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| Saturdays BMTR Flat 100 |
I have talked about rest and making plans but one key element in training successfully, other than rest, is flexibility and I am not talking about physical flexibility, which is a good thing – well might say mobility is best but that is a topic for another time, but about flexibility in your planning. Often my personality and OCD tends to lead me to follow my plan no matter what. This can be a good thing to help work through things like bad weather and other obstacles. Where this is bad, at least for me, is not seeing when I have to adjust so as to do what is best to reach my short term and long term goals instead of simply plowing forward. This came into play this week.
While riding went well, although I am still working to see what the best mix is of running and riding , running is still a pain and I mean that literally with my Posterior Tibial Tendon (PTT). The issue revolves around figuring out how far I can run and how often as while I have some discomfort running once warmed up it is better than it has been in some time. However once I stop and then have to work, which involves sitting – I do have a standing desk so can use that – the PTT tightens up and can be more sore than after running. This all works to create less than favorable circumstances for a 2nd run of the day, which was my plan since in the past two runs a day tended to work out best – but not at the moment.
Due to this I am working to figure out what is best for Boston. Should I focus on getting my long run up to the 15-20 mile range but run less of them or just do shorter runs and rely on endurance from riding. While I think the endurance I get from riding will be a great benefit the issue is readying my legs for the pounding of 3+ hours of running on the roads. Due to this I think my best plan is to work to get two longer runs in a week and then one shorter one to just flush out the things and if foot is too sore then pass on the shorter run. This way I may get the best of both the endurance from riding and running and riding. I am thinking the shorter runs, while beneficial, if I was healthy, may not add anything significant for Boston. Now this plan may fall on its face once I start at it and see how my foot reacts and then I may have to try the shorter run route but for now this is the plan.
Flexibility is so important as we have to often make changes so as to progress as we want to. They can come for any number of reasons: Need for rest, Injuries and changes in goals – among other things. Plans need to be seen as that – Plans. Since plans are used to reach goals we need to be flexible so that those plans fit your situation - so that the goal can still be attainable even when things around you change. Flexibility is not to be used to avoid what needs to be done but to refocus and move forward – or maybe for a spell sideways – so that your goals get closer to being attained. This does all necessitate that you have a plan and a plan while often best when written down it does not have to be but having an idea of what you need to do to get where you want to go is where you need to start then be flexible as you travel the path to your goal.
Week’s Training Overview:
Running did not go as planned but went as it was meant to be. I had planned on running 30 miles this week but after my first run of Monday, an 8 miler, I realized two a days with a longer run were not going to work as foot was too sore for he second run. Due to this I changed plans, not the easiest thing for me to do, and did a 9 miler on Wednesday and a 5+ mile run on Friday. This seemed to work as the foot did not feel too bad running but for sure would be sore later in the day. I am going to have to evaluate what is better to do to get ready for Boston – less runs but longer, more shorter runs or somewhere in the middle. I touched on this above so will not repeat it here.
As far as riding it was a good week. I started the week wanting to get in 200 miles that would include a 45 mile gravel ride on Saturday. To do this I rode twice a day Tuesday and Thursday with some hard efforts in each day. Tuesday I did a comfortable 39 miler on Zwift with a couple hard efforts on a couple climbs but then rode a 9+ mile Zwift Crit that was fast for me. Entered group C but pace where I was at, second group, was closer to the group B pace. I did end up with my best watts and W/Kg so all in all a good morning ride. That afternoon I rode with one other person on Zwift and did 3 roughly 9 mile laps and rode easy on first 2 then rode hard the last lap – thus ending a good paced day. On Thursday rode a 51 mile run with one hard 4+ mile effort near end then in the afternoon rode a pretty hilly 27 miler that the overall pace was not too fast but with the hills the effort was a good one.
This leads me to Saturday. The mileage up to Saturday was done to get me to 200 for the week with the planned 45 mile gravel ride but come Friday plans got changed. How things ended up was all probably for the best as was really cold on Saturday morning and due to this change I ended up riding the a BMTR 100 mile flat ride on Zwift. I have done a number of these rides and as they use a fence the pace is pretty much as advertised – maxed out at about 2.4 w/kg. Well the ride started and everyone went out much faster than 2.4 and I was concerned about getting too far ahead when the fence came on. But then it turned out Zwift had issues with the fence and it was not going to work. Due to that the ride broke up into a few groups I ended up in the first group and the pace was brisk as we averaged 25+ mph the whole way. The route was basically flat which is good for keeping a fast pace but then also minimizes the downhill rests you can get thus this was a consistently paced ride. I ended up third in the first “C” group and got under 4 hours for the century.
Was happy with the riding this week as while I have to say it was a little harder than planned ending with a hard 100 miler shows things are coming together. Funny as if you asked me last year if I would ride 100 miles indoors I would have laughed but now a year later I have ridden four 100 milers and two 75 milers all in my basement on Zwift. This last 100 miler tends to show that my endurance is coming along well and also I am gaining some speed based on the crit ride. This will all play into how I use the riding and running to get ready for Boston.
Overview of Weeks Runs and Rides:
- Monday: Run - 8.21 Miles
- Tuesday: Ride #1 – 39.2 Warm-up Miles & Zwift Crit & Cool Down 12.4 Miles - Total 51.6 Miles
- Tuesday: Ride #2 – 5.46 Warm-up Miles & Zwift Group Ride 27.25 Miles - Total 32.71 Miles
- Wednesday: Run – 9.25 Miles
- Thursday: Ride #1 - Zwift Ride 51.24 Miles
- Thursday Ride #2 - PM Calibration 2.99 Miles, Warmup 2.55 Miles & Zwift Group Ride 27.48 Miles - Total 33.4 Miles
- Friday: Run – 5.63 Miles
- Saturday: Ride – Warmup/Calibration 2.21 Miles & Long Ride Group Ride on Zwift 103.21 Miles – Total 105.42 Miles
- Sunday: Rest Day
Totals:
- Running Miles – 23.0 Miles. 3:21
- Riding Miles – 274.0 Miles. 12:26
- Total Miles - 297 Miles
- Total Time – 15:47 Hours
Weekly Diet Notes;
More a comment on nutrition during the long ride this past weekend. With the pace of the ride was not sure of how much more I would need in the way carbs I would need as did not go into the ride thinking it would be as fast as it was. I did take one Maurten Gel at 3 hours as with no fence on for the ride wondered if the pace would pick up and did not want to be caught short as had been riding for the previous 3 hours faster than in the past and while my HR was not excessively high it was in the low to Mid 130’s for pretty much the entire ride. Not sure I really needed it in the end as pace was pretty consistent till last mile or so. Even so at best it helped to start the carb replenishment before the end of the ride.
Also, used Vespa for this ride as wanted to get in a long hard ride using it as I use in long races and will use it in the Dirty Kanza 200 and other gravel races. Based on the low calorie and carb intake for a hard 4 hour ride I think Vespa works well. For me I do not feel that it works in a real discernable way but when done can tell it has due to lower carb intake and better fat burning even when pushing the pace.
Pre-Ride:
- Coffee with Coconut Oil and Butter, Collagen, Heavy Cream, Chocolate Primal Fuel (1/2 Scoop) (497/9.5) & 1 Scoop SFuels-Life (50/0) – Total (547/9.5)
- 1/4 cup Oatmeal (40/7) - 2 Tbsp Heavy (51/1)Cream, Raisins (31.1/8.2) and 1 tbsp Maple Syrup (51/33) – Total (173.1/49.2)
- 1 Vespa – (18/5)
- Total: 738.1 Cals/63.7 Gr Carbs
- 1 Altred (Beetroot Extract)
- Also use the AMPHuman PR Lotion
Ride Fueling;
- 1.25ea - 24 OZ bottle of water with 2 Scoop each SFuels – Train formula (100 cals / 2gr carbs ea). - Total – 125 Cals/2.5gr
- 2ea - 20 OZ bottle of water with 1 packet each SFuels – Race+ formula (110 cals/14 gr Carbs ea). - Total – 220 Cals/28 Gr
- 1 FBomb NutButter (210 Cal / 4 Gr Carbs)
- 1 Maurten Gel (100 cals/ 25G
- 1 Vespa (at 2 hours) (18/5)
- 2ea - S!Caps (2ea at 2 hours and then 3.5 hours)
- 2ea - Altred (1 at start then 1 after 2 hours and 1 at 3.0 hours)
- Totals: 673 Calories - Carbs- 64.5 g
Conclusions and the Week Ahead:
After a hard week, well might even say a hard three weeks, this week will be shorter in riding miles and this works well as it is my travel week for work in CA. Thus no weekend ride and so will only ride Tuesday and Thursday. While I will likely do two rides on Tuesday with a Crit on Tuesday and a good paced ride Tuesday afternoon. For Thursday I will just do an easy 4-50 miles with the goal of 100-130 miles for the week.
As far as running I am going to aim for 20+ miles with a couple longish runs of 8-13 miles and see how my foot feels. With this being a travel week and Monday being an off day due my anniversary and spending the day out with my wife milage may end up being not what was planned. As I spoke about above I need to have some flexibility and work to figure out what is best for preparation for Boston with al that is going on around me with work, an injury and just life in general. We shall see how things go as when I get to CA there will be less riding just due to time and daylight so will work to see how I can best get running in but still do enough riding to not lose what I have gained in the past two months.
Last Week's Overview #35
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