Amber Barry 2020 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
Your Races
- Ironman Lake Placid (2020-07-26) #IMLP_20
Your Notes
Hello! Last year was my first year of Ironman. My background is distance running, mostly for enjoyment, not really competition. I've done 9 marathons and one ultra, but as of last September I hadn't been on a bike in about 20 years. SO... I signed up for IM Lake Placid and bought myself a bike. I spent all year last year learning how to bike and swim, and had a pretty good time training for my race. I mostly did it on my own, with some guidance from the book the Fast-Track Triathlete, and some friends I've made along the way. My goal was to finish the race, I didn't have a time goal. I felt ready, and very much like I could do it, although I was a little worried about the bike cut-off times. Long story short, I got in a bike accident around mile 30 (during the race) and broke my collarbone and some ribs. My first DNF. Total bummer. So two days later I signed up for IMLP 2020. I'd like to learn more about training, and do a better job this year. My goal is still to finish, but I would also like to improve on what i expected my finishing time to be (somewhere between 15-16 hours. I had surgery on my collarbone August 8th. I am still rehabing, but I have most of my function back. Working on ramping up the strength now. I have been on the bike trainer since 2 weeks post-op, and swimming for the past month. I was cleared to run on October 29th, so the past few weeks have been mostly running and less of the others, because I missed it. I have also been strength training with a trainer two days a week for the past month. My cardio fitness took a huge hit after my accident, but I feel like I'm getting back to my normal baseline. Currently I am working out 3-4 times a week with plans to increase that starting next 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 November 27, 2019
- On 11/25/2019 Load the -- Durability Balanced Plan 1 (9 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 12/22/2019
- On 12/23/2019 Load the -- Durability Balanced Plan 2 (8 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 1/19/2020
- On 1/6/2020 Load the -- OutSeason for Triathletes (Bike Focus) Plan, 14wks to end on 4/12/2020
- On 4/13/2020 Load the Swim Camp to end on 4/26/2020
- On 4/20/2020 Load the EN*Full Bike Focused to end on 7/26/2020
- On 7/27/2020 Load the Post Ironman Transition Plan, All Levels (4wks) to end on 8/23/2020
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 General Discussion 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
@Amber Barry Welcome! Super cool have you with us. I am bummed to hear about your race this year, but love the fact you enjoy the sport and community of athletes enough to go back. Congratulations on signing up again and doing all the hard work in rehab to get back to where you are now.
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
We can definitely help you finish Lake Placid in a way that you can be proud of. We will get you there in two ways: First, we build your fitness with the structure of progressively challenging workouts in your Season Roadmap. Second, we make you a smarter athlete. We teach you how to execute your fitness on race day so that you can get your best out of yourself. That best effort comes from you, driving your fitness around Lake Placid - making good decisions about hydration, nutrition, and pacing. We have a ton of other members on the team doing Lake Placid too and a bunch of other folks who have done it in the past to ask for the latest advice.
Here is an example of some learning opportunities that you have as part of TeamEN. You have access to this stuff for the first thirty days so you know you can get a feel of what it is all about.
Here is an example of the forum posts we have on Lake Placid and the Team experience: https://endurancenation.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/25967/2019-ironman-lake-placid-official-recap
Here you can how the rest of the team helped one of our athletes get ready for IMLP by sharing and providing advice on his race plan: https://endurancenation.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/25940/daves-imlp-race-plan
Coach Patrick has a library of 1 hour videos to make you smarter on training and race execution: http://members.endurancenation.us/Learning/CoachLessons.aspx
All of that can be a bit overwhelming. Take you time, look around. Do a search on IMLP in the "Racing Forum" or "Races and Places" forum. See what you think.
For now, I hope you had a chance to look at your Season Roadmap. Let me know what you think about our Run Durability volume in the first couple of weeks. The run training is low intensity, mostly easy - what we are looking for is consistency and frequency. Starting in Jan, we will shift to a more bike focused structure - this is where we build a lot of strength by using intensity.
Here are a few things to help you get the most out of your workouts, Final Surge, and learn more about how the team can help you get to your race goals.
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 questions, its always here for your reference. 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. Link your strava account to Final Surge
I see you are already posting workouts in Final Surge. Your Garmin account is all sync'd up. To get the most out your training - you need that workout data and the story. I see you have already commented on a few of your workouts. That's a great habit to have.
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 takes your Final Surge account from just workout data to a full on training log - where you see your progression and become a smarter athlete.
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.
To make comments, select the activity and 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 will eventually do run and bike tests. You don't have to do them right away. But, in the next few weeks we'll schedule one when you feel ready. Then we will use your average heart rate during the test to set you customized workout 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/
Learn more about the WHY? and the HOW? of your training Plan
The Run Durability video is about 75% down the page. Coach Patrick goes over the purpose of the program and how to use frequency and consistency to avoid injury.
· Run Durability Training Plan Guidance (PDF)
· OutSeason® Run Durability Overview
· OutSeason® Run Durability Part One
· OutSeason® Run Durability Part Two
Learn EVEN more about your plan(s).
http://members.endurancenation.us/TrainingPlan/TrainingPlanCentralPage.aspx
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.
Since you are beginning with the Run Durability program - consider joining the Run Group for accountability.
My goal is to make your first month of Endurance Nation as simple and as awesome as possible!
Talk with you soon,
Matt, Training Plan Coordinator
@Amber Barry Nice job getting to work on your season roadmap and making comments on your training. I know we are going to talk next week - anything you want to chat about before then?
@Amber Barry Sorry we didn't get to chat today. Let me know if another time will work for you. What can I do for you?
Matt
have been making my way through all the info. Let me check my schedule next
week and I'll be in touch.
@Amber Barry I heard you had a good call with Coach Patrick. I look forward to talking with you too!😀