I am looking at the next 2plus months for my build-up to SOMA HIM. My coach has me doing some crazy stuff every tuesday and thursday on the bike.
week 1…3 x 20 minute max effort (95%) LT with 5 min rest between for both days
week 2…4 x 20 minute max effort w/ 5 min rest both days
week 3…40 miles supermax (at LT) on tuesday…on thursday 4 x 20 minute max effort w/ 5 min rest
week 4…3 x 30 minute max both days
week 5…2 x 40 minute max both days
week 6…40 miles supermax on tuesday…on thursday 3 x 40 minutes max effort
week 7…2 x 60 min max both days
week 8…1 x 90 min max both days
week 9…40 miles supermax on tueday…on thursday 2 x 70 mintes max effort
week 10…1 x 140 min max on both days
10 day taper, then race
Is it just me, or does this plan seem like way way too much hard stuff. I realize there are no rest weeks in this plan. I already plan on addressing that. Aside from that is there way too much intensity in there? It is almost like every tuesday and thursday is a 1-2 bike TT. This is my first half with a coach and I am just really second guessing this volume of intensity. Please help. What type of interval work do you suggest instead?
The programme seems a bit extreme, though I’d quibble with the idea that LT is in any way actually supermax effort in terms of potential effort. As I understand it, LT is usually sustainable for about an hour non-stop (more with recoveries) while true max effort is sustainable for a matter of seconds. Given this, 95% LT should be pretty sustainable (it’s the heart rate I use for 50- to 100-mile time trials - my LT is 175bpm, so 95% is only c.167bpm). It’s certainly a long, long way from real speedwork in terms of effort.
So, in practical terms, what does this mean for your training? I’m wary of treading on your coach’s toes so I won’t suggest anything specific. Suffice to say that I’ve found that holding LT (or close too) in sessions works best in blocks of 20-45 minutes with recoveries unless you’re actually racing. My staple sessions are things like 2hrs alt 20 mins easy with 20 mins LT, or 90 mins with 40-60 mins at between 95%LT and LT. When reallly working towards a major peak I might do 4-5hr long rides where the last 20 mins of each hour is done at LT. I’d rarely do more than 60 mins LT in a single, non-stop effort in a session (though I have done sessions with over 60 mins LT in total, but only very carefully) but I will use c.LT pace races (25, 50 and 100 mile TTs) as quality long rides.
Certainly sounds crazy to me, but we have very little information to go on. We don’t know this athlete, what his coach is trying to accomplish, how they set intensity zones, etc. I’d withold judgement until I had a LOT more informtion on which to base it.
I’m sure I’ve written some training schedules through the years that we’d all say were crazy without seeing them in context.
I’d agree with the others who commented, and most of all get a concrete definition of what your coach feels is LT (and more importantly YOUR LT), and then figure out the justification to program this much “LT” work.
If your coach’s definition of LT is more a high-end endurance pace or faster tempo (some may refer to this as around 80% of an establish zone or range), I’d say no worries and you’ll be fine. But if the coach is saying that all of those workouts were 95% max (which, by the way, your LT is not always 95% max), I would say to go ACA (against-coaches-advice) and skip every other week of high intensity. Hell, you could probably do only every third week and still get the adaptation you’re looking for. Seriously, that’s too much.
We don’t know your background, your other bike volume, your total sw/bk/rn volume, family commitment, work commitment, or race goals, which all factor into total volume. But, I do know that to handle a high-intensity volume like this, you’d better have a base established months ago that is “up there.” I’m guessing if this tu/th volume is the “quality” for the week, then your coach only has a LSD workout once on the weekend and maybe a short ride thrown in on the other weekend day or recovery ride inbetween these 2 days.
Good luck with this- sometimes you just have to trust the coach and go with it. All coaches make a mistake from time to time, but as long as there is research to back up the justification of the specific periodization, you should trust their judgment. Some of the best techniques in the sport have been discovered by a coach thinking outside the box. Hell, just look at the common usage of “brick”, and trace it back to where it originated. Before that time, people would have thought they were crazy, until they realized it worked.
Good luck as well with that taper…you’re gonna need it after this!
The biggest problem is that you are paying (I assume) a coach to get you to do things that you don’t understand…there is no way can you become a good racer if the proverbial athlete-coach relationship is this far off
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All I know is that I did 2 x 20 at LT (ok, maybe I was a little above) last night. Fucker was hard. It’s a great workout but man I hate those last 5 minutes.
4 x 20? I think I’d just sit down and cry. 1 x 140? I’d just laugh because there ain’t no way.
I’m thinking there are some issues with how terms are being defined and set.
All I know is that I did 2 x 20 at LT (ok, maybe I was a little above) last night. Fucker was hard. It’s a great workout but man I hate those last 5 minutes.
4 x 20? I think I’d just sit down and cry. 1 x 140? I’d just laugh because there ain’t no way.
I’m thinking there are some issues with how terms are being defined and set.
+1
I’ve got 3 x 20 min at LT -5 tonight.
I’ve got to agree that on paper, that plan looks crazy, but unless you come from a CAT 2 background, I don’t see much recovery in there, let alone space for adaptation.
I was doing LT work the week after my A+ race. I absolutely cracked. shelled. bonked. whatever. 10 weeks of it? Possibility to be in a serious state of overtraining.
Ken, Francois, Reg-Dog all hit it spot on! Also, if these are your hard bike sessions when do you do hard runs? and what do THEY look like?
My thought is that’s alot of “LT” type sessions for that long a period of time and with that type of frequency…AND, you must have been doing some hard sessions to build up to these sessions. Like Ken said we don’t have much background to go on here, we could be wrong, but …
Please chat with your coach if you are not comfortable with this.
That’s alot more than I’m doing for my upcoming HIM, but I’m just going for a personal finish time, not the podium. I suppose it depends on your goals.
PM me if you want to see my training log.
ouch! I’m doing just bike racing this year and don’t get that much intensity in. I know CAT 1s that don’t do that much. Had 1200 in a race and it took a few days to recover. Could not imagine 1140 at LT - 5 twice in a week.
Just make sure you COMMUNICATE with your coach before SHE fires you for not following her plan, god forbid that you skip a workout or do a sprint race or something ;)))))))))))
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“I am looking at the next 2plus months for my build-up to SOMA HIM. My coach has me doing some crazy stuff every tuesday and thursday on the bike.”
That’s nothing dude… check out this IM scheduled posted over on gordo’s forum:
Mon am - Bike Threshold session - typically 4 x 15mins on, 2 mins off
Mon pm - Swim
Tue am - Bike VO2 session - typically 8 x 3mins on @ 120% threshold, 3mins off
Tue pm - Run VO2 session - typically 5 x 4mins on (up hill), 6mins off (down hill)
Wed am - Run Threshold session - typically 4 x 15mins on, 2mins off
Wed pm - Swim
Thu am - Bike Threshold session - same as Mon
Thu pm - Run VO2 session - same as Tue
Fri am - Run Threshold session - same as Wed
Fri pm - Swim
Sat am - Bike Threshold session incorporated into long ride - maybe 5 hrs with at least 3 x 30mins climbing at threshold - usually followed a brief transition run - this session was designed to find my limits - the “reality check” ride - my hardest ride was 5hrs @ an IF of 0.88 - the transition run that day was tough! These rides confirmed for me that an IF of ~0.8 was the upper limit if I planned to run well. this is entirely consistent with Coggan’s predictions.
Sun am - Run Threshold session - typically 6 x 15mins on, 2mins off
Sun pm - Run Threshold session - typically 2 x 20mins on, 2mins off
disclaimer - I’m not responsible if you or anyone attempts this
You are paying for that? Probably took him less than 5 minutes to write that out.
Coaches are way overrated. There is plenty of information out there to coach yourself. Unless the coach is actually watching your workouts and testing you in person I don’t see the value. Most of them give you some canned program with little or no real feedback.
It’s funny because all of the very succesful triathletes I know do not use a coach. I know others who have crashed and burned due to very poor coaching.
