Extra time a fortnight before an A race...and plan builder questions

Training
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Signed up to TR a couple of weeks ago after feeling like I lost my way in the early part of the southern hemisphere season. - did a good SS progression block in August, then it’s all been a bit of a struggle finding an appropriate load since then.

I have a stage race a couple of weeks into January which is one of my goals for the season. Mid-volume, 5 days a week. I’m pretty likely to swap around some of the weekend workouts in favour of some longer endurance rides or club racing. Definitely feels like I’ve found a structure that’s getting me back on track…

Looks like I’m going to have a bit more time over the festive season…plan builder’s got a recovery week for me the week between xmas and new year. I’m pondering pushing that back a week and doing a biggish outside z2 week (north of 15 hours) with a few vo2 max / threshold efforts scattered on my tuesday and thursday rides. Good plan, that close to a goal race? Doesn’t leave me much time for any kind of high-end work before I start to taper - but I’m figuring the extra volume comes with its own bunch of wins.

Also…any way to change the finish date once a plan’s underway?

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My initial thought is that gains from long endurance rides take a while to be realised, whereas gains from HIT work are pretty quickly felt (and lost). If you’re goal is to improve performance for your target event in Jan I’d be tempted to go with more intensity if anything. If its only 2-3 weeks away then piling on low intensity volume will add fatigue but might not add anything else in the short term. I keep reading coaches saying the benefit from work like anaerobic and vo2 sessions can be pretty much maximised in 6-8 sessions, so maybe thats going to give you more of a benefit if you haven’t already max’d out the gains from that type of work recently?

I’d be tempted to use it for some HIT/vo2 work and then focus on being very well recovered and rested before your event.

2 Likes
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Thanks very much, that’s a really helpful perspective.