I'd go for the truncated Build with the full 1/2 Distance 12 week plan. I'd also sub in longer weekend rides for whatever the program has.

But, I don't think it'll make a huge difference. Consistency and just being on the bike is probably more important.

Keep at it with the sustained power build. Its a very very good plan even for iron-distance, 450-600 TSS weeks for the high volume is absolutely good enough and there is nothing magical with the tri-plan, its not much better for triathlon than the sustained power. I would go on for as long as that plan runs and maybe cut the first 2 weeks of the triathlon plan. And absolutely not spend 4 weeks ramping down the bike volume for a race, imo that is WAY too long. 4 weeks before my long distance tri is my hardest bike week, then I do 2 weeks of pretty hard but more balanced training (swap some bike TSS for run stress) and a pretty easy week coming into race. So I with 15 weeks, and say that you are 2 weeks into the sustained power plan, I would complete that plan (15-6=9) and then do week 3-~10 of the triathlon, and do the deloads as necessary/to fit. Maybe repeat the last non-deload week if needed.

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Endurance coach | Physiotherapist (primary care) | Bikefitter | Swede

We're actually in the process of completely re-vamping our Half Distance Specialty Plan. The new and improved version will be just 8 weeks long and the final week will be a taper week designed for the week before your big race.

With that in mind, I'd recommend doing 7 weeks of Sustained Power Build, followed by the 8 week Specialty Plan (which will be out later this spring, hopefully early March). This will align the taper week with your event and have you in peak form for your race.

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

I believe you guys were also working on an 8 week full IM specialty plan. Any idea when that may be available?

Yep! All of our new and improved Specialty Tri plans should be available early spring.

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

That's very helpful to know. I'm pleased I asked now!

Thanks to everyone for the advice.

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http://www.howesgreg.com

I just just wondering if anyone from TrainerRoad can tell us what the ETA for the revamped half distance 8 week specialty plan is? It's almost the end of March and it was planned for early March.

I'm not being critical at all, purely planning my training one month down the road. Thanks.

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http://www.howesgreg.com

They're all finished up and Coach Chad is just working on implementing them now. They'll be live by the end of the week :)

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

Any insight on the reason for revamping the plan other than cutting the duration down? Just curious.

Sure thing. So I'm assuming you've seen our updated plan structure of Base, Build, and Specialty. The old 12-week plans were created before we had this new structure and so they included bits of Base, Build, and then Specialty all in that 12 weeks. Further, we now have more tools and ways for Coach Chad to measure and be more precise with his formulation of plans and every detail within them, such as the ramping of TSS. So the new Specialty Tri plans will be strictly specialty and extremely precise to train for your specific type of racing.

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

Thanks Trevor - was just curious. I like that you guys continue to expand the product with new workouts/plans/tech but also continue to look to improve the existing infrastructure at the same time. Looking forward to the new plans.

Thanks for the update Trevor - I'm looking forward to seeing it!

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http://www.howesgreg.com

Yay! Thanks Trevor and Coach Chad, looking forward to seeing the new plans.

Can you recommend a plan for Alcatraz?

If my math is correct, Alcatraz is 9 weeks out from this Sunday. I'd recommend the new Sprint Distance Tri Specialty plan, which is 8 weeks long and will be out by the end of this week. Ideally, if you were able to start it on Sunday, I'd say to go through the plan normally, but repeat the 7th week. This will push the 8th week of the plan to be just before your event, which is ideal since the 8th week of the plan is a taper week designed to lead you into your target race.

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

Would you go that route with the amount of climbing in alcatraz? I was thinking climbing road race

Yes, due to the distance, type of race, and the structure that the new tri specialty plans provide for triathletes. With the bike leg being under an hour, the Spring Distance Plan will be closest to the power and duration that you'll be needing to put out for this race. Unlike road races, even climb-y TT's require a steady distribution of around-threshold power for the entire race. The climbing road race plan is going to have you doing some sustained power work, but also working a ton on your v02 and anaerobic efforts in order to chase down attacks and breaks, which you don't need.

Lastly, these new Tri Specialty plans lay down the structure for the rest of your training as a triathlete. Road Race plans assume all you're going to be doing throughout the week is training on the bike. While the new tri plans take into consideration the fact that triathletes also need to swim and run and so the bike training is planned to fit in with that rather than compete with it.

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

Thanks so much for the clarification

Sure thing!

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

I've done two rounds of the 3.5 hours per week sweet spot plan. FTP (virtual power fwiw) has gone up both times. With a sprint tri May 31, would it make sense to keep hitting the sweet spot since I keep making gains, or do the sprint tri plan?

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Are you doing Sweet Spot 1 or 2? Also, where would you rank the tri in May when it comes to importance? If it's not a high-priority race for you, when is your target event for the year?

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

Sweet Spot 1. Unlike previous years, no real A race this year. The May race is the biggest local race though. I have a lot more training time in the summer, if that means anything. All about efficiency right now.

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Aaron Bales
Lansing Triathlon Team

Okay, so there are two ways I think you can go about this. The first would be to jump into the new Specialty plan once it comes out this week. You may have to alter it just slightly so that the 8th week is still before your event on May 31st so you get the benefits of the taper week. The Specialty plan will yield the highest FTP gains before your race, but these gains will quickly plateau if you continue doing high intensity workouts like the ones in it for a long period of time after the plan is finished. With that in mind, I'd recommend a short break once you're finished with it, taking a small step back, and jumping back into a Build plan.

The other option is more long term, which typically yields the best results, but takes a lot longer, which may be okay for you. For this, I'd recommend continuing with Base. Jump in SS Base 2, follow it up with a Build plan, and then try a Specialty plan. By going through each phase and making those small adaptations in your fitness one after another before jumping into the high intensity of a Specialty plan will allow you to get the most out of that top end work. In the long run, this would be the best way to grow your FTP and fitness.

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