That’s interesting. I’m trying out Xert this month and while I agree with almost all you say, I’m having the opposite problem in Base with it set to Moderate -1. It wants to recommend a 70-100 TSS ride every single day, 7 days a week. It also wants 80-90 minutes a day every day. I am nowhere near able to put in 500-700 TSS a week in Base phase. Plus, it never turns me “red”, even with that much work. I can go in after a day off and I’m “yellow” or after three 90 TSS days and I’m still always “yellow”. I really want to love Xert. I love the idea, I’m just not seeing it adapt at all.
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+1 for this sentiment
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Ha. I ended up reformatting my old laptop. All it does now is pain-cave workout. TR, spotify, netflix.
Since the kids had screwed up the screen, I couldn’t do much else with it anyways 
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TR has Triathlon Plans though! I think they’re making it harder for themselves by not using Heart Rate for run and other activities. A lot of less good apps and sites can give run plans.
I am a casual MTB rider and just trying to hang with my brother in law. I improved my health, fitness and speed a lot just riding around, but reached a plateau. I wanted to continue improving in spite of very limited time.
I found TR because of the MTB Podcast (RIP). I agree it is expensive, expensive enough that I was hesitant to sign up. I have been pleased so far with the results. I probably would drop it if it were more expensive but I will stick with it as it is now. The TR app combined with the podcasts have really taught me a lot about how training works.
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I personally subscribe for the calendar and workout builder. I use 0 of the stock TR plans. So for me I say yes it’s worth it not using the TR plans.
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I agree. I’ve been on Xert for nearly a year. I’ve tried to figure out how to use it and have given up. It does give me an accurate FTP number after hard rides without having to test and for that I keep it. IMO, you have to be a coach to be able to properly use any of the these canned programs, TR, TP, Xert. I do base group riding on Zwift now and the occasional Zwift TTT for intensity and have seen my FTP go up without the typical burnout and program fatigue you get from following a canned plan.
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TR to add run plans (it’s not any different to a cycling plan)
I don’t think this is as 1:1 as it sounds… cycling and running operate on very different structures if you’re doing high-level running training. It’s obviously dependent on the type of event you do as well (mile/5k/marathon/etc), but adding running plans would essentially be re-creating the TR app but for running. Or slowly introducing a small number of plans over time, which would likely annoy some folks saying the catalog isn’t big enough.
I’m probably the oddball around here, but I’ve been using SportTracks forever for that - from the desktop app version days. I like the independence of my data container from workout/planning/playout apps. It holds everything (running, cycling, hiking, XC skiing, name it), I can customize reporting all I want, and it’s open and cheap.
As for TR - I’m a cheap engineer at heart, so I did a quick pros vs cons of the various options some time back (Tack app, Zwift, Sufferfest, TR), and picked the one that fit my needs the best at the best cost. Note I didn’t say “picked the best”, because that’s never going to work, as this thread indicates. I’m a heavy-payer for TR (monthly sub, no grandfather rate), because I normally pause it during summer. Even with that, plus SportTracks, plus Zwift, it’s still way cheaper and better adapted to my needs than a gym membership.
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I don’t need TR for running plans, I would just like it to ingest run data. I do believe going down the rabbit hole of running plans would be a business mistake - it’s hard enough to please a customer base with cycling plans (as you can see in this thread), imagine trying to do it for both cycling and running.
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No solid running plan can be done on HR alone (or RPE, for that matter). And yes, a lot of places can give run plans - but very few can give good ones.
Your post hits the nail on the head. There needs to be more talk about this issue. You are locked in at $99 and considering TRs value. I am paying $189 and considering the same thing!
Why won’t TR acknowledge that there are different types of users? I have no interest in doing more than 2-3 rides per week, will never use group rides, will never use plan builder, will never use specialty phase, but I’m paying the same price that the racers do. I really like what I get out of TR, but please offer something cheaper for a user who doesn’t need or want the additional features or volume.
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I’ve tried Xert on and off for about 2 years. Gave it a proper at the start of this year for 3 months, but was totally illogical (workout suggestions, training status etc.).
I really want to love it, but it’s not easy. Plus the workout player is an absolute dogs dinner…
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TR already have RPE plans. Make them Heart Rate, push to watch (like outdoor workouts) jobs a good un. imo. But I’d settle for import of data (even without hrTSS).
Basically this. Even if you decided on a gym membership, you could then go for a very cheap one since you only need weights.
I use golden cheetah to hold everything but thats cycling specific. I’d try out any new system but, tbh, its a monumental task to have something that could coordinate so much training under one roof.
You also get two Chad T’s for the price of an IPA 
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Ah makes sense. I was under the impression you were looking for running plans as well.
I agree that integration of other Strava activities would be nice. Manually entering my runs isn’t the end-all but it would be a major plus if they were already there.
I’m in exactly the same position, although not because of xert.
Renewal coming up in June and have been thinking the same. I’ve started to run all my (TR) workouts through Zwift now as I am 100% indoors so can do group rides etc with friends.
The workouts are good to have there just to browse through If needed but I have gotten to the stage now where I don’t need them to do a BBS cycle. It’s pretty straight forward and I will generally tailor the workouts anyway to my specific needs. I can quite easily create a Sweetspot phase for example in TP then run it on Zwift.
I was really hoping that all the rumour about intelligent self learning training plans was going to be launched, but then the group workout thing came out and was a massive let down, absolute zero interest in that. I think it’s a shame that they have clearly dedicated a lot of resources to get that off the ground and probably away from other things I may find more useful.
I still pay for TP regardless of TR subscription and while it’s good to have TR calendar it’s still no match For the whole TP package in my opinion.
My main reasons for sticking with TR are;
- Grandfathered price
- Bullet proof (almost) app - always works and I can easily and quickly do it off line if needed.
- The hope of better things to come.
I don’t dislike the product at all, just thinking about streamlining like a lot of others I guess.
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Interesting discussion. I too am grandfathered in at the $99 rate and I also have moved beyond using the plans provided by TR.
Total side note - I actually performed better with the old plans, from 2+ years ago than I do with the current iteration of the plans
I am not close to canceling my subscription at this point primarily because of the calendar. I do structured training for a lot of my riding and really like the calendar within TR for building out a plan for myself. I am someone who, in life as well as in cycling, performs well with a plan for the day, the week, the month. Having the calendar holds me accountable and lets me build a progression that works for me.
The workout library is also helpful for me - but simply as a time saving measure so I don’t have to create my own workouts regularly. I could survive doing this for myself, but do enjoy the relative time savings I get from being able to locate interval structures that closely match my desired training adaptations.
All this to say - I use TR now in a way that wouldn’t be recognizable to myself at the time I originally signed up, and I still think I get a decent value out of it. I am hopeful that the things they have in development for more adaptive plans and workouts will come out and I can outsource the training from my brain again - but even without that I get a lot out of my $99/year.
I know you’ve already made your decision, but wanted to lay out my situation since some of it might apply to yourself or others in similar subscription and training modes
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same here
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