Training Thoughts: As I finished the first 6 sessions of my Lydiard Coaching Certificate Class I am reminded of the importance of a good base, a firm foundation. Pretty much all we do needs to have a well built foundation or it will inevitably fail and allow all else to collapse. One of the 5 principles, but the key to the success of all the rest, is the building of an aerobic base. Working to create a foundation where you can add in hills and speed and fine tuning such that your goals are achievable and maybe just as important – sustainable. After all a plan that leads you to a peak that will only end up in injury or burnout is not a good plan. I say that but if your goals are to do one run at your best then go back to the couch then maybe you can get away with little to no base, not sure, but pretty sure that is not most people’s mindset.
The Lydiard pyramid, shown in the graphic, shows a training cycle and the timing can be adjusted based on the date of your goal race/s but what is not seen is that one base builds on the next. The great part about endurance sports is that they build on each other so the great base you build now during all this craziness will work to maybe shorten you base building timing for the second goal race you may have. Of course over time you will need to firm up the foundation and you cannot simply live off maybe one great 3-6 month base building time as we have had. As an example you may have a base building phase of say 10-12 weeks, or more, working to towards a goal then do the next 4 Lydiard phases I spoke of last week, and seen in the pyramid, to lead to your goal race/s and then take a week or two rest but then you can start again but this time maybe only do a 7 week base and then the other phases. Again this cannot go on forever as you will need to go back to a longer base eventually.
I share all of this since we are in a time with very little racing – other than virtual racing – and is thus a great time to work on building an awesome base. Let me add that with riding if you use Zwift you do need to be careful as there are a lot of official races there and then there are the “rides” that turn into races and if you are not diligent you will end up in trouble with your base building. When building a base you can do hard rides and runs and if you do any races use them simply as indicators of where you are and not really to be races, as your goal race/s is. But you do need to be careful not to do too much and realize the goal of this time is a good base. Arthur Lydiard said “You cannot train hard and race well at the same time” and you just need to realize this when you set up your base building plan.
While many simply want to jump into the hills and intervals I am one that enjoys the base building as I simply like to train – but some think I am strange. As I am working on my integration of riding and running and trying still to figure out the best mix for the base building I am finding doing a good number of miles riding with a couple longer runs is working well. It is allowing my foot to get better each week but also the longer runs add the right amount of stress to my legs to keep them ready for the pounding of a marathon or Ultra. Is my mix, which currently is about 250 miles riding and 25 running, good for everyone – probably not. I have to remind people that I have 47+ years of running and 40+ of riding so I have a pretty good base to work with and thus what I am doing is not done starting from scratch. That said the principle is that I can get in the endurance work along with working my legs and cardio but not get the pounding on my Posterior Tibial Tendon. Once I get closer to Boston I will do more on the speed end to get my legs ready for the faster pace but for the base training I think this is working great. To add to this my riding also seems to be progressing and have not really done any speed work other than what takes place when increases in pace happen in the races and harder rides I have done.
The take away I hope you get from this is that you need to use this time not to fret about the races you may, or may not, have missed but instead see the positive in being able to build a base you may have never done before. Take the time to sit back and see what you can do to make sure you are building a base and not breaking yourself down. Then, and I will look at this in another post, look for you first possible goal race and see where about14 weeks is, back from your goal race, so you can count back to see where you need to move from the base building to the final 4 phases of the Lydiard pyramid. I think you will find that fine tuning your fitness on the foundation of a well laid base will lead to success in reaching your goals if you fine tune and complete the pyramid. Again more to follow on this.
Overview of Weeks Runs and Rides:
When I rode and ran this week was sort of driven by weather which is why my long run was Monday rather than my initially planned Tuesday and then as it was to rain Friday I did a ride and run on Thursday to also give me an extra rest day for the week.
I ran a half-marathon on Monday and ran relaxed but still under 8:20 a mile so was a good run. Foot felt pretty good and as I have noticed more and more what soreness there is pass pretty quickly and does not linger when I am not running. Then on Thursday I ran a 10+ miler and it also was at a comfortable pace and with little soreness. Both runs were done fasted and while starting off feeling a little hungry that feeling subsided pretty quickly.
Riding this week was pretty good with Tuesday’s ride being easy and then rode the usual BMTR tempo ride on Wednesday. On Thursday I ran early and wanting to avoid the rain on Friday, and take an extra days rest, I also rode on Thursday afternoon. Thursday I did a warmup then rode the 23 mile Zwift Tour for All Stage 1 Ride. It was on the flat desert course so with no climbs was fast. I missed the front group so stayed with the second group and finished well. While technically this was not a race, I later found the race was 10 minutes later, as with even regular rides in Zwift it ended up being fast. After a rest day Friday I went into the Saturday 100 Mile BMTR Fundo a little tired and apprehensive of how I it would go. I went out sorta quick but realized it was faster than I wanted with many miles to go so I settled in knowing the group just behind would catch up and make a good group. That was how things settled in for the rest of the ride with not a lot of hills but one 4+ minute stint done 5 times. On the last time up I lost the front of the group I was with but combined with the group in front slowing some and along with some others picking it up we all regrouped and I ended up doing OK in the final sprint. After finishing the 100 I did an extra 10+ for a total of 110.6 miles.
The ride Saturday was my longest on Zwift and also my fastest. The 100 miles was done in 3:56:39 and with the total of 110.66 done in 4:19:37 (Avg of 25.6mph) which I was very pleased with especially since my previous best time was just around 3:59 with a lot less elevation, around 800ft, and this ride was faster with close to 3000ft for the 100. Also got my best avg watts for this length ride at 254 and w/kg at 3.15 which was also good for me. For my 10th Century of the year, 8th on Zwift, it was a great ride. Felt good after the ride and did not feel tired till the next day but truth is all in all a great week as with 24 miles running I got very close to covering 300 miles this week. Now to go another week or two with some good miles to work on a great base. Bottom line is base is key and since all my early season racing is gone makes for a good time to make a great base as discussed at the start of this post.
Monday’s Half-Marathon
Monday: Run – 13.48 Miles -
Tuesday: Ride – 29.17 Miles Warmup & 32.22 Meetup Ride - Total 61.39
Wednesday: Ride – 13.14 Miles Warmup & 34.42 BMTR Mid-Week Ride - Total 47.56
Thursday Morning: Run – 10.57 Miles
Thursday Afternoon: Ride – 24.03 Miles Warmup & 24.17 Tour for All: Stage 1 - Total 48.20
Friday: Rest Day
Saturday: Ride – 2.17 Mile PM Calibration & 110.66 Mile BMTR 100 Mile + Fundo - Total 112.83
Sunday: Rest Day
Weekly Totals:
Running Miles –24 Miles
Running Time – 3:18 Hours
Riding Miles – 270 Miles
Riding Time – 11:38 Hours
Total Miles – 294 Miles
Total Time – 14:47 Hours
Diet Notes:
As with most weeks all rides, except Saturday’s, and runs were done fasted. For me that means nothing to eat since the night before except had a cup of coffee with some heavy cream. For Saturday’s ride you can see below for my pre-ride nutrition and ride nutrition.
For the ride my intake was about the same as usual which I was happy with considering this ride was fairly fast. The only Gel I took in was one Maurten 100 gel with 3 hours knowing had a couple climbs to come and the finish and figured we would only have one hour to go. Felt pretty good during ride as biggest issue was mental as a little tired and finished well feeling good during extra 10 miles and could have done more if needed to. Check out below for long ride fueling.
Saturday’s Ride Fueling
Pre-Ride Fueling:
- Coffee with Coconut Oil and Butter, Collagen, Heavy Cream, Chocolate Primal Fuel (1 Scoop) & 1 Scoop SFuels-Life – Total (659.3/15)
- 1 Vespa
- ½ Cup of Oatmeal and Raisins
- 1 Altred (Beetroot Extract)
- Also use the AMPHuman PR Lotion
- Total: 810.9 Cals & 48.6 gr Carbs
Ride Fueling;
- 1.5ea of 24oz bottle with 2 scoops of SFuels Train each
- 2ea of 24oz bottles with 1 package each of SFuels Race+
- 1 Altred at 2 hours
- 2 S!Caps at 2 hours
- 2 Vespa (1 at 2 hours)
- F-Bomb Nut Butter
- 1 Maurten Gel 100
- Totals: Calories 848 – Carbs - 65 g
The Week Ahead:
This coming week will be very much like this past one but I will not do as long ride as I have done the last two weeks with Saturday’s ride to be around 60 miles and easy. Looking to do about 60 miles for each day of riding for a total of 240. In that will probably have one longer quick tempo ride during Wednesday’s BMTR Mid-Week ride and then also may do one stage of the Tour for All but all else to be easy rides. Saturdays ride is planned to be done indoors as part of the 100 Mile Treadmill WR by Zach Bitter as there is a way to ride or run along with Zach as he goes for the record. The goal of the
For running I may do three runs of 8-10 each and not do as long a run as I have done the last few weeks to get a total of around 25+ miles for the week. To do this I will probably ride & run one of the days so I still take one rest day, Sunday, with no riding or running. Still working to rest up my foot while still getting enough stress to be able to run Boston in September should it take place – I have my doubts it will. But want to be ready of I do but even more than that want to make sure all is well to pace my friend Ty Martin as he goes for his first 100 miler in the hard NoBusiness 100 in October. Bottom line is to continue to build a good base to work off of and that seems to be going well.
Last Week's Overview #46
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