I purchased the SS1 intermediate 6 week training plan and planning to start it next week. I also started using TrainingPeaks and uploaded all my previous rides from the last 4-5 months.
Using my previous FTP measurement from December 2019, my CTL has been gradually increasing from around 50 in early December to its current value of around 65.
With the scheduled workouts from the SS1 plan, my CTL is predicted to decrease a bit to 58-60 during the first part of the plan, and then peak back up to 63 at the end of the plan.
Is this okay? Should I increase my training load during the plan by adding duration or extra workouts? Or should I try to stick to the plan as close as possible?
I have a few races in April/May, with my ‘A’ event about 13 weeks away on May 24.
Thanks.
So you have been training? You could look to apply sweet spot 2. Sweet spot 1 is for really just starting the year off. Being at a CTL of 60 sounds like you e already been at it.
Also with racing coming you might want to shift from base to race soon. You will want to have a race specific plan 6 weeks before your A event. What type of event is it?
Yes, I’ve been training but without much structure. Just a mix of self selected trainer workouts, team practice, group and solo rides.
The A event is a 64 mi road race with a long steady climb right off the bat (18mi with 4700’ elevation gain).
You should jump into sweet spot 2 followed by road race interval plan. Of course you could add to your sweet spot one plan but that could lead to over doing it as you’re no longer following the plan. However sweet spot 2 also has some sweet spot burst efforts which are leading more into race specific efforts which would be good.