March Training Plan for LL for Eagleman 70.3 (with Brooklyn Half Marathon as a B Race)

February Training sessions were completed to perfection. As a result she has:

• Done her first FTP test, and learned about pacing it and that she has room to give it more next time.
• Improved bike handling skills immensely since first getting on a bike last summer. (In September she couldn’t take one hand off the handlebars for a second in perfect weather, now she’s riding in snow/sleet and controlling the bike even when it’s fishtailing).
• Gained some control of stomach issues she had when running. It is still an occasional issue and a risk for the race, but she has some strategies how to improve the situation.
• Heightened awareness of different cadence ranges and how they correlate to RPE and heart rate.
• Running at a faster pace for any given heart rate compared to November.
• Incrementally improved her swim and has a plan for the next set of improvements (currently working on improving propulsion on the front end of the stroke).

Currently she can workout for 2-3 hours at a time and not experience much fatigue at all. Knowing that she has a background in all-day hiking in challenging conditions (very hill terrain and heavy backpack), and that she completes most workouts with only a small amount of water, I believe she is already a good fat burner and will adapt to longer distances quite quickly. Her 70.3 will be a 6-8.5 endeavour so we’ll start adding in longer distances incrementally from now.

Goals for March are:

• Swim: Increase speed mainly through frequency of swimming and practising technique.
• Bike: Attempt various methods of ingesting calories whilst on the bike and running. Start with very small amounts to see what is palatable. Occasional practise on the bike rollers and if outside, practise: climbing whilst out of the saddle and riding uphill with one hand.
• Run: Gradual lengthening of the long run, and learning to maintain focus on form throughout.

Sessions for March are:

Swim/Bike (1 hour): 30 minute swim focusing on technique and drills. Do not count laps or focus on pace. However, never rest for more than 30s. Once finished, get onto the bike for 30 minutes and do the following: 5 minute warm-up, 10 minutes with heart rate at 140-160. 5 minutes easy spin, 10 minutes with heart rate at 140-160. Swim drills should focus primarily on the pull: Sculling drill (you should both do lots of this), single arm swimming, breaststroke (focusing on the pull at the beginning) and any drills swim coaches may have given you in the past. Don’t worry too much about body position for now. We want to focus on generating propulsion first.

Swim/Run (1 hour): 30 minute swim. 5 min warm-up. 5 min drills. Then 10x100yds at a challenging but sustainable pace. When you tire, focus on maintain form rather than fighting the water. Warm up for the first 5 minutes jogging, then do any of these drills: http://running.competitor.com/2014/05/training/essential-drills-for-speed-and-efficiency_58730. For the last 20 minutes run depending how you feel.

Long Run (1 hour+): Ensure you’re running at what feels a very easy pace. You should be able to maintain a conversation whilst running if you want. Week 1: 60 minutes. Week 2: 75 minutes. Week 3: 90 minutes. Week 4: 60 minutes. This is an important session so record how you felt, how you did the session (track/treadmill/outdoors), heart rate zones. Each week pick a different strategy from the following and see how they feel:

1. Run for 5 minutes, walk for 1.
2. Run for 10 minutes, walk for 2.
3. Run for 20 minutes, walk 2.
4. Run the entire thing non-stop.

Don’t rush into running the whole thing non-stop, taking walking breaks allows you to regroup your focus and restart running with good form. At the tail end of the session start looking at the changes:

1. Is your step count going down? If so, play with keeping your original step count but taking smaller steps to see how that feels.
2. Is your head dropping? Do you still have a slight forward lean? What are your hands and arms doing?

Apart from improving form, this is a good mental exercise. When you’re at the tail end of the race and (I assume) you start getting tired, you’ll have two choices: focus on the pain, or, focus on form. The latter is normally better for your mental outlook as well as performance.

Long Bike (1 hour+): Z2 ride: sweating gently, can converse whilst riding. It’s completely fine to rev the engine occasionally (push hard up a hill or get out of the saddle on a spin bike and challenge your self). 80-90% of the ride should be in the Z2 zone. Practise eating. At first this might be 2 small pieces of dried fruit over the whole ride, but we want to see progression. Week 1: 60 minutes. Week 2: 90 minutes. Week 3: 105 minutes. Week 4: 90 minutes.

Swim (30min): Easy 200yd warm/up. Do some drills. Then repeat this for the rest of the session: 200yd easy, 30s rest.

Stretch (30min): Spend time stretching your shoulders, chest, back and legs. Good one to be done in front of the TV.

Strength (30min): Push-ups/Pull ups/Deadlifts/Abs. Do no more than 3 sets of 10 and you’re not trying to do the biggest weight possible. You’re just trying to have enough resistance that you have to focus on form. These are anti-injury exercises rather than trying to build muscle or power.

Bike/Run (multiple of any time): Cycling between 130-145bpm after an easy warm up. Do not go really hard on any of these. Keep it aerobic. Run for the last 10 minutes at an easy pace.