In my 2 years with trainer road, my training has been a mix of TR programs and self prescribed programs. I’ve found success in both. To date, I have prided myself that I have never failed a TR prescribed workout as part of the program. I also seem to be somewhat of an outlier in that I really excel in the 1-5 minute interval ranges, likely due to my strength training.
With that in mind, I was a bit surprised to see TR prescribe in 5x4 Intervals at 109% FTP a mere 3 days following a 100% effort, nearly 6 hour gravel race. I took the last two days off (minus an upper body workout which had no impact), and gave the 5x4 workout a go this morning.
I completed the first two intervals and by the end of the second, I had 0% left of what should have been a ‘hard’ workout, but pretty manageable under normal circumstances. I turned the intensity down 9% and completed the workout. In addition to never ‘failing’ a workout, I’ve never even turned the intensity down a single %. The 37 seconds of stopping was to turn down the intensity.
I’m ok with having a fail, but I’m mostly surprised that TR would be assigning this workout so soon after such an intense race. It was rated a “B” race, only because the TR AI is unable to comprehend that someone may have 2 (A) races, but I trained, planned, and executed this race as if it was an A race, and rated the effort as such.
Mostly curious on others opinions of being prescribed this type of workout so soon after a big race.
Here’s some screenshots of today’s workout, my race (which went phenomenally), and my calendar over the last few weeks. I generally prescribe to a masters plan with 2 intensity sessions per week. I do think some intensity sessions got mixed around the last couple weeks when scrolling but I wasn’t sure where they went or how so I left them as is. TR AI doesn’t appear to have any sort of ‘revert’ function. Who knows, maybe it intentionally prescribed the 1 intensity sessions for a couple weeks on purpose.
I think you were assigned this workout since you scheduled the event at a “B” Race and had it been an “A” race you entire schedule would be different. With that said, someone like @eddie would know much better.
With that said, I’ve had a similar experience recently where myself prescribed workout was just too hard (also vo2’s) and I pulled the plug because I decided to listen to my body and added some rest and active recovery for the remainder of the week. 5’41" of competing is a pretty huge day and I’d say that directly impacted your workout.
Great effort on your race and subsequent workout btw.
Nice job with your training. It’s honestly pretty cool that you haven’t failed a workout before. I sure can’t say the same.
I think the biggest issue here is that you made that “100% effort” gravel race a B race. If it would have been an A race, you’d have a recovery week afterward, which it sounds like you need.
We totally expect that some of our athletes will have multiple A races in a season, and that’s totally fine. They just need to be at least 12 weeks apart and be built into their own training plans.
If you have races that fall within 12 weeks of each other, we’d recommend picking one as your A race and making the others B or C races.
This all makes complete sense, but does raise a couple comment/question:
Are A/B/C races intended to be categorized by “importance to us” or effort? I can understand the need for plan purposes for them to be 12 weeks apart, but maybe I’m alone in that every race I do will be 100% effort. With that in mind, I’d think that the week leading up and following an A/B/C races should be pretty similar.
I am generally pretty good about setting personal limitations or swapping occasional workouts during external factors I couldn’t expect TR to understand (fatigue, etc.) and I should have done that moreso in this case. I did swap last mondays interval on race week to a slightly less difficult one. Not because I couldn’t do it, but because I didn’t think I needed that level of intensity during race week.
Typically, I’d say that race priority is sorted by importance, but that also coincides with effort pretty often. Most people probably aren’t giving their all during C races, and I’d argue that even though most try hard during B races, it’s not the same as their A races.
A races are the only ones that build a taper and end with a recovery week, so for the events where you need that type of preparation and recovery, I’d go with A priority.
B is for those races that you’re going to ride hard, but aren’t going to try to peak for and really put it all on the line like you would an A race.
C races are more for training and race practice.
Here are our official recommendations for each type of event.
A Race
These will be races that you will perform at your absolute peak fitness and should be events that are the most important to you. It is best to have around one or two “A” races per year.
If you have multiple A races, they should be at least 12 weeks apart in order to be in peak form for both. If you have two A races within 12 weeks of each other, we recommend prioritizing one as an A race and the other as a B race.
“A” races often have two-week tapers leading up to them, which call for a reduction in overall Training Stress resulting in an increase in freshness, all while maintaining fitness to create this elusive "Peak.”
B Races
While you won’t be fully peaked for these, B races will be excellent trials of your fitness, and you can still be very competitive in them. Keep in mind that your competitors are restricted by the same human limitations as you are, so while you can’t always be in your absolute peak form, they can’t either.
While these races can be season objectives in their own right, they mostly allow you extra opportunities to try different race/nutrition strategies to see what works for you and your body.
These races can be particularly important because they build mental racing experience and confidence that you can carry into your higher-priority “A” events.
You will be given the option to add opener workouts in the days leading up to their B race when adding events using Plan Builder.
C Races
These races are strictly for practice, experience, and fun. The outcomes should carry much less emotional value, and as such, you will simply “train through” them. They should hold a similar value as a key hard workout.
Keep in mind that structured work is what makes you faster, not simply riding hard all the time, and recovery is just as important.
Since these are essentially viewed as a form of training, no taper is required, and if possible, you should schedule them in the same manner as which you’d find a really tough workout, i.e., following an easy or off day.
Takeaway: You can’t perform at your peak physical fitness forever, so it is important to decide when you want to be your fastest and plan accordingly.
