I’m working through the resistance training plan right now and I’m scheduled for several multi hour rides. However, we’ve got a ton of snow in Colorado right now and the forecast for the next week isn’t looking stellar either. I’m not the kind of person who can ride the trainer for hours (on a stellar day I can handle 90 minutes), so what should I do for the 2-3 hour endurance rides I have planned? My current thought for the two hour rides is to bring the intensity up to tempo and try to get a similar TSS score and, for the three hour rides, try to split the ride in half and ride twice. Is this the best option for me or is there another possibility that I haven’t thought of?
Yeah we don’t expect our athletes to do these long trainer rides indoors, especially earlier in the training season. You are in the resistance phase so right now the focus in on strength building and not so much on CTL. So getting in less TSS will not derail your training or what you are trying to achieve.
Best thing to do is like you described. Just add in tempo maybe even some sweet spot. Just make sure to keep it aerobic based and you do that by riding under your threshold. Also you don’t want to ride to the point where you will be too fatigued to continue the training next week. So tempo is a good start and try to get that TSS up to match the schedule.
I’m going to through this out there…go for a long hikes in the snow! I used to this when I was serious about off-season training and it would snow in Boulder. I would wear running shoes with wool socks (hiking boots would have been better) and layer properly on upper and lower body. In a small pack I would carry some water, food, a couple pairs of dry wool socks ( I would swap out wet socks for these during the hike) and a change of gloves/mittens.
I would hike in Chataqua Park in Boulder and it was awesome. One of my favorites was up to Green Mountain over to Bear Peak and then down, or on big days I would add in South Peak with a run back on the Mesa Trail. These will make you strong and keep you sane!
Personally I would be more inclined to purchase these training plans if a trainer-based substitute was provided for those of us who can’t ride outdoors this time of year.
This would be challenging as we don’t know what each athlete has access to, such as backcountry skiing, hiking, etc., but this would not be impossible. We could certainly create some recommended guidelines. Note, you also have access to the forum to ask for help when weather or other issues disrupt your plan.