Weekly long run. Advanced iron plan. Last eight weeks.
Hello all. Have asked coaches and will ask you too. For the advanced iron plans, the weekly long run has become all z1. Which is different than last year for the last eight weeks. Kona dreamer. Should i be adding z2 and z3 like last year's plan. Thanks
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First off, my bias ... this may sound a bit sychophantic, but I'm paying the coaches $$ to do my thinking for me, so I tend to follow their advice, and haven't really been steered wrong yet.
I know I for one had found it both hard and dangerous to put those harder efforts into the start of the later long runs. I tended to be unable to make the paces from week 7-8 prior to the race onwards, to say nothing of being chronically on the precipice of deep fatigue. And last year, it was during one of those HMP efforts that I blew up my plantar fascia with 6 weeks to go before IM AZ.
My 2¢: if you are finding yourself NOT fatigued on Mondays, and ALSO feeling strong and confident in the last hour of your Thursday long run, it may be OK to shift gears and do two-four 10 minute spurts @ MP in that last hour. OR, if you sre strapped for time and can only do 2 hours instead of 2.5, then 10-20 minutes @ HMP in the middle would be an alternative to get the work in, but @ risk to injury.
I'm not sure I'm going to do the EP + 30 seconds thing as prescribed. Normally, I do the first 1-2 miles of any run at a slower pace just as a natural warm up, but once I'm feeling fine, I find it easier to just fall into my LRP. But that's also the way I race.
I was very relieved when the long run went to EP +30, then EP, compared to HIM approach of MP and HMP within the EP training in long run.
I don't think I could have continued to hit those paces along with all the other work. Like Al, I just assume the coaches know what they are doing
I'll see how it goes next week but am feeling pretty confident right now.
thanks for the good thoughts.
I will probably throw in some zone two/marathon pace if I am feeling chipper then.
by the by, I do my long runs on tuesday because I have the day off then.
1. When I do IM training in the summer it is too hot to go faster than Z1 anyway.
2. As long as you have some other quality runs it should not matter. The only purpose of the Lon run is to run long.
3. Sounds a little like the Mark Allen heart rate approach.
4. Read on ST by one guy who compromises by running a hard 90 mins one week, then 2 hrs the next w 30-40 mins quality in the middle and 2.5 hrs easy on week 3. Rinse and repeat. Some logic there.
Hopefully Patrick will weigh in here, as he wrote all of the run workouts, but our intent was to draw from the lessons I learned from my own long runs this summer, in my final weeks before IMWI.
I made every one of my long runs in the last ~6-8wks into full on race rehearsals:
These were very valuable sessions and a huge confidence boost
Al nailed it. THIS is exactly my experience this year with the IMADV plan. Beginning in about Week 8 I found it increasingly difficult to hold the paces for the Zone 2-3 work in the Long Runs. As Al said, it was "dangerous". I'm now injured with a high hamstring pull and the only thing giving me hope is that the rest of the Long Runs are Zone 1 or easier.
Thanks all. In my personal experience, the injuries have come with too much mileage ,not too much speed. Have been able to recover quicker and increase Ironman speed by reducing mileage and adding speed. So for these last week s to Idaho will probably do a bit of speed during the long runs. But not as intense as previous season's plans.