I think this is a very important distinction. Many of us desire an individualized coaching plan for $10 a month when we need one that costs $100+ that incorporates the $10 platform. Based on what @camiech has learned, it may be a good idea to take @brendanhousler up on his offer for a free review.
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happy to anytime @ellotheth, thanks @BMAC615.
can easily connect Training Peaks accounts here and I’ll run through your files and get you pointed in the right direction when I know what your goals are.
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Thanks a lot for your helpfull answer!
may i ask you if you follow which volume? 1,2,3 in the plans?
how many rides per week do you do?
and which are your recovery times? for example for a training of 30tss, 50tss, 70tss, 100ts, or 120ts?
it would help me a lot! thanks
One other thing you could try. No matter how well you feel you sleep, try bumping it up by 30-40 minutes a night and see what happens over a few months.
For me, the difference was huge and an extra half hour a night consistently made the difference between feeling smashed and getting sick a lot and feeling generally good without many breaks for viruses etc.
Good luck getting on top of it. There’ll be a way.
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Hi Camie
I think this is a bit of a long one, so feel free to follow up with any more questions. I’m not a coach or anything, this is just my experience.
Firstly, I don’t think about recovery times in the kind of way you’re asking. I am pretty much always carrying some fatigue into workouts but find that the structure of 3 weeks on/1 week recovery works for me. It took me a while to get to this stage, as when I first started training, that third week was too much and 2 on/1 recovery was more effective.
Secondly I prioritize nutrition and sleep. Garmin Connect tells me I log more sleep than 90% of other users of my gender and age range. Over the last few months I’ve been working on improving the quality of what I eat and cutting back on alcohol and food that I know from experience doesn’t lead to a good workout the next day. I also tend to eat something immediately after a hard or long workout.
I’m currently on mid-volume for half-iron triathlon plans and they have 4 rides per week scheduled. Because I’m on a tri-plan, just looking at the cycling isn’t the full story. On any given week I am swimming x3 or 4, biking x 4 and running x 4. Here’s what a couple of my recent weeks have looked like:
By contrast, here’s what it looked like when I was only cycling (January 2017); this is a few weeks of Sustained Power Build high volume but I dropped the Friday ride. I learnt the hard way that to do the weekend rides well I had to drop the Friday ride. High volume wasn’t sustainable for me.
Finally, my FTP always goes down when I take a break at the end of the season. And I ALWAYS take a break, so there’s always a measure of getting it back. I want to just try and build incrementally each season.
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Hi brendanhousler!
thanks a lot… you are very nice!
I just clicked and gave you access! my account is camiech - camila echavarria.
My goals is to have a good level, and stay at good level for longer periods (right now, and what has happened, is that i improve a lot, but that good times only last few weeks)… then i am again the slowest person in the group…
Its funny, i have even won gran fondos! and just 2 weeks later, i end up the slowest in the group…(with tears in my face on short and easy rides)
thanks a lot!!
as i see! you do loooots more than i do!
i do normally weeks of around 340 tss (one week i did 500), but then looking to your chart…
the problem is not the training… the proble is my recuperation…
i am very very thin, and now i am thinking that i eat too little… i would look to nutrition…
thanks a lot,
really: thanks!!
I was reminded today of this very thing today - NUTRITION IS SUPER IMPORTANT! I’ve been having the best six months of training and did a sweet spot workout and BTFU!
I didn’t eat enough yesterday, or this morning and just did not have it. Eating a lot during a build is super important.
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nutrition is HUGE!!! 60-90g of carbs per hour while ON the bike, then recovery and proper eating is really important
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I see you are connected now, I will take a look today and get back to you, cheers! I usually send back video reviews with the analysis; can I send the link back here (public) or do you want me to email you?
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thanks! you can make it public!! nice that more people can learn fro you!!
thank you very much!!
i am so excited for this!!!
will do! what is your current weight? also, can you answer the questions below to paint more of a picture for me of you as an athlete? thanks!
Top 3 Goals for this season
What category are you?
What do you see as your strengths?
What are your weaknesses?
What types of races do you excel in? What types are very challenging?
Long term cycling goal? (Go pro, category upgrade, big race, etc)
What types of cycling training/coaching/programs have you done previously? Do you think it was effective?
How many hours do you train during the week? How many on weekend?
What days can you ride? More importantly, what days are off limits?
also to clarify…profile pic appears to be female, but you listed as male in TP; just checking, as I’ll make a baseline comparison to your peers and it should be of same sex
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Hi, thanks!.. here are the answers !
Top 3 Goals for this season
-
learn to eat better so i dont slowdown - and remain in good level longer periods.
-
5th of may: finish Chattanooga Hincapie GF (and try to do a good job in the climbing price 4km - 9%)
-
2nd of june: gran fondo - finish strong 130km (elevation aprox 2400mts)*
.15 of august: Alto de letras (longest climb in the world: 82km climb, elevation 3,416mts ) and improve my pr: 5:45 MARIQUITA/ ALTO LETRAS | Strava Ride Segment in Mariquita, Tolima, Colombia
- 2 nov: gran fondo -elgiroderigo- finish top 3- in 30-40 women category. (elevation aprox 2400mts)*
Elevation (?) - i live at 1698mts - and on weekends ride at 2000mts.
What category are you? - women 30-40 years (i have 39 years old)
What do you see as your strengths? - I am a good climber, have good aerobic capacity, and stick to plans hard.
What are your weaknesses?
- every time i am at peak, i get sick.
- not good at resting, and after 2 anemias, and big slowdowns , iI am now scared of going hard, thinking I am in not good shape, and always looking to go soft so I dont come back to the slowdown (just to point anemia was solved inserting Mirena- UID).
What types of races do you excel in? - climbing
What types are very challenging? - long rides (+100km) that have in the middle - mountain prices- (i get amazing results in the mountain prices, but then to finish the full ride its really challenging.
Long term cycling goal? (Go pro, category upgrade, big race, etc)
I want to improve my PR in the most important climb in my area alto de las palmas
https://www.strava.com/segments/627867
Alto de las palmas: with a goal of 46 minutes - right now my pr is 47:40
What types of cycling training/coaching/programs have you done previously? Do you think it was effective?
I started in MAy 2017 riding bikes (previously was squash player but my knee got damaged) .
I have only done trainerroad .
They have been very effective. But i have got 2 big slowdowns in : June 22 2018, November 14 2017. Both started with a devastating cold.
How many hours do you train during the week? How many on weekend?
- weekends: 4 hours.
-week days: 3 hours
What days can you ride? More importantly, what days are off limits?
*I have 2 outdoors group rides: Thursday (2 hours), and saturday (3 hours).
so i try not to ride wensday neither friday to be more fresh for those rides.
And indoor sunday (1 hour), monday (1 hour), tuesday (1 hour).
(if my body let me: i would be riding every day
ups! yes female! just changed it in trainingpeaks
great info, thanks! Ill try to get this started tonight.,…I am leaving tmw morning for Iowa Wind and Rock, a 340 mile gravel race on Saturday AM. I will be out of commission for a day after that lol. So please give me a few days and i will get back to you asap; just don’t want to rush it if I cannot finish the analysis before I leave. thank you !
thanks!!! a loooooot!!
and good luck in your ride!!!
thanks! unfortunately 700tss in one day for me crazy sick! Haven’t forgotten about you, will get back to you this week.
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