I’m currently doing General Base I Masters plan. So typically there is a threshold day, a SS day, and 3 endurance days. I’m finding some weeks I have the legs to go harder on one of those endurance days, so that it would be like a normal General Base I plan. Do I:
A. Find a SS or Tempo workout and schedule on the same day as one of the endurance days and just leave that endurance workout uncompleted?
B. Delete the Endurance workout and schedule a SS or Tempo workout on that day?
C. Use alternates to change to 45 min endurance and then schedule a 45 min SS or Tempo workout?
Or maybe it doesn’t matter? Just trying to figure out what the ideal way to handle these changes without messing up the algorithm. What do you think?
no. don’t replace your endurance day. its there for very good reason. its there as part of the total signal to improve and adapt. the single biggest downfall of the message which people take away from TR, is should i go harder? to be fair this is not the message from TR.
if you have time, ride longer on endurance days, not harder.
There are a number of ways to resolve this, the first being to provide accurate feedback post workout and AI will ramp up the intensity on your threshold and sweet spot workouts.
Or you can opt to swap the specified workout using the alternative tab. You can then specify a number of options, length, level, and so on or you can opt for productive, stretch or breakthrough.
You can do either of the above and still opt to increase your z2 rides. The only caveat I’d add is to watch for signs of acculmative fatigue. If the increased z2 is your preferred option I would increase the time in z2 rather than ramp up the intensity of z2, so aim for your lower numbers here.
Remember you’re in base. Z2 is critical to establishing resistance to muscle fatigue and building aerobic capacity. Z2 has benefits for every other energy system. The other risk is too hard this early in the season will create burnout later. Enjoy the easy days.
It makes the hard days much more mentally and physically productive.
I would either add duration to the scheduled Endurance rides, or select an alternate Endurance ride at a slightly higher level/IF. Or some combo of both.
I would NOT swap an endurance ride for a SS/Threshold/other intense workout.
I don’t think my description is clear. So typically a Gen Base I (regular) would have 1 threshold workout and 2 SS. I’m doing a masters plan, so there is 1 threshold, 1 SS, and 1 endurance. If I feel good, you would think I would want to make the masters plan look like the regular plan, right?
I think I’m getting a good bit of Z2. At the moment, doing 3 90 min endurance rides and 1 2hr endurance ride. Just thinking about adding low SS into one of these endurance rides to make it look like the regular Gen Base I plan.
I’d go with option A if some weeks you’re feeling spicy , but be mindful of the fatigue levels, as @slowmart mentioned.
I would probably place (Productive) SS or Tempo workouts on Fridays since you have Thursdays and Saturdays off.
After a few weeks of training and seeing how you do with the extra interval day, you could probably assess if switching to a non-Masters Plan is a better fit for you!
I think that is the plan. Currently on MV plan, but I’ve been upping the 60 min endurance workouts to 90 min endurance. And honestly, I think the increase in volume has given me a bit more fitness and I seem to be recovering faster than when I was on LV plan. Might see how this block goes and then seen how a standard block goes and then switch to plan builder then.
One aspect I missed in y first reply was the fact that build and speciality are much more stressful on the body than base.
I’m getting consistent and steady gains using the polarised build HV. The base version excludes Vo2 efforts so I opted for build. I’m on my second back to back build block and like you I found the prescribed workouts too easy. I opted for the alternative tab and have found the right level to empty my tank. Of course this has repercussions on the accumulative stress and I’m definitely ready for a rest week on the fourth week.
Build your knowledge and establish what works for you. Last year was disappointing for me in terms of progression but the mistakes I made have helped get things in shape this year.
That’s close to what I’m doing, although I used PlanBuilder (so I’m currently in Base 2 LV). I chose LV because I wanted to add running and also jack up the volume on the weekend (3+ hour endurance rides - training for a ~6 hour/100 mile gravel race in March).
Basically what I learned in the base few weeks, my endurance rides were too easy. Did some reading and seems like zone 2 should be about 30w higher than what I was doing. I’ve found the Endurance PL of 4-5 are in a bit more productive. So what I’ve been doing now. Is, choosing “Productive” Threshold and SS, then two 90 min Endurance PL 4.5, then a 2-3 hr Endurance PL 6+. After that, I’m pretty toast. I don’t think I could absorb any more training. Originally, I was just doing Endurance PL 2-3, so I felt pretty fresh and was swapping in additional SS or Tempo workouts. I think, just keeping the Zone 2 endurance workouts a bit higher is better for me.
, but be mindful of the fatigue levels, as