This has probably been asked before.. BUT..

I'm planning on my 3rd IM next summer 2017 (baby due this year in a few months, there won't be time).

I'm new to TR as of last fall and am loving it.

I'm wondering if I should do the Full Distance Base twice, the Build a few times.. etc until I'm a few months out from race day, and THEN start fine tuning via the Full Distance Plan.

I'm just looking to take up a lot of time through this year and am curious if there is an "ideal" way to do it.. or should do I HTFU and just ride as much as possible over the next year.

Thanks guys -

Put the Sufferfest Build on repeat until 5-6 months out. You'll likely see a 5-10 W bump in FTP every 4 weeks.

Then start your endurance build / full distance plan.

Worked beautifully for me last year.

Is this beta link still reflective of a beta or have changes been incorporated to latest public version?

Cheers!

https://www.trainerroad.com/install/beta

Thanks Nate. Gave it a whirl tonight and tracked perfect. Really sucked finishing a vo2 max interval and tension holding on Monday. Almost died

I can't seem to find the sufferfest build plan in the training plans. searched for it with no look. little help?

Hi Nate
Just did Carson in Erg mode and during every recovery interval the resistance would shoot up all of sudden (the hugh spikes during the recovery interval).
Tried to backpedal put it didn't help. By putting it into resistance mode and back to Erg it would work until the next recovery interval.

I am using a Suunto Ant+ stick, macbook and a Vortex smart trainer, I haven't experience this problem before.

Link to workout

So many drop outs! I've done 3 sessions on TR so far and I've had to stop 3 times each session. No good. :(

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Hmm, just seemed so systematic, that I thought it was a "bug" of somekind rather than a connection drop.

Training Plans/Specialty/General Fitness/Sufferfest

Enjoy!

Hey David,

That's one way to approach it, and I'm not saying it won't have positive effects, but laying base fitness upon base fitness and build conditioning upon build conditioning is unlikely to be as effective as taking a more periodized or cyclical approach.

My recommendation would be to instead pick intermediate events (and they don't necessarily have to be races, just something to work toward) and do a single base, single build and a single specialty plan leading up to it. Then repeat the cycle toward another event or perhaps this will have absorbed enough time to instead lead you up to your key event.

In any case, each iteration of this base/build/specialty cycle is likely to lead you to a new, higher level of performance (given proper progression, recovery, consistency, etc.) upon which you build yet another level of improved fitness, and in the process, prevent the probable stagnation you'd encounter with the base & build repetition.

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

How do I know if I have the Beta? How old is that? Should I should unistall and re download the the production version regardless?

To be honest, not sure how old the beta version is. If you have the beta, it should say trainerroad beta on the desktop icon. If I were you , I'd contact support again to figure out your specific situation... FWIW however, installing the production version fixed my issue. Links are below, beta is the top link and production version the bottom link.

https://www.trainerroad.com/install/beta
https://www.trainerroad.com/install

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Strava

rainmaker wrote:

I can't seem to find the sufferfest build plan in the training plans. searched for it with no look. little help?

In the beta it's under Training Plans -> Specialty -> General Fitness -> Sufferfest

If you're not on the beta it should just be Sufferfest Build under Plans.

https://www.trainerroad.com/...138-sufferfest-build

And I gotta ask, did I just answer a question for a living legend currently residing in Paris? If so, keep up the good work.

Hey Nate, curious as to why the 8 Minute Test dropped the test intervals from 115% to 110%. Historically I used them as a guide until I did a recent test and showed little improvement. I did another test this week, bumped the workout up a few percent so that the intervals were ~115% of FTP, and then hated life through the two spin ups early in the test.

If this was discussed on an earlier page or blog post feel free to point me that direction.

Thanks, and keep up the good work.

Ah, we need to update that. We've got all the Elite support we're going to get in the app. We also have Power beam pro support now.

Training plan selection should launch soon :).

Right now new releases get put into the beta and are there for a few days then go into the main windows app after that. So if you want the latest features right away, run the beta. If you want to wait until they've had a few thousand rides done on them, use the version you get at http://www.trainerroad.com/install.

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

We've seen those spikes locally with Tacx trainers and we're not sure what the issue is. Our CTO is looking into it right now. Sorry about that.

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

Hey Cloy,

Oh man, I hate hate hate dropouts. Makes me want to throw my bike when it happens to me.

If you're experiencing dropouts it's either most likely due to weak batteries or interference.

Here's some info about ANT drop outs, the same holds true to bluetooth though: http://support.trainerroad.com/...2644-Device-Dropouts

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

The "Beta" version will have the name "beta" on it when you try to launch the app.

If you go to the settings tab in the app you can also see if you're on the beta. The words "beta" will be on the end of the version number.

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

Sorry about that. We tweaked the tests about 8 months ago.

We wanted to let people know where their FTP is currently and what line they had to stay above.

In general I don't think the way we show targets during an FTP test is effective and it needs to be re-written.

We've actually designed a brand new way to do tests. We have the following goals for it:

- Let people pace more effectively during a test
- Don't confuse new users with a target
- Let users know they should be going all out for the test period
- Better live feedback

I don't have a launch date, but I think it will be a better experience when you're doing an FTP test.

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

That makes sense. My issue is that if the target shows my FTP, I know I want to ride above it, but by how much? The previous way at least gave a realistic goal to shoot for. It was a "no brainer" kind of test; just try the target and adjust the second round as needed.

All of this is with the assumption that it is not your first FTP test. The first one is categorically different in my mind, as you have no idea where to start. My first test was probably as close to passing out on the bike as I've ever come (tested at 200 when result was ~180).

My other pet peeve is that now when I do a test, the FTP shown in the ride history is the FTP after the test, not the FTP going in. I prefer to know what my FTP setting was going in, but probably just because I got used to it being that way in the prior version.

Otherwise I'm loving the beta. Great work.

Just wanted to throw a HUGE SHOUT OUT to TR Team. The app is looking amazing and over the past 12 months I can really see how dedicated you guys have been to your cause. The old interface, while functional, can't hold a candle to the new one.

Way to go guys, keep up all the great work!

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"Train so you have no regrets @ the finish line"

No worries, thanks for coming back to me so soon.
I figured it was something buggy.
I don't have Carsons in my plans for the future so hopefully it will be restricted to this workout :)

That makes perfect sense.. that's what I'll do.

I appreciate it!

Chad

I'm looking ahead to my Olympic build and trying to move pieces to fit my schedule. I have some weekends in that time that aren't rider friendly in terms of time available. I have two workarounds. Either move the long ride to a weekday morning (reeeeeally early in the morning) or rearrange the weeks so that the staggered long rides are on the even weeks instead of the odd. In referring to the Oly high volume. I intend to go right jnto the high volume specialty after this phase. Which do you think is preferable? Swapping the weeks is going to give me tons more sleep.

Absolutely swap weekends, but consider swapping your bricks as well. Doing a brick the day before a long ride might be achievable, and you're welcome to experiment with it, but I fear it will make for a really long day in the saddle come Saturday and perhaps require too much rest before you're back at full steam.

But favoring your sleep schedule over your training schedule - when possible - as absolutely advised. Getting enough sleep is already hard enough, and sleep's value is impossible to underestimate since it's absolutely vital to the progress of any athlete, but especially one on a high-volume track.

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