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Re: Trainer road.com [acco] [ In reply to ]
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acco wrote:
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?

Check the pairing of your Tacx. I bet you're paired to it as a power meter rather than a trainer.

That's something confusion with our software that we noticed with Tacx trainers.

The tacx trainers broadcast themselves as the following:

- FE-C Trainer
- Power Meter
- Speed/Cadence Sensor

So when we scan for Tacx trainers, we see all three devices. If a user picks "Power Meter" instead of "FE-C Trainer" you won't have erg mode :(.

We have an issue in right now to fix this. We're going to only display the FE-C trainer and hide the power meter and speed/cadence options. We can think of a reason why someone would want to pair your expensive Tacx Smart trainer as just a speed cadence or power meter.

So in the future instead of all three options you should only see: FE-C Trainer. That's the one you'll want to pair.

If you still run into problems email us at support@trainerroad.com. You can also live chat with us on the site.

CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast
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Re: Trainer road.com [tom1111] [ In reply to ]
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tom1111 wrote:
cmd111183 wrote:
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.

THIS! Plus I think the time saves is more than just 90 minutes. It always takes me a lot longer to setup and tear down for outside rides.

CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast
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Re: Trainer road.com [M.S.ironman] [ In reply to ]
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M.S.ironman wrote:
Dear TrainerRoad,

I hate you.

Tom


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

haha!

In the middle of my FTP tests I doubt why I even own a bike and think about selling it on Craigs List.

CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast
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Re: Trainer road.com [acco] [ In reply to ]
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acco wrote:
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 pretty sure the latest update has a bug. I've been going back and forth with support for a while on this (they've been great) but I was riding fine on my Tacx Bushido for a few weeks, then updated and all went downhill. It's saying I am paired as a PM but clearly I'm not (pictures to prove it haha) so something is switching on TR's end. Like for instance, I will pair my Bushido as an Ant+ FEC trainer but when the workout is over it's saying it was a PM. The power doesn't match and its super frustrating. It's been very annoying since nearly 3 weeks or more has gone by and I've been crippled by it. But downloaded the legacy app and all seems back to normal. Kinda annoying especially when you know you're missing a hard workout and technology is bending you over while laughing!
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Re: Trainer road.com [npompei] [ In reply to ]
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Oh man, I'm sorry. We just released an update yesterday that might help. Try that out and let me know. Dan doesn't like us doing support on the forum. If you'd like you can email me directly at nate@trainerroad.com.

Try that update out and see if it's improved your Tacx ERG.

CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast
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Re: Trainer road.com [Nate Pearson] [ In reply to ]
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Nate Pearson wrote:
blueapplepaste wrote:
dboatx wrote:
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


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 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.

use the brakes less ;)
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Re: Trainer road.com [RONDAL] [ In reply to ]
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Re: Trainer road.com [Nate Pearson] [ In reply to ]
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Nate Pearson wrote:
Oh man, I'm sorry. We just released an update yesterday that might help. Try that out and let me know. Dan doesn't like us doing support on the forum. If you'd like you can email me directly at nate@trainerroad.com.

Try that update out and see if it's improved your Tacx ERG.

Ok sweet! I will update then! I know yesterday it seemed to be working better so not sure what's up but hopefully this will fix! Thanks Nate, love the Podcast too!
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Re: Trainer road.com [cloy26] [ In reply to ]
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cloy26 wrote:
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)?

Mont Albert +1 is the correct workout. Sorry about that. We'll get that corrected ASAP.

Head Coach at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast
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Re: Trainer road.com [tom1111] [ In reply to ]
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tom1111 wrote:
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.

Hey Tom, I feel for ya. With those VO2max repeats, try to figure out what's repeatable and then feel free to tweak each interval accordingly, e.g. 110% works, 120% works, 125% starts to fall apart, 130% is basically impossible, then settle closer to 120%, maybe 122% or something thereabouts.

Most of the time when I ramp 3-minute efforts up to that % of FTP, I'm trying to help riders find a repeatable power or see definitively that their FTP is due for reassessment (or perhaps they undershot their most recent assessment) because while there exist riders who can repeat efforts that long at %'s that high, they are rare (and there's usually more recovery between intervals, maybe 5-6 minutes).

And it's often not the best way to train since the goal is to accumulate as much time as you can tolerate up at that high % of FTP & VO2max power. But when you blow yourself up early in a workout, that accumulation falters in one way or another; not to mention, it can be some pretty discouraging stuff.

Head Coach at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast
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Re: Trainer road.com [Nate Pearson] [ In reply to ]
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I was looking into options to get an outside ride into TR. It looks like, as of now, the only option to do so is to use an IPhone with an ant+ dongle and for me the 30-pin adapter and have the app recording. When the app is running and recording my ride, can I turn the screen off and still have it record to save the battery? Any idea if a charged 6S Plus would last for a 2-3 hour ride?
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Re: Trainer road.com [BrandonS] [ In reply to ]
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Better yet – importing rides into TR would be pretty cool. There are times (not many) where I end up doing the prescribed session on the road and that empty space in my TR training plan is irritating. lol

@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri
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Re: Trainer road.com [chadtimmerman] [ In reply to ]
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Chad- I have a couple questions and comments.
1. there seem to be a handful of instances in the full Ironman Build (mid Volume) where the workouts in the overview are different from those in the written version of the plan, Just wanted to make you aware, obviously not a big deal, a little common sense can usually figure out which is supposed to be there.
2. I feel a bit ridiculous asking this questions, kind of like asking an artist to change an artwork. I have learned over time that my body doesn't respond well to frequent bricks, as a bigger guy, they seem to just add a bit more fatigue then they do actual off the bike speed. with that said I am thinking of replacing the mid week, bi-weekly, bricks with a solo ride, would you suggest I just continue to ride "Gibraltar" or should I replace those workouts with something else like over unders, as the other weeks are?
thanks for any guidance, I know it is ridiculous to ask help changing a masterpiece, so I don't expect much.

P.S kudos to whomever writes the text for on screen, there have been a few moments where it actually has had me laughing out loud.
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Re: Trainer road.com [chadtimmerman] [ In reply to ]
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I've used TrainerRoad for the 40k TT and I have a few comments.

  • I use TrainnerRoad on a Surface 4 pro: Adjusting things like resistance is almost impossible without using a stylus because it's so small.

    • Why is this not a fairly large UI feature - made with touch screens and on-the-fly adjustability in mind?
    • The UI does not seem to be touch-screen friendly in windows 10 in general: I have to use the (small) scroll bar instead of swiping over the workouts as any webpage or phone app would behave.
  • Adjusting the time slider is equally finicky. If I hadn't read that it was possible, I wouldn't believe it, because it takes me many tries before it actually works.
  • I get the impression that more than half the rides don't have "coaching" comments, which seemed like a bug to me at first, but since it's so frequent I assume that only certain rides have coaching text. Maybe they're not necessary, but they can give insight or motivation at times.
  • Using a Tacx Neo with automatic power offset from my Rotor power meter seems to do odd things in erg mode. Today it never reached the target 135% FTP interval value until I disabled that feature, even though I had not experienced this before. I'm not sure if it's a coincidence, but there was a Tacx Neo firmware update since my last ride. Both power meters report fairly close to each other, so it basically adds like 3% to my effort to disable this feature of TrainerRoad, but I figure you guys should look into it.
  • It would be nice if TrainerRoad had the option to log multiple power meters since it already supports reading more than one at a time.
  • I second that there should be some way to "subscribe" to a workout plan. Not the biggest issue, but it does seem like a design that should have been out on first iteration.

I've subscribed for a year and I feel that TrainerRoad is a good value. I also find the workouts helpful and well-balanced for a given FTP. I'd just like to see the user interface improve as well as some of the details of erg/resistance mode management and adjustment.
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Re: Trainer road.com [Nate Pearson] [ In reply to ]
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Nate Pearson wrote:
acco wrote:
Powermatch with my Tacx Vortex Smart stopped working, is this a known problem?

Check the pairing of your Tacx. I bet you're paired to it as a power meter rather than a trainer

Turned out that I hit the resistance floor of the trainer. Switched to the small chainring and I was fine. Your Support Chat was fast and accurate this Saturday. Thank you!
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Re: Trainer road.com [chadtimmerman] [ In reply to ]
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chadtimmerman wrote:
tom1111 wrote:
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.


Hey Tom, I feel for ya. With those VO2max repeats, try to figure out what's repeatable and then feel free to tweak each interval accordingly, e.g. 110% works, 120% works, 125% starts to fall apart, 130% is basically impossible, then settle closer to 120%, maybe 122% or something thereabouts.

.


For sure, i wanted to have a go at 130% just to see if i could do it, I was pretty certain i wouldn't settle at it for future workouts :) The Vo2 workout i did after that one i settled at 120% although i had to drop for the last couple of efforts.
Last edited by: tom1111: Apr 3, 16 14:50
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Re: Trainer road.com [JustTooFarr] [ In reply to ]
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JustTooFarr wrote:
Chad- I have a couple questions and comments.
1. there seem to be a handful of instances in the full Ironman Build (mid Volume) where the workouts in the overview are different from those in the written version of the plan, Just wanted to make you aware, obviously not a big deal, a little common sense can usually figure out which is supposed to be there.
2. I feel a bit ridiculous asking this questions, kind of like asking an artist to change an artwork. I have learned over time that my body doesn't respond well to frequent bricks, as a bigger guy, they seem to just add a bit more fatigue then they do actual off the bike speed. with that said I am thinking of replacing the mid week, bi-weekly, bricks with a solo ride, would you suggest I just continue to ride "Gibraltar" or should I replace those workouts with something else like over unders, as the other weeks are?
thanks for any guidance, I know it is ridiculous to ask help changing a masterpiece, so I don't expect much.

P.S kudos to whomever writes the text for on screen, there have been a few moments where it actually has had me laughing out loud.

Hey there,

1. Yep, I was starting to go a little cross-eyed toward the end of designing each phase of the tri plans, what with 4 disciplines, 3 volume options, 4-12 weeks per plan and 3 full phases of training. It got to a point where I probably needed some fresh eyes for further proofreading, but the demand for the plans was pretty high and I really wanted to get them out to you guys. Besides, you all have been top-notch proofreaders!

But seriously, all apologies here, and please feel free to email me directly (chad@trainerroad.com) with any mixed workouts/descriptions and I'll have them updated as quickly as possible.

2. Ah, you flatter me so. But I don't consider any plan perfect as they're all ever-evolving works of scientific art/artistic science - just look at the archived plans if you want proof. ;-)

In your case, that weekly brick sounds underproductive at best, harmful at worst, so you're right to make personal modifications. As far as the workout itself, you can add another day of strength-endurance, e.g. over-unders, if that doesn't tip the stress too far in the wrong direction and yields a positive result, something about your progress that's noticeable.

Only you know what your body will abide, so feel welcome to compensate for the trimming of running stress with a bit extra on the bike; or alternatively, reduce the duration of the brick run to just 10 minutes, 5 even, and get the feel for running off the bike minus the fatigue that comes with a longer post-bike run.

Ha! So glad to hear it. I write all of that and am continuously working on new stuff for the numerous unscripted existing & new workouts. It's really great to hear that my attempts at humor aren't wasted on everybody!

Head Coach at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast
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Re: Trainer road.com [BrandonS] [ In reply to ]
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BrandonS wrote:
I was looking into options to get an outside ride into TR. It looks like, as of now, the only option to do so is to use an IPhone with an ant+ dongle and for me the 30-pin adapter and have the app recording. When the app is running and recording my ride, can I turn the screen off and still have it record to save the battery? Any idea if a charged 6S Plus would last for a 2-3 hour ride?

Yes, that should work. Just open the app back up when you want to save it.

CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast
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Re: Trainer road.com [cloy26] [ In reply to ]
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cloy26 wrote:
Better yet – importing rides into TR would be pretty cool. There are times (not many) where I end up doing the prescribed session on the road and that empty space in my TR training plan is irritating. lol

I agree!!! ;-D

CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast
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Re: Trainer road.com [Nate Pearson] [ In reply to ]
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I started using trainnerroad last year and think it's great. But I mainly used it off and on in a less structured way. Using it for when weather was bad or I was crunched for time. This year I'm planning to use it in a more structured manner to improve. But I'm slightly confused where I should start. My A race is PPD Ironman 70.3 in Oct. I have some other Olympic and Sprint distance triathlons sprinkled in. Is it best to just work through from base to build to specialty? I can't say I'm HIM fit but I've maintained my fitness over the winter. I'm just not sure the best way to start.

I guess I was thinking was

Half Distance Triathlon Base - mid volume 8 weeks
Half Distance Triathlon Build - mid volume 8 weeks
Specialty phase half-distance - mid volume 8 weeks.

My HIM is in Oct and I am waiting until after an Xterra triathlon at end of this month to really start my structured training. Does this make sense? Do I need the 8 week base. I wouldn't expect you to have definitive answers just wondering what might make sense.

Thanks
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Re: Trainer road.com [TriTamp] [ In reply to ]
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TriTamp wrote:
I started using trainnerroad last year and think it's great. But I mainly used it off and on in a less structured way. Using it for when weather was bad or I was crunched for time. This year I'm planning to use it in a more structured manner to improve. But I'm slightly confused where I should start. My A race is PPD Ironman 70.3 in Oct. I have some other Olympic and Sprint distance triathlons sprinkled in. Is it best to just work through from base to build to specialty? I can't say I'm HIM fit but I've maintained my fitness over the winter. I'm just not sure the best way to start.

I guess I was thinking was

Half Distance Triathlon Base - mid volume 8 weeks
Half Distance Triathlon Build - mid volume 8 weeks
Specialty phase half-distance - mid volume 8 weeks.

My HIM is in Oct and I am waiting until after an Xterra triathlon at end of this month to really start my structured training. Does this make sense? Do I need the 8 week base. I wouldn't expect you to have definitive answers just wondering what might make sense.

Thanks

Hi there,

That sounds like a good plan it should time out pretty well.

I definitely recommend doing the base phase too since it's not solely about accumulating long, easy distance and very probably includes some workouts you haven't ever included in your basic tri conditioning in the past. These workouts in particular lead to later versions that rely on this specific experience and incoming fitness, so it makes good sense to do all 3 related training phases (especially since you have the time).

Best of luck! And feel free to let us know how the training and the eventual racing goes.

Head Coach at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast
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Re: Trainer road.com [Nate Pearson] [ In reply to ]
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Tried using Power Match and my Power Source in my ride file said "Power Meter (ANT+ crank torque)". Does this just indicate that TR knew that I had a crank-based PM, or was it only using the torgue and then using cadence from the trainer?
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Re: Trainer road.com [chadtimmerman] [ In reply to ]
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chadtimmerman wrote:
TriTamp wrote:
I started using trainnerroad last year and think it's great. But I mainly used it off and on in a less structured way. Using it for when weather was bad or I was crunched for time. This year I'm planning to use it in a more structured manner to improve. But I'm slightly confused where I should start. My A race is PPD Ironman 70.3 in Oct. I have some other Olympic and Sprint distance triathlons sprinkled in. Is it best to just work through from base to build to specialty? I can't say I'm HIM fit but I've maintained my fitness over the winter. I'm just not sure the best way to start.

I guess I was thinking was

Half Distance Triathlon Base - mid volume 8 weeks
Half Distance Triathlon Build - mid volume 8 weeks
Specialty phase half-distance - mid volume 8 weeks.

My HIM is in Oct and I am waiting until after an Xterra triathlon at end of this month to really start my structured training. Does this make sense? Do I need the 8 week base. I wouldn't expect you to have definitive answers just wondering what might make sense.

Thanks


Hi there,

That sounds like a good plan it should time out pretty well.

I definitely recommend doing the base phase too since it's not solely about accumulating long, easy distance and very probably includes some workouts you haven't ever included in your basic tri conditioning in the past. These workouts in particular lead to later versions that rely on this specific experience and incoming fitness, so it makes good sense to do all 3 related training phases (especially since you have the time).

Best of luck! And feel free to let us know how the training and the eventual racing goes.

awesome. thanks for the feedback.
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Re: Trainer road.com [J_R] [ In reply to ]
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J_R wrote:
Tried using Power Match and my Power Source in my ride file said "Power Meter (ANT+ crank torque)". Does this just indicate that TR knew that I had a crank-based PM, or was it only using the torgue and then using cadence from the trainer?

We're getting too technical with that name. That's a type of ANT power meter profile. We're not just using torque.

So yes, just a crank based PM.

CEO at TrainerRoad
Co-host of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast
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Re: Trainer road.com [chadtimmerman] [ In reply to ]
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chadtimmerman wrote:
flynnzu wrote:
I might be noticing the same issues spotted by others. I came on here to ask the reasoning behind 4 hour rides for the Oly plan, but it appears some of the workouts were mixed up during the uploading process. If not, wouldn't mind hearing from Chad regarding such long endurance rides for Olympic distance prep.


Hi,

Many of the mix-ups have been set straight, but the long rides on the Olympic plan were fully intentional. One of our developers (who is a very competitive half-distance triathlete) asked this same question, so I'll basically cut/paste that reply. ;)

These rides are what makes the plan high volume - longer, aerobic efforts. It’s hard to jack up the volume with other forms of training since it greatly elevates the risk of burnout or injury. And 4 hours doesn’t have to be done indoors (frankly, I don’t expect anyone to do anything over 3 hours indoors, but plenty do and I applaud them), but those odd-week long rides do a lot for maintaining and improving, even at this late stage of training, fat metabolism/aerobic efficiency, slow-twitch fiber hypertrophy, race confidence regarding shorter distances/durations, and plain ol’ toughness.


So they're not about matching the exact demands of the bike leg so much as conditioning your body/muscles to handle the bike leg in a faster, stronger, more adept manner much like VO2max work or even Sweet Spot work; neither of which are directly applied during competition.


I'll also add what we commonly tell athletes in reference to those longer, steady-state aerobic rides which is that they often amount to 1.3-1.7x the amount of work you'd otherwise get done outdoors. So we average this range to 1.5x for ease of use and remind riders that, for example, a 3-hour ride done on the unrelenting, no tailwinds or downhills, no traffic lights or road undulations almost uphill all the time nature of riding a trainer is more like 4-4.5 hours were you to ride outdoors with all of the aforementioned distractions and training stress interruptions.


So if you really don't want to ride indoors for 4 hours - and I can't say I blame you - log the same time, or even more, outdoors doing your best to keep your work steady throughout. And if your training schedule simply won't accommodate rides this long, trim them to whatever works for you. There's still plenty of benefit in a 2- or 3-hour aerobic endurance ride.



Hi Chad,

Thoroughly enjoying the new plans!! I was having a discussion on another thread about IF and target wattage for these long trainer rides... I routinely do the 4 hour+ rides indoors and was wondering why the IF on these rides were fairly low @ 0.67 (for example, "Longfellow" which I did a few weeks ago)?

I had not given much thought to this before, but some posters were commenting that you would want to be on the upper edge of zone 2, i.e. 0.75 for the ride to be more effective. Did you purposely lower the IF because the ride is indoors and you have the ~1.5x multiplier, or maybe because watts are usually lower indoors?

Also, I am doing the High Volume Full Tri Base Plan right now, and looking at the HV Full Tri Specialty Plan I see indoor rides of 6 hours!! Has anyone actually ever completed the "Bandeira" workout (doesn't look like it from the ride feed)? Even if I'm looking to podium at WTC races is this duration necessary? I don't mind plopping down on the trainer for that long but even a conservative estimate of 5 hours @ 1.3x would be equivalent to a 6.5 hour outdoor ride which is probably more than most seasoned pros do?

Thanks!!

Strava
Last edited by: sch340: Apr 8, 16 13:24
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