Going to be very interesting to follow your journey. I’d wait until after week 3 before making any changes to the plan, maybe even longer. I’d also rather up my ftp a little if i were you, than jump to medium volume. You can always add in some easy rides here and there instead of going to a plan with more hours.
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I’ll second what @vetleg says! Don’t jump to mid-volume just yet. Supplement low volume for a few weeks to make sure you handle it well before going to full mid-volume.
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My first year I made the mistake of going mid volume, big mistake. I ended up doing Low Volume with extra endurance low intensity rides 2 days a week.
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Two endurance rides is still quite a lot, at least for myself. I am currently at one endurance ride on Sunday, so far for around 90 minutes. My goal from now on is doing 3h rides and increase the hours in build phase.
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Yeah, that’s actually a solid suggestion. I’ll probably add in a couple of group rides that happen locally if I’m feeling good instead of jumping up. That way I don’t overload myself.
The 90 minute Baxter workout was the longest I’d done indoors, and could definitely feel it downstairs. I think for any longer rides than that I’m going to try and do them outside as some people suggested earlier in the thread.
Are you planning on doing them inside or outside, and which workouts are you thinking of trying?
Indoors, I live in the northern hemisphere and don’t have any sun for the next months. Furthermore, I really like viewing movies during those long workouts.
Last week I completed Antelope and Baxter in one sitting (3 hours in total), my longest ride during SSB LV 1 was Perkins -1 (2h).
I scheduled Conness for this Sunday, a 2:45h ride.
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feel your pain on the saddle issue, I’ve switched to a Fizik aliante open ( you can do a test to check your spine angle) and it helped a bit but 40 minutes in start feeling it , getting out the saddle for a few seconds gets the blood flowing again.
I’m half way through week 4 on mid level SS base & looking forward to the end, too stubborn to drop any rides now though with only one high TSS ride left. Thinking I’ll drop back to low intensity for SS Level 2 next & maybe add an extra easy ride each week.
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I have the Fizik Arione but feel like it’s a bit too narrow for me. I did a sit bone test I found on YouTube and I’m looking for something a bit bigger to test out.
In the meantime standing has definitely helped a ton.
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Ah that’s fair, good luck with those rides. Hope you find some good films to watch as well 
When I tarted with Trainerroad I started with TBLV. Traditionnal low volume will help you build aerobic engine. It doesn’t look like a lot of work, but it’s work that has paid off for me. FTP went from 110 to 138 in three months. More important I think atr the drills, form, speed endurance, ILT, standing, and sprints. Those will help you on the real road and feel comfortable on every terrain. You will also get work done at treshold, SS, and VO2 max. It’s a gentler progression than SSB. And get your base covered. My max power went from 375 watts to 600. So you will get to work all systems with a nice progression. Then I would redo a base phase with SSB. Before tacling Build and specialty.
Your job now is to get time on the saddle at consistent low power output and teach your muscles, heart and lungs to work, build endurance. You’ll be able to go into intensity much more confident and prepared. Do the low volume consistently, add the occasional Z2 work if you feel like it and it doesn’t hamper your recovery. Think over years instead of weeks and months. On the long run you will make much more progress.
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Thanks for sharing your progress, glad to see it paid off for you!
In the end I decided to go SSB LV for the start, but am planning to double up the base phase so maybe I try TB after.
I would definately do it reverse if you plan on doubling up on base. TB first and SSB Second. Otherwise If You want to get a longer base starting with SSB I would just redo SSB2 or the last 3-4 weeks of it. Before going on build.
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Do you think TB would be too low intensity for transition into the build?
I don’t know really. I’ve never done build. From what I hear it’s a sgnificant ramp up compared to SSBII I’m on SSBII LV right now and it’s no joke. So going into build from TB would be a significant step up for sure Both in Intensity and volume. You are almost never under treshold and there is more volume than SSB2 you are looking at almost a 25% TSS increase. Longer workouts and more intense workouts.
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Week 2 Update
Second update, here we go!
This week was a lot more fun than the first, mainly due to the workouts being a bit more intensive. In particular, Goddard, which really challenged my individual leg pedalling. If you look at the workout you can see my cadence is all over the place as I tried to get the hang of it, challenging but motivating at the same time.
Both Monitor and Antelope were enjoyable, but I have been having some trouble with my trainer in ERG mode actually adjusting to match the required power output. I’m wondering if this is because my FTP is quite low at the moment and my trainer isn’t handling that too well. Either way, I did my best to stick to the targets, despite being regularly above or below. My aim for similar workouts in future is to keep as close to the targets as possible, without adjust my cadence as often as I currently do. Still trying to figure out what is most comfortable for me, but the more I ride the more comfortable I’m becoming at higher cadence (low 90’s is wear I’m feeling good right now). Also, a saddle adjustment helped tremendously with the downstairs problem, so the 1h30m was a lot more pleasant 
Now to the biggest achievement of my week, and also the longest ride of my life - 75km. On the weekend I decided to join a casual ride with my local club, because I was feeling well rested and wanted to get out there for a longer ride before it gets too cold. Long story short, I definitely overestimated my ability to keep up with the group, but managed to finish thanks to a helping hand from the ride leader every now and again. Although the ride was tough and weather not so pleasant, it really envigorated me once again on the reason I want to train. Can’t wait for the day I can get out on those rides and keep up with the group without having to disrupt the pace 
So for week 2, I’m very happy with the progress and have felt like I’ve levelled up already. My legs are getting stronger by the day and I’m feeling better and better on the bike both inside and outside. Excited to share more as time goes on!
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Week 3 Update
Fell out of the groove this week, with a bunch of obligations and personal stuff getting in the way which forced me to push all workouts to later in the week. This was pretty frustrating as I had also not been commuting by bike due to the weather, so it felt like I was slacking really hard.
Despite that I still managed to get all workouts done within the week, and felt stronger than ever. The workouts this week were fun, particularly Carson which felt like it flew by, although the last two were very sloppy as I’ve been having issues with my trainer not registering cadence and ERG mode not adjusting power correctly. Not sure if this is due to my low FTP and the low power targets, my technique or gear choice (I don’t change in ERG mode, but sometimes it just never hits the target even with high cadence), or if it’s an actual technical issue with the trainer. Will google some more and see what I can find, any tips are also appreciated!
With three weeks to go in this first phase I already feel like I’ve gotten stronger, riding in the sweet spot for an hour gives a real sense of satisfaction once you’re done. I can’t wait for the next ramp test to see what this actually looks like in terms of FTP.
I will have finished the last week of this phase a few days before going away for the holidays, which works out nicely. I’ll do my ramp test, and then take a week off before getting back to it near the new year. Can’t wait 
Week 4, here I come!
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I’m super excited to read about your progress, if only for my own curiosity. I’ve never seen a properly new cyclist on any structured training; very interesting. My prediction is that you have huge growth.
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Yes, beeing new to the cycling and training is noob gains time:) but on the other hand being in this situation, it is awesome on trainer and seeing these gains is rewarding but completely terryfing outside because you know nothing. I bought a road bike in the middle of July (nice promo) and lack od handling skills, riding in the group etc causes a little bit of isolation and even loneliness. Especially that cycling is quite “elitist” in terms of people that are purists. But thanks to training you are able to eliminate at least one limiting factor - your fitness.
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What gear combination are you using when using ERG mode? I’ve taken a look at some on your trainer rides. They seem to be off even for a non-smoothed ride. Check out some people’s rides in the daily workout thread. Regardless of ERG or not, their power output looks more consistent than yours?
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