Some interesting comments in the last 24 hours!
(and just for you, Crunchy! 
)
I should clear up a couple of things:
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I am not burned out, over-trained, exhausted, etc.
Physically and mentally I’m fine – no weird heart rates, no sleeping or eating issues, no DOMS, no crankiness (beyond my normal sparkling personality). Yes, my experimental Monster Month was a tough one, but I enjoyed it, and took a week of actual Z1 recovery after the fact (vs the TR Endurance “recovery” week).
I’m good to go.
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Pre-forum days, I inquired on TR’s reddit about a suitable plan for my goal (TT) and framework (9 months). The TR guys recommended: Base-Build-Base-Build-Spec. I inquired once more on the this forum after it got rolling. Same recommendation. So that’s what I scheduled. Yes, I did mod the Build phase, but only by addition/subtraction, not substitution.
Thus, my cracking is not a matter of not being able to handle what TR is dishing out, it’s a matter of eating the same thing for months on end – doing relatively the same workout again and again ad nauseam. I think the average IF for HVBase is 0.80, for SPHVBuild it’s 0.85… That means I’m spending essentially 7 months within a very narrow band…and that, dear readers, is the issue.
For example, I was scheduled to do Hunter -1 tonight – 3x20min on (kind of)/9min off 88-92%. As I made my way through the (why so long?!) warm-up, I remembered this thread: 3 x 20 mins @ sweet spot = 60mins @ sweet spot?, and decided to screw the 2 hours of flapping around and just do 1x60 @ 90%. Done and dusted, thank you very much. Saved myself 30 minutes, could have saved another 20 or so by not doing the full 30 min warm-up.
I guess this is the crossroads where I as a rider and TR user come face to face with both my own limitations as well as the limitations of the product. It’s great for a general structure if you do only Base-Build-Spec, but if you require or want anything outside of that framework… I guess it’s good that TR plans and workouts are malleable in this sense.
I fully understand that training is hard work both physically and mentally, but I didn’t sign up for this:
