Hello - First time using trainer road. I have a question about modifying the training plans to fit my schedule.

I can do a 2 hour weekday, a 1 hour week day, a 30 min weekday (recovery) and either a 90 min or 2 hour weekend ride. None of the programs fit my schedule. The closest is a low volume plan but I can do a longer weekday ride. I don't want to leave the extra hour on the weekday on the table.

I did the last two weeks of the Steady State base I (Low Vol), but just found the longer version of the workout where I had more time. Is that going to work? Is that a good idea?

Thanks in advance.

BTW - I think trainer road is awesome. I'm very with the platform and think it will be very effective.

Hi Bryce,

I have a few questions for you.

First, I recently completed a 20 min ftp at the start of my mid volume sprint tri specialty phase. I went from 270 to 275ftp. During the test I ate a gu packet and drank some Gatorade after the 5 min anaerobic contribution work just prior to the start of the 20 min. Is this not recommended? Or could it negatively skew my results?

Also, I am only doing sprint tris this year. I have about one a month or month 1/2 between races throughout the year. Do I just keep repeating the specialty phase and have it end the week of the race?

Thanks in advance.

Kyle

The Build/Specialty timing if very intentional. In the Build Phase, you are overreaching, which means training a bit harder than is sustainable for extended period of time. Then, in the Specialty Phase, the TSS reduces a bit to allow your fatigue to reduce, and get you into racing form. These plans are designed to complement each other, so by doubling up on either Build or Specialty, you lose the intended structure of the plan's progression.

With repeating the Build Phase for those 8 Weeks, you may find yourself overtrained since the Build Phase has a lot of TSS and doing back to back Build phases could leave you overextended and quite worn out.

In the Specialty Phase, the training stress drops a bit. This is intentional and allows your form to increase following the Build Phase, but doing back to back Specialty Phases could result in a slight loss in fitnes upon completion of the second Specialty Phase.

I hope this helps clear things up a bit!

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Firstly, have you done any base work leading up to now? If not, I would recommend starting with the Ironman Base Phase. Base is an absolutley crucial step of your training, much important than Specialty Phase. If you need to trim weeks off, you almost always want to trim weeks off the end rather than the beginning.

Another thing to keep in mind is that HIM races are part of a good preparation for an IM. In other words, you don't need to do a HIM specific plan to race a HIM. For triathlon, we always recommend following the training plan for the longest triathlon that you plan to do. Typically this will be your A race, while the other shorter triathlons will be B races that help you dial in your race craft and test your fitness.

Let me know if you have any more questions for me!

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Question about this new calendar feature...

I’ve started a plan (full-low vol) and I see in the calendar it has the weekly planned workouts and weekly TSS, etc.

How do I get my runs on there from Strava? My accounts are synced but that seems to just be for rides. How can my weekly TSS be calculated without all workouts logged? Hoping I don’t have to manually add every run

Hi Bryce,

THanks a lot for the support! I should have mentioned that i have done SSB 1 and finishing SSB2 this week (wohu!). So the base should hopefully be there. But i can see what you are saying regarding picking the IM plan as the longest race ofcourse is my A race, will go with the build IM plan then :)!

We don't have support for Running and Swimming within TrainerRoad quite yet :(

For now, you will enter your percieved intensity for the run, and we will calculate an estimated TSS for you based on that information. You shouldn't have to manually add the ride; just click on the planned ride in the Calendar and check the "Completed" check box.Swims also have a field that will allow you to manually enter your TSS for that workout, but we cannot import this info automatically yet.

In the future, we will be able to pull your Run and Swim workouts from Strava and Garmin Connect, however, we do not have an ETA at this time.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, let me know if you have any further questions!

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Oh, too bad. Thanks for the info though, I'll adjust accordingly.

Have a quick questions about intervals done in ERG mode:

I run TR with an Elite Direto. I have power smoothing set to 0 on the e-training app and the TR app. I am noticing on V02 max days that I am not getting the full amount of work in shorter high intensity intervals when done in ERG mode. I am consistently ten watts below the goal when the summary shows at the end of the interval. I suspect it is because it seems to take the trainer 5+ seconds to get up to the right power once the interval starts. Is there a setting so to get the trainer to start increasing the resistance before the interval starts so I am closer to the goal power when it starts?

Thanks for your help. Huge TR fan!

The easier gear you use on the trainer, the faster the ERG mode can react. By reducing the enertia of your rear wheel, you make it easier for the ERG mode to do it's job and excecute ERG commands :)

So go ahead and try shifting to your small chainring in the front and an easier gear in the back to see if that helps!

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Hi Bryce,

I have a few questions for you.

First, I recently completed a 20 min ftp at the start of my mid volume sprint tri specialty phase. I went from 270 to 275ftp. During the test I ate a gu packet and drank some Gatorade after the 5 min anaerobic contribution work just prior to the start of the 20 min. Is this not recommended? Or could it negatively skew my results?

Also, I am only doing sprint tris this year. I have about one a month or month 1/2 between races throughout the year. Do I just keep repeating the specialty phase and have it end the week of the race?

Thanks in advance.

I'm so sorry I missed this question when it was originally posted!

A Gu and some Gatorade will certainly help you achieve your physical potential for the workout, but it shouldn't skew the results per se. You're simply properly fueled for the workout! In an ideal world, you would go into all of your workouts properly fueled since this will allow you to train harder with less percieved exertion.

Also, your overall FTP increase is about what I would expect, so there's no red-flags there.

As for how to structure your season, this will depend on how many races you are doing over the course of the season. In other words, how long is your racing season?

Repeating Specialty is a good option if the your first and last races are less than 12 weeks apart. If they are more than 12 Weeks apart, I would likely recommend a re-build, which means that after you complete the full Base>Build>Specialty progression, you will do another Build>Specialty block, This method will be more condusive to a higher maximum performance after the completion of the Re-Build than if you were to continue repeating Specialty.

I hope this helps!

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Allright, silly tech neophyte question:

I'm currently using virtual power with a 1UpUSA trainer and a Garmin Edge 500 being fed to a laptop via ANT USB.

Does this mean I cannot use the IOS platform (iphone or ipad) since the Edge speed/cadence sensor doesn't have bluetooth ?

Thanks

Brian,

You are correct. I am in the same situation with all of my bikes. Sorry.

Thanks. That's what I thought, but figured I ask for clarification.

There is technically a way to setup your iOS device with ANT+, however, the components required have gotten pretty hard to find.

You'll need a Wahoo ANT+ Fitness Key, which is a bit expensive but can be found here: Link

The tough part is finding an Apple Certified 30 pin to Lightning adapter, which has been discontinued. Many aftermarket options lack the neccessary internals to constantly transmit data; they're only useful for charging and syncing and other less intensive processes.

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Thanks for the add'l info, not sure I'll head down that road, but good to know nonetheless.

PS - link no worky for me.

The Wahoo Ant key that you need


https://www.wahoofitness.com/...ssories/wahoo-key-16

or from Amazon for cheaper


https://www.amazon.com/...gid=pla-439431204706

An example of a 30 pin to lightning adapter

https://www.walmart.com/...ZEAQYASABEgKLTPD_BwE

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Matt

That's great...thanks!

With your runs and swims not importing into Trainerroad is the whole TSS kind of pointless? What do other people do-get Training Peaks and run it in conjunction?

I am using both in conjunction.

There is a lot of discussion regarding the summation of TSS from different sources (swim bike run) and how they shouldn't be combined, but I still would rather have all of the calculated data rather than estimates. This is one of the reasons I am not dropping TrainingPeaks (for now...)

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Practise doesn't make perfect, practice makes permanent. Only perfect practice makes perfect!

Hi Bryce

Re this comment from you...

Your Half Ironman will fall towards the end of the IM Build phase, and that is perfect. We actually recommend that Ironman athletes complete a Half Ironman during their preparation, so that won't be an issue at all. Simply ease up on your training the week leading up to your HIM and do some of the workouts from Week 8 of HIM Specialty. Week 8 of HIM Specialty is a taper week designed for the Half Distance triathlon, so it will be the perfect way to prep for your Half.


When is the optimal time to schedule the HIM?

And what if your HIM race is on a different date (vs the optimal date)?

Hi Bryce
TR and an Elite Direto is the best thing since sliced bread ! Keep up the great work!

My A race is IMNZ March 2020. I’ll do the IM HV base/build/specialty starting 8/1/19

I’m finishing HIM HV base/build/specialty with Oceanside 70.3 on 4/6/19

What do I do with April thru July given that I have a time restriction from middle of April to middle of May - I’m the chairperson of our large church carnival which is a three day event in the middle of May and I’ll be really tired from that event - about 2 week recovery.

Thanks

Hi Bryce

Last question (for now)

I was able to import Oceanside 70.3 bike segment from bestbikesplit.com
I’m doing HIM HV specialty right now.
I’m planning on doing the Oceanside ride in TR instead of Polar Bear and Boarstone (in weeks 4, 5 & 7); your thoughts and comments?

Thank you !

The plans call for a HIM at the end of Week 4 of the Specialty Phase, so 4 weeks prior to your Ironman :)

That being said, if your HIM falls at another time, I would just recommend replacing the week prior to the HIM with either Week 4 of IM specialty, or Week 8 of HIM Specialty in order to prepare you for your race. Then, be sure to give yourself enough time to recover afterwards, and reintegrate into the standard plan.

Cheers!

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