With nearly 12 weeks of mostly SS training, mixing TR workouts and my own, I’m going to move into build phase.
Has anyone else done this and how do you think it went?
3 Likes
I did, I began Sweet Spot Base-Mid vol 1 o OCT 6th and completed it. I looked at my race schedule and made adjustments to go straight into Short Power Build DEC 12th, the first few workouts beat me up but I got my footing and pressed forward. Now a little over half way through it and looking forward to Cross country Marathon-MV FEB 12th.
I have hit all of my personal goals, it was not easy and at times I second guessed myself a bit but pressed forward. I have one more goal to reach and I will see if I attain that on FEB 12ths Ramp test…
1 Like
I did last 3 weeks of SSBMV 1 then did last 3 weeks of SSBMV2 then went into build with no problem and had a nice jump in FTP.
Were you both fairly bike fit before you started???
1 Like
For the 12 weeks of self directed training when did you assess your FTP and did you have a consistent weekly TSS? Also what kind of workouts were you doing? For example did you do mostly SS work, or low intensity, or maybe you included threshold and vo2 work?
I would suggest you need to assess all of this to decide if you have progressed through that 12 weeks and are ready for a build plan. Have you also considered which build plan to use including the volume?
Yes, former Marathon runner. I ran daily for years spending time with local running clubs, friends and family. Took up cycling when I started to suffer from a bad IT band issue. Now I’m just lazy and ride everyday. Have not ran in over a year…
1 Like
Mostly sweetspot work 90-95%. Tested ftp and had a good 25w improvement in 6weeks. TSS has been fairly consistent. I’ll probably do another 2 weeks and throw in the odd threshold then move to build.
I don’t think I’ve skipped an entire phase yet, but I have modified entire weeks based on my race schedule (tapering for an A race in the middle of a phase, for ex.).
At the end of last summer – right when I joined TR – I had just finished 4 months of self-directed training based only on RPE, not power. I had just finished my “A” race and after a couple weeks of resting I wanted build towards one final race of the season which was 8 weeks away.
I joined TR on August 31st and tested at a 271 FTP using the ramp protocol. I did 8 weeks of ‘Short Power Build’ because I wanted to target my ability to tackle short, punchy climbs. A week before my race I tested at an FTP of 280. Which I think was a pretty decent bump.
I will say that I failed a lot of workouts in the first couple weeks – I just wasn’t used to the intensity. The difference between training with power in ERG mode and working based on RPE is just a totally different deal. Totally different.
Long story short – if you’re carrying a lot of fitness into it, I think skipping a phase is fine and it worked for me. However, right after my final race, I went back to the beginning and began SSB LV1 and am progressing from there.
Good luck!
1 Like
You may struggle with some of the vo2 and threshold workouts if you’ve only been doing SS. But you won’t know until you try, but that’s why it is best to follow the plans as they include prep for the next stage as well as general training