Me too!
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Agree. All of the advertising and plugs for plan builder genuinely makes me consider canning TR.
The most overrated ‘feature’ ever created. Can people not think for themselves these days? I know what type of training i should be doing based on the time of year, and don’t need a computer guessing that for me.
Seems like TR is moving towards targeting weekend warriors rather than people actually training and racing (which is fine). This direction evidenced in the basic questions the podcast has been answering lately too.
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Seems like a harsh statement. Not everyone has the time or inclination to dive into the research that is needed to compile workouts into phases, and finally into a full training plan. It may be easy for you, but it’s not a trivial option or practical time demand for many people.
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One of TR’s main draws has been the presence of a wide variety of workouts, formed into phases, and then full training plans. It cuts the research and time required for people to jump into rewarding plans. Not sure how that is a bad thing as the statement seems to imply?
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So weekend warriors that train and race aren’t actually “training and racing”?
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Sorry, but that statement has hints of cycling elitism that is not necessary or useful when looking at the broad range of TR users. None of them are better or worse than the other.
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In any case, TR adding tools that help newer and less informed users doesn’t remove the tools that the more advanced and knowledgeable users. Other than the presence of the new tools, nothing has changed for these higher level users.
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I just don’t get the negativity about tools or resources like PB when the advanced users can continue to do the same tools that they have had for many years (tweaking, custom workouts, custom plans, etc.).
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You’re probably right, i’m just venting my frustration about getting spammed everywhere i look to use plan builder.
We do it because it makes people more succesful.
Our number one question to the podcast and support used to be “how do I adjust my training plan because of X, Y, Z situations”.
We wanted to give everyone a “Coach Chad” level response but we couldn’t scale it. So we put his brain into a system and automated it.
Now maybe you can come up with the same way of splitting up plans as Chad would, but I know there’s value in having an automated Coach Chad helping lots of people.
We should put some “dismiss” buttons on them for people who don’t want to use Plan Builder though. If you see some areas where you think it’s too “front and center” please drop them in this channel.
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Thanks for great response Nate, much appreciated 
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Hey folks, our team has fixed this, so now you won’t see the banner nudging Plan Builder. If you have a custom plan, you’ll see a plan summary with option to view your custom plan overview. If you create your own plan using our Base/Build/Specialty phase blocks, you’ll see your Career Page as usual (no banner). It really helps us to know when something like this is causing frustration, because if we don’t know, we can’t fix it. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to address this - as always, we appreciate your feedback, whether critical or complimentary!
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While this issue has been resolved, I’d still like to throw out a thought.
Seeing this kind of prompt to use Plan Builder is actually really good for someone like me. (Yes, it shouldn’t say you don’t have a plan if you do…that’s not the point I’m trying to make…so let’s move past that.)
I’m not event driven. I ride my bike because I like riding my bike. I don’t care what my max sprint speed is and I don’t pay any attention to power curves. (I’m actually not really sure what the point of one is.) What I do like is knowing my zones so I can ride all day and not cook myself. Or, know when I should say “no” to a group ride that just won’t be fun. What I do work toward is increasing the top end so I can get to the coffee shop faster!
I’ve subscribed to TR for almost a year. It took me a few months of stops and starts to figure out how to use it…because all the plans were based on events. Then it took a few more starts and stops to figure out how much volume I could take and still do the outside riding I enjoy. (The gran fondo plans are up my alley, but there is no way I’m going to ride inside for 4 to 6 hours…I mean, I have, but I’ve really got to be in the right mood for that!)
Right now, my goal is just to make it all the way through a build phase. That’s it. No number goal. No event goal. Just get through all the workouts without needing to bail…yet still be able to get to the muffins at the coffee shop when the week is done. (Ok…I may not be event motivated, but I AM food motivated!!)
I’m sure I’m not alone in the “just get through the plan” camp. Hearing Plan Builder talked about on the podcast makes it very unappealing…another thing that’s event driven. That’s not for me! But…then I get reminded about how you can put in your “events”…even if they are low intensity just to get a breakfast burrito…and the plan can adjust the amount of volume around that. You can still progress inside while being able to go outside. THAT is why I train…work inside to make outside more fun.
Getting these extra nudges to look at plan builder again and again helps me to see its full potential and realize things I didn’t know it could be used for. For those if you that can make your own plan, I’m truly in awe of that. I need to be told what to do and how to progress. I’m willing to bet there are many users like me that could use a nudge than users that just need the workout catalog so they can build their own plan. In that instance, it’s really easy to just ignore the thing you don’t need. Also, if you realize it could totally change someone else’s trajectory on the bike, it should make the minor inconvenience of a banner more tolerable.
Just my $.02.
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Thanks for the reply - fully support TR, and not denying is gets results!
One thing which might actually make it useful for someone like me is if you could factor in your power curve. One of the reasons i don’t use plan builder is because i know sweetspot/threshold is a a strength, and anaerobic stuff is a weakness. If plan builder could highlight areas in my curve which suck, and target those, that’s something which would get me interested in it 
I do a lot of custom stuff by adjusting workouts based on target powers to suit my profile (and goals)
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I like the banner and over view, thanks TR.
Any chance of adding some sort of % adherance metric to it, maybe by block when you click into the timeline. @ambermalika
MIght add a little bit of extra motivation to keep 100% 
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I still have the nudge/banner on my main page. Any chance a hide/minimize button will be added at some point? I’m currently not in a TR training plan but I am in one of my own design and won’t be hitting sweet spot base till near the end of october. Whether or not there will be other features added to that space at a later date I’d like to be able to hide it while not in use, similar to how the TSS graph can be hidden. I should probably add that plan builder doesn’t really suit me since I don’t really have any truly targeted events and it doesn’t pick the training plans I like to do so I end up disagreeing and disregarding it anyway.
Plan builder works based on your goal event. I.e. if your event is a 100 mile gran fondo, there’s little benefit in training anaerobic. Just because it’s a weakness, it may not be a limiter to your goal event. So working on power curve wouldn’t be right for everyone. I think basing on goal event makes more sense
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Great minds… 
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Just fixed this. We resolved the banner issue last night, but an overnight hiccup required rolling back a few changes, and this was one of them. We just reapplied the update, so it should be resolved now. Please let me know if you still don’t see the change. Thanks for letting us know!
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Less than 24h from forum post to having the issue resolved for folks!
Always impressed with how responsive y’all are.
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Yup, these types of interactions and responses from TR are examples of the best way to handle users showing that TR actually listens AND responds to feedback. I wish more companies were like this.
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This comment and overall thread actually had me go back and re-build out using plan builder. Hopefully the future updates roll out to already in progress plans and not new plans only.
Looking forward to coming updates.
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100%
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Jeezus @mcneese.chad, take a breath. Is everything an insult or ‘hint of an insult’ these days?
People need to grow a thicker skin. Part of the problem with this forum and the state of things in general is that people’s feathers are ruffled far too easily.
My gawd.
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A well written, well organized and well supported post is “ruffled feathers”? I mean, I could see saying that if it was a mess of blather and run on sentences. If someone is taking the time to give another point of view I’d commend them for it, not call them out for it, but that’s just me.
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