How might I adapt the mid-volume short power build plan to fit weekly races?

[reniat]

So i’m brand new to trainerroad, and am looking to increase FTP as well as short power (for things such as criteriums), so the mid-volume short power plan looks pretty good. My question is this: I do a weekly training crit every wednesday, so what would be the ideal workout to swap for that crit? In that plan most of the workouts are high intensity, so i guess i’m looking to see if there’s a best fit to swap for a weekly crit.

[martinheadon]

There’s a GCN video where Matt Stephens describes how he used to fit in weekly training - including a race - around work. Like so:

Maybe you could alter the plan to fit something like that? Obviously shift things forward / back a few days as your crit is Wednesday not Sunday. But pack the harder sessions closer together so you recover a little more for the crit. Maybe something like…

Thurs - rest day
Fri - Tues session from plan
Sat - Sunday session from plan
Sun - Thursday or Saturday session from plan
Mon - rest
Tue - Wednesday session from plan
Wed - crit

Whether you choose Thursday or Saturday session to swap out would depend on the TSS of the crit; which workout is the closest match.

[MI-XC]

Incorporating Racing/Group Rides into Short Power Build

I’m sure this is a question a lot of folks ask themselves or have asked here before. I’m currently in the second week of short power build MV I’ve been racing crits and circuit races on Saturdays as New England spring weather and my schedule allow. I have the option of riding 3 fast group rides Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday and am unsure about how to best incorporate them into my training. My goal for the season is to become a competent crit racer, take a podium finish, and make it through cat…

@reniat

so what would be the ideal workout to swap for that crit? In that plan most of the workouts are high intensity, so i guess i’m looking to see if there’s a best fit to swap for a weekly crit.

Just swap out one of the interval days for your race crit and adjust the plan accordingly.

[cartsman]

If you’re combining with racing and maybe some other outdoor riding, can make more sense going with low volume plan instead of mid.

In terms of which of the key 3 workouts to drop, I would do one of the following:

1. Do the crit first, look at the time in zones, then the following week drop whichever session is the closest match. Might vary by week depending on whether you get in a break, wait for the sprint, etc
2. Rotate which session you skip by looking at the 3 week block in its total. E.g. Across the 3 weeks you might skip one VO2, one anaerobic, one sprint
3. Find a way to incorporate the race plus all 3 key sessions. E.g. If the crit is Saturday morning, you can probably do another quality, hard effort on Sunday evening with 36 hours recovery. Easy/rest day on Monday, then you can either do the other hard sessions on Tuesday and Thursday, or do them consecutive days on Tuesday/Wed if you prefer (again with the option of doing morning then evening to get 36 hours recovery). Or you do a long ride Sunday, interval sessions on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday.

The last option really depends what kind of base you have and whether you respond well to doing hard days back to back. I find it works well for me when I’ve got a big aerobic base (helps recovery) and when the rest of my life isn’t too stressful so I’m on top of sleep, nutrition, etc. Also OK the week before a recovery week as I know I can dig myself a little deeper into fatigue if I’ve got recovery coming up. Not a good idea if I’m already tired, have a lot else going on in my life, or haven’t had an ideal base, in those times I’m better off with at least 48 hours between hard sessions, and get some extra endurance work in instead