Hi there,
I am considering making the jump from using a coach to TrainerRoad. Really love the podcast and this forum and it is a great community.
I am a retired, 55 year old dude who races occasionally but really likes to get out and ride…and still want to get faster. I am around 68kg and have an FTP now at 280, but have really low burst capability.
Ideally I would have weeks around 15-17 hours with TSS at 600-800.
Is it possible to do this type of volume and do a good job on the intervals prescribed on TrainerRoad? Or, should I sacrifice volume for the intensity?
Thanks for any help you all can provide!
What type of riding and training have you been doing, for how long, and how much inside on a trainer vs outside?
That time you mention is massive for that TSS, so I am guessing lots of low intensity riding, and mainly outside?
The TR approach is generally using focused intervals, inside on a trainer, at varying levels (depending on the training phase and chosen plan).
I suspect you might be able to cut your training time in half and improve the punch and responsiveness that you want, but it depends a lot on your actual training history.
Welcome to TR. I’m very interested in what you finally settle into as far as training goes. I’ll retire next year and will have way more time to have fun on my bike. I’m doing the Mid volume plans now and I’m I guess I could add long Zone 2 rides in between the TR workouts. I might even consider traditional base? So, I guess I’m like you in that I’m an old dude that just wants to get faster. Just to give you an idea the mid-volume plan has me at about 500 TSS in 6 or so hours.
Good luck!
Thanks for the input.
I do 2-3 interval sessions a week now, mostly on the trainer (especially this time of the year). Those rides are about 2 hours, so yeah, rest of the time is outside and doing endurance type watts and a group ride once a week.
I’ve been at it for 10 years or so, used to race a lot, but now only occasionally and if motivated.
Once the weather warms up, I typically do the intervals outside and at higher intensities, so TSS increases there also.
Makes sense on backing off the volume for increased punch, but don’t really want to reduce to 10 hours a week.
So, I guess my basic question is, how much volume could I do a week and still do a good job on the TR plans? I know that is very specific and depends on recovery, etc. so probably not a great question.
Any experience with “adding on miles” to the TR plans?
Thanks okcnewbie…that is helpful. Although 500TSS in 6 hours sounds painful 
I went back and looked at my calendar and I didn’t get that quite right. The 500 weeks are 7+ hours.
The point is correct though… Most of us do think that TR is at least slightly painful… in a own it kind of way!
Just to give you some perspective, I’m in the middle of my base and did 516 TSS last week in about 8.5 hours. That time included a 3.5 hour long ride and 45 minute spin.
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47 yo here. I can average 700 TSS for 3 weeks on the road no problem but on the trainer I’m happy to sustain about 400 per week which I can do all winter (live in mountainous area) I just find the effort is not the same
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