Hello. I’m new to the TR forum and a non-native speaker so please be kind to me if this is a silly question badly phrased.
Male, 48 yrs, 3.3 W/Kg. Training to fight the natural decline. Throw in a few races to spice things up. Mostly road with some sub 2h MTB rides for a change of scenery.
I just completed my training plan (LV SS/B/B with XC marathon specialty). I followed the plan from Jan 1 up until this weekend (A event the week before). I increased my FTP by roughly 40-50 watts but didn’t come close to my previous highs (sat in 2021 before I joined TR). Still, I’m pretty happy with the TR experience.
But now what? There are still a couple of months until the indoor season begins where I live. I much prefer outdoor rides to indoor rides.
Should I build a new TR plan around my goals for next year (not sure what those are yet), extend the current plan (not sure how to do that) or just enjoy a couple of months of semi-structured outdoor fun rides before the winter (indoor) season sets in (my inclination)?
If you built to a full taper then I’d recommend taking a brief mental and physical break then have some fun on your bike with the rest of the good weather. Dive into structure again in November or December
A couple weeks of unstructured just-riding-around is probably well deserved. Not easy necessarily, just unstructured - do some group rides, explore, etc.
Then start again with a new plan in a month or so. You can do the workouts outside until it gets dark and cold.
Nice job bumping up your FTP – 40-50 watts is great progress!
At this point in the year, when you might not have any more races coming up but the weather is still good, athletes tend to choose from a few different options when it comes to their training and riding.
Some athletes will do more unstructured riding just for fun and to maintain some of their fitness without a particular goal in mind.
Others may choose to work on their fitness “limiters” or weaknesses, while some may try to use their near-peak fitness they often have around this time to target some KOMs on Strava.
Ultimately, the choice is up to you! Here are a couple articles we have on the subject if you’re looking for some ideas on what to do, though:
