I am using a training plan to prepare for the Shenandoah 100k as an A-race and also in pursuit of breaking through perceived limits. I use a Peloton + as my trainer, so I cannot benefit from the auto-adjusting FTP. I am working on my last tested FTP, which is 228. I have incorporated weight and athletic conditioning classes to maximize strength and total body fitness. When I am at what may be a limit, it seems like the AI gets scared and downgrades my workouts. I understand the fatigue it is trying to avoid, so for the most part, I respect the decision as I prepare for the race. After the race, I am thinking about not taking the advice of AI and pushing through to see what is on the other side.
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Whats on the other side: Fatigue or Injury
The best training is the one that keeps you training. Going harder for a week and digging deep (unless programmed with intentional recovery following) will pretty much always cause you to miss workouts or downgrade some other aspect of life.
If youâve got few other real responsibilities, give it a go and see how much you can tolerate. I personally become a caffeine dependent grouch that sucks at being a good human when iâve dug myself a hole.
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Interesting. Thank you for the insight.
I should also add, the way TR reads âstrength workâ is likely different than the strength work youâre actually doing. As a result, the system is assigning way more stress on your model than you actually are on your body which may be leading to the disconnect in AI guidance vs body feel.
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have you checked your settings?
you can adjust the slider on training approach in settings to be more or less aggressive.
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Yes. I adjusted the slider last week. It has been a little better. However, this week, after VO2max on Tuesday, it converted Thursday, which should have been an hour threshold, to a 30 threshold. It may be gearing down since my A race is next week. I will play with it some more after the race.
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I agree with what @jamesdrichey said. Weâve built the models we have in place based on datasets full of millions of completed workouts and training data from our athletes. We know whatâs on the other side and do our best to shield our athletes from it. 
Of course, so many athletes are curious and need to find out for themselves, which, in a way, I understand, but just keep in mind our recommendations moving forward if you can! 
The best way to get faster is to keep training with quality, week after week, year after year. Things that derail your training donât make lasting improvement to your fitness.
Best of luck on your journey! Weâre here if you need anything along the way. 
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Thanks, Eddie,
Of course, I love Trainer Road and currently feel great heading into this event, and attribute that to the guidance of the TR platform and Podcast. Iâm curious about where my limit is, and without the AI FTP detection, the end of my plans feels stagnant. I want to maximize my Z2 and build my VO2 max after this season, and I think using the Masters plan gears down the volume to maximize time in the saddle.
Thank you for the insight.
Cheers,
Bret
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Iâm mostly just here to chuckle at the irony of being named Ted Lasso and also wanting to be David Goggins 
I was a Marine and I can tell you that even in boot camp I got a laugh from the David Goggins/R. Lee Ermey style motivation techniques. Some guys live for that stuff!
I get it though. We all sometimes yearn to know if we could do more or push harder. I think youâre smart to hold off until after your race. Be cautious and listen to your body.
On the âimpact of strength training fatigue in TRâ topic, a lot of people donât know that youâre only supposed to enter in the number of sets that you take to failure (or close to it). It could be youâre entering in 15 sets when youâre only taking 4 of those to max. Huge difference. Click the â?â next to âWorking Setsâ in the app to learn more.
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Thanks for the reply and Semper Fi. I am also a former Marine, a long time ago. I am mostly curious about Gogginsâ point of view that when you hit failure, youâre at 40% of your capacity, and the mental negotiation that must take place to unlock the true potential of your life somewhere in pushing through failure.
Yeah, I donât fully understand how to enter the reps on the strength workout, so I gave up on that. The high-set reps come from a lot of low-weight Peloton or strength/athletic conditioning classes at the Y. If I lift at home, I do not have heavy enough weights to get to failure.
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Whoâs gunna carry the boats and logs
Sometimes itâs good to push through those hard days and sometimes it isnât.
According the my garmin I have been strained for a month. Ever since I went on vacation my HRV has been consistently low, I think itâs due to the heat this summer. Itâs been rough to be honest.
Garmin doesnât know me Son!
But seriously powering through a couple weeks can work (for some)but make sure you rest when itâs time to rest.
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Today is Wednesday, & your race is next Saturday. Youâre only 1½ weeks out. If youâre following a TR plan then adapting your threshold down to 30â is well in line with a taper for an A-race.
So Iâd say the planâs doing what it should. The job between now & your event is to shed any fatigue you have. I think your moneyâs in the bank for this one. Youâre not going to move the needle up much (if at all) with hard workouts at this stage, but you could screw it up.
And it looks like a serious race, only if youâre at the pointy end could it be a sub-6h race.
If you want to find your limits, & in the process teach TR your limits, best to do that when it doesnât matter if you go too hard & have to take a couple of weeks off.
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Love the references, thank you for the insight.
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The new check volume button may be the fix I am looking for. I went into my current plan and hit check volume. The AI added workouts to the remaining plan and realigned my taper week as well.
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Jem Arnold wrote a good article on interpreting group level data for individual level application:
Good luck man! Itâs an A race for me too, and Iâm so stoked that weâre going back to the OG course this year. I canât wait, and Iâm planning to see how far I can push those perceived limits on the Lynn and Hankey climbs
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Good luck. Hope to see you there.
Last winter was the first year I fell out of the thought process youâre describing and it was the first where I made a leap in fitness.
Train smarter.
You need recovery to improve - if your workouts are being downgraded then you should heed the advice, it means youâre not going to train effectively.
If that happens week on week, re-structure your training week so that itâs avoided.
When youâre training hard, you want to be at your limit. Then when youâre riding Z2 you want to stay entirely in that zone. That way you get better overall gains. And, counter intuitively, the bulk of your training should be Zone 2. Of the order 70-80%
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Iâm not currently strength training in combination with my TR plan but, in prior years I had no problem doing 3 days a week of F45 strength workouts or my own gym workouts while in base/build phases. I was just conscious to have my recovery meals ready for all my workouts and I felt great. I was late 40âs at the time and training 9-14 hour per week plus the weights. If I was consistently getting yellow lights I would ignore them if I was feeling good. You should always check in with yourself and see if the RL/GL is lining up with how you actually feel. I think TR is a bit conservative with this feature which is understandable.
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Shen is The Best raceâŚperiod. Though you should be doing the 100miler. 
Enjoy!
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