I just started TR last month and have been enjoying it. I am currently on Week 5 of Sweet Spot Base - Mid Volume. I want to start doing rolling road races and grand fondos next year but have not picked specific events to do yet. I want to train over the winter and want to try Adaptive Training but I am not sure.
Since I am due to finish my current base plan in two weeks I am planning to use Plan Builder to build a plan that starts the following week. My questions are:
Since I don’t have specific events in mind, when should I aim to “end” my plan? I am looking to start doing races and rides in May/June-ish.
Which discipline should I select for Plan Builder-Rolling Road Races?
And what plan should I set up once my winter/spring training runs down? Can’t I just set up Plan Builder to not end?
I just use plan builder with no specific races, and go from there, it lays out like a year of training, and if you start to nail down any events, you can add them in and it may tweak things a bit for you.
Adaptive training works rather well in my experience. It is not a panacea where you can trust your computer overlord without thinking, but it is definitely an improvement. My recommendation is to at first resist your instinct to override it. I did that in the beginning, and while some of the progression level drops are (in my limited experience) too large for me, erring on the side of caution is the way to go.
"No events, no problem! Plan Builder allows you to build out a plan to just make you as fit as possible leading up to the date of your choice even without a specific race.
We recommend picking a cycling discipline (E.g. Road Race, Criterium, Gran Fondo, etc.) so we can give you workouts that train the zones specific to that discipline. You don’t need to pick a discipline though.
If you don’t pick an end date for your plan, we’ll build you a year-long plan."
If you’re going to use Plan Builder you should use AT in my opinion. Going to help get the right progression rate for you and deal better with any adjustments needed for unexpected breaks or setbacks.
For the type of events you’re thinking of then yes, Rolling Road Race is a pretty good option. In terms of when to end it I’d be inclined to pick a date around that May/June timeframe and schedule an A race there for now, and then amend it as and when you get around to picking a specific event and Plan Builder will adjust accordingly. Also best to pick an A race that is a little bit later in your racing window so that you can do some B and C races as preparation first.
I would also go through plan builder/AT. If you don’t have an event nailed down then don’t forget that’s you can just scrap the current plan and then back date a new one that matches up better with your event when you figure it out.
Thanks for the feedback! Decided I will just do Pick a Plan as Rolling Race as the criteria and do it for the full year. Looks like the plan has me starting with Sweet Spot Base I (which obviously makes sense) but I will be repeating. Is there anyway to substitute in a plan with Plan Builder so I can start off with Sweet Spot Base II?