I was reading a lot of posts in the last weeks and months, where the TR Crew was asked to implement running/swimming sync with Strava, give more flexibility in the Tri plans (like adjusting the amount of swimming/week), estimating TSS of running/swimming workouts, implement strength training and others.
I think these are all great ideas to develop TR in the Tri-direction and I would be pleased as well, if TR would support triathlon as they do with cycling.
But then I remembered that there are already solutions, which support tri in a very deep way.
Instead of expecting TR to completely change, I could just use one of the existing options.
For example one could take Trainingpeaks with all of its multisport support, get a plan that fits the own expectations and have already everything one needs. Trainingpeaks syncs to the most headunits and Garmin/Wahoo (and probably others) can control the smart trainer (alternatively TR or Zwift sync with Trainingpeaks, too).
So why is there all the criticism of TR and not just using the existing solutions? What am I missing here?
TR offers Triathlon plan in the full Base, Build, Specialty progression. It includes swim, bike, and run training workouts.
The big miss right now is that TR does not make any connection to 2/3 of the prescribed workouts (swim and run). So getting the TR app and service to pull in data from those other two disciplines is essential in a “proper” sense of supporting Tri.
Sure, you can employ other apps to work around it, but it begs the question of why you need TR at all then. TP in particular is a better overall solution when it comes to tracking at the very least. Even if you use free options, it still requires juggling to get a full picture of the training.
TR has laid the groundwork and is largely there, but the lack of direct connection to those other disciplines is a deal breaker for many. TR said they have plans to close that loop, but they are a lower priority than other elements right now.
One can hope / expect that they will have those Tri specific parts complete when they end up taking on the Tri challenge in 2021, but that’s speculation on my part.
What people are asking is to have the same service for cycling applied to swimming and running.
The idea of being able to weigh different levels of trainingloads /tss is also great as, during some phases, i might put more focus on my running form, or swimming form, etc.
I’m a big fan of TR and have been using it for a couple of years for triathlon training. I’m currently following the mid-volume full distance plan and am quite satisfied. I know that TR is oriented toward cycling, but I would really like to see it offer more for triathletes. In particular, it would help if:
More explanation were offered for the run and swim workouts in the TR plans. When using TR for cycling, we get so much information about the goals of (and science behind) individual workouts. It’s clear how the workouts fit together for the week and for the overall plan. By contrast, I have no idea why TR selected its recommended run and swim workouts. For instance, today I did one-minute sprints on the track and 100 yd repeats followed by 50 yd sprints in the pool. Of all the possible workouts, why those? Why does the build phase start out with weekly VO2 max runs for the first four weeks and then switch to tempo runs for the last four? Why is there a weekly brick run? There are a lot of questions I could ask. I don’t expect as much info as we get for cycling workouts, but in the end I’d like to know more about TR’s approach to triathlon training and how specific workouts fit into that approach.
We could automatically load workouts into the calendar. I know this has been discussed a lot, including by @mcneese.chad . Like many athletes, I use Training Peaks because all my workouts are automatically uploaded (and a TSS is calculated). If the TR calendar did that, I’d be done with Training Peaks. But as of now, no TSS is estimated in the TR calendar; running is estimated without any actual data from the run itself. The TSS chart, which could be great, is kind of useless from an overall triathlon perspective.
I have no idea if these are easy fixes or not, but for me just a bit more attention to the needs of triathletes would make this excellent product even better.