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TrainerRoad IM Plan - How good is it?
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First IM coming up in July at Placid. Decided to go with TrainerRoad IM plan. Going low volume for Base and then mid volume for Build and Specific Really seems like a ton of volume and not much recovery. I totally appreciate that I have absolutely zero clue what to expect, so really not basing these thoughts on anything other than feeling overwhelmed.

During specificity, two weeks out is 14 hour week w/ a 5.5 hour brick on the saturday 2 weeks from the Race. Then a 10 hour week the week before race week. Is this standard? I think I anticipated a much longer taper. With all of this said, it is a lot of Z2 work. But maybe someone can school me on this programs viability and what a 140.6 taper looks like in other plans?
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Re: TrainerRoad IM Plan - How good is it? [cmd111183] [ In reply to ]
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I have been a trainer road user for the previous three seasons and find it to be a very useful service. I am now on week two of the IM Medium Volume build. Not doing an IM but liked its composition and volume of workouts.

Trainer road plans have you doing hard work. Harder work then most would do on their own but thats also how it can get you in really good shape when done consistently. Last year the olympic distance plan was too much for me to do all three high intensity workouts for the bike so I did two each week and added two easy volume days. Still had a successful season. FWIW I would say stick to one volume of plan for the whole duration. For me i like that I don't have to worry or plan each weeks bike workouts as I have 8-12 weeks of bike work on the schedule at a time. I can then build run and swim around that base of fitness and see what kind of volume I can handle.

Good luck!
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Re: TrainerRoad IM Plan - How good is it? [tritontoby] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks! When used training for a race, did you find the taper to be too short or to heavy in volume? I've used TR for bike training in the past and I like the structure, but IM is such a big race I just want to make sure I'm selecting a plan that will work!
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Re: TrainerRoad IM Plan - How good is it? [cmd111183] [ In reply to ]
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I'm currently following the TrainerRoad plan for IM Texas. I just finished the Base Full Distance High Volume plan. I started about 4 weeks in to the program and followed it pretty closely aside from moving rides around within a week to accommodate my schedule. I've just started the Full Distance Build High Volume this week. I've decided to combine weeks 1 & 2 (I also skipped the FTP test but did up my FTP number) so that I can finish the plan a week early because I felt like I wanted a little bit more of a taper in volume.

I will say that so far using the base plan was great. I've definitely picked up some good strength in a relatively short amount of time after a lengthy layoff (@ 10 months) from any real bike training. I've had some days where if it weren't for TR, I'd have just opted to sit there and soft pedal for an hour but ended up having a pretty good workout. I recently got a used Computrainer to pair with it that has been nice to take the thinking out of the rides. I first started using the virtual power with a Kinetic trainer and it was more mentally exhausting keeping up with the watts than anything.

Curious about others experiences too. Hope that helps (both you & me)
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Re: TrainerRoad IM Plan - How good is it? [cmd111183] [ In reply to ]
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I would say that the taper is lighter than some might like but not all bad. Coming from a competitive run background I have found that to lay off too much and you can get pretty stale and loose fitness/sharpness for race week. I wouldn't be too afraid of a 5.5 hour brick 14 days before your IM (as long as its at the appropriate pace). That is prob less than half of your IM distances and at (or slower) than race pace this should be pretty comfortable at that stage of the game.

It can get overwhelming if you look at 6 months of worth of workouts all at once. Plan out your season but only look at the 4 week block or 12 week base period for the time being. The smaller chunks are easier to handle. You will better know what your body can handle by the time you reach the taper. And if you are super fit the 1-2% difference the taper can make wont matter all that much.

If you do podcasts TR puts on a fairly informative and entertaining one that revolves around their plans. Gives some good context to the program.
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Re: TrainerRoad IM Plan - How good is it? [tritontoby] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks. I appreciate the insight. What seems like a crap ton of volume now will not seem like so much then I suppose. Just tough to wrap my head around as I load everything into Training Peaks!
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Re: TrainerRoad IM Plan - How good is it? [cmd111183] [ In reply to ]
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I loosely followed TR plans for IM/HIM last year, but did not like all the intensity. I felt that having 2 higher intensity rides during the week comprised my recovery and swim/run workouts.

I also did not see any significant improvements in FTP vs. prior year.
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Re: TrainerRoad IM Plan - How good is it? [Anton84] [ In reply to ]
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The reason you saw no improvement in FTP is because you “loosely” followed the plans.

When would you have the intensity on the bike workout? How do you raise the roof if you never climb the ladder?

I think a lot of people think of training long course as slow and long, and always focus on being super fresh, it’s normal to not always feel like your going have a good workout, but somehow you get through the warm up and it just happens. Unless you were doing 15+ hrs a week, you left some food on the table as far as improvement goes.

Those plans (I’ve used them) offer a great outline for most, and then you take what you learn through the process and adjust..,but not so much that you miss key parts of the program.
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Re: TrainerRoad IM Plan - How good is it? [Tigertater] [ In reply to ]
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I followed the plans for the half base/build/specialty and IM build/Specialty last year. I only followed the weekly rides and did my own long weekend ride outdoors. I did not follow the run or swim tips provided. I nailed both races in terms of bike split 2:24/5:09 and overall time. I'm using TR again this year for all my races. I followed the medium volume plan for all. FTP went from 240-289 in one season.
Last edited by: FairDestroyer: Jan 10, 18 12:45
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Re: TrainerRoad IM Plan - How good is it? [cmd111183] [ In reply to ]
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I’m a little confused when you say the IM training plans by TR.
when you say that, are you just talking about the bike portion or are you talking about the run and swim workouts as well?

I only follow the mid volume bike portion, follow the BarryP run outline of 6 runs per week, and swim 4-5 times a week of my own outline. I can’t comment on the run and swim workouts of TR since I haven’t done them.
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Re: TrainerRoad IM Plan - How good is it? [KingMidas] [ In reply to ]
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It’s my intention to follow the entire plan, including the swim and run, so I was looking for some N1 feedback. My concerns were also related to the taper volume, although in some additional research it does seem that many plans still have solid volume up until the week before the race.
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Re: TrainerRoad IM Plan - How good is it? [cmd111183] [ In reply to ]
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Taper is an art in itself and you have to find out what works best for you through trial and error. Some need more and some less. If in doubt, start conservatively, especially race week. Better to go into the race a little over tapered than not enough taper.
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