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The Macro Thread: I have big picture, season planning questions for the Coaches -- ARCHIVED
Hi Rich. Right now I am in the first week of the run focus plan, coming off the Nov. OS. I am doing Rev3 Quassy then Lake Placid, following the "Plan A" outlined in the wiki. That plan says to do either the get faster or HIM plan after the single sport focus. Three questions:
1. How do I decide which one to do - the get faster or HIM plan?
2. Where do we enter those plans - at the beginning, or so that they end when we transition to the IM plan, or in the middle somewhere that looks about right?
3. Regardless of which plan I do, should I be extending the long runs and rides so that when I jump into the IM plan there is not a huge jump in volume? I have been keeping the long run at 90 min during the OS.
For background I did Placid in 2011 and two halfs in 2012, all at the intermediate level.
Thanks!
1. How do I decide which one to do - the get faster or HIM plan?
2. Where do we enter those plans - at the beginning, or so that they end when we transition to the IM plan, or in the middle somewhere that looks about right?
3. Regardless of which plan I do, should I be extending the long runs and rides so that when I jump into the IM plan there is not a huge jump in volume? I have been keeping the long run at 90 min during the OS.
For background I did Placid in 2011 and two halfs in 2012, all at the intermediate level.
Thanks!
0
Comments
1. How do I decide which one to do - the get faster or HIM plan?
2. Where do we enter those plans - at the beginning, or so that they end when we transition to the IM plan, or in the middle somewhere that looks about right?
3. Regardless of which plan I do, should I be extending the long runs and rides so that when I jump into the IM plan there is not a huge jump in volume? I have been keeping the long run at 90 min during the OS.
For background I did Placid in 2011 and two halfs in 2012, all at the intermediate level.
Thanks!
thanks Coach, Joe C.
i am week 15 in him. b race 3/24.
my big goal is kona - lakeplacid with a target of under 12 hrs - 50 age group.
last year (first im) at imcda, i did 1236. i target to tajke 15 min off t1 (was hypothermic), 10 min off swim and balance from bike (11 min).
my run has improved this season - took 3 min off my 1/2 marathon - 1:45. i was a marathoner for 20 yrs before entering the tri world 4 yrs ago. marathon pr 314-- much younger days. i do struggle with injury and tight hips!!
my question/ concern---
i am not making my bike intervals on the weekend-- i think i am too worn out from the running.
for example, today i did the 10', 12', and 15' z4. i could only get my hr to z3, and the balance of the ride was z2 at best. what are your thoughts??? my previous traing had 2 bike intervals and long ride with some intervals. the 2 bike intervals had 48 hr rest.
would you change anything or am i just adjusting ...
thx
i am week 15 in him. b race 3/24.
my big goal is kona - lakeplacid with a target of under 12 hrs - 50 age group.
last year (first im) at imcda, i did 1236. i target to tajke 15 min off t1 (was hypothermic), 10 min off swim and balance from bike (11 min).
my run has improved this season - took 3 min off my 1/2 marathon - 1:45. i was a marathoner for 20 yrs before entering the tri world 4 yrs ago. marathon pr 314-- much younger days. i do struggle with injury and tight hips!!
my question/ concern---
i am not making my bike intervals on the weekend-- i think i am too worn out from the running.
for example, today i did the 10', 12', and 15' z4. i could only get my hr to z3, and the balance of the ride was z2 at best. what are your thoughts??? my previous traing had 2 bike intervals and long ride with some intervals. the 2 bike intervals had 48 hr rest.
would you change anything or am i just adjusting ...
thx
Coaches RnP,
My 2012 A race was IM Coz, and my 2013 A races are IM Kansas 70.3 on Sunday, June 9, and IM Canada on August 25th. I have been following the 2013 Master Season Plan "C" aka Very Late 2012 A-Race, Late Spring 2013 Race, and Experienced Ironman Athlete. So, I started the Jan 7 OS Plan, and that is going great. Looking at the season plan spreadsheet could you give me specific guidance as to when I should start the Get Fast Plan and when I should start my 12 week Ironman training block? It looks like the simplest thing to do is to skip the 6/10 transition week listed as optional, and start the Ironman 12 week training block at that time. Is this correct?
@Joe, you can TOTALLY do that ride just note we'll have to make sure you pace it right and recover properly. Otherwise have a blast!!!
@Yvette, I will have to check!
@Joe, if we want you to brick, workout #2 is called a "Brick Run". Note that unless you are 8 weeks (or less) from your race, all runs are ideally separated. Once you are INSIDE of that 8 week window, then you can brick as you like.
@Lori, as a heart rate athlete it's important to note that you might not be able to hit HR zones but that doesn't mean your body isn't working! One day you do 10' @ z4 and your HR is 145 (z2, yay!) but other days you do 10' @ z4 and your HR is 135 (z1, wtf?)…it's not that you are going any easier, but that your body is carrying fatigue. From a workout perspective, consider noting your speed / cadence for these intervals…so you can "replicate" or "beat" that each week…this way a higher/lower HR number doesn't means success or failure. From a fitness perspective, it might be worthwhile improving your Friday recovery to make sure you are in a better place to get the weekend workout done -- are you sleeping well? hydrating recovering with protein? Keep us posted!
@Ken, transitioning to a 12 week IM plan would have you starting that the week you taper/race Kansas 70.3 (week of 6/3). When your OS ends on April 14, you have 7 weeks until Kansas….IF you have done an IM before, then I suggest you load the HIM plan on 4/15 to end on Kansas 70.3, and then we'll transition you to the IM plan. If you haven't done an IM before or are coming back from a time away from the longer stuff, then you can drop in the IM plan (it's 20wks long) on 4/15 to end on IMC and we'll work in Kansas as you go! Hope that helps!
Hey Coach!
I am in OS week 7 and had planned on doing 70.3 Florida so I was going to jump to the HIM plan sometime in march. However I have budget constraints and hadn't signed up yet figuring out what to do. Turns out I will be spending 4 weeks in Portugal this July and there is a half iron distance triathlon in the town I am staying in for US$60! I already signed up. It's on July 16. I was wondering since that date is far away what do I do between now and then? When do I start the half iron training plan for that?
Thanks so much,
Cristina
Just finished my A race yesterday (faster on all three splits than last time despite being a bit truant on some swim and bike workouts this past month!) and looking forward to recovery time, which will include planning for my next targets. The next A race will be a marathon. Yes, I know, I know! I've read all the stuff about why that's a bad idea... But think of me as a runner who does triathlons in the running off season.
Have also been reading all the wiki marathon planning stuff and listened to the webinar, but I'm a wee bit confused. Partly cause being on the other side of the world means I'm six months out of sinc with all the examples, but also because the info mostly relates to spring or fall marathons and mine is In winter. Not sure if I need to do another season planning survey or if the answer is simple enough for you t o cover here.
Plan is short course tri 1km/30km/8km April 6 (B race), half marathon may 19 (B), marathon July 6 (A), half marathon 22 September (A), then "just for practise" C priority short tris leading into half ironman-ish race again Feb next year.
Basically, I want to hack just enough bike and swim into the marathon plan to keep me okay for April, then sing into straight marathon after that. I'd just live some guidance on how much biking and summing I should do. Thanks for any advice.
This will be my 8th HIM race (Kansas) and third IM (IMC). I would still consider myself an intermediate level athlete. Noting that the HIM training plan is a 20 week plan would you have me jump into it at week 12 or 13 of the plan (to end on Kansas) or week 1? Also, should I still do a transition week between the out season plan and starting the HIM plan? Thanks.
Hi Rich,
I am a bit confused on what to upload for my next block. My foot issue is pretty much gone, I am running full time with my Orthos and they are feeling great. My heavy bike OS ended yesterday. You mentioned in my audio cast that you may switch me up based on my healing. I had a great Jan and Feb is feeling good so far. So which do I upload now? also, Am I advanced or Intermediate?
thanks much!
Heidi Slomer
I"ll look for your season plan and will circle back to you via email.
@Kylie --
Please take the Season Planning survey and I'll get it back to you right away.
@Ken -- Load up the HIM plan to end on IMKS, then go directly from that into the IM plan to end on IMCA
@Heidi -- suggest you use the Intermediate for a while to see how you do in that, then consider moving to the Advanced plan.
Kylie
Thank you.
PS. I was originally supposed to start the 20 weeks short course plan.
I was going to schedule the clinic for April but everything is kinda up in the air now with my back injury. Over the next days I'll learn more and will finalize all of those plans.
@Andres --
I would like you to load up the SC plan to end on Rocket Man. Then, probably next week, just substitute the bike and run tests for the bike and run intervals scheduled for next week.
Hi Coach, I started off in the intermediate out season plan and have since upped to the advanced. My bike test in january gave me a 215. My question is the bike workouts are getting easy should I retest. Also the calculator is not working for me my last run test was 8 min miles and my bike was 215. Is the calculator back up. If not can you get me those zones. Thanks. EN ROCKS.
Thanks Coach R - Feel better soon!
Hi coaches Rich and Patrick,
This morning at 6 am I did my FTP test. My baseline is 211. I was holding average 232 when at minute 16 I just flunked. I try to hold at 50% for one minute and then try to catch up at barely 85%. I ended up at an average of 200. I wonder what happened. I've been improving consistently for the last three months. I spent the weekend walking in Yellowstone (that's the only change). I had dinner yesterday around 6 pm (chicken with rice). This morning at 4:30 am I just had coffee. Should I eat different from now on?
Thank you,
Wilmer
I don't think you need to retest. Just dial in the number that feels "Hard" and use your experience with these interval sets to guide you. We have put temporary calculators under the Training tab above.
@Wilmer --
Looks to me that you went out WAY to hard at the start of the test and faded at the end. IOW, nothing wrong here except poor pacing. What watts have been holding for your intervals? Don't worry, improvements for the first couple tests are often equal parts improved fitness and improved pacing skills.
Coach thanks for the info. I looked at next week and have to retest the bike on monday and run on wed. I will be out of town sunday morning until tuesday at 4 do you have any suggestions on how I should move the week around I can run on the road if needed.
In general, for travel weeks, we recommend you go bike-heavy before the trip and run-heavy during the trip. "Heavy" meaning increase your frequency, which usually means adding 1-2 workouts of the respective sport
Thank you, Rich.
I can do intervals at about 250 watts. I still wonder if I should bring more calories before testing but I was scared of getting stomach upset.
Wilmer
It looks like the GF plan was fixed a little bit but mine still says "You are on week 0 of 6 (7 weeks remaining). Ends 4/7/2013". While it should say week 1 of 8.
Just thought I'd let you know. Hope you're feeling better!
I am in week 7 of the get faster program. Suppose to load up the IM advanced program next. I was just informed I will be traveling around the world in the next 3 weeks. England, Austria, China. I most likely can Run, maybe swim in Europe the first week and Hotel bike. I assume I go run heavy. I will miss my test week next week, but I can tweak my numbers. When I return I assume I will jump into IM plan to get ready for IM Brazil which is 26th of May.
Let me know if this is correct.
You want to set the plan to end on 4/14. Do that and see if that fixes the issue. We fixed the GF plan yesterday but it may be that you need to reload the plan for the fix to "take," so to speak.
@Pat --
Yeah, that's correct. Do what you can to be consistent and go as run-heavy as you can. The hotel bike and swimming are certainly less than ideal but it is what it is. Are you able to go bike-heavy between now and the trip? Not sure it would really matter before such a long trip but it might help you mentally.
Rich
I have 150 on the Bike Saturday. I could add another 150 Sunday in place of the 90 minute run? Let me know
I'm on the plane Sunday night, so no more chances to ride my bike.
Yep, exactly