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Sick as a dog - HowTo: Powernumbers and last two weeks before A race
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Hi all,

Need your advice regarding the last two weeks before my A race on August 26th (70.3 Zell am See).

Been putting a lot of training (9-12h per week) into my A- race 70.3 Kraichgau on June 3rd.
Two weeks later I did an Olympic Distance race and another two weeks later a Sprint Distance (June 29th), with few to no structured training in between, just having fun racing.

My plan was to pick up structured training again on July 2nd with 2 weeks ramp up followed by 1 regeneration week until July 22nd.
Then put in my last 3 week training block with focus on race intensity (until August 12th) and a two week taper reducing to 70% in the first week, 50% in the second.

Unfortunately I couldn't do the 2week ramp up in July due to a cold, so I used the following week to get back into training.
I started my last training block with confidence but 1,5 week into it, I caught another cold (having a 7 month old baby at home I know where this is coming from).

So all in all, since 9,5 weeks I could manage 1,5 weeks structured training. A few weeks ago I knew which numbers to target in order to score my goals.

Does it make sense, iff the cold is gone by monday, to sacrifice the first week of taper to see what numbers to aim so put in one base week and see if it's comparable? If not, what would be an adequate percentage to aim for compared to my normal HIM numbers so that I don't blow up but still put in a great effort? How would you structure the last 2 weeks after a history of notrain?

Thanks a lot!
Last edited by: trisomemari: Aug 8, 18 8:05
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Re: Sick as a dog - HowTo: Powernumbers and last two weeks before A race [trisomemari] [ In reply to ]
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You can't make up for what you planned, you can only hope to be healthy. The first week I would try to do lets say a "half volume" training week, since after a cold I think it would be contraproductive to try to catch up and train like hell. The second week I would just taper.

For me this would look like this:
First week:
-3 times swimming, normal volume, in wetsuit if Zell am See would be wetsuit.
-Brick with 2 bike intervals of 30 minutes in race intensity followed by an easy 30 minute jog.
-longer easy bike ride of 3 hours
- easy jog of 80 minutes
- run of an hour with a 20 minute interval in race intensity.
I think if you manage this easily, you'll be happy to be fit again.
Just taper the second week with not even the half of the first week.

You've been training so much this year, that will help you. By the way, two A-races? I thought there is only one A-race a year per definition? That said, just call Zell am See your B-race of the year and try to enjoy it.
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Re: Sick as a dog - HowTo: Powernumbers and last two weeks before A race [trisomemari] [ In reply to ]
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trisomemari wrote:
Hi all,

Need your advice regarding the last two weeks before my A race on August 26th (70.3 Zell am See).

Been putting a lot of training (9-12h per week) into my A- race 70.3 Kraichgau on June 3rd.
Two weeks later I did an Olympic Distance race and another two weeks later a Sprint Distance (June 29th), with few to no structured training in between, just having fun racing.

My plan was to pick up structured training again on July 2nd with 2 weeks ramp up followed by 1 regeneration week until July 22nd.
Then put in my last 3 week training block with focus on race intensity (until August 12th) and a two week taper reducing to 70% in the first week, 50% in the second.

Unfortunately I couldn't do the 2week ramp up in July due to a cold, so I used the following week to get back into training.
I started my last training block with confidence but 1,5 week into it, I caught another cold (having a 7 month old baby at home I know where this is coming from).

So all in all, since 9,5 weeks I could manage 1,5 weeks structured training. A few weeks ago I knew which numbers to target in order to score my goals.

Does it make sense, iff the cold is gone by monday, to sacrifice the first week of taper to see what numbers to aim so put in one base week and see if it's comparable? If not, what would be an adequate percentage to aim for compared to my normal HIM numbers so that I don't blow up but still put in a great effort? How would you structure the last 2 weeks after a history of notrain?

Thanks a lot!


How's last week going? Hope all is going great for you?

Since you're the only one I know doing Zell am See this year, have you seen the weather prediction for Sunday? It looks grim!
Are you by any chance considering taking arm warmers of calf guards given the weather?

I have never raced in these conditions so I am unsure what to expect. It seems one is going to exit the water, currently at 23 C into an air temperature of 8 C. Then bike and run in the rain... hummm, this is definitely not what I expected.

Paulo Matos
Last edited by: pmatos: Aug 20, 18 6:07
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Re: Sick as a dog - HowTo: Powernumbers and last two weeks before A race [pmatos] [ In reply to ]
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pmatos wrote:
trisomemari wrote:
Hi all,


Need your advice regarding the last two weeks before my A race on August 26th (70.3 Zell am See).

Been putting a lot of training (9-12h per week) into my A- race 70.3 Kraichgau on June 3rd.
Two weeks later I did an Olympic Distance race and another two weeks later a Sprint Distance (June 29th), with few to no structured training in between, just having fun racing.

My plan was to pick up structured training again on July 2nd with 2 weeks ramp up followed by 1 regeneration week until July 22nd.
Then put in my last 3 week training block with focus on race intensity (until August 12th) and a two week taper reducing to 70% in the first week, 50% in the second.

Unfortunately I couldn't do the 2week ramp up in July due to a cold, so I used the following week to get back into training.
I started my last training block with confidence but 1,5 week into it, I caught another cold (having a 7 month old baby at home I know where this is coming from).

So all in all, since 9,5 weeks I could manage 1,5 weeks structured training. A few weeks ago I knew which numbers to target in order to score my goals.

Does it make sense, iff the cold is gone by monday, to sacrifice the first week of taper to see what numbers to aim so put in one base week and see if it's comparable? If not, what would be an adequate percentage to aim for compared to my normal HIM numbers so that I don't blow up but still put in a great effort? How would you structure the last 2 weeks after a history of notrain?

Thanks a lot!


How's last week going? Hope all is going great for you?

Since you're the only one I know doing Zell am See this year, have you seen the weather prediction for Sunday? It looks grim!
Are you by any chance considering taking arm warmers of calf guards given the weather?

I have never raced in these conditions so I am unsure what to expect. It seems one is going to exit the water, currently at 23 C into an air temperature of 8 C. Then bike and run in the rain... hummm, this is definitely not what I expected.


Basically tried to include some of the sessions that longtrousers recommended. swimming went by far the best (having a swimming background that was easy), my runs were a complete desaster, had to abort my last long run (planned for 15km) after 8k and walked the remaining ks back home. Had a 2h bike ride yesterday which was promising in terms of actual race day wattage, given the remaining week to taper/recover.

In regards to weather, I saw what you see, although other forecasts predict 15°C and light rain at around the time I plan to exit the swim.
https://www.wetter.com/wetter_aktuell/wettervorhersage/in-6-tagen/oesterreich/zell_am_see/ATAT30773.html
I'm not the arm warmer or calf guard type of guy. If I freeze, it's the chest. At IM70.3Ruegen last year (prediction were 15°C, rainy AND windy), I considered to cut a plastic bag into a vest and wear it under my race suit avoid the wind chill but still have no aero disadvantage. Turned out to be 21, sunny but windy, so no plastic bag



If it's 15 or below I might consider to wipe dry and put my racesuit on in T1 and maybe even change again in T2.
Yes, I will get wet in the rain, but I do believe the bike will feel different (definitely in the first 20ks and that sets the pace for the rest of the bikeleg) if you put on dry cloth after the swim.
What's your BIB?



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Re: Sick as a dog - HowTo: Powernumbers and last two weeks before A race [trisomemari] [ In reply to ]
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trisomemari wrote:

Basically tried to include some of the sessions that longtrousers recommended. swimming went by far the best (having a swimming background that was easy), my runs were a complete desaster, had to abort my last long run (planned for 15km) after 8k and walked the remaining ks back home. Had a 2h bike ride yesterday which was promising in terms of actual race day wattage, given the remaining week to taper/recover.

In regards to weather, I saw what you see, although other forecasts predict 15°C and light rain at around the time I plan to exit the swim.
https://www.wetter.com/wetter_aktuell/wettervorhersage/in-6-tagen/oesterreich/zell_am_see/ATAT30773.html
I'm not the arm warmer or calf guard type of guy. If I freeze, it's the chest. At IM70.3Ruegen last year (prediction were 15°C, rainy AND windy), I considered to cut a plastic bag into a vest and wear it under my race suit avoid the wind chill but still have no aero disadvantage. Turned out to be 21, sunny but windy, so no plastic bag



If it's 15 or below I might consider to wipe dry and put my racesuit on in T1 and maybe even change again in T2.
Yes, I will get wet in the rain, but I do believe the bike will feel different (definitely in the first 20ks and that sets the pace for the rest of the bikeleg) if you put on dry cloth after the swim.
What's your BIB?




Argh, there is always crap coming up in the last couple of weeks. I never had problems during training but started tapering and now every second day I get hellish calf cramps during the night. Go figure!

Thanks for the comments on the weather. I have never used arm warmers but thought it would be a possibility, but now that you mentioned it maybe wiping up and putting up the trisuit on T1 might be a real possibility. I have crossed my fingers, legs and everything else for sunny weather.

I am Paulo Matos #300, hoping for a sub 5h40m finish if it's not raining. If it's raining, I will be in survival mode and just want to finish. I will definitely not go all crazy once I reach Dienten and start the downhill. You?

Paulo Matos
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Re: Sick as a dog - HowTo: Powernumbers and last two weeks before A race [trisomemari] [ In reply to ]
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Unfortunately I am going to DNS this one. Yesterday night I returned home in Germany. My tent collapsed during the night from Friday to Saturday and with a wife and 2 kids and no accommodation available there's no way to me to stay here.

Have a good one!



Paulo Matos
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Re: Sick as a dog - HowTo: Powernumbers and last two weeks before A race [trisomemari] [ In reply to ]
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OK, I have just found out the bad news... :( Slightly shocked about snow on the bike course actually.

Also, slightly upset that the only news were to be found on Facebook, which I don't use.
With a stopped race last year due to thunderstorms that didn't come and this today, I wonder if it will hurt IM70.3 Zell Am See bottom-line in the future.

All the best for your race. It seems you might be just swimming at this point.



Paulo Matos
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Re: Sick as a dog - HowTo: Powernumbers and last two weeks before A race [pmatos] [ In reply to ]
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wow, man paulo! what the heck! that is unfortunate. I was looking for you around transition and did not see your bag until the very end. super sad that you couldn‘t compete but yes, family first!

regarding the race:
mentally I was ready for the bike leg. my conditions improved through the last weeks, so I was ready to go (slower than usual but ready).

they announced the cancelation of the bike leg to make it a swim-run this morning, when all athletes were in or at least on their way to T1. so I packed stuff from bike bag to run bag and we (had my wife and babyboy with me) headed back to our accomodation as the start was also delayed until 01:20 p.m.

Later that day transition was packed and it felt like pure chaos. so many people on the street between T1 and swim entry, no separation between athletes and spectators. When th swim started it had about 5 degrees celsius (water was around 21,5) and during the run around 6. honestly, if there would have been a bike leg, I would have dropped out after. i was freezing during the run even though i wore 2 layers plus a wind vest. the video of the filzensattel at Dienten am Hochkönig was sick!

the swim was OK. I had a little bit of sighting issies due to fog so i swam, 2k in total. i was only a 2,5 minutes slower than what my initial goal was for the 1,9k. on the run I tempoed the first 14 and then took it easy to enjoy the scenery as the sun lit up the Kitzsteinhorn, knowing that I would blow up latest at km 16 due to my lack of long runs in the last weeks.

took home a finisher shirt and a medal plus a truely unique experince and a very important lesson learned: be prepared for the worst when competing outdoors!
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Re: Sick as a dog - HowTo: Powernumbers and last two weeks before A race [trisomemari] [ In reply to ]
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trisomemari wrote:
wow, man paulo! what the heck! that is unfortunate. I was looking for you around transition and did not see your bag until the very end. super sad that you couldn‘t compete but yes, family first!

regarding the race:
mentally I was ready for the bike leg. my conditions improved through the last weeks, so I was ready to go (slower than usual but ready).

they announced the cancelation of the bike leg to make it a swim-run this morning, when all athletes were in or at least on their way to T1. so I packed stuff from bike bag to run bag and we (had my wife and babyboy with me) headed back to our accomodation as the start was also delayed until 01:20 p.m.

Later that day transition was packed and it felt like pure chaos. so many people on the street between T1 and swim entry, no separation between athletes and spectators. When th swim started it had about 5 degrees celsius (water was around 21,5) and during the run around 6. honestly, if there would have been a bike leg, I would have dropped out after. i was freezing during the run even though i wore 2 layers plus a wind vest. the video of the filzensattel at Dienten am Hochkönig was sick!

the swim was OK. I had a little bit of sighting issies due to fog so i swam, 2k in total. i was only a 2,5 minutes slower than what my initial goal was for the 1,9k. on the run I tempoed the first 14 and then took it easy to enjoy the scenery as the sun lit up the Kitzsteinhorn, knowing that I would blow up latest at km 16 due to my lack of long runs in the last weeks.

took home a finisher shirt and a medal plus a truely unique experince and a very important lesson learned: be prepared for the worst when competing outdoors!

Total adventure for me. I was actually quite upset with how Wolfergut Sportcamp handled the situation since we noticed the tent was broken and started flooding at 22.00 on Friday and they simply didn't care. Not only they didn't accommodate us on their hotel, they also didn't allow us to leave the campsite, which was a matter of disconnecting the electricity and opening the barrier based on the grounds that it would be too noisy to tidy up and leave at that time. This was absolutely ridiculous because I had two children who needed to sleep and had nowhere to sleep. In the end we put the children asleep in the car boot with the back seats down. At that point I knew there was not going to be a race for me.

However, kudos to you for racing. Well done. I have looked at the highlights and the weather looked miserable. I am sad I didn't make to the start but not as sad had the race been going on as usual. I wanted to beat my PB and that wouldn't have happened in any case. Not for me the season is over and will have to think which races I should register for next year. We shall see... are you Europe based? Any suggestions on races around here?

Paulo Matos
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