Hacking Coach P's 5th OutSeason: MidTerm Notes
I wanted to follow up on the changes that I made to my off-season training plan. As many of you know back in October I finished Kona and took three weeks off. Then I came back and started to fight the Battle of the Bulge in an attempt to burn off all that Halloween candy get back into good shape. 
Starting the OutSeason in November was challenging just because I was coming off a big year...I know I needed to rest. I also took a long hard look at the effects of the OS in prior seasons and realized a couple key things:
- I realized that I could not sustain my physical focus across the full 20 weeks.
- I realized that every winter I was hit with a cold or some kind of similar setback that interrupted my progress and training.
- I realized that my peak fitness was achieved on or just before week 14. After that point time I never got stronger, in fact I usually tapered off in favor of focusing on running (for Boston, etc).
So in 2012 I decided to do something different. Instead of doing an FTP phase for eight weeks followed by a VO2 phase for six weeks followed by another FTP phase for six weeks I decided to do this:
First, I created a basic week that included the regular three bikes and two runs. Of those three bikes, two of them were functional threshold related and one of them was VO2 related...and I would repeat that throughout the OS. The runs were kept completely according to the normal OS plan.
Second, the biggest change I made to my approach this year was focusing on rest. I made sure that I got at least 24 if not 36 hours of rest between each session. I still keep my two days off but I do a good job using my flexible schedule to make sure I was fully recovered between workouts.
So here I sit in week 14 of this approach and this is what I've seen so far.
My run fitness responded very well to the intensity across the first eight weeks. I put up several personal bests at local 5K 10K and 5 mile races. This lasted for about 8, maybe 10 weeks. By the end of that, however I began to have some residual fatigue overall and noticed it on my bike intervals...where I was no longer able to hit my numbers. I made the executive decision at that time to switch from the hard mile repeats twice a week to doing more half marathon focused training with a longer tempo run half marathon pace. My hope here is to continue building my run fitness by changing stimulus in a way that allows me to keep the pressure on the bike.
So far the bike schedule of one week with FTP in two sessions included has been very powerful. The VO2 session between the two FTP sessions is a nice break and I've definitely been able to ramp up my wattage numbers more quickly simply by virtue of staring at a higher number for shorter intervals one day during the week. In other words, riding 300W for 20 min. seems crazy, but when you just spent 2 min. at 360 W...the 300 W seems kind of "normal." That's not necessarily a physical thing; a lot of times winter training is equal parts mental and physical.
I originally tested at 300W. By week 8 I tested at 330 (back to last year's fitness) and now in week 14 I just tested at 344.
The big change I made to my bike workouts was not do 2 x 20s after testing in week 8. Instead I drop down to 2 x 15 in a way that would allow me to ride my intervals actually higher than my test. So instead of riding at 330, the very upper end of my limits, I could spend time riding at 336, or 338...sometimes even 340. I did my best pushing the numbers...sometimes I even had to drop down to doing 2 x 12's with another 1 x 6 at the end...but again the goal being to ride just a little bit above the number that I had tested at.
As always, the experiment will continue. I plan on continuing to follow the same bike week layout through April (24 weeks) and I'm only looking to push the numbers a little bit higher.
As for the run, I'm going to continue this half marathon focus running thru the end of February (Hyannis Half Marathon). So when I look at my run appears to be more like eight weeks of intervals and then eight weeks more volume oriented with tempo and I'm in a switch back to some intervals as well as I recover and look to Boston...but that's still TBD.
Thanks for your support!
Comments
Some good insights too.
Not wanting to hijack your post, I just wanted to say that I noticed something similar in my run this year — after the Vo2 max block I switched to HIM and noticed almost immediately that the HMP running in the long run on Thurdsays boosted my run at all paces.
Great news! I've noticed the need to recover a bit more than plan calls for in advance of a run test. Might be my age but I'm going to try to recover an extra day before this upcoming bike test and see if it bumps up my FTP test too!
Your experience of peaking/plateauing right at week 14 is remarkably common across the Nation. From this beagle's eye view the OS is too long.
Nice work on shifting the focus to recovery and shorter intervals at a higher intensity; the results speak volumes.
Thanks for sharing your experiment results so far. I noticed last year that Block 3 FTP stuff just seemed really hard - maybe due to zones at higher FTP or having a 10 day vacation at right before. Either way, I think I might try some VO2 for Thursday ride to break it up. I find it really hard to be in 20 weeks of anything.
On a side note, picked up a TRX and been taking a class at the gym. Can you share the CoachP TRX workout. I have been strength training for a long time and focusing this year on more functional stuff.
So my (bike) takeaway from this is:
1. go over ft for shorter intervals, once a week and then 2x a week sub threshold work
2. focus on rest and recovery
I've been doing something similar except that my "overload" intervals are shorter and heavier. One heavy lifting day followed by spinning the legs (recovery) and then 48 hours later a longer 80+% effort.
My ft is climbing back up to last June's 335 level. Now to get my weight to climb back down....
The reason I'm curious: I've always assumed that adaptations were specific to the type of training, and generally, there's about a 6-week period of being able to absorb that type of training before you start to experience diminishing returns, and need to swap out from FTP to Vo2 work, or whatever. In your model, though, it just seems like you're hitting the bike with a work stick, week in and week out, and experiencing continuous growth.
Gotta say this is attractive to me ... I have 6-8 years of imploding during the combined run/bike v02 block (fool me 8 times, shame on me ... ), and would really like to disentangle that week 8-14 stuff a bit to ensure training consistency (and minimize the completely cooked feeling at w 14 or so).
Sorry P didn't mean to hack your post but on the same lines I thought.
* No TRX stuff from me..I take a class and drill seargant does it.
* The original stuff was hacked with Mike Graffeo around the concept of VO2 within an FTP week. Basic premise is that the full potential of the OS isn't realized as 8/6/6 b/c folks implode after the VO2...so why not build that into the session to mix up the week and progress on both fronts.
* So I do Tuesday ride as written up to week 8, now just 2x15 ish with the occasional 2x20. Other ride is 15x1 VO2. Longer ride is 2 x 15 again or 2x20, etc, but with more .85 time at the end.
* I have had some dips...where I had to go from 2x20 back down to 2x15...and again when I had to back off the run hard stuff...but I kept my performance on the FTP work as my standard and have seen good progress...
I don't know why it works but it does. It helps doing it with some other folks for sure. Also, we've been using videos from the Sufferfest and recently trainerroad.com as further motivation. It seems that our runs may have suffered a little, insofar as you just can't pound out threshold miles, but I really cant complain about the gains.
Well Patrick wanted to hear my results so here they are.
Entered January at 280w. My workouts consisted of 2x20' followed by ABP on both Tuesday and Saturday, well sometimes Fridays depending on schedule. Thursday was 15 x 1' at VO2, well actually 16 x 1'. All rides were done using videos from the Sufferfest. Hell Hath No Fury for the 2 x 20', and Revolver for VO2 max.
Runs basically as scheduled with a few longer runs on Saturday of Sunday with my wife as she is training for a marathon.
Finally tested today at 295. I would have tested last week but bought a new bike and of course wanted to test on that so gave myself a week after the fit to test.
My approach was to start off my 2x20' at .95, so 266w was my target. I gradually worked that up to 280 as a target at the end of the month. I still felt like I was getting the necessary adaptations without overachieving and messing with downstream workouts.
Was this succesful? I would say so. Plus I don't feel as burnt out as I usually would after the VO2 block. It helps that I did these with a group and we all, well mostly all followed the same plan. Basically we all gained between 5 and 9.7% on our FTP in the month.
My plan for the next month is going to be to follow a little along the lines Patrick is doing. I'm planning on 3-4 x 10' @ or above FTP on Tuesday and Saturday, with a killer VO2 workout of the Sufferfest A very Dark Place on Thursday. AVDP is 5x4' at between 110-120%. It's a beast.
@Dave, good catch I forgot to add that. This is an all time high. Last year I ended 275-280. If I had to figure out what changed from last year I'd say:
I know you're very interested Dave. Always seeking improvements. Love it. Maybe you just need to change things up a little like I did? Let me know if you have any further questions.
I don't remember what our bet was for either, but if you hit 315 it's gotta be good!