how do you alter training for Sunday races that are B priority (no taper, but id still like to do well)? doing the short power build - medium now, and Saturdays are scheduled hard V02 days with Sundays long endurance/tempo. Im having a hard time figuring out how to get to the 550-650 weekly TSS when Im basically substituting primers on Saturday instead of 120+ TSS. Swapping Sat/Sun still doesnt really add up since the weekend is scheduled to be ~300TSS.
This is typically my schedule for a race weekend;
M - off
T - V02
W - endurance/tempo
Th - SS
Fri - off/recovery
Sat - primer
Sun - Race
Its really difficult during a race season. You’re likely getting more out of the race than the Saturday session, even if it is less tss. Moving the Sunday endurance to keep on top of it is a good idea, but I wouldn’t worry about tss.
For a B race I’d do maybe 2 hours of Z2 with some Tempo sprinkled in to do “some work”, but not leave meaningful fatigue. That will probably give you about 120TSS FWIW, but seriously don’t worry about TSS!
Do you need to do primers for a B race? If yes, work them into the Z2 ride - hit a couple mins at a time of threshold a few times or some 30s efforts depending on the type of race.
I would drop the VO2 max workout and would do a solid tempo/Sweetspot on tuesday. Maybe FTP on thursday.
Friday easy ride and saturday Z2 with some primers, as suggested
ok, sounds like it wont be that big of a deal. FWIW, these B races are local MTB races.
I was surprised by the lack of TSS focus. My general goal was to raise my TSS (CTL) assuming everything else follows (to a point). I reached around 550-600 TSS by the end of Base a few weeks ago and didnt want to let it start sliding already in April. I guess i can pad it a bit on weeks im not racing, but I think id like to be around 650-700 leading into a taper before my first A race in June.
in basic sense, TSS = more time on the bike = better fitness…all to a point, of course, but im only doing 10-14hrs a week in any given block, so >TSS roughly equates to > training. As long as recovery is adequate, this is a pretty simple measure of fitness at my level.
You don’t design a workout to hit a TSS target. You won’t stop racing when you hit a total TSS. It’s a loose imperfect measure of strain. Design your workouts to build progression. Rest when you feel bad. TSS will do what TSS does.
I was in the exact situation this week with an xc race on Sunday. Weekly tss was down by about 75 from plan but my legs are smoked.
I’ll be faster as a result once I’ve recovered.
For my MTB (B) races on Sunday, I usually workout out normally Tues, Wed, Thurs and make Friday a rest day. Saturday I do either Pahrah on the road or try to get to a trail and do 30-45 mins z2 with a few short efforts to let the legs know they’ll be needed tomorrow. Anything that feels like work means you’re going too hard or too long, so just keep it short and sweet leaving you ready for race day. Also, I don’t worry about TSS during race week.
EDIT: Ideally the day before the race you’re able to pre-ride the race course or sections of it and that serves a dual purpose.