Turbo training and Training rides

[Andy_G]

Ive now stepped up my training which is:
Monday,Thursdays 1hr sessions on the Turbo which ranges from Base/Threshold/VO2 max etc.
Tuesdays, Club Training ride (30-40 miles) Avg 20mph
Wednesday, Chill day
Friday, Active recovery
Saturday, Race(only 2 more atm on the calender)
Sunday, swim then maybe nothing or a 40 mile ride

Is this to much or just about right.
Also i said to a club mate about instead of going on a 40 mile training ride on the Sunday maybe a longer (60-70 mile) ride at a slower pace maybe around the 17mph mark, because i heard this helps to higher your LT.

 

[Rob3rt]

Plan is not very clear and I don't see where you are building in progression?

Also, what about Thursday?

 

[Andy_G]

What do you mean "building in progression ".
Thursdays are the same as Monday.
Tonight's session will be "Sill" which is from TrainerRoad.

 

[jay clock]

Personally I do running 2-3 times per week, and swim 2x per week. No way can I do a club ride at 20mph though! And for the triathlons I have planned then I need longer rides than that

 

[Rob3rt]

A training programme is garbage without scope for progression, doing the same thing week in week out, whilst naturally progressive to some degree (if you maintain up to date power levels) is still going to result in training stagnation at some point for most people. You can build in progression either with increased volume, or intensity and with varied workouts, which achieve the same kind of adaptation.

Ultimatelly the plan has some reasonable sessions but I don't see a clear structure, to me it reads like, "I will train this week, not sure what I'll do, or when, but there will be some training!"

One simply change I would make is to not do active recovery the day before a race, I would do a short session with some high intensity efforts (one I like is 8 mins progressive, ending at VO2 max in the final minute, 5 mins rest, then 3 all out sprints of 12 sec duration with appropriate rest, of course you will need an appropriate warm up and cool down).

I don't speak TrainerRoad, that is meaningless to me, sorry.

 

[zizou]

It looks pretty light (about 5 hours or so in total if you miss the sunday ride)

Some people can get away with that but unfortunately im not one of them!

 

[Andy_G]

Each turbo session is different and over a six week period I might do the same one once or twice so it's varied.
In total I train/ride about 7.5-8hrs a week.
I was once told by a BC that you should varie your training also I was told that I should do the BC 20 minute warm up on a Friday before a race.

 

[Rob3rt]

To turn this on it's head, can you explain the rational for the inclusion of each session and the order in which they are undertaken per week?

 

[Andy_G]

I would do if I knew what you was on about. Lol

 

[Rob3rt]

It is a simple question:

Why are you doing the sessions listed?
Why are you doing them in the order stated each week?

 

[Andy_G]

Tuesday are club training rides and Saturdays are race days ATM and Sundays it's a training ride with mates.
So I thought a day off in the middle of the week so that leaves Monday and Thursdays on the turbo and Fridays for I light spin on the rollers.
The sessions are a six week plan listed on trainer road for novice competitors so I've just put my race and training rides on the days in between the sessions.

 

[VamP]

I agree with Rob's point. I also think that if you miss your Sunday ride then you will have gone backwards that week.

Unless you are increasing your overall stress, or changing the focus in a structured way then you are going to be standing still, and going backwards on those weeks where life gets in the way. Or I would be on that kind of workload anyway. You may be lucky to be a very good responder, and get away with it.

The assumption I am making is that you want to get better at racing. If you just want to build aerobic base for longer leisure rides then you will be fine.

 

[Rob3rt]

I mean, what is the purpose of the sessions? Do you understand the purpose of the individual sessions? Do you understand how they feed into the bigger picture? Or are you just following some training programme with no knowledge of why the sessions are included?

Have you taken into account the level of fatigue each session will result in, the level of fatigue already present that they can be completed with and the degree to which this will effect subsequent sessions and planned the week accordingly, for example, undertaken a VO2 max session when most rested knowing it will be the most demanding, then planned a further session to follow it knowing you can complete it at the required intensity even when fatigued? For example, you could likely do a VO2 max session one day then a threshold or sweetspot session the next day, but doing them the other way round would be less successful.

Another thing, you are a crit rider/road racer, why are you not doing any explosive work?

 

[Andy_G]

Tbh I'm new to this kind of training and I've searched everywhere for decent advice but everyone just goes all technical and starts throwing things at you that you don't understand.
I've got the Joe Friel book but that confuses me even more.
I don't do the same sessions week in week out they varie, next week I'm doing sweet spot and VO2.

I was told that whilst racing that takes care off explosive work but when I'm not racing I need to keep doing it.

 

[Rob3rt]

Forgetting all the tech talk then and going back to your original question: "Is this to much or just about right."?

The question can not be answered, because we don't actually know how much you are doing for the following reasons:

A) No durations are given
B) No examples are given re, what some of the key sessions will involve
C) The plan is too loose, you might be doing a base ride, you might be doing a VO2 max session, 2 extremes! You might be doing a 40 mile ride on a Sunday, you might not.... etc