Every time I read these threads I think about a coach
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Same here but I think even a phone consultation with a coach could help out a lot.
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Guys, TR is pretty good - really, pretty great for what it is. But recognize what youāre invested in here: itās a computer and computers are programmed to treat things certain ways. I have some real rub with some of the stuff TR is putting in this thread, but itās their forum.
In my opinion, and in a perfect world, the ideal training plan isnāt driven by a schedule of events. Itās driven by what you need to work and making those transitions at as close to an ideal time as you can in terms of moving on once you have squeezed all the blood out of the turnip. āUnfortunatelyā most of us race, so we have to make some sacrifices in terms of what might be IDEAL for our long term development, and the reality of being as well-prepared for upcoming events as we can be.
It is a tough balance, for sure. TRās approach (and any plan that you pay for thatās not optimized for YOU by an actual human decision-maker) is going to be an event-based approach. Where I think a coach will always trump AI stuff is that we can look at long-term development and help the athlete make choices that support that end goal. Sometimes that might mean youāre not quite as fast for that race in 12 weeks because youāre developing something that will make you a lot faster in 32 weeks. These are the tradeoffs that you have to make with a long-term approach, and thereās not a computer on the planet that will do that as well for you as a well-educated and experienced coach will.
TLDR, Nate was wrong. 
FYI there are TONS of coaches out there who are better than me, I am sure of that. If and when you make the leap, make sure you find someone you mesh well with and whose communication style and philosophy you align with. Thatās way more important than whether that dude was a former pro or works for a big brand or not. (Thatās my perspective as an athlete who has worked with four different coaches since 2016 myself, including Emprical Cycling and Base Camp coaches (currently with a Base Camp coach), as well as two independent coaches and my own self-coaching for like 15 of the last 20 years).
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As one of the fortunate (IMHO) minority who cycles for fun and does not race, it took me years to realize that most people on TR and in the forum DO race and have a vastly different perspective (and needs) from mine. I can, and mostly do, try to train in that āidealā non-event-driven way, using events in which I participate solely for motivation and fun benchmarks.
But I wondered when I saw your comment: do we have ANY idea of how the TR population is split between recreational cyclists and racers? Iāve never seen a number for that. Just curious.
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How are you spacing out VO2 work for an older athlete? Once a week, twice a month?
Depends on the time of year and what the purpose is. Maintenance - every two weeks or so. Build - once a week.
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No idea, but even you as a ānon-racerā have events that matter to you and you want to perform well within your own skills and fitness. Still have to make the tradeoffs a little bit, and youāre well aware of that as we discussed in your onboarding. With your progressive goals, that is exactly what youāre doing and thereās absolutely nothing wrong with that!
So yeah, the āraceā thing there was meant to generally capture anyone who trains for specific events. Most riders do that in some way. Iām sure some percentage of riders out there just train to train because they like it. Nothing wrong with that either!
I think all of us on a forum like this are pretty rare - like 5% of cyclists.
In my club of 100 riders, less than 10% race, and an even smaller percentage do highly structured training. I see one guy who posts TR workouts on Strava and heās not a racer.
Most just ride and do group rides. The most structure most get to is the Saturday group ride plus a race simulation ride on Wednesday evenings.
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yeah, the structured training subset of endurance athletes is small overall, and most of them are goal and/or event-focused IME.
You have no idea how many of my friends tell me, āI really should work with youā and then donāt. Structured training is not for everyone.
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You really think it is a whole percentage, like 1?. Given this describes me and I only know one other person like this refreshing to know maybe there are a few others out there.
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Iād say over 50% of the people I ride with train, on a trainer, with training software, but dont race.
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Hopefully you ride with more then one person otherwise I am just adding you to the list.
I actually dont make that list, I race lol. But no, I ride in some bigger groupsā¦but my core group I ride consistently withā¦call it 10 people, less than half race. A couple others might do like 1 gravel type race a year. They train for group rides.
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A couple points:
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This market is so small that it might take a while to get a good real āAIā system.
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But in principle thereās no aspect of human coaching that canāt be improved by LLMās.
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Even dumb programs of today like āJoinā are pretty decent at 80% of the coaching process.
Everyone I ride with uses structured training, also everyone I ride with races
I know a couple myself.
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Damn. This sweet spot stuff is really starting to make a differenceā¦just did a 60 mile group ride, with average power for the ride just about what Iāve been doing at sweet spot.
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Challenge: in couple months, 100km/60mi solo, sub-3h on road bike, no tri-bars? 
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In Yorkshire, probably not. In Essex, maybe. Basically, got an elevation profile for the course?
Right, lets say on flat, holding 35km/h is challenge enough.