Kentucky Mac wrote:
Hey Nick, Chad, Jonathan! I have a recurring issue with Sweet Spot base. The past few seasons I've tested and then followed Part 1 and Part 2 (Sweet Spot Low Vol) and this is the sequence of events that seem to happen to me:
1) I feel good throughout Part 1 and into Part 2
2) I feel like I'm getting stronger until I reach the last few weeks and virtually kill myself trying to keep power on Leconte
3) A week later, I murder my legs trying to hold power on Mary Austin
4) I take the final recovery week and all 3 workouts feel like torture (even though they have a low IF)
5) I test and completely bomb
Needless to say my FTP has plateaued the past several seasons. I'm wondering what is going on. There are no other obvious issues: I'm doing my normal base-building runs and regular Masters swims, haven't been sick, get 7-9 hours of sleep a night, diet is pretty much on point.
Do I need to add in an extra recovery week btw Leconte and Mary Austin, and TWO recovery weeks before I test? Should I skip those two workouts?
I had planned on going into the Sufferfest Build but not sure if I have some hidden fatigue in my legs. Maybe skip Sufferfest, do a recovery week and go into Sustained Build plan? My next race isn't until February...
Thanks as always, guys!
Howdy,
Sorry to hear about the speed bumps you've been running into here!
It sounds like this comes down to the progression of the plan not fully suiting your individual rate of physiological progression the best it could. The good news is TrainerRoad training plans are totally flexible. :)
We'd recommend shifting the recovery week to Week 4 or 5 in Sweet Spot Base I and something similar in SSB II. It can add a week or two to the 12-week base plan, but it's time well spent since it allows the necessary compensation we're after.
So you'll follow weeks 1-3 as normal, then schedule in Week 6. Then you'll complete Week 4-6 before following the same progression through SSB II. You can also apply this same idea to a 4-on/1-off format.
The former is more of a 3-on/1-off format that you'll find in the majority of the plans we offer.
It sounds like you're doing all the right things outside of training, so I don't think anything there is impacting your progress. I think this adjusted schedule will accommodate your training progression best, but we'd still like to hear how things go. Give this schedule a try and keep us looped in on how it works for you. Our aim is to create training plans that help
all athletes get faster without any changes, but there are times when athletes will need to make adjustments to best suit what works for them.
Let us know how things go! Thanks again
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