I started in the fall with SSB LV plans and then continued with the plan builder.
During Base 1 I went from FTP 237 to 252 - I followed the workouts really well and was able to complete them all.
Base 2 is where things took a turn - due to time constraints and not feeling well for a good week, I wasn’t able to do all workouts and also failed some - especially Lamarck broke me, I gave it 2 attempts and couldn’t complete either.
Yesterday I did another ramp test and ended with FTP 238.
Now the plan continues with the Build phase…does it make sense now to continue with Build or should I do more Base work?
As for the workouts per se - I always feel that I’m able to complete VO2 Max workouts quite a lot better than threshhold workouts…
I am not training towards and specific date or race season, I just want to get overall quicker on longer/steady climbs. I have zero ambitions whatsoever regarding anything like crits or sprints
Aside from Lamarck, how many others did you fail or miss? Which version of Build were you heading into?
The ability to complete VO2, yet struggle with threshold seems to be pretty common on the forum but with consistent training, you’ll soon notice improvement
Lamarck is hard, an IF of 0.93 whereas the others (are you sure you meant Mary Austin -3 and not -1?) are a bit easier. I did Lamarck at the end of a sequence of days and had to take two days rest before the next workout. I find an IF of around 0.91 to be the tipping point of going from a manageable workout to one that I’ll find mentally tough but it does depend on whether it’s a VO2max or threshold workout.
As @PusherMan says, you may be predisposed to VO2 workouts since they are shorter efforts with recoveries in between whereas threshold efforts are longer with fewer rests. You say that’s what you are training for so it suggests that tempo/threshold is your weak spot.
In what way did you “break”? Legs, lungs, heart? Also what does “not feeling well” refer to? A seasonal cold, stress, general fatigue? If you’ve got HR data associated with the rides that may give you some clue. If it’s fatigue then I’d back off the overall effort for a few weeks, just some endurance workouts to keep you ticking over if you feel the need.
Thanks for your thorough reply!
I actually wrote Mary Austin -3
I wasn’t feeling well as in I felt that a cold or something was coming up - I was able to fend it off, but my body was just super exhausted and I even took a day off from work.
So yes, it seems as tempo/threshold is where I need to improve.
Should I continue with Build? I’m heading into the LV version with three workouts per week - mostly at 60, 75 and 90 minutes.
OK. MA -1 is part of SSBLV2 whereas the -3 version isn’t which is why I asked.
I’m a week or two ahead of you on the LV plan having done SSB LV 1 &2 I’m now on Sustained Power Build LV. Given your target I suspect that’s what you are looking to do as well. It’s pretty tough, in fact Monday’s workout, Bashful +1 was the first in the entire sequence so far that I’ve had to bail on - https://www.trainerroad.com/app/career/bobw/rides/73885413-bashful-1 - not so much the efforts but the very short recoveries did me in.
If you are exhausted then SPB might be a bit much. If I were in that situation I’d do a very easy week (or even take the week off, you won’t lose all the gains) and then either redo the last two load weeks and the recovery week of SSBLV2 or start Build depending on how I felt.
Ah, here are the exact phases of my plan:
SSB1
SSB2
General Build - Curious as to what you think here. Should I do a different Build?
Rolling Road Race
Repeat
All low volume.
I didn’t manually choose these phases, I just stuck with what the Plan Builder suggested to me…
I had a pretty good rest the past 10 days or so (except for the ramp test), so I think I’m good to go with starting a new phase now…so either Build or redo the last two weeks of Base - not sure.
I’ve not yet used Plan Builder as I’d started on a plan using the standard phases which just happened to drop exactly into the gaps between my events.
You can have a look at the other build plans via your home page to see if you prefer another one but I suspect Plan Builder will have suggested General Build because of what you told it when running through the wizard.
You’re right, that’s what happened.
After reading about the phases, I think the Sustained Power Build phase might make more sense for me.
Is there any way to chance the phases after I have already created the training plan? Or do I have to create a new one?
I just tried in the calendar but it says “You have edited your plan and are no longer able to update it.”
Assuming plan builder has added the full 8 weeks General Build. Go to your Calendar and click on where it says “Build” this should bring up a dialog box with a delete option. Click that. Now go to Training Plans and select Sustained Power Build Low Volume and click on the “Add to Calendar” button, select the start date and add it.
If plan builder didn’t add the full 8 weeks then it’s probably best to re-run plan builder but tell it that you’ve completed the base phase.
