Oly Base High Vol Plan; Week 3 – is the third workout supposed to be Fuji again (which comes up in the list when the workout is populated within Trainerroad) or is it supposed to be Mont Albert +1 (listed in the plan description week by week breakdown)?

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Exactly, following the target power in the 20 minute test won't even score you close to your current FTP setting let alone any kind of increase that you might expect since your last test.

In the most recent TR podcast, I think the guys discussed the target power bar during the 8 min FTP test; IIRC Coach Chad said that in some of his classes he'd cut off the screen for one of the 8 minute efforts and make people pace purely on RPE with no feedback of numbers and often they would score higher than when following a target. It's an interesting thought, but I'd still prefer the option of a target bar!

Love the xkcd cartoon!

Not that I think nate is requesting feedback, but if you are considering it;
I'd prefer to keep the target bar. Its handy as I think most of us have a number in mind when we test, and it allows you to quickly glance at the bar and see how you're tracking.

Had a go of Givens yesterday, ramps up to 3min at 130% FTP, man it wrecked me. I made one interval at 130%, but it trashed me doing it, only just hung onto finish the rest of the workout.

After using TR for well over 18 months now, I must say "Thank You!!" Great training tool.

I have one question: is it possible, or has anyone considered a way to view the history for a particular workout? Example...if I do Mary Austin (biatch) today, and want to compare it against previous sessions, I currently scroll back in my career history. It would be convenient to see all previous efforts for a particular workout more easily. Any thoughts?

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Not everything is as it seems -Mr. Miyagi

In the "career" page there is a search box right of where it says RIDES. Type in the name of the workout and they all should appear.

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

Here's what I was thinking:

- Blue graph area is gone where there's a test interval.

- There's a dashed line that represents the power to maintain your current FTP in replace of the blue graph

- The target power number in the upper left display switches to an FTP number. This gives you a live update of your FTP if you held your average power for the entire interval.

So if you're doing the 20 minute test we'd take your average power and multiply it by .95 and give you a live update of what your FTP would be IF you held that power.

The goals are to let people know that this is a very special interval. We get a lot of people new to TrainerRoad who just follow the target power for the entire interval. I understand why they do it and we need to update our display so it's less confusing.

What do you guys think?

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

I like it!

Me too. I did the 2 x 8 FTP test yesterday by the way. Not sure what Nate's suggesting would work with the 2 x 8 minute test.

I've always thought about TR responding to how we're doing our intervals. I don't have a smart trainer, but it would be cool if TR artificially raised a 105% interval up 1% or 2% if we're really nailing each interval. Like it we're averaging a % over on our intervals, TR can readjust. I'm sure this goes against set training principles, but it would be cool to have that interaction.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

That's not the point. You can overreach on your intervals but that might not be a good thing. If your FTP is correct then the intervals and the overall workout TSS you get out of it should be correct. Some intervals aren't supposed to leave you with nothing in the tank.

If you're overshooting all of your intervals up your FTP (either by re-testing or manually).

Nate,
A feature that would be handy for when looking at future workouts would be a way where you could load the workout and see the interval metrics that you get when you complete a workout (and view it later in career view).
Name, Time, and Target Power specifically, as the others will populate once there is actual data from the ride.

It's hard to know what the specifics of a workout unless you a) do the math for intervals (which can be tough for some) or b) creep past riders who have done it and then find someone with a similar FTP to you.

Not a critical ask, I'd far rather see the updated Mac version rolled out with support for InRide v2 and things like that, but still a nice one nonetheless if you're doing updates.

I agree 100%!

We were just talking about this yesterday actually. I'm fixing a few bugs on the website, but once that's done I'm going to make this happen.

You're also right about the point of the interval and hitting what's prescribed :).

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

Hey
I'm new to trainer road and just about to jump on half triathlon moderate plan in specialty. I noticed the longest ride is only 2 hrs long. I know that those rides look hard but I'm still living in the 4hrs long ride. Will this be enough?
Thanks

there's a post by chad a few pages back explaining that trainer rides due to no coasting or let up are equivalent to 1.3-1.7x an equal outdoor ride. so in terms of stress yes it is equal. in terms of body position and comfort you'll need to experiment. i know 4.5hrs in a road race is still 4.5hrs on a bike and while my fitness is fine, my fit is a different story after that long

Rondal answered it well. If you're concerned about it you can substitute those longer endurance rides for outdoor rides with greater length.

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

Once the weather gets nice I ditch the weekend TR rides and go outside. I usually double the time, maybe more. I still try to have overall workout be similar as the TR plan (e.g. if moderate aerobic for TR I will keep it in Z2 as much as possible for ride outdoors).

Works great, keeps me happy with my progress, and more importantly, let's me get outdoors and enjoy cycling.

I agree with the above. My first year racing last year. I trained exclusively with TrainerRoad. I had maybe one 2 hour outdoor ride and a few shorter, harder outdoor rides. Did Challenge AC 70.3 and posted a 3:30 bike split with a very very shitty 30 minute flat (new wheels and new tires are not a good combo a day after a hurricane). I'd much rather crush myself on the trainer for 1.5-2 hours then go spend 4-5 hours out on the road slugging out slower miles.

last year i wound down my TR during the summer and race season and tried to do more outside. This year (once i've recovered from surgery) i'll be doing everything on TR except one endurance ride a week on a saturday morning when i train with my team, and a couple of crit races i'll enter just so i can get a feel for the pack, tactics and riders this season.

I simply can't get the consistency i need outdoors, even with the best intentions and planning. given that i'll be starting the season late and from a significant fitness hole due to my back surgery i simply can't afford to not be hitting all of my marks.

Can't wait to be crushing Tour De Nez +2........... (he says crying in the corner)

On the plus side, CX is right around the corner.

I don't currently have a power meter on my bike, So TR is the only way I can get power based training. I've seen my FTP go up pretty dramatically over the last 18 months, more so than I'm sure I could have ever achieved just trying to push myself out on the road, even if I did have a power meter. The structured workouts and having to visually see the power you are putting out and sustaining, it's important.

The structure is what helps. While a 1h30min 4x12 threshold workout wrecks me, it beats riding for 3 hours.

Dear TrainerRoad,

I hate you.

Tom


Said after every FTP test..... But hey, thanks for the help with huge gains.

Powermatch with my Tacx Vortex Smart stopped working, is this a known problem? Haven't used it for a few months, so updated the Vortex with the latest fw to start with. Connects fine (win10 and a usb ant stick), but now I have to change gears to change resistance. PM is a 4iiii Precision and this setup used to work great. What's up?

I'm the co-founder and CEO of TrainerRoad and I do the same thing :). If the weather is nice and I have the time, I go outside for my weekend long ride.

That being said I don't mind a 2 or 2.5 indoor aerobic session if I've got a good movie(s) to watch. There's just something about pedaling non-stop in terms of fitness gains that you just don't get outside.

I do all of the weekday rides inside. For Saturday intervals I switch it up. Sometimes outside sometimes inside. Right now I'm trying to improve my MTB skills so I'm doing a lot of those Sat rides outside. I feel like my fitness raises more with 90 minutes of indoor intervals, but right now my limiter in MTB races is descending, so I need to practice that.

My last tri was about 18 months ago, and I did all of my sessions on the trainer except for two outside rides to check equipment and kinda get the feel of the bike back. Worked great for me.

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