I thought I would share my Performance Management Chart post Big Week. On the chart which goes back to the End of April and shows my OS build of TSS into Mooseman Olympic..just after Mooseman I started Advanced IM Race plan (big jump in ACL/TSS)..continued build and then I had my bike crash...see the big drop in CTL and TSS...I used the Big Week protocol finishing out with IM 70.3 RI on July 10 to bounce my TSS quickly back & up...so am pretty pleased by what I believe was the hoped for result...putting me in good stead to finish off the next 6 weeks of build & taper into IM LOO. (My week was kickoff on Friday evening 2mile swim/Saturday 65mi bike,4mile run, 1.2mile swim/Sunday 95mile bike,3mile run/Monday 13mile run/Tuesday 95mile bike 1.2mi swim/Wed. 35mile bike / Thursday Off/ Friday short run/Saturday Off/Sunday IM RI 70.3)
Wed: OFF smartest thing I did all week. Missed some sleep and if I forced it I would have been in a hole.
Thur: 1:59/ 32.9 miles IF.71 INDOOR
Fri: 1:49/30.54 miles IF.74 INDOOR
Sat: 4:19/81.9Miles IF.77 OUTSIDE
Total time is just under 15 hours at 14:53 with 262.61 miles covered....spent more time on the trainer than I orignially planned but I was up pretty early most week days to get this time in. Was less "epic" and more of a frequency type of BBW. I could see doing a more "epic" 3 days of long rides as I get closer to IMFL.
I was very pleased that I was able to finish the week off strong with my last ride done at a good pace. Also took the opportunity to practice nutrition plan on the bike. I found that by Friday I was eating everything in site. My body was in eating mode for sure.
I swam Once just for a change of pace and didn't run once, which felt a little weird and almost felt guilty about not doing "enough", which is weird because I put in over 15 hours this week if you count the swim.
This was a fun and different challenge and I easily broke all sorts of personal records for time spent on the bike in a given week as well as mileage.
Tomorrow, Sunday, is an OFF day and I'll look at easing back into running and swimming next week. I feel fatigued but nothing crazy and suspect I'll be back at it strong by the end of next week....
So, I am a flatlander from St. Louis going out to Colorado for a week. Coincidentally it wilol be for week 11 of IMAZ prep which says a great time for a BBW or BTW. I am in the Advanced IM plan, having done my first IM back at IMSG while recovering from a major bike crash last fall. Biking is my weak sport and I am obviously not used to training at altitude or in the mountains. I really want to enjoy my experience, get in good training, but also not cook myself by going to hard, too long, too high, etc. I have read the WIKI, and some other discussions, but not sure I have the experience to know until too late that I am killing myself. Also, I am almost 55 y/o. Looking for any additinal thoughts or recommendations, otherwise I was going to basically look at the IM ADV or IM INT boxes. Thanks.
I'm in the middle of a 2 week training camp, which I guess qualifies as a Big Tri Fortnight, as I'm following the IM adv plan, and adding extra cycling. Currently I'm in week 16, with race day on Oct 13th. After my first RR, I was satisfied with my progress in Run and Swim, but not with my endurance on the bike. I've done a LOT of OS and Get Faster work on the bike, but no much in the way of Far, so I'm using these two weeks to give myself one last volume pop in hopes of making the bike leg easier on race day. One other note: I'm doing all this living @ 8400', with swimming @ 7900, running at 6300, and cycling between 5700 and 10,000. Here's how the time has gone so far
Thurs: travel day
Fri: Start of Ragnar relay - 3 miles run @ 9 PM, 7800', 22:30, IF .9, TSS 32.5 (0.9/32.5)
Sat: Two run legs, 4 miles @ 0530, 31:30, 0.89/45.6; second leg a trail run 8.7 miles, everything up or down greater than 6% gradient, 2000' elev gain, so the IF/TSS and time of 0.67/84.1/i hour 39 min doesn't do it justice - it hurt worse than an all out HM, and made moe sore for two+ days after
Sun: Recovery ride of 2 hours, 28.1 mi, 1500' elev gain, 0.6/67.3
Mon: Swim: 3000 yds, 58 min, 100/200/300s with 50 "sprint" at the end of each interval (hard efforts are really not possible in the thin air)
Tues: Cycle FTP work via uphill intervals 13' x 3; @ this elev, FTP is about 10% lower. 24 mi, 1:38, 0.75/91
Wed: Swim 2700 yds/54' 6 x 400s; Run 14.1 mi, 2:00 hours, 0.83/155.1
Thurs: Start of Big Bike Weekend: Snowmass and Capitol Creek Rds, 52 mi, 3:24 hrs, 3400', 0.684/156.7
Fri: Castle Creek Rd - FRESHLY PAVED one week old asphalt - the smoothest, fastest road I've ever biked, ending @ 10,000' in the middle of a giant valley filled with electric orange Aspen trees - yes, its fall leaf season here. 44 mi, 3 hours, 3400', 0.683/141
Fri: Swim 1750 yds, 35'; 3 x 500; only did half the swim workouot, as I'm getting a little fatigued; Run 44 min, 5 mi, 0.8/51.5, 350' elev gain.
Sat: Cycle 84 mi on a rail trail, except the last 6 miles is a lot of steep uphills. 4:40, 2750', 0.7/225.7
Sun: Second weight session of 30' (I forgot the other one on Thurs above), Run (yet to happen) ~ 4 miles, 300', 35 min; Cycle up Fryingpan River36 mi, 2:15 hrs, 1800', 0.672 (half downhill)/101.3
Note: I have been doing most of my biking, and swimming, and all the running @ IM pace. reason is a combination of the altitide making hard swim and run interval difficult, and the excess bike volume I'm doing, with my major focus to, as Rich sometimes says disparagingly, I'm trying to "throw volume" at my cycling fitness in my final build-up to the race in 4 weeks.
I'm not feeling fatigued today, and I have two relatively easy days coming up to recoup and try to take another step up with 14-15 more hours of cycling, a long run day (2:30, split 1:45/45), and finish with RR#2. Of course, the only responsiblities I have these two weeks are to swim, bike, run, eat and sleep.
Test of success: my RR#2 will be about 108 miles @ 6 hours, and my race will be about 1:20/6:30/4:30 (or better), no matter how hot it is.
RR is Sun, Mon a travel day (swim in AM before leaving), Tues is work (24 hours). Wed, Thurs may include swim, bike and run short, intensity workouts. Fri another work day, than Sat and Sun are the bike rides as scheduled in the plan, along wtih swim on Sun. Monday another travel day, run in the PM, then follow the plan from thereon out, except will need to juggle a bit as the race is Sat, not Sun (Maybe we should ask P how to manage that?)
But the main thing is, the week after the RR will be by feel - rest preferred over further work if fatigue is noticeable, or muscles/joints are twinged.
Would love your insights on this. I raced 3 HIM's in 6 weeks this summer and gained phenomenal fitness, with 2 PR's and a ton of lessons learned. But.... I crossed the line. I took a 9 week hiatus from running due to stress fractures... : (
So... I doubled up on my weekly FTP rides, followed my weekend rides and swam M/W/F (coach P advice). I've began running a few weeks ago and just put in a long run of 110 mins last week. I felt good but not great, my leg is at 75-80%. Running flats is pretty good, up or downhill creates some shooting pain, good thing race day is flat. I'm racing IMFL as my "A" race. I'm in week 14/20.
I put in a BBW of 450 miles on week 5/20 (with 3 days of riding 100 miles). Did wonders for me. I put in a BTW on week 11/20, but without all the miles running, because of my injury, my longest run was 4 miles. I have my first RR this sunday that I'm looking forward to. I weigh 140-141lbs, FTP - 255, VDOT - 59.
My question? Should I put in another BTW or BBW? I'm nervous about running, cause I know I'm not 100%, if I can stay where I am I'll be able to slug through the 26.2, it may not be pretty, but I'll pound it out. However, I've never walked into any race "feeling" this undertrained on the run (no injuries in 7 years).
So..... Should I put in a BBW or BTW? Which one? And if yes... at what week? THe last RR is at the end of week 17/20. All expert advice is appreciated. Thanks!
Sukhi - Sounds like you have two main concerns: (1) a feeling your fitness will not be up to your personal standards on race day given your *current* training, and (2) a need to "baby" yourself a bit running so as to not worsen a healing injury. The first thing I'd say, based on personal experience and watching many others in similar situation: if you can run 110 minutes now, and continue to feel improvement over the next month, you will surprise yourself on race day with how well you run. provided you don't try to do too much too soon, like run up/down hill or add hard intervals too soon.
Second, wait until after your RR to asess your training needs. Pace the bike *exactly* as you would if you knew your running was @ 100%, and you want to set yourself up for a good run; then see if you can run 6 miles at your LRP (or even 30 sec/mile slower for the first 3 mi). If you can handle that, I'd say you don't need a BBW or BTW. If you are still feeling anxious, either because you didn't perform on the bike/run as expected, or because you are just anxious, consider adding an extra 3 hour bike @ IM pace weekly over the next 3 weeks. One of the reasons I added extra biking volume these two weeks was my first RR showed me fading in the last hour, even though I was only @ 0.68/69 IF for the first 5 hours; in a race, I pride myself on being able to keep up my pace until the end.
Finally, a caution, DON'T adopt this mindset on race day: "My run is a little compromised. So I'll push the bike a little harder, to make up for it." That will only result in decimating your run. Race the bike as indicated by your FTP and expected time on the course - the RR should give you that, as you should be able to ride 112 miles in the RR, and you can subtract about 10 minutes from the RR time for your expected race day time due to aero enchancements, no obstructions like stop lights on course, taper, potential for legal draft, etc
If you can get in 25-30 miles a week running in over the next month, and can show up @ what you consider "90 %" on race day, and then execute like a ninja, you will have an awesome race. It may hurt a bit more, but you'll have some time to recover @ the end of the year.
Thanks Al! I truly appreciate your advice and I'll do just that. We'll see how things go this Saturday with RR1 and then I'll repost here to let you know. If I did throw in an extra 3 hr ride @ IM pace, what day would you suggest? I do my FTP rides Tuesdays, long ride Sat., ABP Sunday. Swim M/W/F, long runs THurs. and a few miles here and there M/W running. WOuld I consider dropping any workouts if I did add this 3 hr IM pace ride? Again, I'll repost SUnday and put the details in then so you'll have a clearer picture.
I do my extra rides on Wed &/or Fri, but I have a very flexible schedule. Depending on your life needs, other days might work better. Also, back when I worked more often, bike commuting served as extra credit cycling.
Comments
I thought I would share my Performance Management Chart post Big Week. On the chart which goes back to the End of April and shows my OS build of TSS into Mooseman Olympic..just after Mooseman I started Advanced IM Race plan (big jump in ACL/TSS)..continued build and then I had my bike crash...see the big drop in CTL and TSS...I used the Big Week protocol finishing out with IM 70.3 RI on July 10 to bounce my TSS quickly back & up...so am pretty pleased by what I believe was the hoped for result...putting me in good stead to finish off the next 6 weeks of build & taper into IM LOO. (My week was kickoff on Friday evening 2mile swim/Saturday 65mi bike,4mile run, 1.2mile swim/Sunday 95mile bike,3mile run/Monday 13mile run/Tuesday 95mile bike 1.2mi swim/Wed. 35mile bike / Thursday Off/ Friday short run/Saturday Off/Sunday IM RI 70.3)
Well folks, my first BBW is in the books.
Sunday: 2:53/54.3 miles IF.83 OUTSIDE
Monday: 1:55/30.9 miles IF.68 INDOOR
Tuesday: 1:58/31.9 miles IF.69 INDOOR
Wed: OFF smartest thing I did all week. Missed some sleep and if I forced it I would have been in a hole.
Thur: 1:59/ 32.9 miles IF.71 INDOOR
Fri: 1:49/30.54 miles IF.74 INDOOR
Sat: 4:19/81.9Miles IF.77 OUTSIDE
Total time is just under 15 hours at 14:53 with 262.61 miles covered....spent more time on the trainer than I orignially planned but I was up pretty early most week days to get this time in. Was less "epic" and more of a frequency type of BBW. I could see doing a more "epic" 3 days of long rides as I get closer to IMFL.
I was very pleased that I was able to finish the week off strong with my last ride done at a good pace. Also took the opportunity to practice nutrition plan on the bike. I found that by Friday I was eating everything in site. My body was in eating mode for sure.
I swam Once just for a change of pace and didn't run once, which felt a little weird and almost felt guilty about not doing "enough", which is weird because I put in over 15 hours this week if you count the swim.
This was a fun and different challenge and I easily broke all sorts of personal records for time spent on the bike in a given week as well as mileage.
Tomorrow, Sunday, is an OFF day and I'll look at easing back into running and swimming next week. I feel fatigued but nothing crazy and suspect I'll be back at it strong by the end of next week....
Are BTW's to be done at IM pace?
I'm in the middle of a 2 week training camp, which I guess qualifies as a Big Tri Fortnight, as I'm following the IM adv plan, and adding extra cycling. Currently I'm in week 16, with race day on Oct 13th. After my first RR, I was satisfied with my progress in Run and Swim, but not with my endurance on the bike. I've done a LOT of OS and Get Faster work on the bike, but no much in the way of Far, so I'm using these two weeks to give myself one last volume pop in hopes of making the bike leg easier on race day. One other note: I'm doing all this living @ 8400', with swimming @ 7900, running at 6300, and cycling between 5700 and 10,000. Here's how the time has gone so far
Thurs: travel day
Fri: Start of Ragnar relay - 3 miles run @ 9 PM, 7800', 22:30, IF .9, TSS 32.5 (0.9/32.5)
Sat: Two run legs, 4 miles @ 0530, 31:30, 0.89/45.6; second leg a trail run 8.7 miles, everything up or down greater than 6% gradient, 2000' elev gain, so the IF/TSS and time of 0.67/84.1/i hour 39 min doesn't do it justice - it hurt worse than an all out HM, and made moe sore for two+ days after
Sun: Recovery ride of 2 hours, 28.1 mi, 1500' elev gain, 0.6/67.3
Mon: Swim: 3000 yds, 58 min, 100/200/300s with 50 "sprint" at the end of each interval (hard efforts are really not possible in the thin air)
Tues: Cycle FTP work via uphill intervals 13' x 3; @ this elev, FTP is about 10% lower. 24 mi, 1:38, 0.75/91
Wed: Swim 2700 yds/54' 6 x 400s; Run 14.1 mi, 2:00 hours, 0.83/155.1
Thurs: Start of Big Bike Weekend: Snowmass and Capitol Creek Rds, 52 mi, 3:24 hrs, 3400', 0.684/156.7
Fri: Castle Creek Rd - FRESHLY PAVED one week old asphalt - the smoothest, fastest road I've ever biked, ending @ 10,000' in the middle of a giant valley filled with electric orange Aspen trees - yes, its fall leaf season here. 44 mi, 3 hours, 3400', 0.683/141
Cont'd (iPad doesn't scroll the pane as I type)
Fri: Swim 1750 yds, 35'; 3 x 500; only did half the swim workouot, as I'm getting a little fatigued; Run 44 min, 5 mi, 0.8/51.5, 350' elev gain.
Sat: Cycle 84 mi on a rail trail, except the last 6 miles is a lot of steep uphills. 4:40, 2750', 0.7/225.7
Sun: Second weight session of 30' (I forgot the other one on Thurs above), Run (yet to happen) ~ 4 miles, 300', 35 min; Cycle up Fryingpan River36 mi, 2:15 hrs, 1800', 0.672 (half downhill)/101.3
Note: I have been doing most of my biking, and swimming, and all the running @ IM pace. reason is a combination of the altitide making hard swim and run interval difficult, and the excess bike volume I'm doing, with my major focus to, as Rich sometimes says disparagingly, I'm trying to "throw volume" at my cycling fitness in my final build-up to the race in 4 weeks.
I'm not feeling fatigued today, and I have two relatively easy days coming up to recoup and try to take another step up with 14-15 more hours of cycling, a long run day (2:30, split 1:45/45), and finish with RR#2. Of course, the only responsiblities I have these two weeks are to swim, bike, run, eat and sleep.
Test of success: my RR#2 will be about 108 miles @ 6 hours, and my race will be about 1:20/6:30/4:30 (or better), no matter how hot it is.
Bill
RR is Sun, Mon a travel day (swim in AM before leaving), Tues is work (24 hours). Wed, Thurs may include swim, bike and run short, intensity workouts. Fri another work day, than Sat and Sun are the bike rides as scheduled in the plan, along wtih swim on Sun. Monday another travel day, run in the PM, then follow the plan from thereon out, except will need to juggle a bit as the race is Sat, not Sun (Maybe we should ask P how to manage that?)
But the main thing is, the week after the RR will be by feel - rest preferred over further work if fatigue is noticeable, or muscles/joints are twinged.
Al, thanks for sharing!
Bryan -- you should train at an intensity that allows you to get in the planned volume. That usually ends up being at IM effort or a bit less.
So... I doubled up on my weekly FTP rides, followed my weekend rides and swam M/W/F (coach P advice). I've began running a few weeks ago and just put in a long run of 110 mins last week. I felt good but not great, my leg is at 75-80%. Running flats is pretty good, up or downhill creates some shooting pain, good thing race day is flat.
I'm racing IMFL as my "A" race. I'm in week 14/20.
I put in a BBW of 450 miles on week 5/20 (with 3 days of riding 100 miles). Did wonders for me. I put in a BTW on week 11/20, but without all the miles running, because of my injury, my longest run was 4 miles. I have my first RR this sunday that I'm looking forward to. I weigh 140-141lbs, FTP - 255, VDOT - 59.
My question? Should I put in another BTW or BBW? I'm nervous about running, cause I know I'm not 100%, if I can stay where I am I'll be able to slug through the 26.2, it may not be pretty, but I'll pound it out. However, I've never walked into any race "feeling" this undertrained on the run (no injuries in 7 years).
So..... Should I put in a BBW or BTW? Which one? And if yes... at what week? THe last RR is at the end of week 17/20.
All expert advice is appreciated. Thanks!
Sukhi - Sounds like you have two main concerns: (1) a feeling your fitness will not be up to your personal standards on race day given your *current* training, and (2) a need to "baby" yourself a bit running so as to not worsen a healing injury. The first thing I'd say, based on personal experience and watching many others in similar situation: if you can run 110 minutes now, and continue to feel improvement over the next month, you will surprise yourself on race day with how well you run. provided you don't try to do too much too soon, like run up/down hill or add hard intervals too soon.
Second, wait until after your RR to asess your training needs. Pace the bike *exactly* as you would if you knew your running was @ 100%, and you want to set yourself up for a good run; then see if you can run 6 miles at your LRP (or even 30 sec/mile slower for the first 3 mi). If you can handle that, I'd say you don't need a BBW or BTW. If you are still feeling anxious, either because you didn't perform on the bike/run as expected, or because you are just anxious, consider adding an extra 3 hour bike @ IM pace weekly over the next 3 weeks. One of the reasons I added extra biking volume these two weeks was my first RR showed me fading in the last hour, even though I was only @ 0.68/69 IF for the first 5 hours; in a race, I pride myself on being able to keep up my pace until the end.
Finally, a caution, DON'T adopt this mindset on race day: "My run is a little compromised. So I'll push the bike a little harder, to make up for it." That will only result in decimating your run. Race the bike as indicated by your FTP and expected time on the course - the RR should give you that, as you should be able to ride 112 miles in the RR, and you can subtract about 10 minutes from the RR time for your expected race day time due to aero enchancements, no obstructions like stop lights on course, taper, potential for legal draft, etc
If you can get in 25-30 miles a week running in over the next month, and can show up @ what you consider "90 %" on race day, and then execute like a ninja, you will have an awesome race. It may hurt a bit more, but you'll have some time to recover @ the end of the year.
I do my extra rides on Wed &/or Fri, but I have a very flexible schedule. Depending on your life needs, other days might work better. Also, back when I worked more often, bike commuting served as extra credit cycling.