I resubscribed to TR yesterday after a long break because I need a plan!
I think I have a solid base, with a consistent 9.5 hours per week since September with a CTL that I got up to 70-75 in mid December and have held there.
I did a hard group ride today and while I did ok, I think I am lacking top end power. I was able to stay with the group for just under 20 minutes, with an AP of 290 and an NP of 320, which are both under threshold of 330. But it was the surges and spiikes in the 400-700W range that really did me in.
I am considering the Short Power plan, likely the mid volume, to try and get my short power capacity up. My focus is longer gravel type events, but I want to be able to handle the surgey portions of the race better - plus I want to make it to the end of this group ride!
I would continue to add in my own sweetspot and longer distance training, but I think a 4-8 week round of 2-3 rides with short intervals could help a lot.
Is that a sound plan? Would there be a better alternative?
From end of August 2019 to now, I have focused on zone 2, sweetspot, threshold and VO2 max; when I was gearing up for some races I did more threshold and VO2 max (1 day of VO2Max, 2 days threshold, other days zone 2); in between I did some 1-2 week periods of zone 2 only, and would then add in sweetspot and start ramping up to the harder stuff. I was not on a detailed plan but trying to do some specificity. Does that help?
How strong is this group you’re riding with? How well are you positioning yourself? I’m only asking because a 290 average/320 NP shouldn’t get you dropped unless your riding with some heavy hitters and they just stepping on the gas from the moment the ride started.
And short power build might be good, or general build. Are you training for any specific races?
@brandoninboco, 'll defer to others here who are more familiar with the plans, as to recommending which specific plan.
But in general, regardless which plan you follow (assuming it includes high-intensity interval sessions), you might benefit from allocating your work a little differently.
in my view, in addition to specificity, one way to differentiate base / build / peak is how much fatigue you are willing to carry from workout to workout. In base, you carry a lot of it.
But at a certain point, it becomes more important to make sure that you can hit your high quality sessions hard, do a lot of work in those sessions, and build good confidence in whatchoo got under the hood. (Those will be the specific sessions for your focus, very different between an Ironman triathlete vs. a road racer, for instance).
Keep that in mind whichever plan you choose and see if that helps.
They are really fast - Pros and Cat 1s and 2s. and the ride is an easy 5-6 mile rollout, then a very fast rotating paceline for 30-40 minutes, with some accelerations towards the end. I have never made it to the end, and I would really like to.
These are definitely good things for me to think about - thanks. I have been thinking about this as the last six months have generally seen me shoot for 60-75 minutes during the week, and a bit longer on weekends, and hitting similar TSS or kj/hr. Sounds like this could be ok for base but moving into the season I should adjust.
BTW, I recognize your screen name from Slowtwitch - you have some good threads over that way!