Tri plan vs Sweet spot as a cycling newbie

Hi everyone,

Some background on me to start the topic: I started cycling training this year in earnest for the first time ever. I have never competed competitively as a cyclist, I come from a running background which has been my focus until this year when I completed my first couple of tri’s. I am signed up for IM Austria next year.

I completed the Sweet Spot Base HV 1 last week, and saw a nice increase in my FTP last night when I completed a ramp test. My original plan was to move onto Full Distance Tri base this week, but am wondering if I might be better served sticking with the SSB 2?

Alternatively I could sprinkle a couple of SS workouts during FDT plan. Has anyone got any experience with the Full Distance Tri plan? Any other things folks think I might need to take into consideration?

Appreciate any feedback!

Shane

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Hey there Shane!

I went ahead and compared these two plans side by side and what I found was the SSB 2 HV has a significantly higher weekly TSS. This is because you are not doing any swim or run workouts along with your cycling workouts. So, if you are looking for the biggest jump in FTP and want to mainly focus on your cycling fitness for now, I would suggest sticking with SSB 2 plan and maybe sprinkling in some run and swim workouts here and there. You could even choose a Mid Volume plan so that you have time for a couple swim/run workouts each week if you would like. That said, if you want to train all of the disciplines for your IM evenly, I would recommend the Full Distance Tri Base plan where you will average 400-500 cycling TSS and have dedicated swim/run workouts on top of that.

In episode 122 of the Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast, we talked with Andrew Talansky about why he made a switch from road racing to triathlon. He talks about all of the changes he has to make and how to cope with the differences. You can check this out here:

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Hi Ian,

Thank-you for your reply, the podcast was a good listen. I think I will persist on with SSB hv 2 to see what further gains I can make, then transition to a tri plan afterwards.

I really appreciate your input, it really helped me out, thank-you!

br
Shane

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No problem at all!

Happy Training!

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I’m a fan of the tri plans, not been tempted to do cycling only yet. When it comes to the Long Distance I don’t believe in too little swimming or too much running, but you definitely need all three on form on race day. You’ve got some time to play with before starting a FD plan to hit the Austria date so do what you enjoy, but be cautious with High Volume, I ruined my 2017 season that way.

IM Austria should be a day to remember, let us know how your training progresses: