Combining TR plan with other training activities

Training
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Using TR now successfully for some months, I have one remaining “major” issue regarding the combination of TR plans with other sports and training activities.
I am a newbie, started (gravel) cycling 1.5 year ago after 15 years with very little sports, got a pwoermeter 10 months ago and a road bike this February; I am age group 50+.
Apparently did quite well in 4 recent road races with pretty significant starter lists, I finished 6. (2x), 11., and 13. in my age group – thus the training does seem to work somewhat;-) Also getting close to 4 W/kg at 80 kg, although I “only” went up 5 % with TR this year so far;-)

I am on a low-volume TR plan, which gives me three trainings/week, currently, I’ve set these on Monday, Thursday, and Friday – but this is not “perfect”, esp. “Monday” does not work out well…
I am looking for feedback on how to arrange training a bit better, esp. regarding the scheduling of the 3-day low-volume TR plan. For now, I hesitated to put the 3 days in a row, i.e., on Thu, Fri. Sat… I am also wondering in how far skipping one of the 3 TR workouts quite often influences TR’s choice of workouts and my response to the plan…?

The TR plan is parallel to other activities, and my standard week looks like this

  • Monday: recovery run (6 km, 30–35 min) plus core and functional fitness (20–30 min); ~50 TSS
  • Tuesday: group ride (100+ km, 3 h); ~180–200 TSS
  • Wednesday: Badminton training including stretching and core/functional fitness, sometimes Tabea intervals; ~50 TSS
  • Thursday: mostly do the TR workout, sometimes Gravel ride; ~75–150 TSS
  • Friday: generally do the TR workout; ~75–100 TSS
  • Saturday: sometimes catch up with the missed TR workout from Monday; sometimes add a gravel ride; alternatively go for long gravel or road bike tour; ~50–300/400 TSS
  • Sunday: race or group ride (100+ km, 3 h); 100–400 TSS
    In addition I commute/go shopping on my bike once in a while, which makes up for 20–40 km/week.

Esp. after more intense weekends I do need the “recovery Monday” with the short run and fitness, nothing else. This is also in line with busy work & family schedules on that day of week.
I want to keep the Badminton on Wednesday for its social aspect and also to have some “impact sport” for my bones.
I also do want to keep the 1–2 group rides and obviously the races, and their dates are essentially fixed.

Moreover, I plan to go stand-up paddling (1 h at max power plus some further paddling around) either Thursdays or Fridays in summer…

Nevertheless, I am looking for suggestions on how to make better use of TrainerRoad within these restrictions and welcome all comments:-)

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I suppose you’ve got to establish your priorities. From the range of things you do it looks like fitting a TR plan is actually low down on your list. I have a similar problem as I ride Mon.Tues,Thurs, Fri and Sat with different groups. The social aspect of that is very important to me. I’ve started using Train Now and go off what their algorithm suggests but also taking how I feel into account. I’d also suggest having a day off completely but you don’t seem to have a spare day to do that!

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Thanks @carytb !

Sure (priorities). The TR plan is actually fairly high up on a long list, pretty much at the top;-) But it is not the single #1 priority, that is (regarding sports and wellness) to be a fast and healthy rider – which has multiple facets of which the TR plan is “only” one.
Badminton really is simply another one – at my age, impact sports are strongly suggested to not let bone mineral density fade too much. This is also important to cycling performance, in the end;-)

Well, my “Monday” is essentially an off day with the slow run… and after long Sunday races or weekends with very high TSS I sometimes do take it off completely or really only do 20–30 min stretching and fitness.
And for the cardiovascular system the Badminton Wednesdays are also very easy days, although that’s not necessarily the case for muscular strain.