Tim Cronk 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.
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Coach Notes
Your Races
• 03/27/2020-3/29/2020 Ultraman Arizona
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 September 25, 2019
- TBD via Coach Notes....
Looking forward to working with you this year,
~ Coach P
Comments
Wow thanks @Coach Patrick I cant believe this is the first one of these I have done in 10 years :-) Definitely my bad and should have leveraged you much more. Love your thought process and think you nailed it on bike comments.
Some answers and thoughts below. We need to sit down at IMAZ for 1hr minimum to go over what we have in the works on the Ultra stuff. We can go over UMAZ after that or on here. For planning purposes I will be @IMAZ friday-monday but I can be flexible if we need to do it on another day like thurs or tues?
Goal UMAZ win 50-59AG
NO other "serious" races for the remainder of 2020. Planning the sale of NH house this summer so will wait to get through that. However I do have plans to be at Ghost Train and think we will have a big EN contingent there.
18 weeks between IMAZ and UMAZ
figure 2 weeks down/unstructured time and that leaves 16 weeks prep or roughly Dec-March...
This is where I would really like your input/help structuring those 16 weeks. I think it makes sense to divide those 16 weeks into 2 blocks, 1st being more intensity and the 2nd being more volume/specificity.
Block #1 -Since its pretty cold here in the AM's December/January I'll be spending time on Zwift. I hear EN has some pretty good rides? although a bit early in AZ?
Block #2 -February/March I should be able to be mostly outside for specificity.
2 things I did for UMFL that I do not want to do again. For UMFL I did a lot of back to back runs, I think 1 long run per week is sufficient and will allow more bike time. The other was I went on a 9 day schedule rotation to fit everything in, while it worked it was more difficult to plan, I'd like to mostly stick to a 7 day schedule which is also a challenge to fit in all the work.
4 weeks to IMAZ you ready to Race Again?
You are being very kind! I think the more that you and I talked, the smarter we will both get. Let's remember that.
I have these notes saved and we can definitely incorporate this part of our conversation into our Arizona super double top secret meet up. Looking forward to it. 👍
OK IMAZ is done. I've had 1 full week of nothing but eating, sleeping, and doctor visit. I'm ready to ease into things but I think the world is conspiring to gimme more rest. Went to swim this am and pool was closed, toe definitely needs more time before I run but can bike at least lower intensities without fear of making it worse. Starting today 12/2 I have 16 weeks and 4 days before racing UMAZ on 3/27-3/29. Its pretty obvious the bike is where I need to be. Planning a minimum of 4x per week on the bike, need help in structuring some intensity for the first 9 weeks, specially with the use of the zwift rides on Sat/Sun. Last 6 weeks will be all about volume.
Weeks 1-4 , 12/2-12-29 , 1st two weeks mostly unstructured , 2nd two weeks bring back the intensity
Week 5 , 12/30-1/5 , UMAZ camp on the course 3/3-3/5 , friday 2hr swim/90mile bike, saturday 110-120mile bike, sunday 20-30 mile run
Weeks 6-9 , 1/6-2/2 , 4 solid weeks of focussed intensity , with exception of 4 day trip to San Diego to visit Gabe and run the Sandiego Trail Marathon
Weeks 10-15 , 2/3-3/15 , 6 weeks volume , 1st three weeks maybe a short 3-4 day run camp, and a solid 1 week bike camp, and a mini swim camp, I think this would be huge physical and mental break to do single sport camps within a 2-3 week period??? 2nd three weeks Ultraman Format Specificity .
Week 16 , 3/16-3/22 , 1st week of taper and the EN camp, will do some work mon-weds prior to EN arrival, swim with camp thurs/fri then provide any support required for the team , Sat/Sun normal taper 2.5hr ride/1hr run .
Week 17, 3/23-3/29 , mon-thurs taper , fri-sun race.
Layout of Work weeks 1-9 - 2 gyms, 3 swims, 4 bikes, 5 runs - structure for the bikes? will be mixing it up inside and out, MTB, road and TT but can do intensity on any of them.
Monday- Swim/Gym
Tuesday- Bike intensity /Run
Wednesday- Longrun/Swim- opt Gym
Thursday- Bike intensity /Run
Friday- Swim long /Gym
Saturday- Bike zwift 2-3hrs/Run
Sunday- Bike zwift 2-3hrs/Run
Layout of Work weeks 10-12 TBD based on volume camps...
Layout of Work weeks 13-15, 1 Gym, 3 Swims, 4 bikes, 4 runs.... All TT bike work and outside as much as possible.
Monday- Swim/Gym
Tuesday- Bike/Run
Wednesday- Bike/Run
Thursday- Swim/Run
Friday- UM Day 1 Swim/Bike
Saturday- UM Day 2 Longbike
Sunday- UM Day 3 Longrun
Work Layout weeks 16 and 17
2 week taper variable structure
tim - OK, this is a lot of detail to lay out right now so let’s take it piece by piece. December is all about rebuilding and you should be one week of reentry down there. During his first 2 weeks I’d like you to be mostly aerobic. Would love to see you outside on the mountain bike, maybe pushing one or two hills just to see how your body responds. I’m not necessarily worried about the effects of Arizona, but I do want to know what the effects of Leadville and Arizona in the same year have had on you (besides mystery toe).
run:
Bike:
Swim: as you like. I vote short skill session + short gym time to maximize the trip if possible.
December Part Deux:
Run:
Bike:
Swim:
Awesome will apply as close as I can. Yes the swim at camp is supposed to be in Pleasant Lake, I dont think I will play if its below 60, not sure I will be able to run the distance at camp either, but its cheap and close so a no brainer for me to participate and learn the course.
Run- toe still not 100% but improving. I've run 2 miles 4 times so far, anticipate picking it back up soon.
Bike- going good.
Swim- going good.
For planning and our January discussion. Here are the bike/run files for the UMAZ course. No need to really look at them unless interested. Just posting them for you with my rough estimates and comps to UMFL so we know what I am preparing for.
Day 1 Bike - https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/1972599854
Day 1 estimates - 6.2 mile Swim- 3:10-3:20 UMFL was 3:02... 90 mile Bike 4:30 UMFL was 4:20.... Day 1 8hrs total
Day 2 Bike - https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/1998392618
170 mile bike 9+hrs UMFL was 8:40
Day 3 Run - https://www.mapmyrun.com/routes/view/2180187469
52 mile run 9hrs UMFL was 8:25
Thank you for the files. I will definitely check them out before our call in January. If I don’t talk to you before hand, have a great holiday.
Wanted to check in one more time before my big volume week planned next week 2/10-2/16. Post is long , but I think mostly what I am searching for is a bit of advice going into the volume week, haven't done many big tri weeks in the last few years.
The last 5 weeks went well, averaged just under 20hrs a week, with 10hr+ bike, 5hr+ run, 3hr+swim, and 1hr strength. A bit more unstructured than I normally am but I think its consistent enough and effectively getting around 1100tss per week on avg. Typical week of the last 5 and the focus of key work.
Swim- mostly 3x a week, 1 strength with paddles, 1 speed intervals, 1 endurance with 4 two hr swims so far in the 7-8k range.
Bike- mostly 4x a week focussing on your bike suggestions , 1 or 2 short zwift races mostly in the 25' range , 1 or 2 MTB rides , tried a Hang on Ride then went to the 3R ride followed up with the CnC. Many twofer days of an hour or two on trainer then an hour or two on MTB, nothing EPIC (except 8hr 135mile camp ride) and 2x - 4.5hr rides outside . So I think I have accumulated a decent amount of Z4 racing, ABP/SS with 3R and MTB , and Vo2 with CnC. Even a decent amount of aero bar time.
Run- 5x a week , 30mpw , no speed, just run easy mostly 2-4 miles with long runs on trails of 17, 15, 16, 17, and a 26 Race. I purposely avoided speed work due to my toe which still is NOT 100% wtf? to apply more to the bike and I definitely feel moving forward I need more run volume and some speed work wouldnt hurt.
Strength- 1-3 times per week 30'-40'
The UMAZ camp- day 1 swim water temp was 54 air temp 35 , I saw this coming and swam 7k in the pool the day before, laughed at the campers dumb enough to get in that lake and went for a run instead followed up by 70 mile bike on the day one course, day 2 was 135 miles on day 2 course, and day 3 was 17 mile run on the tail end crux of the day 3 course. My takeaways - The water is going to be cold, the days are going to be hot, if typical AZ 80+ its going to hurt a lot of people late in the day on all 3 days as there is no shade and most of the climbing is done near the ends of the days. Not crazy about some of the bike course , some rough pavement, some sections with too many lights, some sections with no bike/breakdown lane, all though some is really nice. Even though I did not feel great on any of the days, it was a bit of a confidence booster as I finished the bike first on both days riding fairly easy out of 16-18 riders and on day 2 there were only 3 of us who chose to ride the full 135miles planned and most took the 110 mile option.
This week- planning to ease up just a tad to get ready for volume camp, next weekend will run into volume camp so actually giving me 10 days of volume.
Volume Camp- Looking for thoughts and feedback here. Current thoughts goals are for upwards of 30hrs , 1500tss , pretty reasonable considering the last 5 week prep, 1 back to back big swim days , 3 back to back big bike days, 2 back to back long run days, all low intensity Z1-2. Will do short sessions of other sports on the long day single sport focus. Heather will be taking a road trip to MOAB with her sister to visit nephew and race a 55k this week so its just me and the dogs. Got a couple friends to train with and Robin Sarner is coming into town and we plan a couple days together. Other than the basic layout depending on weather , just time, time , and more time.
Recovery Week- I am definitely going to need this, couple days off, short easy stuff, nothing long, and going camping for 3 days. Thinking 10-12hrs max. maybe 500-600 tss.
3 Weeks Specificity- Mondays will be my easy swim only recovery day, will get in some intensity in all 3 disciplines on tues/weds, thurs easy, fri/sat/sun the UM format, will stagger the focus of each weekend, longest run will be on weekend #1, longest bike will be on weekend#2, longest swim will be on weekend#3.
EN camp week aka TAPER- Will be ready to rest and help with camp. Heading up to PHX to finish taper the following week.
Challenges/Struggles-
We can cover some of this on our call next weds. Just wanted to document it. Talk to you then!
@tim cronk Thanks for the update. I am looking forward to our call, but I think that we can do a great deal of problem-solving there. That said I didn't want to just lay out my thoughts a little bit about this volume work for you so we could further the discussion.
Essentially you are looking to do about 150% more than your typical training week has been just fine. I base that off of the TSS numbers you've given me, moving from 1100 up to 1500.
Is it a doable, especially with the freedom that you have. That said, we want to structure the volume in such a way so that prepares you both physically and mentally to the race. Here's what I'm thinking, but not sure a 7-day block is in the cards...
totals:
Talk soon!
~ Coach P
10 Day Camp is complete. I've never been a big fan of huge volume blocks and camps, I always felt like I needed to recover. My biggest takeaway as the days go on is that it does not get any easier but you do get used to it. The only thing I think I missed was 1 epic bike day of 7-8 hrs. Feeling pretty good so I must have controlled the intensity, nutrition, and rest pretty good.
So close to your targets above (considering 7 days not 10)
44.5hrs total, 2378tss
Swim, 4x ,25k, 7hrs
Bike, 7x , 500m, 27hrs
Run, 8x, 65m, 10.5hrs
Down week has started, I am keeping it short and I do not care what happens to my now parabolic PMC. Next week things will get real again with 3 weeks of UM specificity already outlined.
Gonna layout the planned structure for the 3 weeks specificity UM format. With 3 questions about the midweek. 1. bike intensity? 2. run intensity? 3. I've been doing 4 bikes a weeks for months now do you think its ok to drop to 3x per week?
Monday- 1hr am swim with paddles, optional gym in the afternoon
Tuesday- 30-40min run , 2-3hr bike , ABP ish? intervals?
Wednesday- 1hr swim speed , been doing 100's so will bump these up to 200's, 1hr run easy
Thursday- 1hr run 2-3 miles of Tempo ish? intervals? secondly should I swap this one hour run with weds one hour run putting the speed on weds and thurs being easy?
Friday- longswim/ medium bike
Saturday - long bike (really going to try and make one of these epic in the 1st or 2nd week say 4-5 weeks out)
Sunday- longrun
Anything else stand out?
Confidence is building , UMFL was last weekend, my M50-59 course record still stands from 2017, although Dede Griesbaur F50-59 absolutely destroyed it :-)
@tim cronk sorry I missed this from earlier. If you want to give me an update on where you’re at I’m happy to go through the numbers. Right now, I would prefer that you put the run tempo on the Wednesday so we can prioritize it mid week and separated from the volume of the weekends. Let me know what you are thinking.
P
@Coach Patrick
No worries. I'm finding myself in a similar place I was for UMFL prep in 2017. Tired. So I am carefully doing what I can.
I agree on moving "tempo" run to weds and that is what I did last week. Last week and the next 2 weeks loose layout.
Monday - swim paddles - shorter and easier than planned, more of a recovery day, totally blew off the optional afternoon gym
Tuesday - 30-40 min easy run, last week some ABP time on bike, this week maybe a short zwift race since the weather is gonna be crappy. Dont tell the camp its only one day LOL.
Weds- 1hr Swim speed 200's , 1hr Run "tempo" more of a build over a couple miles with 3-4 at high Z2-Z3 but much faster than race pace.
Thurs- easy day of 30-40 run, and easy MTB thought that was a good trade for more seat time and enjoyable day with Heather and friends and more of a recovery day but still quite active.
Fri- big swim/ medium bike , went 8k swim and 3hr bike, next 2 fridays plan to add to swim and shorten bike, keeping total amount of work around 5hrs
Saturday - long bike - got the EPIC 8.5hr bike in last week so will shorten up next 2 saturdays quite a bit.
Sunday- longrun - last week I had planned to go 30 but cut it short at 20 since moving the longbike, it felt like more than enough, the problem is I dont think its a good idea to move that 30 to next week, so I will most likely go 20-25 next sunday and start the taper from there being 21 days out.
Anything else for thoughts next two weeks?
Struggling mentally as well. Normal and been here but doesnt make it any easier. The whole weekend was challenging and got progressively more mentally difficult as it went along, yesterday every single mile was a challenge.
Off for that short swim then a massage. I have another one scheduled in 2 weeks which is 2 weeks out from race.
@tim cronk Thanks for sharing. Looking at this from the big picture I have to wonder, where we draw the line. How much fatigue is required to be successful versus being "sharp?" I think that part of what we need to figure out is how we can continue to keep your fit while getting you ready for the effort that is the race. I have no doubt that once we turn the lights out and tell everyone to go without stopping but you will be at the front of the pack. The key is finding places or you can excel and put time on the competition because you're stronger, not just because you are "longer lasting" like Bubble Gum.
Now is a PERFECT time to do the shorter / harder work on Zwift. I would recommend CRIT style races like Duchy Estates and then your typical aerobar time. No need to really ABP it at this point. ABP is to build TSS and Fatigue and you are past that now. So all the other riding would be Zone 1 all day stuff..maybe 1x every 30 or 40 minutes you put up a good 1 minute effort on a hill or something, maybe into a head wind. You can really boost your strength and VO2 capacity with those efforts with a lot of lower Zone 1 time in the mix.
Your swim plan sounds great, so no changes there at all.
I agree with you on the long run...I like the idea of 30, so what about Saturday AM Long Ride, PM 10 mile Run and then Sunday AM 20 mile run. That gets you your "30" without the fatigue of a single run.
Remind me what you do for "motivational" nutritIon...I am big on le caffeine...wondering what you do...
~ Coach P
@Coach Patrick Where do we draw that line? Isnt that always the question. Its this individual balance of science and art. Its awesome being able to bounce this off you and get that outside looking in guidance and thought.
Like the Bike. Will race 1 short zwift per week or get similar amount of work outside mid week for next 3 weeks. I dont think that will interfere or derail the big weekend work or the first week of taper. Agree on ABP thoughts and the weekend work of Z1-2 all feels like ABP anyway LOL.
Run- I thought about doing a split run on Sunday to get 30 . But I like your idea A LOT more. I'm not gonna be anal about getting 30 but I'll see if I can get some run miles in after the bike on Saturday and see what I have on Sunday.
Motivational Nutrition - I'm a caffeine fiend so start the day with coffee, if its going to be a really long day I try not to add more caffeine until I am 1/3 to 1/2 done the expected time frame of the event , and then from there usually ladder it up as it goes on, form is caffeinated sports drink (currently tailwind), caffeinated gels,blocks, and bars, COKE is next and last resort is Mountain Dew. The problem is sleeping that night (think of your sleep after an IM) so it needs to be somewhat controlled for a 3 day event. At UMFL I did use a Tylenol PM each night after each day, I usually dont like to as it makes me feel a little sluggish, but your so beat up it didnt matter. The sleep pattern gets worse each night, I experienced that during my 10 day big volume block I just did as well as this weekend. Don't know if you remember , but I participated in a sleep study during UMFL , they tracked weight, sleep, blood, and lower body measurements, before , during , and after the 3 day event.
Always happy to help, and it's great to be a part of this journey watching you crush it. Very motivational. Looking forward to hearing about the run, so update me on that around Monday.
OK, I'm glad to hear that you do use caffeine I just think it's a necessary evil for these longer events. That Said have you ever thought about staggering the load not only on the day put across the event?
, On Day one you don't use caffeine until the last third. Data two you start the caffeine at halfway. On day three we start at the 1/3 mark. The idea Is hopefully you'll be able to sleep better on the first night and gradually get accustomEd to the increasing amount of caffeine in your system.
Speaking of motivating. Heather accused me of having "Coach P peer pressure" while that maybe a bit true, I feel more peer pressure from my Crew. While I know they are not following my every move, I know how much they are sacrificing to help me get to the finish line. When you ask someone to Crew or Pace there is no doubt a little added pressure.
Survived the weekend, it was definitely up and down, was pretty happy with midweek accomplishments and numbers of 1 short zwift race of 22' , 1 swim 200's intervals, and a decent tempo run with about 4.5 miles good hard effort, I may have overbiked a tad on thurs MTB ride, but surprisingly felt great on friday through 9k swim and 2.5hr bike, Saturday felt absolutely horrible struggling to get in 5hrs on the bike , then bricked a 8 mile run which felt better than the bike, Sunday felt better than Saturday and ended up with 21 miles very hilly run (great training for the crux of day 3) . So all in all a success completing a good back to back run. Besides being really tired , the body feels like its handling it well.
This week and next weekend will be similar to last. The goal of the weekend will be completing the longest swim , other than that I am gonna back off a bit on the bike/run. I'll be ready for 2 week taper from there.
Caffeine- ha never thought about staggering the load for a UM type format where each day is a new day separated by sleep , I have considered for continuous type events like RAM or MOAB 240 where those who sleep the least win. But those type of events dont really appeal to me for that "continuous" reason.
I like the staggering caffeine load starting late on day one and progressing to earlier on day 2/3. But I dont even think I could get out of the swim without caffeine:-) maybe start with low grade and progress to the hard stuff , think beer , wine, vodka.... or COKE, Mountain Dew , Redbull LOL.
In the end exhaustion will ensure 4-6 hrs sleep per night minimum and the excitement of the event will keep me moving until the end.
No pressure from me, but I get what you mean.
Nice work on getting that stuff done...I think you have the right mix of volume already, so as you taper A dash of the quality short stuff can keep that VO2 going up...just a thought.
As for the caffeine, yea Im okay with mixing BASELINE caffeine with BONUS caffeine for completion. I think there's a balance there for you.
If you think about it, assume you do 400mgs a day. Pretty adapted. But on a three day UM you do 1200mgs all three days (baseline plus race food). By day three, that 1200mgs won't be "enough" is my guess. In fact, you'd likely need to go deeper to like 1600mgs, etc. So staggering it would help you ensure that you'd still get a boost at the end of the race when you needed it without having to overload on sugars and the other stuff associated with caffeine!
~ Coach P