CF Update: June 18

Hi,

Less then two weeks to IMCDA and I’ve finally started to rest.  My IMCDA crew are now “Short-Timers:” so short we have to look up to look down J!!

Crucible Fitness Ironman Training Camp - Wisconsin

In support of small group I am training to IMMoo, I am organizing a training weekend in Madison, July 18-20.  All available time within and between training sessions will be The Rich Show: planning your training, race day pacing and nutrition strategies, body composition, and anything else we can think of.  Never seen the Rich Show?  Here is a review of a clinic I did in February at the USAT National Training Center.

Cost: $150.  Meals, lodging, transportation are on you.

Complete details here

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Top-End vs Mid-Range Fitness

Many of you have been following Jon and me during our final weeks to IMCDA.  If you have been following closely, you have seen a shift from what I like to call Top End fitness to Mid-Range fitness.  I would like to discuss this shift in more detail, so you can apply some of these ideas to your own training.

For most of the season Jon and I followed a progress of Break Through (BT) workouts to develop our top end fitness (speed or power at lactate threshold), especially on the bike.  In early May we made a training shift, to increase the percentage of this top end speed we can hold for a long time.  Essentially, I’m talking about a transition from 40k TT fitness to IM fitness. 

How do we do this?

Step #1: for the bike and run, identify a pace or heart rate that is the line between “I can sit here all day, without thinking,” and “I need to focus just a little to maintain this effort.”  For most of you, it is probably the top of your zone 1 to bottom zone 2.  You’ll often hear this intensity called “Steady” and that’s what I am hereby naming it TC-speak.

Step #2: Accumulate a lot of time in this Steady zone, using the concept of Repeatability (see below).

Step #3: That’s it.

Repeatability. The key to this training method is spending a lot time at this intensity.  Doing a session on Tuesday and repeating a similar session on Wed, Thurs, etc. Therefore Repeatability is defined as a combination of volume and intensity that is repeatable both mentally and physically.  This is different for everyone.  As I have been experimenting lately, a three hour ride with 2 hours of “Steady” time is on the upper end of my repeatability index.  When I stay within this box, I’m fine physically and I know I can wake up the next day and do it again.  Over 3-4+ hours begins to become a chore, mentally and physically.  If I’m riding 5-7+ hours, I usually just ride how I feel.  I don’t expect a lot of myself when I go that far.  Going far is far enough, so to speak.

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IM Peaking: Mental State
 Look very carefully at your schedules for the next 3 weeks.  For two of those weeks, the intensity is remaining the same or even increasing a bit.  Your volume is trailing down gradually, about 25% each week.  The only true “rest” week is race week.  In my experience, these next week weeks (Peak 1, Peak 2, Race week) are probably the most difficult.  Let me tell you what you are going to be going through:

You get the idea.  Historically, I have been my least motivated when I am closest to my races.  Expect this and deal with it.  It’s critical that you maintain the intensity these next two weeks and drop the volume.  As your volume decreases, you also need to carefully watch what you eat.  We have all developed 3-4k calorie/day eating habits.  If you continue to eat like that during this period of reduced volume, you will gain weight. 

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Very common IM training questions

I expect my run to take 4-5 hours but you only have me running 2.5 hours.  Shouldn’t I be running as long as I will be in the race?  No.  Individual workouts don’t occur in a vacuum.  You need to place that proposed 3-4 hr run (I hurt just thinking about it) within the context of the other training around it: 7-10 hrs on the bike, 2-4 hours in the pool.  Putting a 3-4 hr run on top of that is simply too much.  The aerobic benefit of going longer than 2.5 hours is negligible but the risk of injury and over training sky rockets.  In addition, it will compromise subsequent workouts downstream. 

How long should my longest bikes be? From my experience, you should do the full 112 at least once.  Other than that, I think most athletes (Back to Middle of the Pack) should cap their long bike at 6 hrs.  For everyone, 6-7 hours on the bike is a very serious session.  I have a very deep cycling base and take things very serious when I know I’m going to be going longer than 6 hours.  I know that I will have to pay very close attention to my pacing, hydration, nutrition, recovery, etc. 

Shouldn’t I be doing my long rides alone?  After all, I won’t be able to rely on anyone during the race? No.  There is a physical and mental cost to every workout.  We all know about the physical cost but what is the mental cost?  I case you haven’t learned, training for an IM is friggin’ tough!  I’ve found myself questioning the distance a lot, when I get over 5 hours in the saddle.  Riding with a group will reduce the mental cost of the workout and therefore increase the likelihood that you will get out there again next week and do more of this craziness.  I mean riding with a group, not drafting and such.  And you will not be alone on race day.  Part of the fun of race day is a sharing an incredible experience with the athletes around you.  Everyone will be very friendly and supportive, offering lots of energy for you to draw from.  Riding alone all the time will get miserable aft a while. Which leads me to another point:

“The training value of misery is over-rated.”  This goes back to the long run thing.  Go out and run 3 hours.  The only difference between 2.5 hrs and 3 hrs is PAIN, nothing more.  I will argue that you don’t need to practice hurting yourself.  If you want to extend your pain envelope, do it on the bike, where it is much less risky.  I’ve had a couple rides this season where I absolutely suffered like I have at no other time on the bike.  I extended my envelope, but that doesn’t mean I need to go out there and do it again and again.