The right route?

I was dead set on my plan for this year, but now I’m wondering If should mix it up.
I just finished SSB MV I/II Did my ramp test yesterday and was planing on restarting SSB MV I/II, go to general build, then rolling road race.
My A++ race is masters nats weekend as I’ll do the RR and crit. Hence, all this base. But now I’m curious if I have enough time to do two builds/peaks - June 7-9 for Tulsa Tough which sadly is the same weekend as our state crit.
And after Masters Nats I’ll be doing Gateway Cup and hoping to ride that fitness into that. Then take a mini break and get right into CX. Plus, my base was horrible last year especially when CX rolled around. I was a straight up crit guy last year and it showed.

I’ll be racing 3-4 times a month probably as well between crits and road races starting mid March. I’m also one of those who likes to race into shape. But, I would like this year to be different.

Am I doing it right with all of this base or should I roll into a build and speciality for Tulsa?
I guess I"m just worried my bursts and the such won’t be there come March/April. My ftp is up about 18 watts since early November.

I am also starting to substitute the weekend workouts with a long endurance/tempo ride 3-5 hours, and one day of threshold/group ride that is basically a mock race.

The nice part about doing a re-build is that you can have two different Build/Specialty phases, which could be good for you with your wide range of events. This should broaden the scope of tools in your toolbox, which will help you excel in many different kinds of racing.

You could focus on Sustained work leading up to Tulsa (Sustained Power Build, Century Specialty)

Then, for your re-build, you could do General Build and Rolling Road Race in preparation for Masters Nationals.

And then, after a short Break, you could do another Re-Build using Short Power Build and Cyclocross Specialty.

Sounds like you have quite a season ahead of you :wink:

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I started about the same time as you with similar plans. I just started riding again last September after four years completely off the bike.

I was planning on an early peak in late March but I’ve pushed it back to late May. Life happens…

Having completed General Build HV I can say I got a nice FTP bump and my high end was coming along very well. My concern was that in my experience VO2 and anaerobic fitness is sort of easy come easy go and comes at a high physiological cost.

I’m now back into a more old school program of one bigger SS day and one threshold or higher workout per week with lots of Z2 work to fill in. My thinking is that I’m able to get my TSS up without peaking too early.

I won’t be sharp for March crits, but I’m pretty confident my aerobic fitness will keep me competitive. I will start intensity work then and hopefully have my CTL near 100-110 by May without hitting a plateau or burning out.

Using the TR General Build HV and swapping in more Z2 is what I’m considering once racing starts.

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I kind of like this thinking. Was just browsing the sustained and century and honestly - the workouts are right up my alley.
Plus - the sustained and century will add quite a bit to this base I think @Bryce maybe more bang for the buck than redoing SSB MV I/II. Should I be concerned about short power or with my plate of racing and threshold stuff on the weekends take care of it?
Nevermind: I do see there are some V02 work on sustained on Tuesdays.

Same thinking @Tanner1280: March/April crits are whatever to me. Hopefully finish well, get some upgrade points and keep going. Everything in March-April and probably May are just C priority for me.

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Bumping this up, @Bryce.
Are the TR speciality phases about continuing to build fitness or is it more about maintaining? I am definitely not doing century next that is for sure. I’m getting absolutely worked in the last two weeks for crits and road racing in the cat 2/3. By people I was doing the working to last year. Very frustrating. Yeah, yeah I know, sustained. Not short power. But still.
I’m thinking of doing short power starting Tuesday as sustained power ends today or going into Rolling Road Race or crit. I’m still looking at a semi peak in early June and early September. Then a week off then going in CX.

Hey @JHow!

The Specialty Phase is a refinement of your fitness where you build in specificity towards your “A” priority event. The volume does reduce slightly, but you are still increasing your fitness up until your Taper. Racing mid-Specialty phase is a bit easier than racing mid-Build due to this lower volume that allows you to go into your races a bit fresher.

These articles could be helpful in clearing up any confusion in the purpose behind the Build and Specialty Phases.

https://support.trainerroad.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001766231-Build-Phase-Training-Everything-You-Need-to-Know

https://support.trainerroad.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001744692-Specialty-Phase-Training-Everything-You-Need-to-Know

I know this is a tough situation to be in, but you have to remember the priorities that you set for yourself. If the Tulsa Tough is an “A” race for you, and you are preparing appropriately, then you may perform sub-optimally in the short power events in the meantime. That’s just the way it goes.

But maybe the Tulsa Tough is not as much of an “A” race as you originally thought. Maybe these crits and road races are more important to you. That is something that only you can decide, but remember every choice you make will be a trade-off. If you train to optimize crit performance, you will give up sustained power performance and vice-versa.

I wish you the best in the rest of your season!

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All good stuff, thanks for replying.
Nah, the early season stuff isn’t as important as what I have planned for the season, but I guess it was just a shock to the system that I was struggling as much as I was with these early season hilly crits and race. I’m not looking at getting on the podium or anything, but you know, not getting dropped would be ideal. And it’s CO and early season. Everyone races the early season. It is what it is. It’s a very long season. It’ll work out.

Besides, getting a peak in for Tulsa Tough crit weekend would be awesome since it coincides with some key events in CO as well in that time period. Re-build, then finish strong.

Thanks for the info on the speciality. I have two extra weeks -so maybe i’ll tinker with some short power, then into crit and have it finish early June.

Thanks again.

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