Friel plan masters?

[Saucyjack]

Getting ready to put pencil to paper to set up training plan for next year...
Looking at 550 hrs..did 500 last year.I trained by feel and rode a lot,had some build weeks and recovery weeks and this worked well but looking for some more structure especially during the base/build weeks.

I'm 46..mostly do Long MTB races.50-100 milers.

I understand the Friel plan particularly using the 3:1 build/recovery cycle but think the 2:1 cycle may suit me better...
Not sure how exactly to implement the 2 weeks to 1 recovery week into the Friel annual training plan.

Any Insights on the 2:1 cycle for 40 and over Cyclists?

[Iowagriz]

Just toss the 3rd week out the window and go to #4. So, 1,2,4 rotation.

I found myself getting too burned with the 3:1 (when I attempted to push into that schedule). So the 2:1 worked best for me (47yrs old). Every once in a while I might push it to 2.5:1 becuase of work or vacation scheduling.

[Iowagriz]

Don't want to sound like a commercial, but the best $100 (or so) that I spent last year was the trainingpeaks.com membership. Load in your hours, your age, goal races, limiters, etc and it will spit out a plan for you. I did it by paper the year prior and the website helped me immensly. Can't imagine doing any other way now.

[Poncharelli]

Every once in a while I might push it to 2.5:1

That's what I've been doing for a few years now. Works well. It just means that on the third "low-volume" week, I'll just do one breakthrough workout mid week, rather than two (from base 2 on forward).

Therefore on the third week, there's lower overall volume and intensity.

[Saucyjack]

Just to clarify

Say Friel has me in Build 1 slotted to do-
Week 1- 14hrs
Week 2- 14hrs
Week 3- 14 hrs
Week 4- 8hrs(recovery week)

Adjusting to 2:1 cycle
Week 1 14hrs
Week 2 14hrs
Week 3 8hrs
then onto 1st week of Build 2?

[Poncharelli]

Just to clarify

Say Friel has me in Build 1 slotted to do-
Week 1- 14hrs
Week 2- 14hrs
Week 3- 14 hrs
Week 4- 8hrs(recovery week)

Adjusting to 2:1 cycle
Week 1 14hrs
Week 2 14hrs
Week 3 8hrs
then onto 1st week of Build 2?

Yes.

[AndrwSwitch]

I've wondered the same thing myself. For the sake of beating a dead horse/eliminating ambiguity,

If a 4 week base cycle goes 9, 9.5, 10.5, 5, would the three week version go 9, 9.5, 5?

And if a 4 week build cycle goes 10, 9, 9, 5, would the three week version go 10, 9, 5?

[serious]

I've wondered the same thing myself. For the sake of beating a dead horse/eliminating ambiguity,

If a 4 week base cycle goes 9, 9.5, 10.5, 5, would the three week version go 9, 9.5, 5?

And if a 4 week build cycle goes 10, 9, 9, 5, would the three week version go 10, 9, 5?

I don't see how anyone could definitely say what are the numbers for a 3 week cycle. The idea of a plan is to monitor the feedback (monitoring ATL, CTL, how you feel, etc) and adjust accordingly for yourself, rather than have absolute universal rules for all.

So I would say your numbers are good for a starting point, but only if YOU benefit from the arrangement.

[AndrwSwitch]

Yeah, I was thinking about it more last night. Really the question comes down to whether I want more or fewer training hours in the build weeks relative to the rest week. Other than that, moving a column to the left or the right has about the same effect as dropping the low-hours vs. the high-hours week.

[2fst4u]

This is my plan-it's a combo of Friel, Gale Bernhardts "Training Plan for Cyclists book" and Time Crunched Cyclist by Carmichael. 2 training weeks then a recovery week. I'm 40 racing 2-3 hours races-some shorter some longer. I like the time crunched cyclist workouts so the vo2 max stuff is mixed in on thursdays or wednesdays but the structure is too intense to follow for all season so I'm using Bernhardts plan/structure and tempo workouts to get the best of both. Also mondays are strength training and daily stretching joint mobility and foam rolling.