Thecaptin's "BarryP off Slowtwitch" "offseason" running plan (Page 3)

Nice work, cappy! You're going to kick arse next year! Strong swim, strong bike, and now a strong run!? Watch out!

Glad I'm not in your age group! and Phat probably won't be spotting you much time during future cappy vs. phat races.

Dood writes "Glad I'm not in your age group! and Phat probably won't be spotting you much time during future cappy vs. phat races."

Hang on man! I am running 200mi a month too and shooting for 500 bike mi. If I can find a pool soon, then I will be right where I was and he will too!

PS I am debating about an alternating plan for A races using BarryP and FIRST (high intensity/lower volume)

Checking in....6 weeks of 25 miles per week and feeling solid.  HR is down to mid-Z2 on the runs and the pace has increased significantly.  Moving to 30 miles per week next week...120 or so a month which is 40 miles MORE than my biggest month before starting this plan!  I can tell you that this is building the base that I never had.

Side note, I have swum once in the last 3 months (last week).  My set of 10 x 100s was only a few seconds off my in season form.  So, I am not losing anything there.  I am holding my own on the watts via the bike.   So, I am not feeling nervous about lower saddle time (yet).

Overall, I think my run is headed in the right direction...

26 mile training day.

Gotta be all those track workouts and fartleks.

124 miles for the month which is 44 more than I have ever run in a month.  HR has been dropping and pace is slightly better.  The most important part is the fact that I am healthy.   One more week at 30 miles, then up to 35 miles.   I plan on holding there into the spring while I start to add cycling and swimming to the mix.  I am interested to see how the body handles the additional stress.  With running at about 5 hours, the other 2 will add 6 more hours.  I solid load of work for me.   I predict lots of 10 PM bed times and head drops starting at 9 or so.

FWIW, it's right at about 10 hours for me that squeezing it all in gets tough.  Not impossible, but you need to plan it all out.  I use a "family calendar" that has everything from donuts with dad, wife's night out with the girls, to dentist appointments.  The hardest thing is keeping it up to date.

Cap, Iam interested in your approach to the "thrill in the hills" at the end of feb. A friend talked me into doing it and I have MTB at Yargo and its not for the faint of heart. There are some nasty hills, roots, rocks, etc. Nevermind if its wet that day. What pace are you aiming for? How are you training for the ups, downs, etc.

I will pick your brain plenty between now and then and if your looking for me at the race just look for the guy seeded at the back looking overwhelmed.

First 1/2

First Trail Run

My 2 cents. As we age the issue is less about doing and more about recovery. I started out as B/R/S and after lots of work ended up B/S/R. I had only run over 100 miles on a month once in 4 years of training. Last year was a lost year for me so I decided in June to really work on my run. I chose the Barry P plan for a simple reason.

Running at the LSD pace with its lower TSS score did not cause me recovery issues. At LSD paces I could run every day. My mileage has gone starting in June 2011: 56, 100, 107, 102, 128, 130, 134, and I expect to hit 150 this month. All without any injuries aches or pains.

When I began these runs were at a 10:30 per mile pace. Now the pace with the same effort and heart rate is at 9:30. I did a 5K in July at 25:40. After 3 months on the plan I ran a 5K in October at 23:04. Pretty big drop in time and "0" speed work. I need to run another 5K to see where I am now.

The beauty of the plan is that since it doesn't hurt, you actually begin to enjoy running. Then you get better at running, and you enjoy it even more.

At age 57 recovery can be an issue and any other approach to running that included higher intensity usually led to soreness that then caused me to miss or curtail workouts. Not with this plan.

I disagree with the premise that this is the way to swim & bike. Neither of those disciplines beat up your body the way running does if you include intensity. I think swimming slow would be a problem for most people. In order to get the feel for good form, you need to swim at a reasonable approximation of fast. It feels markedly different than slow. I have done nearly all of my swim training with intervals of 100 or less. By simply slowing down about 5-7 seconds a hundred you end up with the "I can swim this all day" pace because of the efficiencies you have built into your stroke.

Biking is similar in that Hard 1 hour efforts produce big gains in FTP yet do not usually destroy you to the point of compromising future workouts.

I will watch HR for the first 5 and not allowing big spikes or getting out of Z3.   I do not worry about pace at the start.  I will walk some hills to keep the HR out of Z5.  Once I get to 5, I will take inventory and start to race more, but keep the HR under control.  The trick is controlling the effort on the uphills.  easy to blow up on the nasty ones.  I think it is called "chopping wood"...short steps, get the arms pumping.   Once I get to 10 and still feel good, it is time to party.  i will take some chances on the down hills and go hard on any flats.   Grit the teeth on the up hills and try to not blow up.

The only real advice i can give on the trails is pick your feet up.  Especially when you get tired.  I can't tell you how many times I have gone down towards the end because I was tired and did not pick my feet up.  A root will jump up every time!

Update...I am holding at 30 per week for a few more weeks.  I have mastered the 30 mile week as the HR is dropping and pace is up.  If I was run focused, I would jump up to 35.  However, it is time to add the other two.  So, my overall hours have jumped up from 5 or so to 10+ per week.  Once I adapt, I will jump up to 35 per week.  i am thinking after Red Top Rumble.  I will not add any real intensity until April.

I can say with confidence this process is working for me.  I now have some depth to the run fitness.  I am looking forward to seeing what a whole year will yield.

Great news.  You have been excellent at following the plan.

One thing for trail running: If you forget to keep the feet up and one of those roots jumps up and grabs you:  roll.  It's way easier on the body.

Very good discipline thecaptin. Nice to see it paying off. Keep at it though. I worry you will lose momentum now with the other 2 built back in.

I agree on the trail runs. I lead the league in trip and falls.

I just love this thread, it shows that hard SMART work pays off. I can't even imagine a 100 plus mile week that just seems crazy to me but I can see it is doable especially in the winter time when volume on the other two is smaller or non existent. I may have to try this approach this year just keep the advice coming and updates as well.

As far as trail running Yargo got the best of me last year. Fell twice had a nice gash on my knee after the first fall and never got my heart rate down below 170-180s after the first fall. Had to stop for 10 minutes which ruined the run and the race in order to start running normally again. Pick UP the feet is the best advice and practice trail running heheh

I have to second the "roll" idea.  Whenever I fall, which is a LOT - on trails or sidewalks or wherever, Doug's voice comes into my mind and yells "ROLL!"  It totally works.  If you dissipate the energy by rolling, you scrape less and are less jarred from the fall.  Sticking your arms out to catch yourself only makes it worse and hurts the hands/arms/shoulders when you hit the ground.