I’m sure many people have different experiences. But no one has had the experience of an AI platform that costs $20/month managing every aspect of their training schedule and surrounding life activities. Because that doesn’t exist. This isn’t Star Trek. If you think you need to do an 8 hour ride before your 8 hour event, go ride for 8 hours.
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Just because it’s perfectly possible to perform on longer rides with short training sessions does not mean that it is the optimal way to go about it.
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IMHO that’s using TR as intended. Some people equate using TR = using a stock training plan/following all AI adaptations without overriding them ever. I find that weird.
The word “optimal” can mean very different things, you gotta state what metric you are optimizing for. Faster, period? Are there constraints?
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Sure. But equally, just because some people want 8 hour training sessions doesn’t mean everyone wants 8 hour training sessions. This is why you can set the number of hours your TR assigns per day.
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For me, it’s because of the marketing
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There is a difference between physically needing to do longer rides in training, and mentally needing to.
Some people fair well on just doing 2 hr rides then smashing out a huge event. Others not so much.
It’s similar for me to doing V02 work when you haven’t for a while as discussed on rhe podcast this week. The first sessions are harder mentally, they feel hard, your body and mind have to remember how to work hard in that way.
I’m like that with long rides. If I am doing them regularly I feel much more confident in my fatigue resistance and ability to overcome adversity in the middle of the night than if I have just been riding super controlled structure for short times for months on end.
I am (for me) relatively fit, and probably much more powerful right now than when I used to ride big distances, but I don’t feel I have it in me to do a huge event
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??
TR’s podcast is a central pillar of their marketing and a significant part of it was how to customize and adapt training plans. Initially, you were supposed to use workout variants, now you use Alternates. And if things change, you override AT. 
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This is a very good reason, and shows why “optimal” can mean extremely different things. I’d also test equipment and nutrition choices during those rides.
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The plan for start should have some longer z2 rides. Theres no ultra distance plan for MTB. For road you have the century plan.
I dont need long rides just for the legs but for my but, shoulders, neck, hands etc. And my stomach to get used to the position for so long and eating all those carbs.
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I do get @SSaldanha ‘s point regarding TrainerRoad and long rides but I think the key is to just accept that TrainerRoad isn’t going to manage them for you.
I select a low volume plan and just add as much long outside z2 ride as I have time for 
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To be fair - that is how TR market’s their product. So if you are a new user or new to training, you are probably going to follow the plan and are not confident to override it.
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Adapting your training plan manually is a staple on the podcast and covered periodically in the podcast. I don’t think it is an advanced feature to e. g. select an alternate workout that is e. g. shorter or less intense.
New users are encouraged to be not too overeager when it comes to e. g. increasing the ramp rate, because most of them will overshoot and get unsustainable workouts (unsustainable in the long run).
So pay for ai training plans, but it is expected to self modify them? I dont know, that seems kinda like something is half baked. I have not tried the ai TR so only going off these comments
I think TR AI training is brilliant - but sometimes you just know things that the platform doesnt or can not possibly know - so you choose an alternate or skip a workout.
The best thing about TR AI is that it maintains a suitable progression - it doesnt just assume compliance and ramp up too hard like it used to.
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If you had a human coach, you’d also need to communicate with them regularly so that you can adapt the training plan.
How is TR/a human coach figure out that e. g. I spent all weekend working in the garden? Or that I just don’t feel it this morning?
well, you tell them and they adjust. not just wing it and modify your plan yourself.
That’s not necessarily how it happens in practice, very often coached athletes will override the prescribed workout before talking to their coach (e. g. if they had had a horrible night and replace their intervals by an endurance ride or had to shorten a workout because they are squeezed for time).
IMHO a product that allows for such flexibility (with e. g. workout alternates) is much, much better. Plus, to get to most out of your training, in my experience you cannot be a passenger on the ride. TR and a coach are tools.
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It’s AI, the “coach” works 24/7. Alt workouts are fine and the user certainly should be able to override if they want, but AI should also update instantly me thinks.
And coaches I’ve had were always cool with a text in the morning if something came up and needed to change the day…guess some coaches don’t like to be bothered and some don’t mind.
It does adapt instantly to things that have done extra or planned to do but missed or to things that you have over/under performed at relitive to expectations.
If you stick 100% to the plan then adaptive training doesnt actually do much at all - the magic happens when you go off-piste - and thats fine with me.
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You have to tell it you can ride for X hours on a Z2 day and it’ll give them to you. I was getting 4 hour weekend Z2 rides when I told Plan Builder I had 4 hours on Sundays to ride.
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