | Mobile Apps
https://www.finalsurge.com/apps
Customize your workouts Final Surge
You can/will do some bike and run tests in the next few weeks. You can use your average heart rate (or power) during the test to set you customized workout zones.
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.
Here is how you update your training plan with integrated and customized zones (there is a video here too):
https://www.endurancenation.us/help/final-surge-how-to-update-your-integrated-training-zones/
Your new Friends are waiting for you.
GroupMe is the live version of all things Endurance Nation. This is an app you can download to your smartphone. Visit on the web and even search if you want. The forums are our long-term memory, these chats are Team right here, right now. What to talk new bike? Power meter? Where is the best place to stay at Lake Placid etc?
Smarter is Faster.
I did a quick search of our forums and a few Team folks have done Maine 70.3 They wrote up their experience here. You can also contact them by starting a new post and tagging them using the "@" like: @matt limbert.
https://endurancenation.vanillacommunities.com/search?Search=maine+70.3
Patrick Large,
Katherine Boucher,
Julien Pequegnot,
Marian Desimone
You can ask them anything. Where to stay? What the swim/bike/run courses are like? What to do with the kids? I can start the post if you want and make the introduction - Just let me know what you are interested in.
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 another call with me here: https://calendly.com/new-member-phone-call/1
Welcome.
Talk to you soon.
@Kevin Miller Just checking in. Is everything okay? I saw your season plans disappeared.
@matt limbert & @Coach Patrick sorry for the delayed response. I spoke with @Brenda Ross on the phone today (call was cut short due to my screaming baby haha) and I believe I got all of the plan loaded up into my final surge. Thank you all for your help so far. I'll hopefully have some time tonight to be able to look at the plan more in depth and see what I've gotten myself into, but I do look forward to getting ready for this 70.3!
As for my homework...
Your Homework
Tell Me Your Season Goals
Thanks again, and I look forward to working with you all. Take care.
Kevin
@Kevin Miller I love the intra-family, brother competition! Long live the Miller family triathlon records!
As for your time limiter - we need to find a workout pattern that is sustainable and repeatable within your schedule. The best way to build your fitness (and beat your younger brother) is through consistency and frequency in training. Most of the weeks repeat the same pattern of workouts - but progress in a structure of intensity and duration. This keeps your workout times and efforts predictable (i.e. Long run on sunday, hard bike intervals on Tues, day off on Monday etc). That predictability makes them easier to fit into your schedule. Each workout has purpose to keep you focused, interested, and progressively challenged. The second way to beat your brother is - racing smarter. Learning how to adjust your training and recovery, daily nutrition, race day pacing & fueling are all part of getting faster by being smarter. After you get fit, the next step is learning to execute that fitness on race day. Check out some of the learning resources available. For example, http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/91/Default.aspx?topic=Race+Execution%2c+Half+Ironman.
or learn from all those folks above who have done Maine 70.3 already.
or Coach Partrick's Lesson on how to taper
http://members.endurancenation.us/Learning/CoachLessons.aspx
So, for now take a look at how at how a week lays out. You can move workouts around to fit your schedule - if you have questions chat me up here or schedule a call https://calendly.com/new-member-phone-call/1 and we can talk through it.
@Kevin Miller Just checking in with you. Everything okay?
@matt limbert -Everything is good, I haven't actually started any of the training officially. I'm still trying to work out the best way to organize it into my crazy work/home schedule (I've been running, just not the scheduled stuff in the plan yet)... I'm new to triathlon and don't really understand how to read what each day is trying to get me to do though (all the different abbreviations for things, and the different splits "2x1mile 4' " or what the zones mean)... sorry, total rookie here.
@matt limbert ... I especially don't understand the swim workouts! Thanks in advance for any help.
@Kevin Miller Glad you asked. Here is quick start guide that explains the workout terminology:
How to read a swim workout:
WU: 400.
MS1: 8 x 50 (5) as 25 Drill, 25 Free. Then 200 Pull (with buoy).
MS2: 5 x 200 (20) as best possible sustained pace.
WD: 250 easy swim, your choice of pull, drills or stroke.
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Warm-up for 400 yds/meters (depending on your pool)
Main Set 1: 8 repeats of 50 (yards or meters) with a 5 second break between 50 yard intervals. That 50 interval is broken into 25 doing a swim drill and 25 doing standard freestyle. When you are finished with the 8 repeats, swim 200 (yards or meters) with a buoy - the foam float thing shaped like an hour glass sometimes available at your pool - between your legs. It gives your legs extra floatation, limits your kick and focuses on your arms and technique.
Main Set 2: 5 repeats of 200 with a 20 second break
Warm Down: 250 easy swim, you get to chose how you do it, pull (with the foam buoy thing) or drills or some other swim stroke like backstroke, breast stroke etc.
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Does that help?
@matt limbert yes! Thank you very much!... some of those acronyms from the link you posted were pretty funny too.
@Kevin Miller Do you want to shift the training week start date to Saturday for your next training block? The next block starts next week.