Fed up with TR and the calendar

Why don’t you just use the calendar on the web? It seems very easy and intuitive to me, from my Macbook Pro and Chrome. I’m a TrainingPeaks and WKO4 user, and TR won’t even get close to providing the analytics I need, so I’d prefer my TR plan workouts to synchronize with and show up in my TrainingPeaks calendar.

All these cycling apps competing with each other is really frustrating, so I feel your pain. I’d like to be able to see see all my data, analyze it, and see my training plans and workouts all in one place. Until TR becomes an actual viable cycling data and analytics competitor to TP, Golden Cheetah, etc, I’ll always have to bounce back and forth.

One thing I like about Rouvy, another app I use (and don’t bother looking at their calendar…it’s horrendous), is that I can create a workout in my TrainingPeaks calendar, and Rouvy will sync and show that workout in the Rouvy app…not only, that, it will pull up like an actual Rouvy workout and control my smart trainer. So here is an example of two apps playing nice with each other. Rouvy doesn’t care if people are using their TrainingPeaks workouts in their app because, well, they are using their app! It’s a win-win for both. And Rouvy isn’t a data and analytics app, so it’s a win win. You can use TrainingPeaks for all your planning and analytics, and Rouvy to launch and control your workouts. Right now TR and TP aren’t playing nice with each other, which is punishing the athlete with a fragmented user experience.

I can see how these app companies like the idea of their app being the end all, one stop shop for cyclists, but TR is far from this, as are the rest of their competitors (ZWIFT, Rouvy, etc). Maybe Sufferfest is getting closer with their new fitness algorithm. Not sure. Their analytics are infantile in comparison to WKO4…maybe great for a hobby or recreational cyclist, but not a serious competitive cyclist, let alone a coach of one.

Kris

Wow, so many strongly held views on what I would have thought was a rather trivial thing. How wrong can I be.

I think the calendar is fine, however I don’t actually follow the plans so I am probably not impacted.

To the users who have left or are leaving over it I actually understand that process. I have been using TR for about 5 years ago but I left for a couple of months earlier this year because I was frustrated that TR were pushing screenshots of workouts to Strava. I realised that I was only penalising myself and returned. I still think it was high-handed of TR but I have let it go. Hopefully you will all return as well

Really can’t see the calendar being such a pitchfork-and-torches issue myself either. It seems to work just fine for me, but I guess my guiding principle is to Do Everything Chad Tells Me To.

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At this point I’m convinced it’s just sock puppets trying to stir things up. Tons of accounts that only complain about the calendar linked to sparsely used TR accounts.

A specific use case for the calendar is figuring out how to work around unplanned missed workouts. But that a reason he uses to quit. Ok buddy.

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I see far more Wahoo Bolt/Element and Zwift “ads” in my Strava feed than anything else, and find those incredibly annoying but a lot of my Strava friends have disabled the Wahoo ad. You can disable TR screenshots in Strava app under Settings > Partner Integrations. I find TR less annoying, because I like to see either someone’s route or the workout they did. IMHO Zwift screenshots are the worst, I have no idea what a friend just did.

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Maybe I missed something. I’d like to disable the screen shots, but not the actual workout. Wouldn’t disabling Trainer Road as you describe, disable it altogether? I still want the data. I just don’t want the graphics.

Anyway … no big deal. They just make me slightly uneasy. They don’t bother me all that much.

Feel like deleting this comment in shame :joy: calendar is perfect , can’t fault it. Just about to go into my 5th week. No one likes a change at the start but it’s very easy to use

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Out of curiosity- why don’t like the screen shot? What difference does it make? You can always make ride private on Strava so only you see it.

I think the calendar is fine.

I’m not convinced you need to analyse a workout beyond the functionality that TrainerRoad already provides.

Seems to me that if you don’t know whether the workout was tough enough etc, just from this data and how you feel then maybe you are over analyzing things.

Just my opinion. I’m to be convinced that you need more than that.

So I say well done TrainerRoad - you have created a good balance between useful vs practical.

I missed this week due to sickness, apart from one ride on Thursday just to see how I was recovering. Maybe because I had completed a ride or was at the end of the week the ‘push week’ option was gone. So I pushed next week, which pushes all subsequent weeks out.

That gave me a blank week next week and I just did a copy and paste of this weeks missed workouts scheduled around the Christmas festivities. Took about five minutes.

It’s far easier to do on the laptop but doable on the pc. The calendar will never be all things to all people but I think the benefits substantially outweigh the drawbacks, and the drawbacks often have a workaround

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Help me understand the frustration. If I was just following workouts on my iPhone and not caring about the calendar and I missed a few, I would just open TR, tap calendar, it will show current day and I would scroll up until the last green check appears and then do the next workout (likely a gray x) after it. Basically I’d just find the next uncompleted workout and disregard the day its scheduled for. I’m not sure how this workflow would make me train less… I don’t think it’s much different than before they had the calendar. :man_shrugging:

I guess I am not making myself clear. I want the workout to be there, but I don’t want the screenshot. A lot of my friends use Strava on their phones and it takes up a whole screenful.

If I go “private” in Strava, it is true, they can’t see the screenshot, but they can’t see the workout either.

As I said, it is no big deal.

As Cato would say … praeterea … I think the calendar is great.

Edit: I don’t mind the Trainer Road plug at all. It is simply the real estate I’m thinking of.

As mentioned by others, within Strava [Settings->Partner Integrations] set TrainerRoad to Disabled.

Your Workout will still be synced from TR to Strava (that sync’ing is driven from the TR end and is controlled by the Ride Sync settings within your TR Profile where you connect your Strava account to your TR account), but by following the step above the TR workout image and TR promo link will be removed from your Strava activity.

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Please please up the priority on the mac app. I think nobody with a rich mac infrastructure (macbooks, imacs, ipads, iphones) prefers using an iOS device for the training instead of the mac. When I’m training I’m always use my macbook for this. Mostly having minimized the TR app and watching either inspiring videos while hard intervalls or reading stuff (ebooks, web forums, twitter, whatnot) while on rest intervalls or easier endurance workouts!

And a) yes the calendar view on the mac app isn’t really up to par and downright confusing. Wheren’t it not for the web version of the calendar (which is nice) I’d also condemn the user experience of said calendar fully.

And b) please reposition the “extend warmup / cooldown” button view when having the mac app minimized. It is costing precious screen real estate!

@Jonnyboy, when you hit Monday, the option to Push the week goes away. But you have the option to Move the week instead.

So, do just.like you did and Push the following weeks first, then Move the week and it just takes those 2 steps.

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Not true for everyone, I prefer to use my iPad over my Macbook Air. As a matter of fact I don’t even have TR app on my MA. To me an iPad (or any tablet) is the perfect training device.

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So I take it you just watch TV while training or doing just very short and intense trainings? No motivation to read something or use the time for keeping up with social media like twitter, Instagram or facebook?

Well - damn, it seems I must scratch “nobody”, then. :wink:
But maybe I’ll just gave you a few ideas now and you switch to your macbook in the future. :wink:
Hint: either get an ironing board or a nice standing pult. Gorgeous utility for indoor riding. ^^

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I would never be able to read anything at length and gain something from it while training. I usually watch Netflix or YT and if I respond to social media it’s on my phone.

I used to use the TR app on my Mac before the iOS app and when everything I had was Ant+. But now I have a nice out front mount for a tablet and other than music that’s all it does during training and I augment with other devices as necessary.

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This is what I don’t understand.

People want to use a plan to then not follow it on the specified days and then they complain because they are now able to move workouts around to the days they can workout.

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Thanks. I thought that would take away everything (even the workout data). Now that I understand, I think I’ll just leave it there. I wouldn’t want to lose the promo link … I want to keep my friends on their toes and let them know what they have coming in the spring.