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picking Goals

marcellusbest3marcellusbest3
in General Training Discussions

  I was looking for information in the forum/wiki that discusses a method of choosing concrete goals for the outseason.  What should be my expectations? How do I translate that into HIM goals.  I know it's here somewhere....anyone know where? 

Comments

  • tuckermtuckerm
    You have got me Marc. No idea there was ever a goal posting wiki article. Would have to think it would all be subjective. You can use the average OS gains as a basis for your goals. Say 15% on the bike relative to power and about 3 Vdot points on the run. Not really sure how that equates to the HIM you are doing though. Maybe another 1-2 mph on bike, that around 8ish minutes gained for each mph you gain. Run you could be looking at 3-5 minutes on a half mary.

    So if you test your FTP @ 200w, your goal could be 230w. Likewise on the Vdot, you test at 45 and want to come out at 48.

    Also we have this game where you do your tests and send the coaches your info and they come up with goals for you. Kind of a bet with the catch being that they win coffee if you make or do not make your goal.
  • Mark RobertsMark Roberts

     Marc,

    If this is your first season in the EN house I wouldn't try and pick goals that are tied to numerical values.  Commit to doing the workouts -- intervals, Threshold work etc. and the results will come.  

    My first off-season with EN my goal was to just do the work -- Show up everyday and follow the plan -- I eventually PR'ed that year at every run distance (except marathon which I didn't do,) and set my half Iron PR.   But I certainly could not have predicted any of it or set realistic time goals beforehand. 

    Gettting a powermeter will completely change how you train and race on the bike and make you a lot stronger.  The biggest thing I noticed was how when I started training with power was how much noodling I was doing during my bike rides previously.  Doing the run work will absolutely make you faster;  By how much is difficult to say depending on how you've been training previously.

    Bottom line -- Show up everyday.  Do the hard work and the results will take care of themselves.  And -- its a lot fun setting multiple PR's in one season!

    Mark

  • Gordon CherwoniakGordon Cherwoniak

    Marc,

    There are a lot of factors that will come in to play with the goal setting for the outseason.  As has been mentioned getting the workouts in is a great goal, say 95% of them. 

    Additionally your gains will be dependant on where you are coming from.  I was on the couch in July last year and bought a mountain bike I had a 30% gain in FTP from Nov - April.  You won't know what to pick until you do a test and the first one may not go as planned. 



    With the vdot 3 points is a good start you will test several times in the 20 weeks so if you hit the goal set another target. 

    Finally I believe the coaches have a 'heads we win tails you lost thread' somewhere.  The coaches will set a failrly aggressive FTP and vdot goal for you.

    Given my increases in the bike and run last year I did not even consider goals for my A race at the start of the OS.  I personally like to do that when I hit the final OS test and start to get in to race season with my new found fitness.

    Gordon

  • Coach PatrickCoach Patrick
    @Marc, you _can_ find the Heads We Win, Tails You Lose thread and post your current OS start data there and let the coaches hit it for you!
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