Training Plan Substitution

Training
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I have Wright Peak -2 on my Calender for this Saturday. Due to life issues I can only train for one hour. Is it better to do a longer Sweet Spot interval such as Pioneer +2 or a higher intensity such as Morgan or Cartwright? I realize it is just one workout, but am curious what would be the best use of time if the situation comes up again. Thanks

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@vtchuck86 Wright Peak -2 is part of several plans. Are you in the middle of a particular plan? The reason I ask is that, as you know, there is a purpose for where that workout sits within the plan.

If you are, for example, in the middle of Sustained Power Build and you’re doing Wright Peak -2, I might substitute something else than if you’re in the middle of Sweet Spot High Volume.

You’re certainly getting something out of just being on the bike. And yes, it’s only one workout, but knowing which phase of training your in (and matching a substitute workout for that) is ideal, if you can do it.

Tim

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Thanks for the reply. I had not thought of it that way. I am in a modified Sweet Spot High Volume. The midifications are cutting the weekday workouts to 90 minutes due to time constraints. After thinking about what you wrote, the longer invterval of Pioneer +2 might be better at this point in my plan.

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@vtchuck86 FWIW, that’s what I would do. Or even do Pioneer +2 with intensity bumped slightly down (2-3%). Full disclosure, I’m the type of person who will tend to go lower intensity when I’m not sure… play it conservative, especially in base. You’ll get to slam some intervals soon enough hahahahaha

You are of course going to see adaptations with the higher intensity Morgan and Cartwright as well, so we might be splitting hairs. Also, if you wanted to do either of those to sort of “break up” any monotony you might be feeling then that’s a consideration as well, but I’m always hesitant to just throw Vo2max intervals in willy-nilly. Threshold and Vo2max stuff is potent, but it’s costly too (and you’re not in the middle of a build).

Bottom line, I think you just want to always be thinking about the purpose of the workout within the phase of training you’re in, and not compromising subsequent (and important) workouts. It’s tempting to use TSS or workout duration to substitute, but those two metrics don’t make one workout the same as another.

Hope this helps
Tim