Coming Back to TR.... Ramp Test and Base First, or maybe some VO2?

After going the coaching route for a while, I’m ultimately coming back into the TR fold. Long story short, I loved my coach, and saw improvements when I was able to follow the plan, but I ended up being more time-crunched than I anticipated. Therefore, I didn’t feel like I was getting the full value out of his services, and I think I was just “taking the spot” of someone else who could benefit more from his insights and expertise.

With all of that said, I’ve set myself up a Low Volume plan through Plan Builder, with the aim of riding more Zone 2 or group rides on otherwise unplanned days, as time allows. Without a target event, Plan Builder set me up with a fairly predictable start, SS Base Low Volume. However, I think my coach was getting ready to prescribe some VO2 work before circling back to FTP work. Given this, should I dive into some VO2 work first, or just stick with the Base as currently planned? Also, is there any way to shuffle what Plan Builder spits out in terms of periodization, or does it always start with Base if you have no event, or are fairly far out from any events?

Appreciate any input.

Even tho you dont have a planned event… you can always have a day in the future set as a “event” and use the plan builder…

Set a fake crit or something in the fall (maybe a zwift race?) and let the plan guide you like a coach would…

Good point. Simple solution. I guess I could also do a bit of Train Now workouts in the VO2 realm as well.

1 Like

IIRC, you can specify past date as start of plan in builder. For example, by setting start date 12 weeks into past, right now would start build phase.

1 Like

Yup, backdating the start of the Plan Builder to align with prior training is usually the best approach to using it after you are well into your annual training plan.