How do I adjust the schedule for a mid-season 70.3 race?
Most of you are planning to race a half-Ironman distance race at some point, which is a good idea for providing a "dress rehearsal" to help you be better prepared for your upcoming Ironman. If you use all the same fuel, hydration, and equipment that you plan to use in your full-Ironman race, you should be able to gather enough feedback to make any necessary adjustments.
A question that I often get is, "What should I do differently with the schedule before & after my half?" The answer is pretty simple:
Keep your eyes on the big prize, your Ironman at the end of the season. Be explicit about your expectations for the 70.3, and what you're hoping to get out of the experience. Yes, we all want to have great races, and yes that is possible while meeting all of the other objectives, but don't look to over-rest beforehand just to ensure that you are peaked for the half. The bigger picture dictates that you make sure that this fits nicely into your overall plan for the key race at the end.
For the week before your 70.3 race, limit both the duration and intensity levels. A good rule of thumb is to reduce the durations by 20%-50% for the Tues-Sat before your race, and to limit the intensities in any given workout session to 75% max. Giving yourself enough time to recover a bit, without stepping too far back, will help you be relatively fresh for your weekend effort.
For the week after the race, make sure that you recover sufficiently. This means that you want to take the day after your race completely off, and then begin by reducing the durations on the plan by 50-20% (in reverse this time) to ensure that you build the volume back up gradually. As with the reduction going into the race, limit the intensity afterward to 75% as well.
After your race, make sure to gather your thoughts and write down your Ironman strategy-related notes right away, whlie it's fresh in your mind. This will help guide you through your final key race preparation with confidence, knowing that your plan has the benefit of being adjusted after being battle tested.
As always, let me know if you have any questions...have a good one!
A question that I often get is, "What should I do differently with the schedule before & after my half?" The answer is pretty simple:
Keep your eyes on the big prize, your Ironman at the end of the season. Be explicit about your expectations for the 70.3, and what you're hoping to get out of the experience. Yes, we all want to have great races, and yes that is possible while meeting all of the other objectives, but don't look to over-rest beforehand just to ensure that you are peaked for the half. The bigger picture dictates that you make sure that this fits nicely into your overall plan for the key race at the end.
For the week before your 70.3 race, limit both the duration and intensity levels. A good rule of thumb is to reduce the durations by 20%-50% for the Tues-Sat before your race, and to limit the intensities in any given workout session to 75% max. Giving yourself enough time to recover a bit, without stepping too far back, will help you be relatively fresh for your weekend effort.
For the week after the race, make sure that you recover sufficiently. This means that you want to take the day after your race completely off, and then begin by reducing the durations on the plan by 50-20% (in reverse this time) to ensure that you build the volume back up gradually. As with the reduction going into the race, limit the intensity afterward to 75% as well.
After your race, make sure to gather your thoughts and write down your Ironman strategy-related notes right away, whlie it's fresh in your mind. This will help guide you through your final key race preparation with confidence, knowing that your plan has the benefit of being adjusted after being battle tested.
As always, let me know if you have any questions...have a good one!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Plissken on
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Hi Mike,
thanks for posting this message: we definetely needed that!
One question again: while it is clear how to reduce durations by 20-50%, it is not clear how to limit the intensities in any given workout to 75%.
Let's take an example
BIKE 1:40
WARM UP
10:00 easy spin, gradually increase effort to 65%
INTERMEDIATE SET
5 x (20 sec spin @110+ rpm / 40 sec @90 rpm)
-- then spin easy for 2:00
MAIN SET
Descending intervals:
2 x (6.2mi / 10km / 15:00) hold right @75% -- 3:00 recovery spin
(5.0mi / 8km / 14:00) increase to 80-85% -- 4:00 recovery spin
(3.1mi / 5km / 10:00) @85+% -- go straight into cool down
COOL DOWN
spin easy @85 rpm, bringing your HR back under 60% by the end
limiting 20% of time will turn to
BIKE 1:27
WARM UP
10:00 easy spin, gradually increase effort to 65%
INTERMEDIATE SET
5 x (20 sec spin @110+ rpm / 40 sec @90 rpm)
-- then spin easy for 2:00
MAIN SET
Descending intervals:
2 x (12:00) hold right @75% -- 2:30 recovery spin
(11:00) increase to 80-85% -- 3:30 recovery spin
(8:00) @85+% -- go straight into cool down
COOL DOWN
spin easy @85 rpm, bringing your HR back under 60% by the end
I kept 17mins of warm up session and 18-19 mins of cool down session as original.
How should I change the intensities? 75% of 75% is very low as well as 75% of 85%+...
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Permalink Reply by Mike Llerandi on -
This is great - your math is correct, and you reduced the durations of the main set, which is exactly where you want to limit your time.
As for intensities, my guidance is to limit the overall intensity level to 75% - in other words, don't go over 75% intensity (measured by HR) in the main set, in the time where you're trying to rest up for (or recover from) your 70.3 race.
What that does NOT mean, is to multiply the intensity on the program by 75%. Instead, just "clip" them at 75%. For your above example, the main set would therefor look like this:
2 x (12:00) hold right @75% -- 2:30 recovery spin
(11:00) hold at 75% -- 3:30 recovery spin
(8:00) @75% -- go straight into cool down
You could start out at 65-70% for the first one (since this is designed as a "descending" set) but that's not really necessary, since you are keeping the intensity level low throughout.
It might look a little strange (why am I shortening the repeats, when the intensity is staying the same?), but it's really just a small adjustment for a couple of days, to give your body the chance to recuperate.
Make sense?
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Mike, your answer is great and now I feel much better with this taper tuned week.
Thanks a lot and I hope to post next monday a good race report...
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Permalink Reply by Mike Llerandi on
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Great to hear - good luck, let's hear all about it on Monday!
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Permalink Reply by Kevin B on -
Mike,
If someone was just approching their half iron tune up as a long training day and planned on covering the distance at the intensities suggested in that weekend's workout and NOT at race pace, would it be acceptable to stick to intensity levels of the ultra plan workouts for the week leading up to race day -as well as the week after instead of modifying them as you have suggested earlier in this discussion ? Please advsie. Thanks.
Kevin
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Permalink Reply by Mike Llerandi on
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Kevin,
Sounds like you wouldn't have to cut back too much on the volume, but you might do so on the intensities since the 70.3 race will be quite a bit of volume in itself, and there is usually a tendency to go a bit harder than intended when you're in a race-day situation.
Take care,
Mike
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Permalink Reply by Noel on -
All,
I know this thread was started months ago, but I think it is valid at any time of year depending on when your races fall. On that note, I just wanted to pose the question; my Half-IM falls on the Sunday ending Comp. Week 7, the Saturday before race day has Bike-Swim, which I was planning on doing, at the prescribed limits of intensity & duration. Is this advised? Any other adjustments?
It would be an early morning affair giving me "hopefully" adequate time to recover before the next days half. Keep in mind I am more concerned with the full distance IM later than this half tune up.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Noel
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Permalink Reply by Mike Llerandi on
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Noel,
Some of it will depend on the weather (if it rains, then just spin easy indoors or bag the ride entirely), and also on any "day before" registration, travel, etc. that is required for the half.
The basic guide would be to use common sense, and err on the side of a little extra rest/recovery before your half. Even though it's "just" a tune-up, it's always more enjoyable if you can execute a solid race.
Hope that helps-
-Mike
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Permalink Reply by Noel on
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This is a good point. My travel time to the race isn't too long, but between registration and putting the bike in T1, etc, I am always surprised at how much of my day is eaten up.
Perhaps an easy spin indoors is a good idea. Followed by an easy swim, those loosen me up and seem to help recovery more than I thought. If I were to put an easy spin indoors Saturday AM it wouldn't be anywhere near the 5 hours normally scheduled for that day regardless.
I just don't want to miss too many the long workout days as I feel they help get my body ready for longer duration races.
But I suppose since the Half is Sunday that will take care of any long workouts I might have done.
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Permalink Reply by Noel on
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One other question, I have a 70.3 this Sunday, and I have dialed it down as listed above, has your experience been to not run the Thursday track workout at 75% but rather just replace it with more of a tempo run at 75% max, minus 20 - 30% duration?
My track workout tend to take me WAY over 75%. Great workouts, but hardly lower impact.
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