TH3_FRB's (Joel) Group - FULL! (Page 3)

Hey Dee-

Pacing is mostly a matter of experience but it's something that you most definitely want to work on.  Pacing is key to having your best performance.  FYI - most track and road running world records are negative splits so that should tell you how important it is to NOT go out too hard.  I'd suggest always going out a bit slower than you think you can/should.  Think of it this way...if you go out too slow you can always prove it by finishing strong.  If you go out too fast all you can do is go into damage control mode and try to hang on at the end.

Joel,

I picked up the Triathlon Training Bible last summer and in the fall I spent a bit of time and trying to absorb as much as possible from it. I still refer to it often and find that re-reading sections gives me new insight. I am really keen on building my own training plan based on the TTB principles. I know that BT has some awesome plans and while part of me loves the simplicity of just plugging one of the plans into my training plan the other part of me wants to learn about the process so that I can fine tune it to my needs.

Long story short, I am stuck on how to assign the daily hours to each of the workouts. I was doing fine planning the Prep and Base periods when the hours were low but as soon as I got to a week where I'm planning significantly more hours, I'm stuck.

Take the following week for example, which is week 3 of my Base 2 phase.

For a 14 hour week, the TTB suggests that daily training hours should be broken up as 4:00, 2:30, 2:00, 2:00, 1:30, 1:00, 1:00. I know that these daily hours are suggestion but I can't image how to divy up these hours amongst the workouts. A 4:00 hour workout is a long one and the only place where I could imagine fitting that in would be on the Sunday bike ride. But is a 4 hr ride appropriate this early in the training phase?

Do you have any suggestions on how to allocate the time across the week?

thanks for the pacing tip. I really want to work on that as I hopfully get faster. I am working towards doing a sprint in April, if thats the case how do you suggest I take my running workouts? Should I keep them the same, run 3-4 times a week, 1long, 1 hilly, 1intervals and 1 45min straight?

 I have trouble finding time to do that many in a week, but can fit it in. My bike is fairly good, and I`m just lucky that my swim comes naturaly to me. So, thats why I have been consentrating so much on the run times. I could do more bricks, would that help me within 3 months? Thanks

I'd concentrate on 2, maybe 3, quality run sessions each week.  The long run is key for everyone...I don't care what distance you are racing.  A good tempo run is also a great quality session that you can do weekly for 6-8 weeks leading up to you race.  A typical tempo run is 20min at the very top end of Z4.  You can go longer at a slightly slower pace or do "cruise intervals" (try ~1-mile intervals) at a slightly higher intensity with short recovery jogs (1-2min).  Lots of variations on tempo work to keep things interesting from week to week.  If you really want to focus on your run then you might also do a weekly interval session on the track but 3 quality sessions per week is probably overkill if you want to get some good riding and swimming in also.  It's all about balancing your quality sessions with sufficient rest and recovery to be fresh for the next one.  I'd suggest you stick with the long run and tempo run, then 1-2 easy runs.  It's a bonus if you can do that long run on a hilly course...good strength training.

Hey Caius-

Your sample week didn't show up so I'm not sure exactly what you're working with.  Regardless, 4 hours is a good long ride...what distance are you training for?  Keep in mind that you could also do that 4hrs as a 3hr ride and 1hr swim...it doesn't have to be 4 hours of a single sport or even a single workout

Hmm...not sure why that didn't work. Here, try this link.

http://lh6.google.com/image/caius.tenche/RazjLF6R8sI/AAAAAAAAAOc/tWP1yNpL8yU/C%3A%5CDocuments%20and%20Settings%5Cctenche%5CDesktop%5Cbase2.JPG?imgmax=576

I've got two A races this year. An Olympic at the end of June and a HIM at the beginning of September. My training plan is based around the 500 hours of training that I'm planning around (though I think I need to revisit that number and scale it back a wee bit).

Thanks Joel.

Joel, for a sprint that is coming up in April, how do I start working on my pacing? Do I start out by finding the speed I would like to go? (my aim is for 8.5m/m) then from there start running 5k`s at that pace? How do you suggest I go about the pacing for a 5k?

I am going to continue with my LSD and zone training, but would love to ace this sprint thats coming up.

It really depends on the philosophy of the coach who developed the training plan but I personally think that 3-4 hours rides are appropriate throughout most of your training cycle.  that's not to say you do 4 hour long rides every week but I would doo a longer ride every 2-3 weeks even early in the season.  Some people believe that early season is exactly when you want to be putting in the big (easy) miles because later on you'll be looking to increase the intensity of your training overall and may not be able to afford 4+ hour long rides plus sufficient recovery from the other sessions.  The traditional approach is build your base early then scale back you volume as you intensity increases later in the season.  That makes sense if you subscribe the the concept of specificity...you training should become more specific and similar to your race as you get closer to the race.  Long slow stuff will set the stage for racing fast but training fast is the only way to be prepared to race fast.

5ks are tough because they are basically a redline effort start to finish.  Pacing is still important but it's much more about learning your own limits and knowing just how much pain you can stand.  Have you run any open 5k races that you can use as a reference for what you are capable of?  It's tough to set a specific time goal for yourself if you don't really know what is reasonable.  I'd suggest not setting many specific time goals unless you have experiences to base those goals off of.  Instead, you train to run the best race you can and the time is what it is.  In that case you would use HR as your guide to training and it's your tempo runs specifically that are important for maximizing your 5k.  Just don't forget that you can't build a strong house on a weak foundation so get your aerobic base work and long runs in, then build on that with tempo work.  As for pacing, it's mostly experience...you learn what level of discomfort is sustainable for you and use that knowledge to your advantage.  Over time you'll get tuned in to what your body is telling you and you'll get better at pacing.

No luck..."Your client does not have permission to get URL / from this server"

First I would re-evaluate your 500 hours of training.  How does that compare to last season and how does it jive with the rest of your life? 

You can use DBs for dead lifts and you can also do then with the bar behind your legs.  Are you using a wide (sumo) stance?  If you are scraping your shins/knees then you are probably doing them right.  You can do a variation called Romanian deadlift where you don't bend your knees as much.

No LT testing yet. I came down with a cold last week and stopped training, felt better, started training again and lo and behold it's back. I'm out of commission until next week so I can shake this thing. Blech!

_{The spreadsheet is simple.  On the right you can record the results and details of your testing and keep track of results from previous tests.  The only other places you can input data are the 2 pink cells.  You simply put your estimated LTHR from your run and bike test there and it will populate the rest of the worksheet for you.  When you re-test and get a new LTHR just update the pink cells and all your zones will adjust.} 

Hello? hello...hello...hello...

(the last 3 are echos)

Sure is quiet here.

Okay, so this week was my recovery week which means testing. Here are my results

Swim: T-pace = 2:26 (OMG that's slow. I'm getting a swim coach pronto!)
Bike LTHR = 167
Run LTHR = 179

January was not a great month. I had quite a few zeros (days with no training) due to a cold/sinus infection. Got back at it two weeks ago and have put in a some consistent training days. Tomorrow I jump into the first week of my Base 2 cycle. How's everyone else doing?

Good work with the testing.  Now you've got some current training zones to work from.  You hit the nail on the head "consistent training days".  It's all about getting it done day in and day out...consistency.  Don't worry about that swim...steady improvement comes from sticking with it.  Maybe consider a swim focus bock for the next 4-6 weeks where you make a point of getting to the pool 5-6 times per week.  Even 20-30min in the water  will help if you di it CONSISTENTLY.