Sweet spot base or triathlon base for cyclist who likes to run and lift?

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Hey All,

I would consider myself a cyclist first and foremost and really want to boost my FTP now that I have a power meter and a Trainerroad account. However, I like the variety of having running workouts in my week. I am thinking of doing either the mid or high volume triathlon base plans where I would replace swimming with weight lifting, yoga or something else of that nature. My question is should I do this approach or use one of the sweet spot bases and just work in a run or two here and there?

In terms of what I see myself doing next year, it would largely be bike races (topping at around 60 miles), a few duathlons and maybe even a few running races. I also just want to be able to beat more people on my group rides.

Doing my ramp test in ~10 days once I complete my last century of the season this Saturday, but Garmin is estimating my FTP at 212 with a weight of around 77kgs.

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I’d like to know this as well. The forum is as active as ever now so hopefully someone could chime in!

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Your goals are pretty scattered. Is any one of those goals most important to you, because the answer will largely depend on that.

Always remember that running taxes your body more than either swimming or cycling, so adding runs into plans built for cyclists (SSB) will likely detract from your ability to perform those plans. Low Volume plans are probably best suited for throwing in runs. You could also dabble with replacing a recovery ride with a very easy recovery run, or one of your key cycling sessions with a key run, but again, recovery from running will always detract from your next workout if you’re not properly recovered. Same can be said for weight lifting.

If the cycling races and group ride competition were my priorities, I’d probably do the SSB MV plans to start, replace the “Carter” type rides with an easy run, and then maybe add a quality run session after one of the weekend rides either as a brick or as a separate run. I would always try to aim to have at least 24 hrs between runs and key sessions on the trainer, and the same would go for lifting.

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