Hello! I’ve started with TrainerRoad in May for first time, at that point I was doing some gravel so I started a Gravel plan. At that point I had no idea about the plan builder, the different phases, etc… Now I’m not an expert at all, but at least I know more or less the concepts.
A couple of months ago I moved away from the gravel bike and I have a road bike and I want to focus on road cycling. Should I start a new plan for road discipline?
Let me add some other information also: I’m 32yo, 55kg and my FTP is 150. I’m not planing to ride any race, at least for now. Just trying to improve and be able to complete longer/harder routes and maybe next summer to compete at some small races just for fun.
Now I can spend about 20h per week training or even more, but from January probably it will be reduced to about 10-12.
As your FTP is under 3 W/kg you have lots of room to increase your aerobic capacity.
I was in a similar position, used Plan Builder, and opted for Sweetspot Base 1 and 2 followed by Sustained Power Build. I was initially going to do Climbing Road Race specialty phase but changed to Rolling Road Race.
I chose low volume to get 3 days a week and have added in a bunch of Z2 endurance rides.
Stoked to have you join us, and that you are experimenting with all different kinds of riding!
There is no need to start a new Training Plan. The Specialty phase will be the same if you are focussing on the Rolling Road race discipline or Gavel riding, as they have similar physiological demands, requiring you to focus on the same training zones.
Therefore, your current Training Plan will prepare you well for Gravel and Road riding!I would continue on the Low Volume Plan for the time being, if you are making progress! If, after a couple of months of training, you feel able to increase your volume, you can change the volume of individual training blocks. Check out this article here to learn how: How to Change an Individual Training Block’s Volume.
Have fun out there! Let me know if you have any questions about this!
Thanks!!! and when I finish the current plan, what should I do, just start again the plan? Now I’m in the Building phase, and then I will move to the speciality phase but I will end with the speciality in a super weird moment in time (probably in winter?) where ideally I think it should finish more or less in summer or so? That it’s when most of races or bike events have place? Just guessing, I don’t really know but I wanted to make it “as best as possible” taking into account that is a long process.
But looking at what @Helvellyn said that I think it has a lot of sense, given my current FTP, probably even doing it “wrong” I will see a huge improvement because my starting point can be easily improved in any way.
If you want AT and plan builder to start working around “seasons” and a date you’d want peak fitness, you could add a dummy race somewhere in that period and plan build should adjust the schedule.
Add a dummy ‘A’ race somewhere close to when you want to be in top shape (spring?)
Plan builder should adapt your plan to peak a few weeks before the A event.
My plan, generated by plan builder, looks like this. The A event is a placeholder for now, as the 2023 ride schedule is not published yet.
Base 1
Build 1
Base 2
Build 2
Specialty
A event
The only exception is when your A event falls after the enddate of your current plan. In that case you will have to start with a new plan
Your current Training Plan ends on June 18, 2023. If you’d like it to extend beyond this date, you can delete this Plan and rebuild it.
You can check the Start and End date on your Career Page. It looks like your current Training Plan ends on June 18, 2023. See the screenshot below.
If that time frame works for you, you can simply go through Plan Builder again once this current Training Plan finishes next year.
If, on the other hand, the 18th of June is premature and in the middle of your “season”, you can delete your current Training Plan and rebuild it.
One quick way to delete your plan is to navigate to your Career on the web, where you will see an overview of your current plan. From there, select the ellipsis (three-dot menu) and select “Delete Plan”. See the screenshot below:
I agree; a Low Volume Plan is a great place to start! You’ll see from your Career page (and the screenshot above) that you are on a Low Volume Plan at the moment . Just because you have the time doesn’t mean that it is productive to spend all of that time on the bike, especially when you are relatively new to structured training!
I would keep in mind the principle of the minimal effective dose. This ensures progress while avoiding overtraining and zapping your enjoyment in the training process. Let me know if that makes sense or if you have other questions. I’d be happy to point you in the right direction!
