Custom Plan Duration - Event 15 Months Away

Training
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Question, having done my target event for 2025 in March (an ultramarathon), recovered from the abuse, swore never again, done some Traditional Base whilst my legs mended, reminded myself that bikes could be ridden outside, then started to focus on my next event, I’m now trying out Custom Plans.

My next event is next September, 15 months away. So when I get the option of 1,2,3 months or, hidden slightly, up to 10, I’m not sure what’s the best duration is? 5x3 months, 3x5, 5x3, 10 and a 5, etc…

If I go for 3 months, it seems to 1/1/1 base/build/speciality months, 5 months gives me 2/2/1, 10 months gives me 3/1/2 then 2/1/1 (approx).

Am I overthinking this? It’s the first time in a long time I’ve genuinely got frigging ages to train, I’m happy to just manually rotate base/build then get more specific in the last stretch (my usual strategy), but I thought I’d see whether I could be a bit more tailored :sweat_smile:

If it makes any difference, target event is effectively a multi-day tour/gran fondo, the usual numbers (distance, elevation) are not especially scary, but it’s at SERIOUS altitude, so I’m going down the “Getting Faster For Group Rides”, on the basis that it’s generally useful and I don’t need to be anything specifically specialised.

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Why not just use plan builder?

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Nice work on your recent event!

I’d put that September event on your TR calendar and build out an event-based plan. That will give you the best training between now and then.

There’s no need to insert individual training phases or use 1-3 month goal-based plans when you have the option to build out a plan that will span between now and your target event.

Let me know if this helps and if you have any questions along the way. I’d be happy to help you get things set up properly if you’d like! :slightly_smiling_face:

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Thanks, I ended up doing a comparison between two versions, event based but with Rolling Road Race as the target event type, and fitness based with “getting faster for group rides” as a goal and they were pretty similar in approach, so I’ve gone with that. My main goal in the interim is group rides, so that gave me what I needed.

I hadn’t made the linkage between “Rolling Road Race” and “Getting Faster For Group Rides” which is why I went down that rabbit hole :sweat_smile:

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