So I finally bit the bullet and bought a year on Fascat Coachcat while it was half off.
The support has been phenomenal and the app and AI have taken huge strides forward in recent months and weeks.
Much like TR, you can add races to your calendar for the entire year. The main differences are that Coachcat will keep you in base training most of the time, and then update your training plan based on your upcoming events at the right time. IE, my plan switched to “Gravel Punchy” with 6 weeks until my race. I also have noticed it doesn’t seem to prescribe full recovery weeks, but focuses on taking recovery days every week. IE, Mon recovery, Tues/Wed Intensity, Thur Zone 2, Fri recovery, Sat long effort. During the base phase the Intensity doesn’t exceed sweet spot hardly ever, during the race plan those Intensity days take no prisoners… 2x20 threshold, 6x3 vo2s, and so on… I’ve really come to appreciate the recovery days. I still do a 30 min spin + 30 min of upper body kettlebells on those days, but nothing intense, at all.
I’ve kept my TR subscription active during this time just to see what AI ftp has to say, to which it thinks I’ve added 2 watts in my first month on Fascat(305 → 307). Negligible, but my durability already feels to me much better than when I was on TR.
I’ve also enjoyed entering my hrv and sleep metrics daily, with 3 kids under 5, my sleep isn’t always great, and Coachcat AI has recommended I dial it back on days my sleep and hrv are way off, or at the very least it’s told me to really focus on how my legs feel and that it’s perfectly ok to bail out if it gets too intense and the plan will adjust to compensate. IE the other day I couldn’t manage my 2x20 threshold effort, a workout I’ve finished with no issues weeks prior, it quickly prescribed a shorter workout with shorter intensity intervals to keep me on track without having to lose a whole day.
Coachcat doesn’t recommended testing ftp often, but it does rate the 20 minute test higher than a ramp test when or if you do. It also doesn’t have the 28 day AI ftp feature, but it does monitor every workout and recommend a higher/lower ftp based on feedback you give to the AI chat.
Lastly, it recommends riding your intervals outside as much as possible and using incline over ERG when indoors as to get a more real world feel for training. After years of ERG monotony, I’m loving it honestly.
I plan to finish up the year at least and then decide on returning to TR or Coachcat.
Another side note, if you have issues you can schedule a call directly with a real coach from Fascat through the support chat, which I’ve already used twice.