This is not a gripe, I’m a TR fanatic. I’ve got over a thousand workouts under my belt, TR changed my cycling dramatically. But one of the things I’ve observed about myself, and perhaps others feel this way too, is how confidence and momentum impacts my cycling. I get the methodology behind minimum effective dose. But, that also screws with my confidence. Especially when you factor in frequent recovery weeks. That may be best for me physically, but sometimes I think it screws me psychologically. For example, I’m old AF. 46. TR seems to have recognized this and the new methodology has me on a three weeks on, one week recovery schedule. I know that’s good. But! I was cruising during my last three week block. Crushing workouts. I felt great. Emotionally that rest week really screwed me up. Now, a workout I would have destroyed two weeks ago feels insurmountable. And, yes, I know: get on the bike, send it! But, if I’m not confident that whole ride is miserable doubt and second guessing. It would be nice if there was a feature that measures your confidence as you went. High confidence: TR stretches you a bit. Low confidence: we will dial you back and rebuild you. Rest is great, but not always at the expense of feeling indestructible. Again, not a gripe, I think I’m making the point that this insane sport we love is frequently mind over matter and I wish there was a way to incorporate that into how I’m viewed as an extremely average middle aged cyclist who also happens to scream like a lunatic to complete Vo2 efforts in his basement. I do not race. I train to maximize my potential. So, dialing in perfectly on my body isn’t the only part of training. It might even be a smaller part. Anyway, whatever, I could be all alone on this one. In any case: I hope everyone is crushing it this week.
Laughs in 58.
You are not old. Trust me.
As for your plan, don’t feel that you need to stick to the script 100%. If you are feeling good coming into a rest week, see what happens if you do a shorter recovery week or skip it altogether. See how your body responds.
You’ve been at this long enough now to be able to deviate from the plan depending on how your body feels. Experiment and see what happens.
Ha. You’re absolutely right. I was being a bit self deprecating. I’m just wondering if there is a way to incorporate your confidence into the models they use to train. On some days I can overcome weak legs and climb mountains just with determination alone. Others . . . not so much.
Yup…listen to your body. Have a 60 min SweetSpot workout, but are feeling good? Do a 90 minute alternative. Then evaluate if your body matched your confidence.
Use the training plan as a guide, but not immutable. No training plan is perfect and should always be adaptable. Similarly, there is no “perfect” recommendation to answer your question.
Experiment and see how your body responds. Then adapt again.
Is the pre-workout “how motivated are you to train today?” TR’s current attempt to consider this?
Another 58 year laughs at this assertion. I don’t consider myself OAF yet, so you’ve got a way to go.
As above, a machine isn’t going to tell you how you’re feeling, go with your gut and see if it’s right.
You’re on the internet listing all the reasons you don’t have confidence in your fitness after rest weeks.
I recommend purposefully changing your tune and typing out all the reasons you’ll be improving by the end of your next rest week. You can take charge of that confidence factor.
I’ve been kicking butt at 200+# and 55yo for the last 2 years, with ftp rising from 235 to 320+ over that time. I take it easier midweek during rest week, and do the same hard stuff on my “rest” weekend…unless I need more rest. At 8-12 hrs per week, that’s been working for me, and I rarely feel flat, unless I’ve overdone it.
I’m not as old as these guys 
(#sarcasm), but at 56 I definitely laughed at you being old AF!
They’re right that the best way to fix this is by using your personal assessment to modify as you go. Trial and error. You’ll get it right sometimes and wrong others. Just don’t let your desire for improvement override your recognition of high fatigue and go too far.
You also might benefit from things like yoga, meditation, or mindfulness training to learn how to make those personal assessments.
Also 56 and laughing at 46 as old.
There’s a lot to be said for momentum in training. If you’re crushing a block, and the rest week is going to mess up your flow, don’t rest. Pick appropriate workouts and do them in your regularly scheduled days. When your momentum slows, take the rest. All that you need.
The robot should adapt your plan in response. But, I’m pretty sure it won’t shift the rest/work cycle, so you might have to re-sync yourself to that eventually.
I think of the robot like a brand new human coach who has all the book knowledge down pat, but hasn’t yet learned how to read an individual athlete’s personality and how it affects their ability to train. You have to be the one to do that analysis and make your own changes.
-Tim
I think it is. But I also think that question is so dependent on how your day has gone. Am I motivated to train? Well, not really because my day at work was taxing and I’m thinking about my sump pump at the moment but I still get on that bike. But if they asked and incorporated how confident are you feeling about this ride? Even if I’m thinking about all those other things, I can have, maybe, an independent thought about the ride. And, with that, perhaps provide a little insight to my “coach” about days or weeks when I’m ultra capable of doing even better work. I’m sure they’ve considered all this, just interesting to me.
I tend to be a negative Nelly, I think a confidence metric might depress me!
The motivation to train flag is already a confidence tester.