Help building a training plan....

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I've decided to give power training another try but unfortunately, I don't have the additional finances needed to hire a coach this year and was wondering if someone can give me some advice on developing a winter training planning built entirely around tempo, SST, and LT rides.

I have around 10 hours per week to train and would like to start my plan on October 1st and get at least 16 weeks under my belt before I add some Level 5 and 6 work to the plan.

I assume that T, W, and TH will be my hard days with Friday being an AR or E ride and possibly long tempo rides on Satuday and a lighter/shorter ride on Sunday. Monday could be a day off completely if needed.

If this makes sense, how do I structure the T, W, and TH workouts? Do I plan Tempo for 4-6 weeks, SST the next 4-6 weeks, and then LT for 4-6 weeks or do I do a workout of each every week with TH being the LT workout? If I take the latter approach, do I increase intervals and watts when the effort seems low?

Again, I appreciate everyone's feedback as for some reason, I just can't effectively get my hands around training with power.

How are you distinguishing between Tempo, LT, and SST? Depending on which definitions you choose, there's either a large degree of overlap or they fall directly on top of each other. In any case, the physiological benefits are *very* similar, such that it's not really necessary to build from one to the other.

It's not particularly important that the first 16 weeks have a defined structure to them. My advice would be to just ride in the available time and do whatever you feel like that day. Push yourself some days if you're feeling fresh and back off if you're feeling tired. It's not going to matter because the physiological benefit is very similar, and it all contributes to building your aerobic fitness for later training.

How are you distinguishing between Tempo, LT, and SST? Depending on which definitions you choose, there's either a large degree of overlap or they fall directly on top of each other. In any case, the physiological benefits are *very* similar, such that it's not really necessary to build from one to the other.

It's not particularly important that the first 16 weeks have a defined structure to them. My advice would be to just ride in the available time and do whatever you feel like that day. Push yourself some days if you're feeling fresh and back off if you're feeling tired. It's not going to matter because the physiological benefit is very similar, and it all contributes to building your aerobic fitness for later training.

This is a good description of the way I work, but I think it's good to have an idea of what you want to accomplish each week. For example, I am in a 'base' period (read general aerobic conditioning). Next week I want to do a sprint workout on a day when I'm fresh, comprising 4-5 seated from a stationary start and 4-5 standing sprints at speed with 5-10 minutes rest after each. At least 60 minutes of sustained riding at around 90-105%FTP. Some tempo. And some L2/low L3 for weight control and endurance. Exactly how I construct my training week depends on time constraints, if I have friends I need/want to ride with some days, how I feel on a given day, etc. I don't think it's necessary to have too much structure on a micro scale (prescribed structured work all the time), but it can be problematic to have so little that there is no rational progression in your training or you lose sight of what's important or what you are trying to achieve.

OTOH, some people thrive on structure or find they can do the work more easily with a tighter prescription. It takes some self-knowledge and/or experimentation to work out what works for you better, but I could just as easily write a tight program that got the same benefits as my unstructured program if that was what I needed and my time constraints were fairly constant from week to week.

I totally agree with Frenchy that tempo, SST and L4 don't require much parsing, and as long as you do a bunch of sustained aerobic work you are going to build a good base. Avoid the trap of constantly trying to PB your L4 efforts and you will be fine.

Thanks for the feedback guys.

...I think it's good to have an idea of what you want to accomplish each week.
I agree with that as well, and I do that with an incrementally building TSS goal for each week, or a target CTL ramp rate. OP, are you using the WKO+ software package with your power meter? It's invaluable for a self-coached athlete.

Later on in the training phase I may put more focus on X-by-Y interval routines, but when I'm primarily doing SST work then I'll base each day's workout on where I am relative to my weekly goal and what I feel like.

I have around 10 hours per week to train and would like to start my plan on October 1st and get at least 16 weeks under my belt before I add some Level 5 and 6 work to the plan.
"10 hours per week" could mean a lot of things. That could mean 3 x 2hr days, 1 @ 4 day. or, 5 @ 2 hr days... or... 4x1 hr days, 1 2 hr day, 1 4 hr day.... Each of these combinations would create a completely different training program.


I assume that T, W, and TH will be my hard days with Friday being an AR or E ride and possibly long tempo rides on Satuday and a lighter/shorter ride on Sunday. Monday could be a day off completely if needed.

If this makes sense, how do I structure the T, W, and TH workouts? Do I plan Tempo for 4-6 weeks, SST the next 4-6 weeks, and then LT for 4-6 weeks or do I do a workout of each every week with TH being the LT workout? If I take the latter approach, do I increase intervals and watts when the effort seems low?
Agreed with the others that all of these could be the exact same thing depending on who you're talking to and the context of the terminology. Most folks do seem to call "tempo" and "SST" basically the same thing, though tempo range might go a little lower and SST's range might be a little closer to threshold.

SST and Threshold training (IMO) are nearly synonymous - as the purpose of SST is to maximize threshold adaptation with the least amount of fatigue for the amount of time committed. The more time restricted you are, the higher in SST, closer to threshold, you can train. This would also be determined by the amount of training stress you can handle per day - where your starting off point is.

You're going to have a lot of trial and error at the onset, regardless. Over in the Cycling Training forum you can read all about the principles of doing 3x20's @ 91% to get more training value with lower fatigue than 2x20's @ 100%. A number of people have had success with that method. TiMan has a handful of threads where he recommends certain "block training" of threshold time as well.

You may want to try out Trainingpeaks.com for some of the pre-built plans there. I know a couple people that have had great success with Hunter Allen's Threshold Improvement training plans.

My season is over and I plan to do nothing but endurance/tempo riding from now until at least November 1st and was wondering when I should start my training for next season.

Races in my area start in February with my more important races starting in April. Does it make sense to start training on December 1 and try 12 weeks of L3/SST/L4 block training and then add VO2 work starting the 13th week while cutting back some on the L4? Based on a start date of 12/1, it means I would start VO2 work on 3/1 or 45 days before my first "A" race.


Am I starting too soon or should I push my start date to 12/15 or 1/2? Also, I would like to peak in April and then again mid July.

Jumping from doing no high intensity work to doing lots high intensity work is no good idea. That way the body has no time to adapt to the higher intensity load. If you discover that your body can't handle your plan it's too late to change anything.

Ramping up the number of weekly higher intensity session once every month or every 3 weeks is more reliable.

My season is over and I plan to do nothing but endurance/tempo riding from now until at least November 1st and was wondering when I should start my training for next season.

Races in my area start in February with my more important races starting in April. Does it make sense to start training on December 1 and try 12 weeks of L3/SST/L4 block training and then add VO2 work starting the 13th week while cutting back some on the L4? Based on a start date of 12/1, it means I would start VO2 work on 3/1 or 45 days before my first "A" race.


Am I starting too soon or should I push my start date to 12/15 or 1/2? Also, I would like to peak in April and then again mid July.

How much you want to concentrate on specific components of fitness (eg - VO2 vs FTP) will depend on the demands of the races you are entering. What you propose seems reasonable for general road racing. With one caveat: if you are road racing, you can't fruitfully neglect 'metabolic fitness' (eg FTP) for too great a length of time. If these are the events you are targeting I think it could be helpful to maintain some sustained aerobic work whilst you are training VO2.

How much you want to concentrate on specific components of fitness (eg - VO2 vs FTP) will depend on the demands of the races you are entering. What you propose seems reasonable for general road racing. With one caveat: if you are road racing, you can't fruitfully neglect 'metabolic fitness' (eg FTP) for too great a length of time. If these are the events you are targeting I think it could be helpful to maintain some sustained aerobic work whilst you are training VO2.
Well said. I lost sight of FTP work in the middle of my season and have really paid for it. I began training at L5 and L6 primarily during the week and hit the local team rides on the weekend, hoping to be able to respond to the pack surges and to cover breakaways during road races. I found myself able to bridge to the front group, but I could not hold it. I can lead the group ride up a 4-5 minute hill, but cannot be on the front for the long slow risers. Recently, I have gotten back to basics (2x20, 3x15, SST). It hurt at first (I forgot how bad 2x20 can be) but now my sustainable power is much improved.

My point is: no matter what part of your season you are in you cannot neglect SST and mid/high L4 work.