Rethinking my low intensity weeks

In "The Triathlete's Training Bible" Joe Friel presents guidelines for creating an individual training plan. These same guidelines are incorporated into the Training Peaks Annual Training Plan (ATP). (The new site does yet include the ATP. To get there you must revert to Classic, on the drop-down menu triggered by clicking your name.) Friel's new book, "Fast After 50," also gives advice on setting up a training plan, and some of the suggested solutions are different. No doubt he has updated his recommendations to reflect new knowledge.

A key element of an ATP is periodization by week. Friel recommends that young whipper-snappers insert a reduced volume week every fourth week, whereas mature athletes insert one every third week. I am not sure where he or the TP computer draw the line. All I can say for sure is that TP schedules me a rest week every three weeks, with a target of 7 hours of activity, which is exactly what Friel recommends in his book for someone my age with an annual training goal of 500 hours.

Once you have your weekly volume mapped out you can use the TP Virtual Coach to help fill in individual workouts, again following the same guidelines presented in "The Triathlete's Training Bible." During reduced volume weeks you will see workouts that are really the tests he describes in detail in his book, such as the run LTHR test.

About that 500 hours. As I move into the new year I am finding it difficult to schedule, much less do, as much volume as TP recommends. Somewhere between the complexities of life and the vagaries of the weather I have not been able to put in as much time as I would like. One thing I need to fix is my swim time estimates. I have been scheduling swim workouts based on time in the pool, but my Garmin Swim only gives me credit when I am moving. The most I have ever gotten from a one hour pool workout is 40 minutes. But if I shave off twenty minutes there I have to add it on somewhere else, and there are not very many possibilities.

Okay, I admit that the computer did not assign me 500 hours per year. I chose it, because that is the recommended volume for a Half Ironman:

Suggested Annual Training Hours

RACE DISTANCE	ANNUAL HOURS
Ironman	600-1200
Half-Ironman	500-700
Olympic	400-600
Sprint	300-500

Friel, Joe (2012-11-27). The Triathlete's Training Bible (Kindle Locations 2069-2070). VeloPress. Kindle Edition.

To be more precise, 500 hours per year is the high end for sprint distance triathlons, which I did last year, in the middle for Olympic distance events which I am targeting this year, and on the low end for Half Ironman, my goal for 2016. So I did not just pull that number out of a hat.

But I digress. My purpose in this interlude was to explain where the 7 hours per week came from. "The Triathlete's Training Bible," table 14.1.

This coming week is one of those weeks. Back in December/January when I laid out my spring plan I scheduled this week this way:

Monday
    Swim, pool 1 hr 2250 yds
 Tuesday
    Swim, pool, 1 hr 1200 yds
Wednesday
    Swim, pool 1 hr 3250 yds
    Bike, spin class, 1 hr
Thursday
    Run, Foundation, 30 min
    Strength, 1 hr
    Yoga (no time)
Friday
    Run, track, LTHR test, 50 min
    Massage (no time)
Saturday
    rest day, no activity
Sunday
    Run, track, tempo time trial, 30 min

Total planned: 6:50
ATP: 7:00

Even with all that my plan is ten minutes short of my allocation. Experience tells me I will be short on swim time, and about the only way to hit my goal will be to extend some runs or tack on a ride. That or give myself time credit for yoga, which is not really cheating.

My inspiration for this blog entry was to say that after reading most of Friel's new book, "Fast After 50," I feel the need to redefine the two runs that come later in the week. I have something similar at the end of every low volume week.

One change I did spot in Friel's new book, instead of taking average HR for the 20 min run to get LTHR rate, he now recommends taking five percent off that. So this week I will get fresh LTHR data, and the result should change my HR zones, but not by much. My last run LTHR test was back in August, and put me at 154. Five percent off that would be 146.

Run Zones with LTHR at 154

1Z	2Z	3Z	4Z	5aZ	5bZ	5cZ
102	131	139	146	154	159	163

Run Zones with LTHR at 146

1Z	2Z	3Z	4Z	5aZ	5bZ	5cZ
96	124	131	139	146	150	155

So I guess that means I'll be running a bit easier.

There are some other tests Friel recommends we old folks do. I need to read over those sections again before doing any more scheduling. I will present my results in a future post.