We’ve made even more changes to improve our training plans! This time changes were made to our Rolling Road Race plans.
How do I update a plan on the calendar to reflect these changes?
There are two types of changes: In place changes and workout changes. You don’t have to do anything for in place workout changes, they are automatically reflected on your calendar.
If you see something like this, Junction —> Junction -1 then that’s a workout change. To update those you have two choices:
- Remove the plan from your calendar and re-add it
- Find the specific workouts we changed and update those manually
Here’s what’s changed and why.
Rolling Road Race Low Volume
Week 1 - Thursday - Merced —> Merced -1
Old - Merced
New - Merced -1
Change: This version of Merced uses a reduction in interval intensity that gradually takes the intervals from the original 135% FTP down to 123% FTP.
Reason: The initial elevation in breathing is easy to sustain even with a slight and gradual drop in power over the remainder of each set. This maintains the aerobic goals while lessening the acidic buildup a bit.
Week 1 - Saturday - Diamond Valley Road Race +2
Change: The warm-up was changed to be more workout-specific, the recoveries between each “lap” were lengthened from 5 minutes to 6.
Reason: Recoveries were lengthened to ensure proper recovery prior to the next “lap”. A 5-lap version was created in order offer a slightly shorter alternative and also to keep the increases between workout variations more stepwise.
Week 2 - Thursday - Clouds Rest +1 —> Clouds Rest -1
Old - Clouds Rest +1
New - Clouds Rest -1
Change: Rather than blocking the 30/30’s in groups of 12, these are blocked in groups of 6.
Reason: In order to complete each shorter set without degrading the quality of later intervals and later sets of intervals.
Week 2 - Saturday - Winchell
Change: The recovery was made more favorable all around with the intention of keeping the interval quality high.
Reason: There’s little to be gained from short-changing recovery valleys if it results in lower quality work intervals.
Week 3 - Saturday - Mallory —> Mallory -1
Old - Mallory
New - Mallory -1
Change: This only mildly lighter version of Mallory tones down the first 3 over-under intervals by 5%.
Reason: This was due to the impressively high failure rate of the unmodified version.
Week 6 - Tuesday - Huxley
Change: The demands of these intervals were toned down only slightly. Also, the recovery between each set of intervals grew from 4 minutes to 5 to allow for a little extra recovery between each trio of attacking intervals.
Reason: This was done with the intention of keeping the challenge high but making each repeat more manageable, especially the final interval in each set.
Week 7 - Tuesday - Huxley -4
Change: The demands of these intervals were toned down only slightly. Also, the recovery between each set of intervals grew from 4 minutes to 5 to allow for some extra recovery between each trio of attacking intervals.
Reason: This was done with the intention of keeping the challenge high but making each repeat more manageable, especially the final interval in each set.
Week 7 - Thursday - Joe Devel -4
Change: Each recovery between intervals grew from 3.5 minutes to 5.
Reason: Again allowing for a bit more active rest with the hopes of keeping every intervals’ quality as high as possible.
Week 8 - Tuesday - Huxley -5
Change: Just like the changes to the original version, the demands of these intervals were toned down only slightly. Also, the recovery between each set of intervals grew from 3 minutes to 5 to allow for a little extra recovery between each trio of attacking intervals.
Reason: Again, this was done with the intention of keeping the challenge high but making each repeat more manageable, especially the final interval in each set.
Week 8 - Thursday - Joe Devel -5
Change: Each recovery between intervals grew from 2.25 minutes to 3.
Reason: Allowing for a bit more active rest with the hopes of keeping every intervals’ quality as high as possible.
Rolling Road Race Mid Volume
Week 1 - Sunday - Antelope +2
Change: Recoveries were upped from 5 minutes to 6.
Reason: The addition of a single extra minute is demonstrating a hefty impact on interval quality. And since warm-ups and cool-downs can now be extended at will, it makes sense to shift any available time to where it makes a greater impact in the quality of the workout.
Week 2 - Thursday - Kern +1
Change: The very short, 30-second recovery valleys have grown to 45 seconds each, and the long 10-minute recoveries between sets of intervals shrunk to 8 minutes each in order to compensate.
Reason: When the recoveries between intervals are this short, even a few extra seconds can make a sizable impact on each subsequent interval.
Week 3 - Tuesday - Black Kaweah +1
No changes, but Black Kaweah -1 was added to the Workout catalog in order to accommodate anyone struggling with this or the original version’s format.
Week 3 - Thursday - Clouds Rest +3
Change: An extra minute was added to each recovery interval from 5 to 6…
Reason: This will have an impact on the quality of the following set of densely packed repeats.
Week 3 - Saturday - Mallory —> Mallory -1
Old - Mallory
New - Mallory -1
Change: This only mildly lighter version of Mallory tones down the first 3 over-under intervals by 5%.
Reason: This was due to the impressively high failure rate of the unmodified version.
Week 3 - Sunday - Geiger +2
Change: The recoveries between intervals grew from 3 minutes to 4.
Reason: We’ve found that with the short recovery valleys, an extra minute makes a surprisingly big impact on the quality of the work intervals.
Week 5 - Saturday - Broken Finger
Change: The 3-minute recovery valleys between the densely packed intervals in the first half of the workout grew to 5 minutes each.
Reason: Since more recovery early in the workout is likely to lead to fresher legs in the latter half of the workout.
Week 5 - Sunday - Eclipse
Change: The recoveries between intervals grew from 5 minutes to 7.
Reason: This was to better prepare riders to gut out the entire 20 minutes with minimal or zero breaks.
Week 6 - Sunday - Tallac +2
Change: An extra minute has been added to recoveries taking it from 5 to 6.
Reason: Again, the addition of a single extra minute is demonstrating a hefty impact on interval quality. And since warm-ups and cool-downs can now be extended at will, it makes sense to shift any available time to where it makes a greater impact in the quality of the workout.
Week 7 - Tuesday - Huxley
Change: The demands of these intervals were toned down only slightly. Also, the recovery between each set of intervals grew from 4 minutes to 5 to allow for a little extra recovery between each trio of attacking intervals.
Reason: This was done with the intention of keeping the challenge high but making each repeat more manageable, especially the final interval in each set.
Week 8 - Tuesday - Huxley -4
Change: Just like the changes to the original version, the demands of these intervals were toned down only slightly. Also, the recovery between each set of intervals grew from 4 minutes to 5 to allow for a little extra recovery between each trio of attacking intervals.
Reason: This was done with the intention of keeping the challenge high but making each repeat more manageable, especially the final interval in each set.
Week 8 - Thursday - Joe Devel -4
Change: Each recovery between intervals grew from 3.5 minutes to 5.
Reason: Again allowing for a bit more active rest with the hopes of keeping every intervals’ quality as high as possible.
Rolling Road Race High Volume
Week 1 - Saturday - Diamond Valley Road Race +3
Change: The recovery valleys were dropped slightly from 50% FTP to 40% FTP.
Reason: This was in order to make the long recoveries between these VO2max repeats a little more recuperative.
Week 2 - Thursday - Kern +1
Change: The very short, 30-second recovery valleys have grown to 45 seconds each, and the long 10-minute recoveries between sets of intervals shrunk to 8 minutes each in order to compensate.
Reason: When the recoveries between intervals are this short, even a few extra seconds can make a sizable impact on each subsequent interval.
Week 2 - Saturday - Winchell +1
Change: The recovery was made more favorable all around.
Reason: This was with the intention of keeping the interval quality high. There’s little to be gained from short-changing recovery valleys if it results in lower quality work intervals.
Week 2 - Sunday - Tallac +3
Change: Added an additional minute to recoveries bringing them to 7 minutes.
Reason: Again allowing for a bit more active rest with the hopes of keeping every intervals’ quality as high as possible.
Week 3 - Tuesday - Black Kaweah +1
No changes, but Black Kaweah -1 was added to the Workout catalog in order to accommodate anyone struggling with this or the original version’s format.
Week 3 - Thursday - Clouds Rest +3
Change: An extra minute was added to each recovery interval from 5 to 6…
Reason: This will have an impact on the quality of the following set of densely packed repeats.
Week 3 - Saturday - Mallory +1
Change/Reason: The long warm-up was trimmed down so the recoveries between the early over-under intervals could grow from 7 minutes to 10. Also, the recovery intervals between the final 2-minute VO2max repeats could be extended from 2 minutes to 3 minutes to compensate a bit for the incoming fatigue from the longer over-under sets.
Week 3 - Sunday - Juneau -2 —> Juneau -3
Old - Juneau -2
New - Juneau -3
Change: The 3 longer, 6-minute subintervals are broken into 4 slightly shorter 4.5-minute intervals.
Reason: This was to further break up the extended work durations between each 1-minute intra-interval recovery.
Week 4 - Sunday - Springer Mountain
Change: The gaps between the mid-workout sprints were expanded from 5 minutes to 8 minute.
Reason: This was done in order to allow for better replenishment of energy stores prior to each subsequent sprint.
Week 5 - Thursday - Guard +1
Change: The recoveries grew from 4 minutes to 5.
Reason: Aiming to keep the quality of the late-workout intervals as high as that of the early-workout intervals.
Week 5 - Saturday - Broken Finger +1
Change: The recoveries between the early sets of intervals grew from 3 minutes to 5, the ones between the latter sets doubled from 2 minutes to 4, and the Endurance mileage at the end of the workout shrunk from 25 minutes to 15.
Reason: The idea here is that the extended recoveries are still spent close to an Endurance effort level due to the preceding set’s intensity, so trading shorter low-intensity work at the end of the workout for longer recovery valleys during the main set is likely to be more beneficial to overall training adaptation.
Week 5 - Sunday - Hunter -1
Change: The recovery between intervals was increased from 8 minutes to 12 minutes.
Reason: This was to allow longer recovery between such lengthy intervals.
Week 6 - Tuesday - Huxley +1
Change: The demands of these intervals were toned down only slightly.
Reason: This was done with the intention of keeping the challenge high but making each repeat more manageable, especially the final interval in each set.
Week 6 - Thursday - Joe Devel +1
Change: The recoveries between sets grew from 7 minutes to 10.
Reason: Again allowing for a bit more active rest with the hopes of keeping every intervals’ quality as high as possible.
Week 6 - Saturday - Gabb +1
Change: Increased all recovery valleys with a big increase between anaerobic sets and between the two types of sets as well as a smaller increase in recovery time between the two ramp intervals. Consequently, the Endurance riding at the end of the workout shrank from 30 minutes to 20.
Reason: The addition to all recovery areas was to allow for a bit more active rest with the hopes of keeping every intervals’ quality as high as possible.
Week 6 - Sunday - Wright Peak -2 —> Wright Peak -3
Old - Wright Peak -2
New - Wright Peak -3
Change: This version includes an additional 1-minute recovery within each 30-minute interval thereby chunking them into three 10-minute intervals before the more formal, longer recovery valleys.
Reason: This should allow riders to have more gas in the tank heading into the final three 10-minute intervals.
Week 7 - Tuesday - Huxley
Change: The demands of these intervals were toned down only slightly. Also, the recovery between each set of intervals grew from 4 minutes to 5 to allow for a little extra recovery between each trio of attacking intervals.
Reason: This was done with the intention of keeping the challenge high but making each repeat more manageable, especially the final interval in each set.
Week 7 - Thursday - Joe Devel
Change: The recovery valleys between sets of short/short repeats grew from a little over 5 minutes to 7.
Reason: To give a bit more recovery between each really demanding round of repeats.
Week 7 - Saturday - Diamond +2
Change: All of the recovery valleys are now legitimate recovery valleys.
Reason: Since the previously shorter-duration, higher-intensity Endurance valleys were a little too demanding and were detracting from the quality of each remaining set of bridging efforts.
Week 8 - Tuesday - Huxley -4
Change: Just like the changes to the original version, the demands of these intervals were toned down only slightly. Also, the recovery between each set of intervals grew from 4 minutes to 5 to allow for a little extra recovery between each trio of attacking intervals.
Reason: This was done with the intention of keeping the challenge high but making each repeat more manageable, especially the final interval in each set.
Week 8 - Thursday - Joe Devel -4
Change: Each recovery between intervals grew from 3.5 minutes to 5.
Reason: Again allowing for a bit more active rest with the hopes of keeping every intervals’ quality as high as possible.
We think that these changes will make you a faster cyclist.
Next up: Coach Chad is reviewing our Climbing Road Race plans.