2011 OBJECTIVE:
Top 5 in AG at IMLP
BACKGROUND:
M34 - 5'9” - 152lbs. HS Swimmer, turned triathlete, turned marathoner. 1st IM in '07 (IMLP 10:40), 2nd in '09 (IMLOU 9:45) + Kona, 2010 - 2:55 marathon.
APPROACH:
I took a gamble to focus nearly entirely on cycling (my weakness) for my offseason. I was out of cycling shape and had to...
return to fitness more quickly(weeks to IM) on fewer hours than I’ve had in the past. I invested in a power meter and had a goal was to push my FTP as high as possible and then build in the endurance required to race an Ironman. The workout format I followed for 6 months was:Day 1 - FTP
Day 2 - FTP
Day 3 - rest
What lead me to this unorthodox training approach was the fact that I'm a 1hr IM swimmer on 1hr/week and through my marathon experience I know I have the capacity to run.
After my fall marathon, I got on my bike for the 1st time since Kona '09. I did my first FTP test which resulted in 210W. Over the next 6 months (Nov-April), I focused primarily on my bike capacity. I'd run and swim minimally as recovery, never to detract from my bike workouts. 6 months later, I tested at 278W. Average hrs/week = 8hrs.
I had 3 months to focus on bringing the other disciplines up to par for IMLP.
May – May was a really bad month. When adding in a long run (90+min) and some longish rides (2hrs), I found I was hardly able to hit 1FTP workout a week. My running came back quickly, as I was running nearly as fast per HR and PE as I was in the Fall. The problem was that it took several days to recover from my long run each week. I found myself skipping more workouts that I was making, spirally quickly into an overtraining hole. I backed way off to try to get my legs under me for the TTT in Ohio. Average hours for May = 12 hrs week
June - I finally got back to hitting my FTP workout by placing them after my weekly recovery day. Initially, I'd sandwich my FTP intervals in the middle of a 2hr ride. On 3 runs a week I was able to get my recovery under control. On my long rides (3-4 hrs) I was sustaining 80% FTP for the duration and still running decently off the bike (20sec/mile off goal IM run pace). 20min/1hr FTP numbers quickly lost meaning as I refined my long ride targets from field testing. By the middle of June, the amount of rest required to hit an FTP workout and recover was too great and I stopped doing them all together. Average hours for June = 15 hrs week
July - My May/June volume was down 20% from 2009 but I was training harder than ever before. I read somewhere that hard 3hr rides were more important than 5hr(100+ rides). That said, I had half a dozen 3hr rides (85%FTP) and one 100 mile ride. My July weeks looked much like June. I was walking the over-training line again during my final week before taper. I missed hitting 3 of 5 planned workouts due to fatigue. While numerous field test show me faster than ever, I had some doubts regarding my endurance, the lack of any “big” weeks and my approach in general. Avg hrs for July (pre taper) = 14 hrs week
IMLP RESULTS:
Swim: 1:02
Bike: 5:24 (202W avg, 212NP)
Run: 3:20
Total: 9:55
10th M30-34
CONCLUSION:
While a little out there and a lot risky, this approach was build around my strengths to work on my weakness. Just like my swimming and running backgrounds, before I could considered myself a swimmer or runner I dropped everything to train like one. This past winter I attacked my cycling weakness in a similar fashion and saw some big improvements.
While I missed my main objective of Top 5 in AG, I think the approach to attack a weakness (assuming your other disciplines are strong), is an effective strategy. I plan on using this approach for my 2012 season but will tailor it some to help ease into the other two disciplines during that first month post-FTP cycle a little better.
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