Run, strength, bike. How on earth would I manage this training mountain?

My priorities for now are:
Running 1st
Strength 2nd
Mtb 3rd.

I’ve decades of experience and fitness which helps a lot, but it’s a heck of a lot to fit into a week.

Rough plan.
Gym 45mins, weekday mornings. 2 leg days, 2-3 upper body. I enjoy this start to the day.

Mon: Running, track night so vo2 max
Tues?
Wed: Running, Tempo/Threshold club run 1hr
Thurs?
Fri, usually want a rest by the end of the week.
Saturday. Proper day off
Sun. Mega aerobic day. 3-8hrs of hiking, running, biking. Easy, cruise pace. Enjoying nature.

I’d love to use Trainerroad, but am scared of overdoing it seeing as I already have 2 hard run sessions. I do miss being fast on the bike though.
I don’t think I could justify the cost for just one session either.
I get a regular 7hrs of sleep a night and always wake up before my alarm. Eat well.

Ideas?

I guess you know the answer, there isn’t time for TR - I mean, it’s not even in your top 3 priorities.

I’d do some skills type MTB stuff on Tue/Thu. Low aerobic ride on technical trails. Maybe even on an ebike to keep the training load low.

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First of all, your need to get your priorities straight.

There is no room in here for cycling of any kind to be a third priority.

Kidding!

It seems to me you get enough intensity with your other training, but where you may be lacking is the muscle memory / efficiency that comes with hours on the bike. I would personally add some sweet spot type training on the days that you ride, maybe a couple times a week to get the most out of your training without overdoing it.

Although I love the TR platform, it really doesn’t sound like you need it at this point (until you get those priorities fixed!).

Good luck!

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you didn’t say what you are training for. Is it a race(s), or overall health/fitness/enjoyment? if it’s the latter, I would agree w/ no TR and just get outside. you also didn’t say where you were - can you even get outside in the coming winter months, or is TR/indoor workouts a necessity?

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I’m in the UK so can ride through the winter.

Main goal: 3 day mountain running race at the end of April.
Secondary goal: to be able to go to the spring and summer xc races, with the ability to keep the bike moving along nicely. XC tracks are so much more fun when you are fit enough to be fast.

I’m fit enough generally, for instance I recently rode a 4 day bikepacking trip and happily peddled for 10hrs a day with 2000m + climbing/day. I’ve been riding for so long that I can do it in my sleep. I’ve also ridden mtb and cx for decades, so my skills seem fairly locked into my mind/body.

What I’m missing is the ability to dig deep at race pace. I lack that intensity training, hence why I’m interested in TR. It holds you accountable to the efforts. Plus, and this is a big plus, I want to give AT a proper go. I’m interested to see if it’d help me manage things. Even if a lot of my fatigue is coming from another source, then my survey responses should keep me on track shouldn’t they?

I’m wondering if i dropped the threshold run session on a Wednesday down to z2, then I’d only have one vo2 session on the calendar (Mon, track night). That would free up a space for one hard TR workout.
The rest of the week could be all z2 stuff with the exception of a TR SS workout perhaps? That would still give me time on my feet for the running, with just a tweak of where im getting my cardio from.

You may not want to, but perhaps you need to periodise your strength training. So more strength in the winter, then switch focus to the run/bike as the race season approaches and do just a couple of maintenance sessions in the gym.

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First concern is that maybe you want all icing and no cake, all workouts to be ‘quality’ and no easy stuff. Optimal endurance training needs a good combination of intensities with the vast majority in the easy/aerobic space. And very little anaerobic work, which your daily lifting can blow out of the water.

If you really want to improve your bike, but it’s your third priority, I would set aside winter as a bike block and go back to run, lift focus in spring.

Mixing sports still, I’d choose a triathlon plan - I’m a triathlete who lifts - because it takes into account that you are doing other training. Have a look at the sprint or Olympic plans. Low or mid volume. Set a fictitious race for when you want to end your bike block.

Ignore the swim sessions. Back off your lifting to two per week. Let AT work it’s magic.

I mix all three, bike, run, weights, but biking is my main goal so I make sure my legs are fresh for my two important bike workouts:
*Monday-upper body weights
*Tuesday-VO2max efforts on the bike (important workout)
*Wednesday-easy 3 to 4 mile run followed by deadlifts and squats
*Thursday-easy zone 2 bike workout
*Friday-upper body weights
*Saturday-bike threshold workout or spirited group ride (important workout)
*Sunday-easy 3 to 4 mile run followed by deadlifts and squats.

All this equals 3 bikes, 2 runs, and 2 strength training session(muscle group) per week.

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Joe. I’m all cake and no icing! I spend my life cruising round enjoying the scenery. I’m looking for some structured icing so that its managed in a sensible manner.

Stonerider. Thats roughly the sort of plan I’m doing. Experimenting with a proper rest day on a Saturday to motivate me towards a bigger Sunday. Have a decade of double weekend sessions under my belt so thought I’d try something different.
Just back from a 4hr trail run in the cold and wet. Luckily found a cafe halfway and bought a hot sausage roll :yum:.
Might try a 90min turbo later today. That way i get all the load from a normal weekend but with a full rest day which really helped revitalise me.

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5 lifting sessions, 1 track day, 1 tempo and 1 mega day doesn’t speak to that :slight_smile: That’s 8 hard sessions and 0 easy per week…

Your mega day may be aerobic zone, but its length makes it a hard day.

Back off the runs to easy, reduce the frequency of lifting and choose a tri plan to improve your bike.

The mega day is very much in my wheelhouse. Definitely counts as easy aerobic for me. I’ve got so much experience in my body.
I think I listed my easy spins and runs in my original post. Edit: no I didn’t, I left them out to avoid clutter. Basically I am currently doing 2 hard sessions a week and the rest easy. Usually train 5-6 days a week at my endurance sports.
Should have added that I’m not lifting heavy yet. Im new to weights so am just building habits and techniques.

Anyway. Yes, i think it’d be worth looking at the tri plans.

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Yeah, with that run schedule on top of lifting I think you’re probably covered on the intensity front. Even light lifts can be a big load to your body if you’re just getting used to it!

Assuming cycling is the last priority I think you’d be better sticking to more endurance/recovery work- worth noting that there is from transfer from running to cycling IME and it’s not like you’re letting your bike fitness go entirely, so I think you might be surprised at how quickly it comes back if you decide to focus on riding in the future. (And given the demands of a 3 day mountain run, I think it’s probably appropriate to just view the bike as maintenance for now)