New-comer here, both to the forum and TR. I started my TR plan last week. I have no goal set, I do not race, I just want to get fitter and faster on my bike.
In a couple of days, the Rapha Festive 500 starts and I’d like to give it a go - 500km between 24th and 31st.
This obviously takes my volume miles beyond what’s in my training plan, so my question is, do I do this along side my scheduled training sessions, sometimes riding twice in a day or on rest days or do I pause the TR plan while I do it?
Or, given that I’ve only just started structured training, abandon the idea and focus on just getting faster
First, just riding is still “training” as it will get you fitter…so if you do the Festive 500, you are still training.
If you are committed to doing it, I would recommend pushing your training plan out a week (maybe 2 so you can recover from the Festive) and then continue with it as planned. Since you have no set goal or race, that should work out just fine…and you’ll likely get a good fitness boost form all the endurance work of the 500.
Just riding 500km in that week-ish period of time is training. Just do that and reset your plan. Unless you’re coming from a high level of training, it doesn’t make sense to try and nail your scheduled workouts and then add in all the additional Z2.
The 2 are not mutually exclusive. You have the option of controlling your (smart) trainer with a TR endurance workout, and pair your trainer with Zwift as a power source so you’re getting the benefit of both. Of course this means you’re just doing what the workout dictates, not responding to terrain changes, not responding to attacks, etc…
Doing that you’ll get the benefit of a structured workout and you’ll push that endurance progression level pretty high. Just keep in mind that the extra volume is going to require conservative intensity so only schedule endurance workouts. Good luck!
