Nate, I thought I had heard (or read) that the site had an 'online live chat' coach to assist in picking plans. Am I confused? I went to the site and didn't find any option like that.

Assuming I'm wrong (a great assumption), I'll put down my targets for 2016 here in hopes you'll be able to recommend a plan.

Completed Great Floridian on about 3 months of trainerroad workouts (Sweet Spot, followed by 8 weeks of Sustained Power). I plan to get back to very structured (tr.com workouts) after Thanksgiving. FTP was 269, weight = 180ish (would like to get this down to 175 or so). This was just before race, so things have fallen off a bit since 10/23.

A race will be an Oly in June, which will be flat and fast. The 'wrinkle' is that I want to compete in a 15k running race in February, so my run will be a priority, but I'd like to ride 3 (maybe 4?) times a week, thru the 15k. My goal for the bike for the oly will be to get as close to 60' 40k as possible. I think a realistic goal would be around 64-66 minutes, followed by a ~44' 10k (maybe faster, who knows).

Then, next A Race will be 11/8/16, a 1/2IM race, also flat and fast. I figure I don't really need to worry about this race until after my June Oly.

Thanks for any help, and you've got a huge cheerleader here in me.....

All this make sense?

I'd like to jump in here if I may :)

For your first target race in June, I'd recommend a standard Base > Build > Specialty training cycle, starting with Sweet Spot 1 & 2. Given your initial focus on the 15k run in February, stay with the Low Volume Sweet Spot plans for the Base block of training. SS 1 will have you on the bike 3 times per week, and SS 2 will up that to 4 rides per week, which should fit well with your running schedule.

Next, I'd recommend the Sustained Power Build plan. This is going to really focus on increasing your 'hour power' which is exactly what you'll need for that 40k TT goal. With the 15k run behind you at this point, consider bumping up to the Mid Volume plan version depending on the amount of time you have to train.

Finally, the Specialty plan will then take you into June for your first target event. I'd recommend utilizing the Oly Distance Specialty Plan. Our tri plans don't include run/swim workouts, but Coach Chad took these into consideration while designing the plans, so they provide an excellent template for you to work your additional workouts in, around your cycling. To put a little extra emphasis on your cycling here to help you reach that 60' 40k time, I'd recommend again stepping up the volume to the High version of this Specialty plan. Also, another thing to remember here is you want week 8 of this plan to match up with the week of your event. The final week of this plan is a taper week, so volume backs off a bit so you can regain some freshness, but there's still some intensity so you don't lose any fitness and you'll be firing on all cylinders come race day.

From here, I'd recommend taking a week or two to fully recover both physically and mentally, and then you should have about 12 weeks before the 70.3 in November. Getting back into training, I'd say to hop into the final 4 weeks of the Sustained Power Build plan again, followed by the Half Distance Specialty plan. However, given how far away this is, it'd be best to re-visit this question after your race in June in order to make the best decision here. Check out this great blog from Coach Chad on your options "between peaks." His suggestions in the 'Rebuild: 8-12 weeks between peaks' is very applicable here: 4 Ways to Train Between Cycling Peaks

Hope this helps and feel free to shoot me a message if you'd like to discuss more.

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Professional Mountain Biker and Community Manager at TrainerRoad - Cycling's Most Effective Training Tool

Be careful what you ask for, as Nate/Chad will attest!!

Thanks for this feedback, awesome.

I'm back. Used TR from November until April last winter but once it got nice outside I bailed out. By September I felt that I wasn't as strong as I was in Spring. First TR workout this afternoon proved it. Now I signed up for the year and I'll keep doing at least 1 or 2 interval work-outs during the nice weather.

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

It really is a different world isn't it? I will throw in a time crunched hi-intensity 30 minute TR workout and get off the bike like i just pounded an 1.5 hour ride outdoors all wobbly and alittle sick to my stomach.

Awesome! We actually see this a lot. During the summer, I think weekday indoor intervals then outside long rides are a really good combo. You'll gain more fitness and be a safer.

Glad to hear you signed up for the year :).

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

Paired my Trainerroad with my Quarq. Periodically the signal is lost and the workout pauses. Took the Cycleops Ant + stick out of the laptop, which sits in front of the trainer on a stand and plugged it into a usb extension cord. Put the Ant + stick on the floor right next to the Quarq. Still have the same issue periodically. Anything different I can do?

My trainer is a Cycleops Powerbeam Pro. Would I be better off pairing that with Trainerroad or keep using the Quarq?

Maybe an unrelated issue, I had bought a new Quarq for my road bike and was trying to pair it with my Garmin 510. The bike was on the trainer. The garmin couldn't pair with the Quarq because it said there were multiple powermeter signals. My tri bike was about 15' away but the powermeter on it should have been off since I hadn't ridden the tri bike in a couple of weeks.

Could the ant + stick be picking up the tri bike Quarq signal periodically and confusing Trainerroad?

Hey Matt, it's most likely not confusing it with your tri bike Quarq. In your case it might be a combination of battery power and signal interference.

Here's what I recommend.

1) New battery in your Quarq. See if that helps with the USB extension cable.
2) Wifi channel change. Wifi can interfere with ANT (they are both on 2.4 ghz). We find that changing the channel of your router can solve the issue (instructions below).

My guessing is you'll be fine with a new battery and if you change your router. If that doesn't work, drop us a line at support@trainerroad.com and we'll dig deeper. Another good test is to put your garmin right next the to the ANT USB stick and see if the data changes at the same time. We use this method to prove that it's a interference/signal strength issue rather than a software issue.

Here's some more info on this: http://support.trainerroad.com/...2644-Device-Dropouts

Here's an article about WiFi interference and how to change your router's channel: http://support.trainerroad.com/...g-WiFi-Interference-

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

This is what I started doing towards end of the season. Really liked it a lot! Going to do this all next year. Quality workouts on the trainer during the week and get outside to enjoy cycling on the weekends.

This is likely a complete noob question, but I'm going to ask it anyway. Please be gentle. Bought myself a kickr to work on my cycling over the winter and am starting to play around with it together with trainerroad.
Question is: when working in erg mode, is there a particular gearing or gear ratio that is preferred - some combination that best balances noise level, power accuracy, chain strain, etc?

as usual the straightest chainline u can get wd be best

I am new to trainer road. I have rode for a long time and kind of plateaued, so I decided to try a traditional base program. This morning I did my first workout of the mid volume base I, and the entire ride was done more slowly than my usual recovery pace on the trainer! I need some additional reassurance that this will eventually make me faster! I didn't feel like I was really doing much, and it is going to be a big time investment.

If it feels too easy try a few workouts from Sweet Spot Base. That is the program I prefer before I hit one of the Build cycles.

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A false humanity is used to impose its opposite, by people whose cruelty is equalled only by their arrogance

Did you do the FTP test? If you didn't you might be training a too low of a level.

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Yes I did start with the FTP test.

How well did you execute your FTP test? Was it a pretty even line for the test duration? Or did you spike, fade, spike? It took me ~4 FTP tests to level my effort out and I am still improving.

Also, TR gives you the ability to tweak a workout intensity (but they caution dont go more than a few % points). I find the endurance rides I typically 'up' 2-3% to actually reach steady riding.

I think it was a reasonably good test, but, one thing that might be a factor is that I used virtual power. I have a Powertap but it's kind of a pain to switch wheels since I use a dedicated trainer bike. The virtual power seems to track fairly well with 'real' power using my Kurt Kinetic trainer, but maybe percentage wise it throws things off. The actual power readings are different using virtual power vs Powertap so maybe that throws off the percentages. I was mostly wondering if true base training is supposed to seem really easy?

I would test again using the 2 x 8:00 test and really bust it. I just looked at the Traditional Base Mid plan and it does a lot of noodling along on the trainer at 65% of FTP. That's a lot of easy riding. Take a look at the Sweetspot Base plans, might be more what you need.

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''Sweeney - you can both crush your AG *and* cruise in dead last!! 😂 '' Murphy's Law

Personally - I wouldn't worry about it.

It's hard to go too easy, plus you'll retest again in a few weeks and it'll even out.

It's only November.

I'm guessing you'll be supporting the Elite Qubo Digital Smart B+? The new cheap smart trainer? I think I'm about to pull the trigger off of DC Rainmaker's recommendation. I'm interested in ERG mode, and performance bike has them on sale for $250 right now. WRONG TRAINER DAMNIT But I've also wanted to try trainerroad, and it isn't currently listed as supported.

Yes, it works right now via ANT+ FE-C.

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

I would go with Sweet Spot Base right now. Even though you've plateaued that might be because you weren't optimally training. We recommend traditional base to those who are closer to their genetic potential and will dedicate a lot of time to build a giant aerobic base before laying on a lot intensity on top of that.

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

Excellent, thanks for the prompt response.

Ah, I mistyped above. Please re-read my response. I edited so it's now accurate.

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CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast

Nate, not sure if this has been asked already (81 pages is a lot to read through in a thread), but is there anyway to export a training plan into trainingpeaks so that it populates the planned workouts onto the calendar? I'm about to start Traditional Base and that would be much easier than doing it manually. Thanks.