I’m going to weigh in on the “2:20 run” issue on the HIM plans with my amateur coach opinions. I think that it’s not the distance that matters but rather the time, and so if you do RPE 6 for 2:20 and that gets you 20mi, great. The goal is to build up a strong aerobic base and if you are gradually building up your distance (which you should because the time is gradually increasing) I don’t see anything wrong with that long of a run and it won’t beat you up anymore than somebody doing only 15mi for their 2:20 run. My reasoning is that your steps/min should be the same, so the total impact is a function of time, not distance, and I’m not entirely sure the impact of each step would be more for a faster runner either, since vertical oscillation is also probably pretty fixed.
Therefore I say do your workouts based on time, and whatever distance you cover is the distance you cover. Don’t worry about going too long. If you have the kind of running base that allows for 20mi over that workout, you would probably short-change yourself and not push your fitness forward if you arbitrarily cut it off at 15mi.
Anyways, that’s just the opinion of this armchair coach
Hey @JoeX, thanks for keeping us all in check, good news that I have an extra month for Marbella too!
Think like most of the Northern Hemisphere folk recovering from the winter cold and did my first 4 hour turbo of the year on Saturday (uncomfortable and challenging.com)
Got the Surrey HM on Sunday so stretch the legs there and hopefully get a new Threshold on the back of it.
Good to see people are doing well, keep going everybody.
20 mile run for a HIM is overkill and most likely detrimental.
Nothing longer than 1:45 is needed even if you’re slower.
Feb was a really tough month for me. I finally had to shut down my run because of my Achilles. I had enough when even a 3 mile run hurt me for 2 days. It took a week for all the pain to go away. I am now thinking to restart run walking.
So I substituted in more swimming biking and lifting. That lasted 10 days until I got the flu which floored me for 4-5 days and took another week of grinding to get back into the groove.
Swim - it’s going well. I’m on a plateau of my own making. All the lifting has my shoulders and lats really tired.
Bike - going ok as well. Pretty much hit my workouts when I was on there. Moving FTP up from 263 to 265 this month.
Joe, I forgot to mention I am signed up for 70.3Galveston which is 5 weeks away. I don’t feel I am at my best. Any normal person would prob back off on the paces a bit but my crazy mind has ideas. I’m gonna instead go out at suicide pace on swim and bike and see how much I can stretch the run in suicide pace without injuring myself. I think I am stupid. Lol
The long run topic is fairly individual. I don’t think there is a right or wrong. My current plan foresees 1:45 max and it’s good for a sub90 HIM run. There were times however, where I definitely benefitted from overdistance runs at very low intensity. Not so much with the metabolic adaptations in mind, but to let the muscle-sceletal system know what’s up. In fact I still do the occasional 30-35k runs with my ultra running mates. Mind you, those runs are noodling along from picknick to Instagram location to picknick, more like a social past time and less of a focused workout.
A while back I came across this guy’s video discussing 2hr (or just over 2 hour) runs and the benefits. His video mostly talks about marathon prep, but the science he discusses is still relevant to shorter distance too I think
@Alen my wife just recently had achilles tendinitis. Orthopedist prescribed her anti-inflamatory (which she only took for a 2-3 days) and series of achilles region massages, also foot movement patterns and an ankle brace. She went from barely walking to jogging again in about 2 weeks.
Hopefully it will heal enough for you upcoming race.
Thanks for posting that as it gives some science to my intuition. I will also say that for me personally, while I’m focusing on the Olympic distance and doing well at Nationals this year, probably without a 70.3 (though I might do one just for fun after Nationals) I will be getting in a number of 2+ hour runs even though I probably won’t be racing any further than 10k. I think it’s immensely beneficial and if you scale up your running volume appropriately, you should be fine IMO.
But now that also brings up something else…this guy was coming at it from a pure running perspective. If we’re doing 2, 3, and 4 hour bike rides at say 0.75IF, does that give us the same aerobic benefit as a 2 hour run without the wear and tear? I’d be interested in seeing some literature on that.
HI, today I was due to complete Phoenix @199W ; I decided to go outside for the first time since I use TR. What a surprise!! I ended up with 178W on average, it’s really hard to have the same output as indoor, as soon as the road is undulating it’s 10 to 20W up or down.
Apart from that I was quite comfy with a nice Av Speed.
How do you guys manage to get the same power output indoor and outdoor??
Everybody finds it a bit different, but you also have to account for stop signs/lights, traffic, corners you don’t pedal through, etc. when looking at your average power. Nominal Power (NP) is a better indicator of your effort during a ride. As for me, I find that when I go outside the same RPE gets me more Watts and I have to really hold myself back.
It’s really hard. All those tiny amounts of coasting, turns, stop signs, lower the average power a lot! There are 2 workouts that transfer well to outdoors. Long easy rides and Vo2.
Something like Phoenix is the hardest.
