Joining TR in the middle of Base Training

Training
,
1

Hey everyone,

I am an eager new user of TR who is looking for suggestions on what to do next in my base period for this winter.

Here is my year so far in a nutshell.

In January 2024 I completed 4 straight weeks of riding 8 hours per week, nearly all of it being only Zone 2. I then decided I wanted to try TR, and completed the general base pt 1 plan this week (I am in the plan’a rest week right now). I don’t particularly want to do two more months of the general base plan but would be open to being convinced to stick with it. As far as I see it my options are -

  1. Only complete General Base 2, then move to Build Phase
  2. Only complete General Base 3, then move to Build Phase
  3. Suck it up and do General Base 2 and 3 ( 4 months of total base training)

For reference, I am not a racer but just someone who lives near some epic climbs. I am chasing PBs on those climbs.

Thanks for the feedback!

2

Hey, welcome!

Here is what I would do … ymmv.

I would use plan builder and pick a fictitious event later in the year. For myself I put in Gran Fondo that I may or may not ride in late September. I then let plan builder do its magic. This will make sure that my fitness is building though out the summer.

Since you are focusing more on local climbs I would select a climbing road race as my event.

2 Likes
3

piggy backing off what @MikeMckinney wrote, You could choose a time into the future when you wanted to go for a KOM on a local climb. Choose a date into the future and let plan builder guide you there. If you put the date far enough out into the future so you are able to build proper fitness - you’ll be better off for it.

I feel you when it comes to urge to wanting to do intensity - but my advice would be to build the base of the triangle as big and as strong as you can because you will only benefit from it in the long run.

4

Couple more points for Plan Builder:

  • backdate starting date earlier than today (4 weeks, for example) to skip General Base 1
  • play with experience level (Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced/Expert), Plan Builder considers it when choosing how much time to spend in Base/Build/Specialty phases if there is not enough time before goal event and full training cycle needs to be cut shorter
1 Like