General Discussion Triathlon Talk » First Race of the Season over, now time to fix some things and get faster! Rss Feed  
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2011-06-22 10:49 AM

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Subject: First Race of the Season over, now time to fix some things and get faster!

Hey Triathletes,

Hoping to get some advice on how I can structure my training over the next 9 weeks before an OLY triathlon I have as a "A" race.

Sprint Tri I just did, I went 1:07:01: 1:37/100m swim, 22mph on the bike, 6:25/mile on the run

One important thing with the next 8 weeks:

1. Swim training is relatively fixed (swimming with varsity team 3x per week, plus 1-2 additional). The swim training is relatively fixed because I consider myself very lucky to be able to swim with the varsity team (note my swim time above is not reflective of my capabilities, it didn't go well). I will follow their workouts and reap the benefits week by week. My additional swims have some adjustments, but main focus will be swimming with a wetsuit, and practicing siting, pacing, drafting techniques.

Now what to do? 

My thought, is a 4 week block of high mileage cycling (cycle focus, aim for 150miles/week, running drops to 15mi/wk), followed by 4 week block of high mileage running (run focus, aim for 40-45miles/week, cycle drops to 60mi/wk).

It would be great to do all the above (high mileage running + high mileage biking) but unfortunately, my body can't take it, and I do not have the time to do it in a given week (I seem to stabilize around 12-13hours per week for training, but I can make adjustments to fit in larger training weeks). I am just looking for what will give me the most benefit, and I feel like a couple blocks of focused training is going to be better than quasi-steady mileage.

How I structure the higher mileage weeks is another question, for another time.

Note, I want to be in the range of 2:13-2:17 finish time, but most importantly, I want to have a strong race in all three disciplines. The run course is flat, the bike course is challenging for this OLY race in particular.  

Thanks very much,

Chris



2011-06-22 11:20 AM
in reply to: #3561942

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Master
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Subject: RE: First Race of the Season over, now time to fix some things and get faster!

One interesting "predicament" that you face is that you appear to be impressively balanced across the 3 sports, at least based on your OA positions in the recent sprint. So no obvious weaknesses to focus on.

You're planning a HIM in early Sept., so I wonder why you're focusing more on preparation for the upcoming Oly? Wouldn't it be better to just fit the Oly into the course of your HIM build?

If your logs are accurate, then I'd question the wisdom of doing a few weeks of 15 mpw running during a bike focus and then shooting up to 40+ mpw. Seems that you've run about 70 miles total in the past 4 weeks, with a high percentage of that accounted for by just a few longer runs. Based on that, I'd suggest that a more balanced progression on both the bike and the run would be safer. 

2011-06-22 12:05 PM
in reply to: #3562009

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Subject: RE: First Race of the Season over, now time to fix some things and get faster!

Yeah I have been having a tough time getting the run's in that I want to over the past couple months. Early season was good, hitting 30-40 mpw consistently.

I wouldn't actually "shoot" up as you have put it. I would just increase it rapidly over a 4 week period. For example, week 1 (25 miles), week 2 (35 miles), week 3 (40 miles), week 4 (40 miles). I am no stranger to weeks in the 50 miles range, just haven't done them since November/December when my swimming was a lot lower mileage. So while my running ramps up, my cycling drops down.

Perhaps for the bike, I can get away with shooting up to higher mileage, but I can also make that a progression. As the bike mileage ramps up, running comes back down.

Am I right in thinking that a steady mileage in bike and run is likely to be of little benefit in next 8 weeks? Is the strategy I propose better than steady mileage?

 

 

2011-06-22 2:10 PM
in reply to: #3562131


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Subject: RE: First Race of the Season over, now time to fix some things and get faster!

question. why are you only doing two races with such a big gap in between the two?

2011-06-22 2:47 PM
in reply to: #3562131

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Subject: RE: First Race of the Season over, now time to fix some things and get faster!
crmorton - 2011-06-22 1:05 PM

Am I right in thinking that a steady mileage in bike and run is likely to be of little benefit in next 8 weeks?

No.

Is the strategy I propose better than steady mileage?

Probably not.

With 8 weeks to go, you want to start doing workouts that focus on the needs of the Oly.  If your body can handle it, I'd say to try for 2 key bike workouts per week (plus additional riding) and one key run workout per week.  In these key workouts, you focus on race-specific improvements.  A 'big' bike focus followed by a 'big' run focus is almost definitely not the way to make much ground.  Not in 8 weeks.

2011-06-22 3:51 PM
in reply to: #3562413

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Subject: RE: First Race of the Season over, now time to fix some things and get faster!

Because I have only inputted my "A" races into BT.

I might, and I stress might, do one more race July 20th weekend. Its a weird distance (1000m-30k-7.5k).

I also have the large gap because, as Experior noted, I need to focus on race specific training. I did a sprint Tri last week, and the few weeks leading up were focused on that race. Now I focus on the OLY, (but must keep in mind I have and HIM after that).

I have done all three of the above distances before, but I have never properly prepared for any of them (just sort of did a taper and raced).

 



2011-06-22 4:05 PM
in reply to: #3562510

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Subject: RE: First Race of the Season over, now time to fix some things and get faster!
Experior - 2011-06-22 3:47 PM
crmorton - 2011-06-22 1:05 PM

Am I right in thinking that a steady mileage in bike and run is likely to be of little benefit in next 8 weeks?

No.

Is the strategy I propose better than steady mileage?

Probably not.

With 8 weeks to go, you want to start doing workouts that focus on the needs of the Oly.  If your body can handle it, I'd say to try for 2 key bike workouts per week (plus additional riding) and one key run workout per week.  In these key workouts, you focus on race-specific improvements.  A 'big' bike focus followed by a 'big' run focus is almost definitely not the way to make much ground.  Not in 8 weeks.

Focus on the needs of the OLY. Hmmmm.  So focusing on exceling at the 40k distance for cycling, and pacing that cycling portion in order to have a solid run?

I have done countless brick workouts, some as short as 3mi bike, 1mile run, and some as long as 50mi bike, 10mi run, or 70mi bike, 3mi run. I can run off the bike, I know how to fuel in reasonable conditions (below 95 F), I am confident in my abilities to pace an OLY by RPE and by heart rate. My transitions are very good (within a few seconds of all the top guys in my race last weekend).

Here is what I am not sure I am ready for: meeting my expectations (overall time and overall performance). Sure I have set a deadline to meet such expectations, and I probably shouldn't have. Nevertheless, I aim to continue to improve every training block (e.g., every 4 week cycle). I felt the best way to do this was to focus your training on one sport, and put one sport in a kind of "maintenance mode" while you stress your body and adapt to a new level of training load.

Perhaps I am wrong about this.

Another note, I am still young, I recover very fast, and can handle a 'higher risk' training schedule.  

2011-06-22 4:39 PM
in reply to: #3561942

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Subject: RE: First Race of the Season over, now time to fix some things and get faster!

Yes, the question you're raising is a good one. We often hear about the benefits of an off-season swim-focus, run-focus, etc. But the question here is whether there's any general benefit to be had from replacing a balanced training program with one that alternates between focuses in different sports. And, in particular, whether such an approach can work within the space of relatively few weeks. I'm not sure that we have any evidence that this approach is more beneficial. If we did, then it would presumably be more widely used (bad argument, I know).

One thing that you could do to help prepare for your race would be to include some shorter (3-5 minutes) higher intensity bike intervals. You mention that the Oly has a tough bike course. Even if you're working to maintain a steady wattage, it's almost certain that there will be wattage spikes on some of the climbs. Improving your ability to recover from those might help with both the bike and the run.

2011-06-22 6:52 PM
in reply to: #3562701

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Subject: RE: First Race of the Season over, now time to fix some things and get faster!

Thanks for your input, and you are probably right. Such a training technique is probably best tested in the off season or build periods.

Thanks again.

2011-06-22 7:03 PM
in reply to: #3561942

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Subject: RE: First Race of the Season over, now time to fix some things and get faster!
Here's what I would do:

Bike - 2 sessions focused on FTP - 2x20, 4x10, etc and 1 session focused on VO2max - 20x30s hard, 30s easy, 5' hard, 3' easy, etc; additional rides as they fit in your schedule with one of at least 90 minutes

Run - 6-7x/week with long run of 1:00-1:30, one threshold session and the rest easy

Shane
2011-06-23 8:45 AM
in reply to: #3562852

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Subject: RE: First Race of the Season over, now time to fix some things and get faster!

gsmacleod - 2011-06-22 8:03 PM Here's what I would do: Bike - 2 sessions focused on FTP - 2x20, 4x10, etc and 1 session focused on VO2max - 20x30s hard, 30s easy, 5' hard, 3' easy, etc; additional rides as they fit in your schedule with one of at least 90 minutes Run - 6-7x/week with long run of 1:00-1:30, one threshold session and the rest easy Shane

This looks like good advice.  And fits exactly with what Experior suggested as well.  I'd try to put your long run in the 1:15-1:30 side of Shane's range.



2011-06-23 9:03 AM
in reply to: #3563380

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Subject: RE: First Race of the Season over, now time to fix some things and get faster!
JohnnyKay - 2011-06-23 9:45 AM

gsmacleod - 2011-06-22 8:03 PM Here's what I would do: Bike - 2 sessions focused on FTP - 2x20, 4x10, etc and 1 session focused on VO2max - 20x30s hard, 30s easy, 5' hard, 3' easy, etc; additional rides as they fit in your schedule with one of at least 90 minutes Run - 6-7x/week with long run of 1:00-1:30, one threshold session and the rest easy Shane

This looks like good advice.  And fits exactly with what Experior suggested as well.  I'd try to put your long run in the 1:15-1:30 side of Shane's range.

Love the advice. I will incorporate immediately. In fact, this morning I banged out a 45km ride with 4x10 at FTP (without a power meter, this is me just edging the line where the legs fill with lactic acid). It was a fantastic quality workout.

Long run in the 16-20k range sounds good. This distance is really easy for me to recover from and have quality workouts the next day. Upwards of 2hr runs (~24-25k) are a little tougher to get full recovery in 18-24hrs.

 

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