Masters training plans on their way?

This is more a question for the TrainerRoad folks (Chad), but maybe somebody else knows.

In one of the earlier podcasts this year it was mentioned that Chad was working on making masters specific training plans, however I haven’t seen them on the available plans and there hasn’t been any more mention of the them.

I am 51 and doing triathlons, using the Olympic and 70.3 mid-volume plans. Last year wasn’t so bad, but this year I have been overly tired when I get to the recovery week and that week doesn’t feel enough.

When are the masters specific plans going to get launched?

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I would love to see these as well…Im 52 and have been struggling with fatigue using MV plans.

Thought I heard a while back that they scrapped those plans, figuring that either LV or MV reduced to -1s or skipping “fillers” could suffice. Maybe I’m just remembering part of the conversation…

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I do think the “Master’s Plans” have been ditched in favor of a different solution. There have been a few hints about this along the way. This is the only one I can find at the moment. I also remember similar hints in one of the podcasts a while ago.

It’s buried in many other threads, but several of us have had nice success with TR plans and shifting the build plan work : rest from 3:1 to 2:1 That is a very easy modification and adds only 1 week to an 8 week build program. If that still isn’t enough rest, take one of the weekend rides from sweetspot level down to recovery or Z2

For SSB, that is 5:1 for a six week block and MV1 and MV2 can be pretty tough. You can make these 3:1 or 2:1 fairly easily. If still not enough reduce further by changing the Saturday over / under to a Z2 or lower sweetspot ride.

I would try keeping the plan same but adding the extra recovery weeks. You could also keep thework:rest same and do the -1 trick. But I favor the extra rest weeks and keeping the plan weeks the same as Chad planned. Has worked well for me.

Good luck,

Mark (52 yrs / cat 3 / needs extra recovery)

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How do they come up with, or how would they come up with the Master’s plans?

Theorycrafting from studies, feedback, or actual data science from their rather envious database?

Combination of it all I guess, though would love to know how they go about developing new plans.

I wrote a 4:1, 3:1, 3:1 version based on Nate’s 3:1, 3:1, 4:1 version. Both are covered in this post.

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My solution to the need for recovery is to do 2:1 for work:recovery, which gives 14 workouts every 3 weeks rather than 15 under the MV plans. The I add 15 minutes in Z2 [endurance] to each workout to make up the volume.

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@mcneese.chad I just started your 4:1, 3:1, 3:1 version this week. Many thanks for posting the instructions.

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Good deal. Please report back in the main thread when you get into it a bit, and maybe at the conclusion. I’m curious to hear how it works for others.

I was very happy with the progression and my improved feel through the full SSB cycle.

It would be nice if these could become “official” plans so you can just drop them in the calendar and go. Us old guys don’t like to play drag, drop, manipulate…we just want to drop it in and go.

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These really begs for an enhancement to the plan setup where plans would be built (re-built / tagged) with weeks tagged as “build” and weeks tagged as “recovery”, and when selecting a plan you could select the build:recovery ratio (e.g., 2 weeks on, 1 week recovery), and the plan would automagically get entered into your calendar that way. This functionality would go a long way toward obviating the need for additional sub-plans (e.g., Masters, LV+, etc.)

My $0.02

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have you tried doing just 2 weeks on and 1 week off, or fiddling with the training : recovery ratio?

Every suggestion I’ve seen for adapting for Masters involves exactly this. The issue is there’s no one size fits all approach and different athletes will need different amounts of recovery for a given workload. So I suspect whatever tool they come up with will have to do with helping to gauge recovery and adapt existing plans accordingly, rather than a new set of plans that have a specific lower work:recovery ratio.

yes i completely agree about each athlete needing individualized recovery plan, but you are asking for a one-sized masters plan, so you should probably expect that to come back in return. not trying to be snarky, just thinking out loud as to what they can come back with.