Scott Moir's Micro Forum
Coach P,
I understand there can be quite a bit of variation from test-to-test. That said, I was a little surprised, not that there was variation, but at the amount of variation between a couple of my 5k TTs.
After 8 weeks of OS my 5k TT on 2/25 yielded a time of 19:28 (6:15 pace), an average HR of 155, and a max HR of 163. I went on vacation right after this test (literally the next day), raced that Saturday (PRed), then just did easy runs for the remainder of my time (it was vacation, after all!). Upon my return I had been switched from Out Season to Swim Camp so my running and biking were dialed back a bit.
I tested again today because I'm now in the advanced HIM plan and did 20:11 (6:30 pace), average HR of 152, and max HR of 155. Both of these were on treadmills following the same protocol. And although my HR didn't get as high, I was definitely struggling at the end.
So yes, I expected to lose some fitness, but I was surprised that after only 3 weeks of decreased intensity (and some volume) I "lost" 43 seconds and a couple of HR beats. Is this variation within normal limits? I haven't looked ahead at the HIM plan but I'm assuming I'll be able to recapture this lost fitness pretty quickly.
Comments
Your fitness will come back for sure...honestly, early season "breaks" are a great way to make sure that you can train the full season. You are, after all, a human...not a robot!
Rest, do the work, and we'll see the results!
Coach Patrick, I need some guidance on tweaking my plan around some travel. Here's the deal....
I'm doing Augusta 70.3 on 9/27 and I'm following the HIM Advanced plan. Unfortunately, the 9 days before the race are going to be tough for me because of travel. I'll be flying to New York for a college reunion from 9/17-20. I won't have access to a bike during this trip, but I will be able to run and I purchased some cords so I can do a little swimming in the small hotel pool. I return home from NY on 9/20 and I have to be in Atlanta from 9/21-24 for a sales meeting. More than likely I'll leave Roanoke on Sunday, 9/20 and drive to Charlotte that night and will continue on to Atlanta on 9/21. I will have my bike with me so will be able to run and bike, and again, I'll have cords to at least get some kind of swimming done. In a nutshell, I'll be tapering the time I'm in Atlanta so I think I'll be able to complete most, if not all, of my workouts. It's the 4 days I'll be in New York that concern me. How shall I restructure the days leading up to that trip to get in everything that I need to? I'm bummed mostly because I feel that I'll really be hitting my stride going in to the race and I don't want to lose any fitness if I can help it. Sorry this is so lengthy, but there was a lot to cover! No hurry getting back to me...we have several weeks to make the adjustment. Thanks in advance for your help.
So I'd almost rather you focus on two sessions a day...
#1 - is wake up, 5' of core, 10' of bands, some stretching.
#2 - is 30' to 45' of cardio. I am not really a fan of you biking in places you don't normally bike...unless you know the routes. Can be dangerous, esp the final days when your mind is wandering.
The downside of travel is excessive food, liquor and lost sleep. If you can stick to just ONE of those things a day, you should be good...but if you go out late, eat a ton and get hammered...and do that more than once...that could be ugly. And not just for race day.
When you get home, a nice hour long bike with some short efforts in the second half would be nice, as well as maybe a swim in your wetsuit would be good.
If anything, you might be able to get a head start on logistics (drop bike for tune up, line up shopping for critical food, etc).
Thanks, Coach!
There will be no cycling at all during the first trip so no worries there! There will be a little drinking as it is my 30-year college reunion, but nothing crazy. I've worked way too hard to get ready for Augusta 70.3. I q'fied for, and raced, 70.3 WC in 2013 and, although I realize that Augusta is an extremely competitive field, I'm still shooting for a 4:40ish finish and hopefully a top 5 (top 10 worst-case) finish. We'll see.
My second trip to Atlanta - I'll be able to do the cardio as you suggested and I'll have my bike trainer - no outdoor rides or runs for me in Atlanta - no siree! And I've already told my manager that I'll be in "race mode"; that I'll do whatever mandatory functions I have to, but as soon as the event is done, so am I. He's someone of a similar competitive ilk so he gets it. I'm even bringing my own pillow on that trip to help me sleep!
Now if only I could get my swim wave moved up from 8:50 on race morning!
Following up on Augusta 70.3 results. Not sure where else to post but here....
If you scroll back up through this thread you'll see my goal was 4:40ish. Finished at 4:39:56 so was right there!
Finished 4th in 50-54 AG, 60th in gender, and 64th overall. Ended up with the 4th best bike split and 3rd best run split in my AG. A decent swim but a little slow in transitions. Overall not a bad day!
I do believe that I signed up as an EN athlete so hopefully my efforts will help EN get that prize again!
Scott
We do encourage folks to write up a race report that you can put in the Race Report Forum here: http://j.mp/1LYvmMm
What a great way to close out your year...I hope you are half as pumped as me!
~ Coach P
I think my road map for the rest of the year needs tweaking. My original plan was to do Chatt 70.3, then Raleigh 70.3, then Chatt 140.6. I didn't get in to Chatt and just completed Raleigh 70.3 yesterday. If I follow the plan in my road map, I'd be in the GF plan right now ending on 6/25. I'd then load Full plan until Chatt full.
I'm going on vacation Thursday, June 8 and returning Friday, June 16. I'm going to Boulder and, while I know there's great cycling there, I'd prefer not to have to bring my bike. So...this is where I wonder if my plan needs tweaking.
Is it okay to have a pseudo recovery week or so (happy to swim and run in Boulder, and maybe "demo" a Ventum for one ride while there during IM Boulder)? And when I start back up on June 17 what plan shall I do? Shall I start the Full plan then or still be in Get Faster?
Thanks for your ear and sorry for the confusion.
Then the following week load up that IM full plan (one week early) towards Chattanooga. The first week do things more for time that intensity and get yourself dialed into the new schedule.
1) Why is there a gap in bike power zones at the higher zones? For example, there's a 25-watt gap between my top-end z3 and my bottom-end z4.
2) For brick runs, do I go off of pace zone or HR zone? I ask because after a 3.5 ride it seems my HR is higher at a certain pace compared to a stand-alone run.
Thanks!
For those longer rides plus the brick runs, I suggest to go by heart rate. This is exactly what you will be doing on race day, and it is good practice for you. Another words, this is an exercise in building endurance, not speed. We will save the speed work and pace for mid week!
I did my 40' run after my bike so it was HR based. Following the script I would have run at a pace that yielded a 107 HR. For me that would be walking! What I did instead was aim to keep my HR at the average HR I had during IMLou last October, which was 122. As it turned out I finished at an average HR of 125 and an 8:51 pace.
My TRP is 7:54, my zone 2 is 7:17, and my zon3 3 is right around 7:00. My IMLou marathon last year was 3:42.
Needless to say, I'm a little confused as to what pace I should be shooting for off the bike! If I go off average bike HR it'll be low I think. Any suggestions? Thanks.
I did my 1-hour run at TRP today after my 90-minute ABP bike. Again, my TRP is 7:54. I ended up today at 7:53 and my average HR was 127.
I'm just trying to figure out what my run pace and/or HR pace is for the first 6 miles, then what my run and/or HR pace will be for the balance.
Also, Chattanooga is a bit unique. Between the first 6 miles and the start of the hills on Barton, there isn't much time to really establish race pace. What do you recommend once we get into the North Shore part of the run?
Thanks.
Jenn Edwards here stepping in as Coach P makes his way back from IMMT. Epic, yes?!?
If I'm understanding correctly, the delta between your bike HR and your run HR at "ballpark" efforts is much larger than would be prescribed for the typical execution protocol. If I may... it could just be time to call in the "Special Snowflake" card and just let it be what it is. Assuming, of course that the 0.75 IF ride was plenty of effort. If that's the case, let's start taking a look at your heart rate on your long runs and try practicing those first few miles off the bike at the low end of that range and build from there.
I hope that gives you an idea to try. No hard feelings if you want to (re) ping P when he is back in the saddle.
Cheers! - Jenn
Looking very forward to our input! If you can make any sense out of my narrative!
So... Instead of running "too fast" at the beginning of the run, instead force yourself to slow down a bit and take in some extra fluids and nutrition to really set up the latter part of your run when you may or may not be able to stomach much of anything.
I'd be curious to see what Coach P finally chimes in with, but if I were advising you, I'd say to cap yourself out around a ~120-122 HR, but also no faster than say ~8:40-8:45 pace on average per mile for the first ~6 or so miles. 6 miles is also a "ballpark" recommendation with some really strong runners sliding this down to 4-5 miles depending on the course and how they feel and other shakier runners (or bikers) pushing this out to 7-8 miles. Personally I only do around ~3-4 miles, but I have a hard time "speeding up", even in a stand-alone run. The goal really is to settle in your legs and really fuel up and setup the next few hours on your feet. If you add ~20-30 seconds per mile for ~4-6 miles at the beginning of your run that's only a couple of minutes. You will get that back in spades if you're still running somewhat smoothly (not slowing down even when it's getting a lot harder) in the last 6-8 miles.
Even just staying at a steady pace will have your heart rate skyrocket. How will you run after that surge and in the second half of your race is all predicated on the first 6 miles. Talk to me about how you were going to do the nutrition in those early miles, including a banana out of T2, and what your damage control strategy is should you stomach start to go south after those hills.
We do that until you are ready for the OS, which will likely by a January start (1/8)...deal?
~ Coach P
Hope you're enjoying some rest time.
@Scott Moir
Here's your updated Season Plan, as promised. This is where you'll return to post all your "coach" questions as responses; I'll see them and reply. This first post is my best outline of how to proceed with your races, but you can ask any / all questions you want. So post away, know that I reply here usually Monday & Friday each week.
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Coach Notes
Hey Scott, glad to hear you are on the mend. I also fractured my acetabulum and had a protracted return to exercise. I found that I eventually came back to 100%, it was more a matter of me being patient with the functionality I had in the moment. Early on in the recovery process, I always wanted to be faster and stronger. But when it turns to actually running, it became apparent that I needed time to adapt. And I had to make that time.
The best way for us to do that is to keep you active but at a very low stress level on the run. So I have you in the run durability program doing the bike focused edition which means making sure you doN't yet run on back to back days and That you feel free to do Two long rides on the weekends versus any long runs. I really don't want you running longer than 5 miles at this point in time, I do not see the upside Of doing that before the OutSeason®.
We need this slow ramp up so that we can be ready not only for the half marathon but for back-to-back early-season races. Your projected plan is sufficient, we just need to make sure that were doing the work to support it.
In terms of the transition from Chattanooga to Eagleman, it will be about four days of hard rest before we get back to work again. You can train as hard as you did in the first one, but you can be better prepared and more efficient. Perhaps even ruthless! Your success in the second race depends entirely on how hard you raise the first one, and how will you manage the transition period let me know to think
Your Races
Season Update
These are your recommended training plans, including the date you should start each one (sometimes you won’t complete a full plan but transition to another one). You can change your plans on the Training Plan page by clicking the Move / Change button. Learn more about each plan on the Training Plan Central Page.
Your Notes
2010 - B2B 140.6
2011 - White Lake HIM
2012 - IMTX
2013 - Raleigh 70.3, IMLP, 70.3 WC Vegas
2014 - Rev 3 Williamsburg HIM, Lake Logan HIM, IMCHOO
2015 - Rev 3 Knoxville HIM, Augusta 70.3
2016 - Boulder 70.3, IMCdA, IMLOU
2017 - Raleigh 70.3, IMCHOO
2018 - Chattanooga 70.3Was training for IMMT in 2018. Suffered a superior acetabular fracture in late June. 6 weeks off bike. 3 months no running. I would estimate that my HR is currently 15-20 bpm higher at similar efforts from pre-injury.
I've been doing both bike and run, and some strength training. Have not swam since June and I'm on no plan of any kind currently. I have lots of making up to do!
My plan is to race a local half marathon in mid-April, a local sprint tri in early May, Chattanooga 70.3 on May 19, Eagle Man 70.3 on June 9, and do a sprint tri at my college in late August. The format below only allows me to put in a couple of my races for the season and I wanted you to see at least through Eagle Man since it'll only be 3 weeks after Chattanooga 70.3.
My real question is how to tackle this and regain lost fitness quickly.
Let's get to work!
~ Coach P