McCallum Nation (MN) Training Plan: Thoughts, critiques, advice, airing of grievances
I trained with the EN plans for two years now. I've written a couple of things in the past about trying something slightly different for training this year. Taking parts of the EN plans and bastardizing it to fit me better. There were some parts of the EN plans that didn't work well for me, some that did, others that worked well with some tinkering and so on and so forth. I went through a 12 week training block for the Texas 70.3 with a template for what I wanted to do and thought it went great. I was having a great race at Galveston and was on pace to finish about 4:55 until a leg cramp really killed me on the last 2/3 of the run. Still finished in 5:06 but wasn't happy with that result.
I was supposed to race NOLA 70.3 this past weekend but Mother Nature and some real bad race management changed that plan. I'm now looking ahead to the next 8 weeks leading up to Syracuse 70.3. I have a legit shot at a Vegas slot there as that's one of the 100 slot races and M40-44 should get 12-13 slots. Not sure I'd take the slot even if (and that could be a BIG IF) I earned it but I'd still like to see if I can do it.
Here is Week 1 of my proposed training plan (see attached). FTP about 300W outdoors (285-290 indoors so weekday bike workouts are indoors). vDot about 48. Run training is loosely based off Dave Scott's "swing pace" protocol.
I needed to add some more run volume and had the simple idea to run to the pool on M, W, Sat mornings. 2.5 mile easy run to pool, swim, 2.5 mile easy run back. That adds 15 miles of run volume for the week. I will increase my long run to 13 miles in 1 mile increments from week to week. No need to bike beyond 2:30 since my HIM bike times should be in the 2:20-something range.
I know some people will say why don't I just follow the EN plans but I've done that and I need to take what works and what I like from those plans and mold them into something that works better for me. Trust me... I sponge off any and all ideas R&P throw at us.
Comments
I'm just wondering about the lack of FTP work. Is that because you have two midweek VO2 sessions? Will you be mixing this up as the weeks go on? Also on the long bike why the 15' sets @ 240 and 250? Especially considering you are about to do 90' at those levels, which I love btw. The only thing I might change is to combine them into 30' and build it up to eventually hit .9-.93. Personally I've actually been enjoying longer sets 30-45' @ .90-.96 as well as shorter sets, 5-8' @ 1.05.
You've been at this game awhile so I'm confident you know what you're doing.
Your biking looks kinda limited relative to the swimming and running you are doing. Why not ride the bike instead of run to the pool/gym one day (wed or sat), and tack a few miles onto the bike trip on the way home. I used to bike to work (up until last year), and found the extra miles, even though it wasn't "real" training, did make me a stronger biker and runner on race day.
I think I can possibly trace it back to an electrolyte deficiency during the race. I often get the hunger pangs during races so I decided to eat something of a little substance during the bike. I went with a honey stinger waffle and deleted an equivalent amount of calories from my Infinit mix. I didn't think about the fact I also eliminated electrolytes. I ate the stinger waffle the first 15 minutes on the bike and didn't touch my Infinit until nearly an hour into the bike. Therefore, I had no electrolytes at all until 1:30 into the race (including the swim) and only had maybe 1200 mg of electrolytes total by the time I started the run (and it was warm out). I think I was in an electrolyte hole and didn't realize it and started to cramp up around mile 4 of the run.
Nothing training related.
I've been reading a lot of stuff lately on ST regarding the philosophy that BarryP and others espouse regarding "run more, run more often, become a better runner." The stuff BarryP talks about regarding the percentage of your weekly long run to your total weekly run mileage really got me thinking. I have been running about 23-26 miles per week with two runs of approx 6.5, 6.5 and 10-13 for my long run. That meant my long run was basically 50% of my total volume and BarryP (and others) talk about getting that closer to 33%.
FTP stuff is coming. That's just week 1 and I will mix it up. I like to start with VO2 stuff because I feel it gets me better prepared for the FTP stuff and not the other way around. You're right about the 240-250 thing. Might as well just make it 250, huh?
Biking just comes naturally to me and is already my strength. I'm certainly not ignoring it but I think I have greater strides to make running (pun intended). Running is my weakness.
Thoughts on what works running wise for me. High distance volumes are hard to recover from for me. I often shorten the distances a bit and do more high intensity. Super EN style. I have had less injuries, perform better for the other bits of the week, and improving race performance with this. So maybe consider adding frequency and intensity but not total distance. Running distance really beats one up. I do have a highish vdot so how does this factor in?
There is a lot of great info and training guidance and plans in EN. To me, it is also taking that information and making a plan that works for you, if the EN plan doesn't. There is a lot in the wiki about the self coached athlete.
Come to think of it, you could call your plan BM Nation and start a movement!
Well played! Think of the t-shirts. A skidmark theme sounds awesome.
Like!
You just about caused a violent brown explosion --- of coffee spewed on my monitor!
Thanks for the chuckle.
Thanks. Sometimes I even amuse myself!
I took your advice and swapped the Wed easy run to the pool for a 1 hour easy bike @ 75%. Edited the training calendar for the change.
Just saw this thread and really agree with tweaking to suit your individual needs. We are all an experiment of one and i use the EN plans as a base then tweak to fit my needs and schedules. Mostly focused on hitting the long bike and run and two 90 minute swims and keeping my run frequency up.
I too am strongest on bike so I make sure I have 4-6 runs weekly even if most are Z1 and just 20-40 minutes. I think there is something to the run frequency thing.