HERE’S HOW TO KNOW IF YOUR TRAINING IS WORKING OR NOT | Coaching Review | Ask a Cycling Coach 534
Ask a Cycling Coach Podcast - Presented by TrainerRoad
TrainerRoad
4.9 • 4.5K Ratings
🗓️ 5 June 2025
⏱️ 40 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
NOTE: Our recording software had technical difficulties and lost the latter end of this podcast, so it ends abruptly. We’re working on recovering the original files, and if possible, will post the rest later!
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// TOPICS COVERED
(00:00) Welcome!
(00:07) Listener's Question: Why Am I Not Seeing Better Results?
(02:41) Understanding FTP and Training Consistency
(06:00) Comparing Event Performances
(16:12) Training Plan Recommendations
(19:27) Pre-Race Preparation and Strategy
(21:34) Comparing Seasonal Performance
(24:31) Training Plan Recommendations
(31:10) Fueling Strategies for Long Rides
(36:27) Maintaining Consistent Training
In today's episode, Coach Jonathan and Nate dive deep into an athlete’s calendar to answer their question of why they didn’t see higher numbers in an annual event now that they are doing structure training. They analyze the athlete’s training calendar, compare performances from different years, and look at the impact of long weekend rides. The coaches discuss the importance of consistency, fueling strategies, and adhering to structured plans. With practical insights and recommendations, this episode offers valuable advice for athletes looking to optimize their training and performance. Let us know in the comments if you want your TrainerRoad account analyzed!
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Ask a Cycling Coach podcast presented by Trainer Road. Today, we are going to look at |
| 0:03.9 | different ways that you can figure out if your training is actually working or not. Nate, I don't, |
| 0:08.3 | we have an athlete that wrote in here that basically said, hey, I did this event before I started |
| 0:12.0 | structured training. Now I'm doing structured training, and I don't think I did as well. Let's go into |
| 0:15.6 | the question. Nate says, it's not you, Nate. It's a different Nate. Says, I love this podcast and signed up for Trainor Road in February, in large part because of how awesome this podcast has been. |
| 0:24.4 | My question is, why aren't I seeing better results under Trainer Road than the last two years of doing sporadic, not really structured training? |
| 0:31.1 | From listening to your podcast, I think I can anticipate two criticisms of my training. |
| 0:35.6 | The first is that I do long, unstructured rides on |
| 0:37.8 | Saturdays in which I'm accumulating lots of fatigue, but not getting the targeted adaptation |
| 0:42.3 | stimulus I'd get from structure. The second is fueling and nutrition. That's funny. On the first, |
| 0:48.2 | wait, let me just interrupt right there. Why am I not getting faster with structured training? First thing is, |
| 0:53.2 | I'm not doing structured training on the weekends, |
| 0:56.5 | which arguably on the plans Saturday is probably one of the biggest, |
| 1:00.8 | because it's the biggest structured ride you have in the week. |
| 1:03.3 | That's just, I don't, how we're going to this, |
| 1:06.7 | John's already looked at, I'm going to blind, and that might be the first. |
| 1:10.2 | Yeah, they got it. |
| 1:12.4 | For sure. Yeah. If they're on keto, too. Yeah. Because there's that second-stooling nutrition, |
| 1:18.0 | like, we'll see what they said. We'll get into that. On the first, I've always done these |
| 1:23.0 | same unstructured weekend rides. And in 20-23, I was 20 watts faster in one of my minor events. |
| 1:28.7 | It's called Seven Hills of Kirkland, and I was nine watts faster in 2020, in another May event, |
| 1:34.4 | flying wheels. So shouldn't my better structure and consistency this season make me even faster, |
... |
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