You have almost exactly 28 weeks until Jan 1st, which is when you mentioned that you’ll want to start your triathlon prep.
In those 28 weeks, you can complete:
Sweet Spot Base (12 Weeks)
Sustained Power Build (8 Weeks(
Century Specialty (8 Weeks)
I’d recommend simply adding these plans manually to your Calendar.
Then, set your start date for your Plan Builder Plan for January 1st, add your triathlon event, and calculate.
Train up until your Tri event in June, and then construct a new Plan Builder Plan afterwards for your Gran Fondo A race. I recommend selecting “Advanced” experience level so that we prioritize the Build and Specialty Phases over Base since you will have a large base at that point in time
Hi @Bryce, thank you very much, this is super helpful.
I am in a plan right now that is going to take me until mid Sept (when my A race was supposed to happen) and I don’t want to change this.
I am mid way through SPB.
I will then do 2 weeks of SSB and then lastly Century specialty plan.
I can take a week off then and I was then thinking of (as of Sept 21 or so):
-Doing 6 weeks of ssb part 1
-followed by 8 weeks of spb build again, taking me to Jan 1.
Does this sound OK?
I can then do what you suggest:
-Use plan builder for a low volume half distance plan, with a start date of Jan 1, 2021 for example
-How should I decide if I select “advanced” or not at this point?
-Then following the half distance race (May 30, 2021) I can then use plan builder again for my A gran fondo race in Sept 2021, use a start date of June 7 (allowing for a one week rest/recovery after my 70.3, and again select “advance” as you suggested to prioritize build over base training
Thank you for all of your and your team’s help @Bryce. It is good to hear and better understand how to best use plan builder.
I am still relatively new to endurance training, little over 2 years in.
Given this do you still think I should choose “advanced” or should I focus more on building my aerobic base (I forget what the other 2 options are besides advanced)?
Thanks again and love the product, podcast, and forum.
This is a totally resonable approach that should serve you well .
For the Tri Plan, choose the experience level you feel reflects your experience with triathlon. Choosing “Advanced” is just a manual override type of tweak for the plan that follows since the Plan Builder is not optimized for mixing of triathlon and cycling plans.
Follow what your instincts on this, but by that point in your season you should have a pretty robust Base, and focusing on Build and Specialty may yield better race results. But of course, you know your body better than I possibly can, so do what you feel is most manageable.
Can you offer any advice on the best way to do this please?
I have used plan builder and am following the training plan for an A race on Oct 10.
I now have another A/B race on Sept 6 and a holiday booked the week before (I will have my bike and go out for some easy stuff).
Can you give me any guidance on how to adjust my plan for a taper week/holiday from the 27th August and an event of the 6th Sept, then another on the 10th Oct?
Really they are both A events, but as they are 5 weeks apart, I realise one will have to be classed as a B race, but which way around is the best way to do it?
What’s the best way to add a holiday with some riding into the plan?
If I class the Sept 6 event as the A race will plan builder put a taper in for the week before, which would fit in with my holiday?
In my current plan I am on an easy week this week and start the 2nd 4 week block of general build from next Monday.
Sadly, we do not have a great way to schedule time off at the moment. Our team is working to make this a reality, but at the moment, our general recommendation is to simply skip the week and carry on with your training when you return. Another option is to push your workouts to your head unit using the Outside Workouts feature so that you can execute your structured training during your travels.
Yep, this would likely be the best approach. The tough part is that the Plan Builder is not designed to recalculate for changes in A race. As a consequence, you will have to rebuild your plan from “scratch” by selecting your start date, your volume, and entering the new A race.
Then, in order to prepare for your second A race, I would recommend departing from Plan Builder and manually entering the final 5 weeks of the Specialty Phase. You can do this by adding the full phase at a future date, deleting Weeks 1-3, and then Pulling those 5 weeks of training to coincide with your event dates.
Looking into 2021 and giving Plan Builder a try. I’m finding this prescription very odd in that there’s 1 week of Build thrown in between SSBMV1 and SSBMV2:
.