Brenda Ross Offical 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
- Canadian Ski Marathon - doing the touring 02/07/2020Β
- Pick Your Poison 25km trail run 04/25/2020
- 06/27/2020 Tupperlake Half IronmanΒ Β Β
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 December 23, 2019
- On 1/6/2020 Load the -- Durability for Triathletes 3 (7 months out) -- 4 weeks to end on 2/2/2020
- 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 Half Marathon (Balanced) 12 weeks to end on 04/26/2020
- On 4/27/2020 Load the EN Half Bike Focused to end on 6/28/2020
- On 6/29/2020 Load the Post Half Iron Transition Plan, All Levels (2wks) to end on 07/13/2020
Your Notes
Was training or IMMT in 2019 but crashed 4 weeks out from race. Walked everyday after crash until I could run. Been running and biking since end of August. I currently run 3x a week
1x 45min on road
2 x 1hour plus on trail
2xΒ cycling on trainer 1 hour
1xΒ swimming with club 1 hour
3x strength training 1 hour
Your Homework
Tell Me Your Season Goals
β’Β Β What will make you consider this season a success?β¨
β’Β Β What's your biggest limiter right now?β¨
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.
β’Β Β Welcome Call in Week One (set it up here)β¨
β’Β Β Coach Call in Week Two to talk about your season (set it up here)β¨
β’Β Β End of Trial Call -- We review your experience & Unlock Year One / Race Execution for you (set it up here)β¨
β’Β Β End of Season Call -- We review your year & Strategize for your End of Year GapΒ and Year Two (TBD in this Coach Thread)β¨
Questions
β’Β Β Coach Questions - Right here in this thread. Always reply to this same thread, it keeps a record for us as we evolve together!β¨
β’Β Β 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?β¨
β’Β Β Need Help? - Please check the EN Help Site first!β¨
β’Β Β 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.β¨
β’Β Β Specific Questions about a Race, etc? - You can post those to the Race Forum, for example. 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!!β¨
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
Thanks @Coach Patrick. Skied for the first time in 30 years yesterday for 13km and I think I am going to like it a lot. Lessons are today. The OS is downloaded. One question - I thought OS the bikes were no longer than 1hr30 but I see they are upwards to 2hr30 in the plan?
I have really enjoyed following your progress out in the snow. I know that in January the weather can be iffy, which sometimes leads to sticky snow. I guess in some ways, that just makes it a better location? Really excited to see what this new path will bring for you.
The length of the bike Workouts is determined by the planning You choose; bike Focus plan does have more cycling for me but itβs predominately just on Saturday. The goal there is to get aerobic time with some intensity. If you donβt have the time to do that kind of writing and then you can cut the ride short. Just make sure you get the intensity in. For example you could do a 90 minute spin to warm up for a 20 minute Zwift race which had all of the intensity for the day in it.
@Coach Patrick okay sounds good re: long ride.
As always I need to hack the plan, so here is what I am suggesting.
Monday - noon hour ski (no longer than 1 hour in duration)
Tuesday - either 7am or 11am bike/run and then 4pm weights
Wednesday - I am planning on snowshoe running with my son in the evening, which leaves room for a noon hour ski
Thursday - same as Tuesday
Friday - swim with local club and ski to replace that small run.
Sat - trail run which is going to be a snowshoe run AM, ski lessons with add on ski PM
Sun - my long ride
The amount of skiing is just until Feb 7/8 event and then I will just ski on Sat and maybe one other day to keep up the skill set.
Let me know you thoughts.
@Coach Patrick just finished my testing and got a 20 watt bump on the bike. I am not going to test the run as all of my runs are on trails with spikes or snowshoes. I will wait until I get roadside on a regular basis before I do that.
I just looked ahead and see that I have two bikes on the weekend. Anyway I can bump one of them? My bursitis seems to flare up when I bike two days in a row. I also like to do the Sunday cruise and crush and then use the rest of the day for shopping, cleaning and food prep for the week.
and as a side note - although I said above that the skiing was going to go by the way side after this weekends event, I am just loving it too much to let it go. I am going to keep with the schedule above if that is okay. I also love my weight lifting, which I do on Tue/Thur/Sat.
overall I think this works for me.
Thoughts?
I love the plan you've put together, and more importantly I really like how much fun you're having. I think a huge predictor of in-season success is out of season enjoyment of training. I think your enjoyment quotient is super high right now. I think the improvement in your bike fitness is a direct result of how consistent you've been with your overall training.
My only concern with removing that other weekend bike is that your Bike volume will remain fairly static through the next block of your training. If that's OK with you and you want to spend more time outside in the snow because that's the weather you have right now, I am all for it. But if your goals for the season dictate better bike performance then maybe we need to revisit that.
How much longer do you see yourself on the "ski train" given the typical winter season. Snow ends when...July!? π€£π€£π€£π€£π€£
~ Coach P
@Coach Patrick
Yeh I am really enjoying the winter this year. I am loving the variety of stuff I am doing. It is keeping me motivated for sure.
You have a good point about the biking volume remaining static. Did not think of that. Ski train goes until end of April, early May in OTown.
Any ideas?
It's not the end of the world, just a factor consider to consider. One option would be to mix things up every third week? And the third week you could drop one ski WKO and add a bike? That is a very easy solution that should stay on and allow you to enjoy your time on the snow. What do you think?
@Coach Patrick - great option. I will write that on my calendar.
Great! I am glad we found some kind of middleground. Besides, I believe this ski training is really going to pay dividends for you this season. Bonus that it is fun! π
@Brenda Ross how are things going for you? I see you got a lot more snow. Does that mean youβll be doing more skiing? βοΈ
Things are good. Reserving sking for Fridays and Sundays. Runs will be done as assigned on Tue, Wed and Sat.
Excellent, I think that's the best way to go. Keep up the good work!
@Coach Patrick - yup I am 7 weeks away from the trail race and time needs to be spent running.
Nice 5% FTP bump!βΌοΈπͺ
@Coach Patrick - thank you. Was not expecting that since I got a 20 watt bump the first test. I am not a sprint athlete, so am never sure if the sprint stuff is going to do anything for me, but I do know that if I am consistent I get the results. Feeling strong all around. I am not testing my running because my runs this year are all trails, which is a different beast, but I am feeling good in them so I am okay with not testing. I think the strength training is really beneficial for me as well.
Suh-weeeeet! Next step is to focus on staying healthy...it might seem like Mission Impossible at this point in time but I know you've got this!
~ Coach P
@Coach Patrick okay so as you know I am going to continue to train for all my races as if they were happening but with no pools open at the moment and lakes being to cold to swim in, what do you suggest I do? Should I download the alternative swim camp into my plan.
Here is what you suggested above
>> Last updated by Coach on December 23, 2019
@Brenda Ross - hey, thanks for the question. The swim camp alternate plan was really just a two week block which is meant to replace when people requested to do the swim camp plan. According to your season, that's not on the table so that plan won't work so well for you.
I mentioned a little bit about swimming in our resource page on the website which you can read here:
https://www.endurancenation.us/guides/endurance-training-and-racing-in-the-time-of-covid-19/
Basically were trying to recoup the aerobic and muscular gains associated with this one work out. To me that means some aerobic time on the bike and specific targeted strengths time with chords and weights. You cannot do swim cords for a full hour as if you were swimming, your shoulders will break! π±
Let me know what you think you can do with your training resources for the swim and I can help you out from there. π
@Coach Patrick okay so I am going to replace my weekly swims with 45 of easy biking followed by 15 min of swim cord training. Is that correct?
@Brenda Ross That is 100% correct! Get to it! π
@Coach Patrick I have a new goal. I am doing a 60km trail run with a friend in September. As of now it is a go, but may be cancelled, but we are still going to do the distance on the day it was supposed to go if the race is cancelled.
Anyway, the last time I trained for 50km I ran 3 days a week. This was in part due to have bursitis but also because I really like to cross train. It is easier on my body.
I hired a local coach and she had me doing 1 day of hills, 1 day of intervals and the weekend run was for distance.
I would like to keep my cycling (Wed, Fri, Sun and sometimes Monday), weight lifting (Tue/Thur/Sat) and maybe some swimming if I ever get in the water.
Attached is the plan my friend is following and I am thinking to do the distance prescribed for the Tue/Thur and Sat runs, but am wondering what distance and type of ride I should do for my weekly rides that would complement the schedule. Any thoughts?
Today I did a 2hr mountain bike ride with 667meters of gain that was a killer for my legs. She runs considerably slower than I so even with a hard ride on Friday I am usually okay with the Sat run distance and speed. We are planning on staying together for the run.
@Brenda Ross Hey, sorry this took so long to get back to you! It was on my list! So I see your plan...I think that Your Tue/Thu/Sat program is good. I would add to it by saying:
Wed = Tempo Ride
Friday Fun Day = MTB or Big Gear
Sun = Longer Ride Day
I have added the sample workouts into your calendar for the week after next. You can delete next week and then move those workouts up and then we can iterate each week. For example, you would increase time on Wednesday and your intervals and increase the duration of the Friday work in a bigger gear. Let me know what you think.
@Coach Patrick - thanks sounds good. Do you have distance goals for me or just time goals? Just got in from a 2hr45min mountain bike ride. It was epic. We went to the firetower with 794meter of gain. Curious to see how my 15km run goes tomorrow.
Of course we need to have goalsβΌοΈπ
Wed = Tempo Ride: Indoors is an hour, outside would be 1:15.
Friday Fun Day = MTB or Big Gear, if you MTB it...1.5 to 2.5 hours is great. If you are indoors, Then it's a 60-minute session with 4 x 8' or 3 x 9' or 2 x 12' of bigger gear riding at 70 rpms, Zone 3-ish.
Sun = Longer Ride Day - this can be as long as you like; just keep it easy / tour ride, etc.
Is that good?
~ Coach P
@Coach Patrick thank you. My mtb rides have been in that time span and so have my outdoor rides so far so this is good.
@Brenda Ross I love those mountain bike rides are doing. Is the perfect mix of intensity and recovery effort. I think this is a nice addition to your "normal" training routine. You get enough Friday by changing the activity but the work is still specific enough to keep you strong. WIN WIN! π
@Coach Patrick @matt limbert
Hi Matt, thanks for the call today. As discussed, as much as I want to raise my VO2 max this outseason I also know myself and that means I need to have some fun mixed in with all that hard work. That means 1 swim a week to keep the feel for the water because I suck as a swimmer, snowshoe running and cross country skiing.
Here is the suggested outline of workouts that is in my report
Here is what we negotiated.
Monday - rest
Tuesday - 45-1hr road run or trail run depending on my schedule or snowshoe run when the snow flies. I have realized from previous experience that this does not need to be any longer a 5km run + weights in the early evening with sister
Wednesday - V02 short (K)
Thursday - same as Tuesday
Friday - swim early AM with triathlon club and PrimeFTP ride in the afternoon
Sat - longish trail run - no shorter than 10km and longer than 15km or cross country ski which will be upwards to 2-3hours
Sun - long bike starting at 1hr30, watts between 130-135 and varied cadence throughout ride
@Brenda Ross that's a perfect transition! I think that you might have a "slow start" to the Weekend sessions due to the fatigue you'll be feeling from the week (new sessions at first, cumulative fatigue over time).
Just be patient on those days...you are doing the good work and doing it the right way! π
~ Patrick
@Coach Patrick when you mean slow start to the weekend sessions, what do you mean? Should I be shooting for a lower watt to start working toward the number I mention above?
@Brenda Ross - it's more subjective than that. I guess I'm just saying that you should give yourself some leeway to get warmed up. If you had a 90 minute session it could take you 20 to 30 minutes to feel like you're in a position to do work. I just want to make sure that you're continuing to listen to your body even as you implement these new sessions.