I was attempting to use the plan builder to set up the next 6 months of training, building up to the Marmotte at the end of June.
I’ve just completed a base phase which I managed myself (October through Jan 1st) and, therefore want to get straight into a build phase . It doesn’t seem to be an option in the plan builder to select which phase to start with (would be a nice feature).
A bit of a workaround was to set the date to around 8 weeks ago (early November). This got a build phase to start at the end of Jan (not quite what I want, but relatively close)
I then pushed the date back again to October with interesting results!
Selecting mid-October the plan constructed one continuous build phase from October until the end of March, followed by 8 weeks of base phase, and a 4 week speciality.
Moving another week out produced a build phase for 8 weeks, then 8 weeks of base, and then 4 weeks of speciality!
In the end, I’ve used the pre-defined phases - I’m happy to adapt the plan myself as needed. Anyone else had similar?
Personally I have found that the TR “base phases" prescribe too much intensity for the volume I am aiming to complete, as such I manage my own base season planning.
In the base season i averaged 13-14 hours per week - with one " intense” session per week and structured gym work twice per week. Otherwise this was purely zone 2 training.
The trainerroad base season I just generated gives two sweet spot sessions and a threshold session, with endurance work elsewhere. In combination with gym work I would be burned out with this approach. I tried it for a couple of weeks last year and was exhausted, switching back to my self managed approach.
I love the build and speciality phases. They work really well. I just find that for the volume of training I complete, TRs base seasons are not quite right.