Masters Cyclist Training Plans and TrainerRoad Product Updates! – Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast 448

[Matte86]

Thanks @Nate_Pearson! I really like it and I agree as others to the idea of having such updates every so often so to keep everyone in the loop
So keen to see where TR is heading
Strong supporter and subscriber since 2015

[AlphaDogCycling]

@Nate_Pearson,

The new plan builder flow really looks good. My biggest feedback would be on the day selection screen add the ability for athletes to be able to schedule non-TR workouts (e…g, on Saturday, I could schedule a 3 - 5 group ride, and that would be a placeholder on my calendar. Or on Tuesday I could put a Zwift race. Etc.).

One question on the “constraints” functionality: let’s say I put in I could train 2 hours on each day T - F, and then 4 hours each day on Sat & Sun. Will this be interpreted as I could train 18 hours a week, which for me would bury me? Or would this just give the new plan builder the flexibility where it could schedule a 2-hour mid-week ride on T / W / Th / F (but not schedule 2 hour rides for on all of these days) with longer rides on the weekends? Or will the rider need to constrain the total number of hours they say they can train on the day screen to stay within the total volume they can reasonable handle over a week?

[Jesse_Vernon1]

Nate said in the pod that the system will schedule an appropriate amount of training based on what it understands your capabilities to be, not your overall available time.

[AlphaDogCycling]

Thanks. I missed / didn’t process that as I was work multitasking while watching the YouTube pod

[thomas1]

Such a tease….

[Nate_Pearson]

@bfrostieone

Are swim workouts being uploaded? They aren’t shown on our calendars. It would be awesome to just be able to see my completed swims on the new calendar.

We have them in our database but haven’t shown them. Doing a basic display is on the list…hopefully we get that done this winter.

[Nate_Pearson]

@koalb

Thanks to Nate and crew for sharing the visuals. Those were great.

So I finally get red light / green light now. So conceptually, is it something akin to a WHOOP recovery score?

Is it scoring the amount of planned TSS load?
My body’s ability to perform on a given day?
Or some combination?

Yah, I saw it’s like Whoop’s score but with more detail.

Our algorithm approach is just some math on TSS.

But then one I’m really excited about is the ML approach. That calculates a % likelihood of passing a specific workout for your specific fitness with all of your history included.

So whoop might say “It’s 89% today”, that doesn’t tell you if a workout is right for you.

With this ML approach, you could chose a productive workout and have a low chance of passing it one day because you’re tired, but a high chance of passing it another day.

But on that same day, you might have a lower chance of passing a stretch workout.

So it’s a combo of fatigue + fitness. I don’t know of anyone else who is doing it at that level.

[Nate_Pearson]

@mailman

@Nate_Pearson just rewatching the podcast on YT (listened only yesterday). The calendar updates look great also.

Is there any way, or any thought to expanding to, view our rides on TR further back than 12 months?

As I understand it you keep the ride data (to feed the machine etc), but I can’t seem to easily go back and look at the TR workouts that I did during my most productive block. I can go back on Intervals.ICU but the graph is not as straight forward, nor does it have the targets etc. Or on Strava, but that’s much worse to scroll back on.

I love the all in one system that is TR, but is seems some of the analysis features are less prominent? I can’t seem to select an interval, or highlight an area of a workout, or ride, for the statistics. Is this coming back?

You can use the website and scroll back and see your entire history. The graph on the top helps navigate too.

[Nate_Pearson]

@jrbassil

Did my eyes deceive me or did I see a green sticky on the Miro Board with reference to “projected FTP” when building a plan?

[Nate_Pearson]

@FergusYL

Yeah, I saw the same thing. The “automatically apply masters plan to 50+” thing is definitely going to enrage some people on this very forum.

We turn the toggle on the plan pages if you’re over 50, but you can still turn it off. Everyone else has the toggle off by default.

But I really think masters plans are good for a lot more people than just 50+. We just had to come up with an age and thought this was pretty safe.

[Nate_Pearson]

@AlphaDogCycling

The new plan builder flow really looks good. My biggest feedback would be on the day selection screen add the ability for athletes to be able to schedule non-TR workouts (e…g, on Saturday, I could schedule a 3 - 5 group ride, and that would be a placeholder on my calendar. Or on Tuesday I could put a Zwift race. Etc.).

Yes, I think each day will have a tab called “indoor” and “outdoor”. Then on outdoor you could select:

• Group Ride
• Commute
• Solo Ride
• Other

Or something like that…what should we have in that list? It can’t be too long.

[Nate_Pearson]

@AlphaDogCycling

One question on the “constraints” functionality: let’s say I put in I could train 2 hours on each day T - F, and then 4 hours each day on Sat & Sun. Will this be interpreted as I could train 18 hours a week, which for me would bury me? Or would this just give the new plan builder the flexibility where it could schedule a 2-hour mid-week ride on T / W / Th / F (but not schedule 2 hour rides for on all of these days) with longer rides on the weekends? Or will the rider need to constrain the total number of hours they say they can train on the day screen to stay within the total volume they can reasonable handle over a week?

It’s just a constraint.

To give an extreme example, let’s say you can train 24/7, which is 168 hours in a week.

But our ML thinks you need 5 hours per week.

We’d prescribe 5 hours per week with the best intensity spacing that we can come up with.

[AlphaDogCycling]

My first pass would be:
Solo ride (I would lump a commute into this bucket)
Group Ride
Race

You would need the option for 2 a days. If I’m adding in bike commuting, there’s a high likely hood I will have two commutes: into work, work back home

[bfrostieone]

Thanks and that would be awesome!

[mailman]

Thanks.

I should have said, I wish it were possible on mobile, either App, or web app, I don’t have a computer to access TR.

[schmidt]

You can do this today in settings I believe. Put off “adapted plan/adaptive training”

[schmidt]

That’s for the updates Nate. The mustache
works.

Just a very minor question, would it be possible to change the color coding of the “outside” workout?
Ever since it started appearing it’s a thorn in my eye.

[muckymariner]

Most events I’ve done are regular and have (mostly) the same course every year. Would it be possible to upload a route file into plan builder for an event so that the system gets an accurate picture of the distance and elevation profile to assist with calculating the optimum plan?

[foldingbikebass]

That never occurred to me. Thanks. A little roundabout. But useful. The trigger on the page would be still be useful for quick reference. For scratching my OCD.

[foldingbikebass]

+1 pleading for swim sync. It is very frustrating and slow remembering to go back and manually tick each swim - entering the corrected time, length and TSS. Three times a week.

Even if there are no deeper analysis/implications at present.