I have a question regarding how adaptive training works. Specifically…is there a way to know why suggestions to replace workouts are being made?
In this particular instance, I’m on the sweet spot base 1 plan, mid volume. Yesterday, rather than the easy ish 1.5 hr sweet spot workout, I subbed in 55 miles of zone 2-3. Now I’m seeing the software suggest lesser sweet spot workouts for upcoming sundays…seemingly thinking I’ve just missed yesterdays workout or not been able to complete it.
Perhaps there’s a method to the madness…but how is one to know?
There is not a message or way to directly learn why any change is made by AT. There is an open Feature Request essentially asking for more feedback like this.
But considering what you shared, the change AT made is likely a result of what you did (or didn’t do) with respect to the software for your deviation from the planned workout.
You say you “subbed” a workout, but what exactly did you do in relation to TR and how that other ride was imported into TR?
If you skipped the SS workout, did an outside ride that imported via Strava/Garmin, and did nothing more, the change makes sense generally speaking.
You essentially didn’t do the assigned workout, and as such, TR will reduce the pending workouts to “re-give” you that same workout since you “didn’t do that work” as assigned.
The other workout you did was probably not “equal” in intent and strain, so it makes sense that TR is giving you the same workout again in a simple sense. This all gets messy and may well be improved once TR release the Workout Level Version 2, but we simply don’t know.
There are ways to connect some outside workouts to planned inside ones, but those can be misused if there is not a real similarity between the assigned and completed workouts.
Ahh ok. Yes so the ride was imported from garmin to trainerroad. I even assigned the ride to the TR workout of that day.
It definitely would not matchup with the assigned workout. However…if I had replaced the sweet spot workout with a longer zone 2 workout as suggested in notes…my ride would have essentially completed the workout, plus an hour or so of zone 2-3.
Right, that kind or mix/match is exactly the “wrong” thing to do that I warned about above. Unless you tried to do the “outside workout” of that given version, associating some random ride/workout with any on the TR calendar is likely a big mistake.
There are Progression Levels associated with the planned workout and you may be “getting those” assigned to your TR career even if your actual completed ride had nothing to do with that zone. Essentially, TR AT is sort of “dumb” right now and relies on either doing the workout inside on the app, or outside as a planned workout and following the goals as close as possible/practical in the real world.
Anything outside of those use cases should not be linked.
This was the Sunday workout on the Mid volume plan?
IIRC that is just for volume, so subbing for a long ride is a good idea.
The Tuesday and Thursday workouts in SSB1 should be driving your Sweet Spot level progression. The Sundays will probably readjust again as those numbers go up.
You said “following the goals as close as possible…”. I do quite a few of my rides outdoors, and I have routes where I can really stick to the perscribed workout well. However, I tend to ride so my average power is at the very top of the prescribed wattage target and for endurence rides I will sometimes extend the total time. When I upload one of these ride AT tend to give me a pretty small progression. Am I getting dinged for going a bit too hard and what is the effect of pusshing the power targets to their maximum?
Hmm. Ok so it seems the consensus is adaptive training just freaked out; I guess I’ll just decline the adjustments and move on? Or would that negate the ability of future adjustments to happen?
You’re not getting “dinged”. You are being rewarded in the “simple” sense that I mentioned, based solely upon the PLANNED workout, not what you actually did. That is the “dumb” part currently in place. If you associate ANY outside ride with ANY planned workout, all TR is doing is “checking the box” that you did the work it assigned.
Actually reviewing the work completed on the ride and rewarding PL based upon that is part of the Workout Levels Version 2 that I referenced. This is aimed at the outside ride aspect, but also for those that deviate from the planned workout in the TR app. This tool will presumably look at the work performed and give PL’s from that more than (but maybe also in reference to) the planned workout.
Oh wow. So just as an experiment…I retroactively repaced the sunday sweet spot ride with Boarstone, the two hour endurance ride recommended as a replacement, and associated my outside ride with that.
Now Hal is recommending jacking up the levels of my endurance rides, while also lowering the sweet spot rides
You’ve just told it you nailed an endurance ride so it’s giving you the credit for that. At the same time you’re saying you missed a sweetspot session so it’s not giving you credit and adjusting the upcoming sweetspot to reflect you missed a session?
Update: well you guys were right. Did Geiger at the crack of dawn this morning, now all my upcoming sweetspot workout levels got harder. I’m not entirely sure this is the outcome I was hoping for
