4 weeks into my first plan and about to start build phase next week - but the workouts so far were far too easy and the next ones seem to be too.
My plan is (non-goal-specific) to improve my base endurance, since I lack exactly that. The plan kinda reflects that, since weekly riding 5d/week is indeed fatiguing, but the two hard days with intervals are far too easy. I surveyed almost all of them as moderate at the most and still only get adapted to marginally harder ones.
As an example: I got prescribed Tumbe next week - VO2Max fifteen times 50s on/2min off = 12min TIZ @115-120% - but I can do hard start 5x5s with 60s 140% and 4min 120% for a total of 25min TIZ @~120-125% with much less rest inbetween. Tumbe seems like a huge stepdown from that.
So couple of questions bothering me:
is TR purposefully giving me easy intervals to kinda just hold my high aerobic/anaerobic capabilities while building endurance (because FTP/VO2 gains are not my goal) or should the hard days still be really hard, regardless of my only goal to improve base endurance?
Should I switch interval days to workouts that are productive to me, but risk fatiguing too much over the week? or Should I do harder intervals and easier endurance rides? or Should I do nothing and let AI-adaption do its thing, despite doing very little until now?
I do not really care to lose VO2Max, but I’d like to keep FTP and just add base endurance if that makes sense
I’ll often pick an alternate workout if the suggested workout is really, really obviously too easy. But that typically only happens right at the start of the plan or phase. From there, I find that TR will right size the workout pretty quick going forward based on my survey responses. And I certainly don’t mind starting on the easy side with v02 work, I know plenty of eye-bleeding vo2 workouts will eventually come. If you have been answering “easy” on all your past workouts and TR hasn’t made subsequent workouts harder, that sounds like a problem. I’d consider giving TR support a call and see what they advise.
Thanks for the reply. Most workouts I evaluated at moderate though, since weekly fatigue/missing endurance makes the workouts indeed feel like moderate intensity. Maybe thats why the system did not adapt aggressively.
Funnily even the breakthrough alternates to Tumbe are less TiZ&more rest than what I already did
The advise to contact TR support seems reasonable though, so I’ll think I do exactly that
I did rule out training approach, since overall weekly volume still fatigues me and I did not necessarily want the endurance rides any harder. I did not however just play around with the setting and I could check it out without saving the changes to my plan though. Thanks for the reminder
Edit: tried different approaches and instead of making the workouts harder it just makes them longer. When resetting the workout times (because I simply dont have more time as of now) it also resets the approach it seems - so the plan itself doesnt change at all. Was worth a shot though Thank you!
There is nothing wrong with “moderate” workouts. If you are building fatigue, I certainly wouldn’t consider those workouts “far too easy” and you should be getting something out of them. There are times to push limits, but pushing the limits on every workout isn’t productive long term. Minimum effective dose and all that… I’m sure TR support can give you better guidelines, but I will only rate a workout as “easy” if I am looking for a significantly harder workout next time. If I want to step it up a bit, I’ll rate it “moderate”. “hard” is where I was close to my limit and I want the next workout similar but maybe just a slight tick harder. “very hard” and “all out” is my signal to the system to stop making it harder or backing it down a bit.
Looking back at your past couple of weeks of training with TR, I’d say that you’re likely on the right track. There are a couple of workouts that could have had a slightly higher RPE, but nothing really wild.
One thing to consider is that I’d recommend avoiding looking too far into the future at workouts since they’ll likely adapt based on your progress. This is particularly important when you’re looking at your next training phase since those workouts will not adapt until that phase starts.
Since you’re starting a Build phase on the 13th, that Tumbe workout won’t adapt until you log into TR on the 13th.
Another thing to keep in mind is that it’s important to follow your plan as best as possible. If you’re struggling to do that, it’s totally fine and probably beneficial to edit your plan’s schedule to best fit in with your availability. Your training hasn’t been super consistent and the best way to get TR to see your current abilities is to knock out the workouts we’re prescribing.
I’d hang in there and give things a few days in your Build phase to even out. Your current VO2 Athlete Level is 1.0, so you might not jump into a super high-level workout on Tuesday, but if you take on the workout we prescribe and andwer the survey honestly, we’ll be able to make any adjustments needed for future training.
Let me know if this helps and if you have any other questions along the way!
