I am wondering why the Mid and High Volume plans differ SO munch for the 70.3 Plans. The Mid Volume plan maxes out at 120 minutes for the long rides which seems a bit short. All but a VERY few athletes are going to be riding quite a bit more than 2 hours for a 70.3 bike leg. While the High Volume plan maxes out at 300 minutes. Why such a HUGE difference?
Maybe because high volume is for extreme training?
Have you tried the LV yet?
High volume plans raise the duration and cut the intensity. A more careful look at the longest rides of the MV plan show an Intensity Factor of 0.81 versus an IF 0.67 for the long rides of the HV plan.
That IF may not seem large, but is actually quite significant.
I have been following the 80/20 plans for the last 4-5 years, typically training 8-15 hour weeks. I just seems like a 2 hour long ride is a bit short. I am ready to try something new and trying to figure out what TR plan to use.
The MV plan is a great starting point. There are 2 ways to add volume if/where needed:
- You can add a long weekly endurance ride (e.g. 3-4+ hours). You can slide out workouts where you need additional rest to accommodate it.
- Substitute the +1 or +2 version of any of the workouts during the week
Note: See TR Forum post and Dylan Johnson video to understand the issue with TR’s HV plans (i.e. lack of rest days).