I’m a recent returning user and I’m trying to work out how best to use the new stuff since I was last here. I no longer race (used to do TTs) I now favour longer distance stuff in particular Audax riding. I tend to ride all year round, last year I managed to get my RRtY award and this summer got my SR award, so I have a decent base fitness, however I have noticed that I’m starting to get a little slower and am aware that I’ve essentially neglected V02 and the like.
I’m interested in using Plan Builder to map out a rough 12 month plan, I’ve put I’m not training for an event, but I’m a little confused as to whether I should go low volume and just ride my outdoor stuff separate from the plan, or go mid volume and substitute the Sunday ride and likely (but not always) the midweek endurance ride for my outdoor rides.
My goals for next year are to get 100 AAA points (Audax Altitude Award) which will likely involve one 100km ride a week through the winter months (weather depending) and then increasing that to either two 100km rides a week or one longer ride (150-200) and maybe (although this is the icing on this cake) a SR series consisting of AAA rides (200,300,400,600) over the summer.
Just curious as to which way Adaptive Training will work best.
Well, it doesn’t really seem to work with what I ride. For example, after I did the 600km for the SR, it would have had me doing VO2 intervals the next day. I also like to plan things out, rather than just look at the advice each day.
I’m looking to cut out my outlay on apps, in reality I find that there is a fair bit of overlap, without getting too much into it, I want something to guide me a little, and is quick and easy to use. Found the calendar function on Xert very limited, with regards to putting things such as my Audax rides/notes on along with my physio appointments and days off (I don’t work Mon-Fri), so decided to retry TR, I’ve ditched Zwift, Xert and Training Peaks, so it’s quite a saving, just wish they’d hurry up and get the outside rides sorted!
Yes it does seem to struggle with its advice of high intensity rides after extremely long endurance rides. Ive seen it myself.
The “planner”/calendar is not much use for planning out or adding notes/annotations etc. I guess thats because they push the “no need to plan out a training plan” scenario but want you to train day by day.
The most common recommendation I see in the forum is is to choose a low volume plan and supplement with z2 riding to your liking. Personally I think it makes sense as some, if not all, mid volume plans have way to much intensity built-in to them. This is also the approach I’m taking for the next season.
It’s always difficult to give an exact answer as we all respond different to training but hopefully Adaptive Training will handle any personal variations.
Glad to have you back. It sounds like you are in the right place to earn back that speed!!
Generally, the following is my advice when you are following a structured Training Plan but wish to add endurance rides.
Since you’ll be doing significant riding in addition to your Training Plan, I think a Low Volume Plan would be ideal.
Considering speed is the key goal for you in starting the Training Plan, it is important that you hit all of the structured workouts. I think this will be most realistically achieved with the Low Volume Plan.
One thing to bear in mind when riding in excess of the structured TrainerRoad Workouts is that you don’t impede your ability to complete the following structured TrainerRoad Workouts (the structured Workouts are what really make you fast ️). If you need to take your longer endurance rides easier to complete the structured workouts, I strongly suggest you do that.
Keep tabs on your levels of fatigue (Post-Workout Surveys will help with this) and adjust those long endurance rides if necessary.
The Low Volume Plan will also offer you more flexibility with your schedule. You can drag and drop the scheduled workouts to any day that suits you best. They will still be considered in your adaptations. I would also suggest that you give yourself at least one rest day between the long endurance rides and any structured workout. In case I haven’t emphasised the point enough, those workouts will be key .
I think this is a good place to start. Try the Low Volume Plan and see how that goes. Check back in with us if you have questions after giving that a shot, and we’d be happy to bounce your ideas around!
Thanks for the reply, I used Plan Builder last night and decided on Low Volume. Was wondering what would happen if I moved workouts around, so thanks for clearing that up. Looking at some of the workouts, I suspect I will use the ‘alternates’ option to maybe go for a shorter workout, I’ve looked at a few of the 90 minute over/under type workouts and I can probably do without the endurance intervals as I would expect to get that time from my longer rides.
I’m curious as what to do though in the case of this weekend for example, I have a 200km ride planned, but on the planner it has me down for a 90 minute workout, I tend to work most Saturdays (Boo!) so would only be able to do this late afternoon/early evening, and then I’ll be back on the bike at about 7am on the Sunday. In cases like this , would you recommend shortening the workout, going for something easier or skipping it (this would mean I’ve done two out of the three TR interval workouts in the week) , and if the answer is skip it, do I delete the workout or leave it on the calender so Adaptive Training can see it?
TR will scheule a recovery week after an “A” event. But if you are committed enough as a randonneur to regard a SR series as only a “B” event, then I would suggest using the Time Off feature in Plan Builder to insert a few days off after the SR series (perhaps just go do a few recovery rides).
I would not recommend doing a workout like Eichorn +1 (2x20min efforts) the day prior to your 200km ride. You could use Workout Alternates to find an ‘Achievable’ workout at a shorter duration, but you’re still ultimately targeting the same systems in alternate workouts, so will likely still go into that big ride pretty taxed. If you feel like you’re accustomed to back-to-back really hard days, that approach may be okay for you.
The most effective option for you is to replace Saturday’s Eichorn +1 with an opener workout like Cajon. This is actually what Plan Builder would recommend for B-priority event if you were to select the option to ‘add openers’ to their A and B-priority events when building your plan.
That said, it’s curious that you had a scheduled sweet spot workout the day prior to an A or B-level event. You should be scheduled an opener workout like Cajon at most, or it would removed your pre-event workout entirely.
I’m wondering if when building a plan, did you select ‘Im not training or an event’ while the 200km ride still existed on your calendar as a B-event? By doing this, you’d opt for Plan Builder to not account for that 200km ride and not assign openers or remove workouts the day prior to A or B events. Could this be what happened possibly?
Regardless, Cajon instead of even an alternate of Eichorn +1 would be a great approach, as you’d receive adaptations to make up for that missed workout, and you’d be effectively opened up to perform well on Sunday!
To answer “If the answer is skip it, do I delete the workout or leave it on the calendar so Adaptive Training can see it?”: skipping or deleting a workout doesn’t make a difference as far as Adaptive Training is concerned, it will yield the same outcome for future adaptations that accommodate for a missed workout either way!
That workout is important in the context of your progression in that zone, so another option for you could look like skipping it and doing a TrainNow endurance instead, for example. This will result in adaptations to address developing that system further down in your training plan.
Let us know if you have any more specifics you’d like us to go over, we’ll be happy to help!
