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Boomer Seminar 2: Training Plans & Season Planning Adjustments
This was a 100% crowdsourced effort to share and discuss our collective knowledge. This was a round table discussion -- with Moderator @Paul Curtin -- where everyone, in less than a minute, says ONE or TWO bullets about what he or she is doing in each of the two topic areas. That should take less than half an hour. Then, after everyone had a chance to share, there was time for conversation to explore one another ideas. View the full Boomer Seminar thread here.
Topics in rank order are:
Here is the video recording:
Topics in rank order are:
Quantity/frequency of threshold work necessary to maintain V02
Strategies to modify EN Plans to allow for changes in ability to recovery
HIIT Training to maintain muscle in OFs [link]
Season planning goals when incorporating longer recovery needs
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Comments
For me, I really only look at the running ramp rate. While, I'm not sure what ramp rate (I believe that the curves simply represent 7-day, 28-day, and 90 day PMC data) for running gets me into injury risk, but I'm trying to limit Run TSB to -5. In the past, visually, if the curve keeps rising for more than a few weeks without a "correction," I've ended up hurt.
My best source is my wife Mo. She knows exactly when I need to rest. I always listen to that
Here are two articles from Training Peaks on Ramp Rate. Friel's IMO is too simplistic in his prescription of "5-8" being a reasonable ramp rate. The other article, intended for coaches (we are self-coached athletes), is more nuanced, but thus of necessity requires more thinking on the reader's part:
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/why-ramp-rate-is-an-important-training-metric/
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/understanding-trainingpeaks-ramp-rate-for-better-coaching/
Bear in mind that it is possible, when coming off, say, a recovery period following an "A" race, to have a positive TSB, and a ramp rate which is rising dangerously fast. That is a prime time for injury, in my experience.
On the other hand, when in the middle of an IM build, and doing a Camp Week, or something similar, it's again possible to have a very high ramp rate, but to be able to handle it quite well, due to the preceding steady increase in training, exemplified by a rising CTL/negative TSB. Then, a couple of days' rest does a good job of solidifying the gains.
As to the other question of signs of over-training, I'll hit that in another post.
https://endurancenation.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/comment/262884#Comment_262884
- Sense of fatigue, e.g., what Sheila said about feeling tired going upstairs.
- Changes to sleep - restless, wakeful, and/or oversleeping
- Change of weight - I use a Tanita scale, so I see my % Body Water as well as my weight. I weight myself daily, first thing (well, second) in the morning. The "tell". like sleep, can be in either direction. Under or over my steady weight, over or under hydrated (58.5 is my nominal % body water)
- Grouchiness
- Needing a nap before noon
- Feeling hungry in the middle of the night, or an hour after breakfast.
Note all of these (even the weight and hydration) are more or less subjective. I've found things like TSB and RHR are lagging indicators - by the time they are outside "normal" limits, I've already made the decision to back off.Most recent example is today...yesterday, my weight had dropped a # from the previous day, despite hydration being better than average. I managed a good swim workout (with 30' bike commutes to/from pool), and my best 30' run since last year (8:35 pace), but I knew today would need to be "easy", which I defined as another 30' run, and a 20-30' weight room session. Sure enough, when I got up today, I'd lost another pound, and I found myself snapping at my wife at breakfast. And I see my TSB is the lowest it's been since the last day of my week on Mallorca.
Just for fun, here's my PMC since Sept 5, 2017:
Some interesting points (CTL/Blue, ATL/Purple, TSB/Yellow):
In regards to HIIT training, we discussed VO2 max intervals and high heart rates. I think it was @Joe Hallatschek who mentioned that he got too close for comfort to his max hr. I'm wondering what everyone thinks about HIIT intervals and heart rate. How long should the intervals be, how many, how high should heart rate be (especially by the last one) in order for the intervals to be effective, but not detrimental?
I had a great weekend at Boone and my TSB of -44 (and mood and life stress) demanded off days the week after. I had 3 days off (I was pure evil on Friday! My poor family!) but am feeling the bump from that week on the bike now and running TSB in the -20's. @matt limbert was kind enough to help me set up my training peaks dash so I can harness the data to learn more about how I am training and I am very grateful! I am also adding the am hr, sleep metrics, weight and general feeling. This is all new to me, so still a steep learning curve. Everyones input was very helpful!
To what John spoke of, as an adult onset runner, triathlete and athlete I really don't have the same "knowing" of suffering that those of you who were into some form of competitive sport as younger folks. It is still a struggle getting comfortable being uncomfortable. I have that ability on the bike much more than swim or run, but the TH stuff definitely helps. If I can avoid injury and use TH or VO2 (maybe attempt Pauls CRUSH work on the bike) for the mental side I think I'll be heading in the right direction. Tricky tricky tricky! Is it the body telling me NO, or my mind. I think if I feel fatigue, I may attempt what Sid does, one week run, one week bike intensity.
Thank you all for such wonderful info!!!!
http://bikrutz.org/triblog/?p=1187
As far as what intervals, it's usually whatever the EN program has laid out in terms of LTHR (raising the ceiling) or VO2 (raising the roof). I did read in Joe Friel's book, "Fast After 50", on page 157, the suggested "dose" for high, moderate, and low and it see,ms every advanced training program hits the high-moderate for VO2M, LTHR, and Aerobic threshold (ABP). So, "we" seem to be on the mark (for biking).
To your comment about losing muscle, have you considered getting a dexa scan? It shows your body fat percentage as well as lean mass, and where you carry that fat. It's not horribly expensive and you can even get bone density data as well. You can compare your scans ( I bought a package of 4 for a year, so quarterly) to see where and what % of fat and muscle has changed. If you lose muscle (we don't want to do that ) in a quarter, you could adjust your meal plan accordingly. I know losing muscle is NOT our goal, but leaning out sure is. Just a thought....
@Trish Marshall:
I'm no where close to get a dexa scan. Probably Tallahassee would be the closest. I do have a smart scale and actually its shown a slight increase in muscle mass over the last week. Now down 23 and counting. Anne Rollins at core diet is amazing.