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How to Add A, B, and C Events to Your Calendar

A key component of any training plan is knowing when your events are going to take place and how you are going to prioritize them. With Calendar, you can add events at any time and TrainerRoad will adapt your plan accordingly. What Types of Events Are There? Before adding any events to your Calendar it’s first important to know the different classifications of events. As athletes, races are often very important to us. For many, it's the whole reason we train, and in an ideal world, we would roll up to each race with the ability to perform at our maximum physical potential. However, the reality is that the human body cannot maintain the optimal conditions required to perform at its absolute peak for very long. "Peaking", as we call it, requires an optimal balance of fitness and freshness, and these "stars align" for only a brief window. Through the use of our Training Plans, you'll be able to plan your season so that the "stars align" on the day that your performance is most important to you. The first step of Building your season is Event & Race Prioritization. The terminology we use for this is A, B, and C races. Below, we’ll explain how each of these types of races will fit into your season. A Race - These will be races that you will perform at your absolute peak fitness and should be events that are the most important to you. It is best to have around one or two "A" races per year. - If you have multiple A races, they should be at least 12 weeks apart in order to be in peak form for both. If you have two A races within 12 weeks of each other, we recommend prioritizing one as an A race and the other as a B race. - "A" races often have two-week tapers leading up to them, which call for a reduction in overall Training Stress resulting in an increase in freshness, all while maintaining fitness to create this elusive "Peak.” B Races - While you won’t be fully peaked for these, B races will be excellent trials of your fitness, and you can still be very competitive in them. Keep in mind that your competitors are restricted by the same human limitations as you are, so while you can’t always be in your absolute peak form, they can’t either. - While these races can be season objectives in their own right, they mostly allow you extra opportunities to try different race/nutrition strategies to see what works for you and your body. - These races can be particularly important because they build mental racing experience and confidence that you can carry into your higher-priority "A" events. - You will be given the option to add opener workouts in the days leading up to their B race when adding events using Plan Builder. C Races - These races are strictly for practice, experience, and fun. The outcomes should carry much less emotional value, and as such, you will simply "train through" them. They should hold a similar value as a key hard workout. - Keep in mind that structured work is what makes you faster, not simply riding hard all the time, and recovery is just as important. - Since these are essentially viewed as a form of training, no taper is required, and if possible, you should schedule them in the same manner as which you’d find a really tough workout, i.e., following an easy or off day. Takeaway: You can't perform at your peak physical fitness forever, so it is important to decide when you want to be your fastest and plan accordingly. How Event Priority Affects Adaptations - A Events - TrainerRoad will add a taper for the event and an opener workout the day before the event (if you've enabled this option in the Plan Builder flow). - B Events - TrainerRoad will add an opener workout the day before the event (if you've enabled this option in the Plan Builder flow). - C Events - These events are essentially training/workouts, no taper is involved so TrainerRoad will remove any scheduled workouts on this day. For more on how to prioritize your events to build a training plan, check out this Article: - How to Prioritize Your Races and Build a Seasonal Race Plan Adding an Event to the Calendar 1. To add a Race/Event to your calendar, either click on the specific day that your event will take place, or the "+ Add" button on the top right part of your screen. 2. Select "Event" from the drawer on the right of the screen. 3. Enter the pertinent information regarding the event, such as whether it's an A, B, or C event, its duration, and intensity, etc. 4. Once the event is added, you'll be prompted to adapt your plan to include the event. Select "Adapt". Editing an Existing Event in the Calendar To edit an Event, simply select it from the Calendar to open the dialogue box then click the Edit/Pencil icon. To simply move the event, you can also drag and drop the event from one day to another if, for example, it was rescheduled. After editing your Event adaptations will be prompted based on A, B & C Events prioritization. Marking an Event Complete If you import an outside ride file on the day of your event, it will automatically match that activity to the event and mark it as complete. In case that doesn't happen automatically you can also associate your event's ride file manually (see Match a Planned Workout with a Completed Workout/Ride). If you don't have a ride file for your event, you can also manually mark the event as complete by clicking on the event from the Calendar and selecting Mark as Complete. Add an Event in Plan Builder You can use Plan Builder if you'd like to build a training plan leading up to a specific event as well as add multiple events during the Plan Builder flow. To learn more about how to use Plan Builder check out this article: - Plan Builder Overview For more information on A, B, and C, races and how to prioritize them, check out the resources below! Podcast Discussion: [13:20] Podcast 134: How to Prioritize your races [31:30] Podcast 134: A, B, and C Race Definitions Further education: Peaking for Multiple "A" Races Not Enough Time Too Much Time! Related Training Articles: Peak on Race Day: 5 Questions to Plan Your Perfect Season

Calendar • Last updated on Aug 20, 2026

Plan Builder Overview for Triathlon

Plan Builder is a tool that creates custom plans tailored to you and your goals. Building a custom plan with Plan Builder for your triathlon is easy– and once built, your plan will automatically be applied to your calendar so that you can begin training and your plan can start adapting to you. Plan Builder Walk Through for Triathlon Plan Builder takes you through a series of steps to build you a fully tailored custom training plan for you. In Plan Builder, you add a start date, set goals and events for your schedule, and customize your plan schedule. After Plan Builder builds your plan you’ll have the option to review it before adding your new plan to you Calendar. Customizing your triathlon plan is super easy, so let’s jump into it! Step 1: Sync Your Training History TrainerRoad can pull runs, swims, and cycling activities from your Strava or Garmin Connect acccount to TrainerRoad. To ensure all of your activities are in one place during training You can sync your activity history from Garmin Connect or Strava. How to Sync All of Your Garmin Connect Activities 1. Log into TrainerRoad to access your Account Profile. 2. Select “Activity Sync” from the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. 3. Click the option to “Connect with Garmin.” 4. Authorize TrainerRoad to access your Garmin Connect account by selecting “Agree & Connect.” 5. In Garmin Connect, authorize TrainerRoad to access your Garmin Connect account and data. If you would like a more detailed walkthrough, check out this article: Garmin Connect How to Sync All of Your Strava Activities 1. Log into TrainerRoad to access your Account Profile. 2. Select "Activity Sync" from the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. 3. Under Strava, click "Connect." 4. Read through how the TrainerRoad-Strava integration works and click "Agree & Connect." 5. Enter your Strava login credentials. 6. Authorize TR to connect with your Strava account. If you would like a more detailed walkthrough, check out this article: Strava Step 2: Choose your Goal and Start Date First you will need to let Plan Builder know if you are training to prepare for a specific event or if you would like a training plan to train for a general fitness goal. Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 3.55.34 PM.png Once you have done this you will be prompted to choose the start date of your plan. You can start a plan at any time in the future, as long as plans do not have overlapping start/end dates with other plans. Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 3.56.44 PM.png Step 3: Add Events or Goals Once you have chosen your start date you'll be adding your events or choosing your main goal and discipline! Select the options below for more information on adding events or choosing a goal and discipline. To Prepare for an Event This is where you will add your goal events! These can be added at these three different priority levels: - A Events are your most important events of the season. Your training plan is designed to have you at your best for these events. As such, you can only have a few A events in a year. These events have a full taper before the event and recovery week after. A events should be ideally 12 weeks apart in order to be in peak form for both. - B Events can be seasonal objectives in their own right. They allow you to try different race prep and strategies to see what works for you and your body. B events receive a taper in the week of the event. - C Events are great practice and experience, but the outcome of these races should carry little value. C events will not change your plan. You can treat them like a hard workout. Screen Shot 2024-09-16 at 2.27.17 PM.png If you are unsure what races you are doing or what your final schedule is this upcoming season, no worries. You can always add events to your Calendar after your plan has been built and your plan will automatically adapt around the new additions. With that said we do recommend adding at least 1 “A” priority event to your plan, when you build your initial training plan! Unsure of how to prioritize your races? Check out this blog article for more information. General Fitness Goals If you've chosen General Fitness Goals first you will be prompted to choose the length of your plan. You can choose between a 1 month, 2 month, and 3 month plan or opt for another duration! Screen Shot 2024-09-16 at 12.40.43 PM.png Once you have done this you will prompted to choose your plans main focus by selecting your primary training discipline and your training plans primary goal: Screen Shot 2024-09-16 at 2.30.49 PM.png Step 4: Plan Volume Next you will choose your training plan volume! There are three options; Low Volume, Mid Volume, and High Volume. We recommend choosing the plan volume that you know you can consistently maintain. Screen Shot 2024-09-16 at 2.27.08 PM.png Step 5: Schedule Here in the schedule step, you will have the opportunity to customize your schedule! You can customize your training schedule in these five ways: 1. Dragging and dropping workouts: You can drag and drop workouts in the weekly schedule to the days of the week that you would prefer to complete them! Screen Shot 2024-09-16 at 2.27.48 PM.png Screen Shot 2024-09-16 at 2.47.38 PM.png 2. Changing the duration: You can change the duration of your planned cycling workouts using the time drop down for each workout Screen Shot 2024-09-16 at 2.49.03 PM.png 3. Changing the workout type: You can change your indoor structured workouts to TrainerRoad Outside Workouts, Group Rides or Solo Rides from the drop-down menu Screen Shot 2024-09-16 at 2.52.38 PM.png 4. Make it a Masters Plan You can make your plan a masters plan by toggling the switch to green in the Masters Plan. Masters plans are for any athlete who might a bit of extra recovery in their training plan! Screen Shot 2024-09-16 at 2.54.20 PM.png If you like to tinker you can also reduce the duration of workouts, or change how many intense days you have per week to get your Step 6: Name your plan and Review! Finally you can go ahead and give your training plan a name, and take the plan to review! Screen Shot 2024-09-16 at 2.28.14 PM.png You will see a breakdown of your custom training plan with details of your schedule and an overview of your plan phases and when they start, before you add the plan to your Calendar Screen Shot 2024-09-16 at 2.28.28 PM.png Your plan will be composed of these three different phases: - Base Training Phase is where it all begins. It's the foundation of cycling and triathlon success, developing resilient aerobic fitness and laying the groundwork for higher-intensity, discipline-specific training later on. The Importance of base training can't be overstated. - Build Training Phase builds discipline-specific fitness on your aerobic foundation, pushing you out of your comfort zone to Increase your sustainable workload and make you faster. - Specialty Training Phase Focuses your training on the specific demands of your goals and/or events. This is a demanding discipline-specific final block of training.

Plan Builder • Last updated on Aug 20, 2026

The Basics of Base Training

Principles: The purpose of base training is to establish a foundation of fitness that will allow cyclists to build towards their physiological potential for a goal event. It may seem counterintuitive to revert to base training every year after reaching new heights of performance, but this strategy pays dividends come race season. Much like a pyramid, our fitness is built in a hierarchical fashion, with the initial work serving as a critical foundation that will eventually support a higher peak. This foundation is achieved through effective base training in which cyclists raise their fitness levels. During this phase there are various transformations happening on different levels, but for the sake of simplicity, we’ll just focus on the efficiency of muscles to transform energy into speed on the bike. As you focus your training on developing your aerobic capacity, amongst other useful adaptations, you train your body to become more efficient at turning fat into energy and producing energy aerobically regardless of its fuel. This transformation takes place within the mitochondria (the powerhouses of the cell ) in your muscles. So, as you spend more time stressing your aerobic energy system, your body adapts by creating more efficient mitochondria. This adaptation will benefit you throughout all portions of your power curve because mitochondria are involved in turning energy into speed at all different intensities. Takeaway: By following a Base training plan, you will establish fundamental aspects of your fitness capabilities. The primary focus is on aerobic endurance, muscular endurance, and form/speed/power capabilities. TrainerRoad Base Plans: General, Traditional, Polarized, and Masters So it's time for base, but you aren't sure what will work best for you... what do you do? You can use the guide below to decide which Base plan is right for you. General Base This take on Base training integrates a bit more variety than the Traditional approach. You will see a lot of Sweet Spot work, but the plan also contains VO2 max intervals and neuromuscular bursts in the Low and Mid-Volume Plans. The reasoning behind this is that most amateur athletes when training at a low-intensity will run out of time in their schedules before they really tax their endurance muscles to the limit. Through Sweet Spot work, and a mix of higher intensity work, you can attain sufficient training stress to initiate adaptation in your limited training time. - When choosing a Base plan, we've found General Base (GB) is the best choice for most athletes who don't have enough time (less than 10 hours/week) to complete a full Traditional Base. If that's you, we recommend trying one of our General Base plans to fit your schedule. - This plan initiates general fitness gains much faster (can expect FTP increase in 6-8 weeks) Learn more in our blog post: What is General Base Training? Traditional Base The Traditional Base approach requires long, low-intensity hours in the saddle. There are a few key demographics that this approach is best for: - Those recovering from injury will benefit from the gentle approach of Traditional Base - Athletes who have large amounts of time before their target events. By planning their season well in advance of their race days, riders afford themselves the option of cultivating a wider base of fitness. Completing Traditional Base prior to a General Base circuit is one way to build this huge, substantial base. Polarized Base Polarized Training spits your training into two intensities at specific volumes: ≈80% low intensity, 20% high intensity or 95/5%. This structure takes more time in the saddle to generate comparable adaptations to General Base, but less than Traditional Base. Polarized training is best for: - Experienced athletes with a strong aerobic base who can handle intense sessions. - Athletes who have the time and want to train with long endurance sessions and hard high-intensity efforts. Masters Base Masters Base plans are designed to prioritize recovery with no more than two days of Sweet Spot, or higher-intensity workouts each week. These plans work well for: - These plans are made for athlete's who need more recovery time. - Any athlete who needs more recovery time will find these plans extremely beneficial, not just masters athletes. - They can be used for athletes returning to interval training after extended time off, injury, or illness. Learn more about Masters Plans from this article: What are Masters Plans? Takeaway: For most applications, General or Masters Base is the way to go. Relevant Podcasts [13:45] Podcast 068: Sweet Spot vs Traditional Base discussion Can I Skip Base Training? Typically, we do not recommend athletes skip any training phases. You will get the fastest if you work through all three training phases in order and to completion before moving onto your next phase of training. However, every rider has different time constraints, as well as different levels of fitness and cycling backgrounds going into their structured training. Here are a few common reasons that athletes want to skip Base: - Riders with heavily experienced backgrounds who are familiar with the level of base training they have at that point in the season. These riders can decide to bypass or reduce the duration of the Base phase, and move straight into a Build phase if they have been doing structured Base outside of TrainerRoad. - Riders with mid-level or minimal experience, whose target event is less than 28 weeks away (the time it takes to complete Base/Build/Specialty). We’d suggest s/he complete the entire Base phase of training and move as far along through the Build and Specialty training plans as time will allow. See our article "Not Enough Time!" To further explore how you should structure your season with less than 28 weeks. - Riders who are mid-season and have already peaked for en event, but have 16 or fewer weeks until their next event. These athletes should first consider a low-intensity training block but can absolutely skip base and jump back into Build. This is what we call a 'rebuild' and you can learn more about how to structure around this in our "Peaking for Multiple 'A' Races" article. Takeaway: No, you should probably not skip Base Phase, however there are a few fringe cases where it is an acceptable decision. Base Training Q&A Q: Time constraints aside, how many hours per week would I need to spend base training in order to improve upon last season's fitness? A: The goal is to increase your annual training volume by 5% but not more than 15% over last year’s training volume in order to improve upon last year’s performance without overdoing it. Q: Do I really have to go this easy during Base I? It doesn't seem like I'm working hard enough to gain any training benefit. A: Properly performed, Aerobic Endurance rides (roughly 60-80% FTP) train your type IIb fibers - which are the most versatile muscle fiber type - to prefer fat over sugar, one of the key objectives of Base Training. This adaptation is negatively affected if you work too hard, so go slow so your body learns to metabolize fat and spare sugar at low, but eventually greater, effort levels. Q: Sometimes I don't have the time for the prescribed ride duration. How can I address these time constraints without missing out on the benefits of base training? A: Although athletes competing in events requiring long hours on the bike need to adapt to long rides with no breaks, riding twice daily is often the only way to log high daily base mileage and is also an excellent way to reduce body fat during Base Training. Simply break your longer rides into 2 segments and perform them at the beginning, middle and/or end of your day. Try to refrain from breaking your long weekend ride into halves, and avoid breaking rides less than 90 minutes into smaller parts whenever possible. Q: Are recovery weeks really necessary when the training intensity is already so low? A: Yes. Regardless of the low intensity, the body needs time to absorb new stress before additional stress is applied, even if that stress isn't due to high-intensity intervals or race efforts. Recovery weeks will simply drop the stress to roughly half the stress of your current phase's toughest week but keep you on the bike the same number of times in order to avoid any disruption of your training schedule. Also, there’s no reason (nor benefit) to exceed 50% FTP during Recovery Weeks unless you are certain that riding over 50% FTP is still regenerative and restful and allows your body to recover and prep for the next, more stressful, block of training. Q: Which drills should I be doing per session and how many do I do for the duration? A: The drills are briefly during the workouts themselves. As long as you haven't checked the "Hide text during workout" box on the Profile tab, and the onscreen directions will prompt you to add particular drills at particular times.

Understanding your Training Plans • Last updated on Aug 20, 2026

Choosing the Right Discipline For Your Events

TrainerRoad builds your plan around your A event's selected discipline or type. This guide is here to help you understand what each discipline trains and how to choose a match for your event. Why Event Type Matters Your event type influences: - Which training phases you get (for example, a plan that emphasizes sustained power vs short, punchy power) - Which training zones and workout profiles are emphasized - What fitness you are most prepared to express on event day No discipline is “better” than any others. Each discipline simply trains your body in a different way to prepare for different event demands. The Simple Way to Choose In many cases, the event’s advertised label is enough: - Criterium → Criterium - Time Trial → Time Trial - Cyclocross → Cyclocross - XCO, XCM, Short Track → the matching MTB discipline - Triathlon Event → the matching triathlon discipline It gets trickier when the event label is broad, like Road Race, Gravel, or Gran Fondo. When that happens, use these four factors to identify the dominant effort type your event will demand: 1. Advertised discipline 2. How long you will ride (duration) 3. Climbing profile (how many climbs, how long, how steep) 4. Your goal (race for results vs ride for a steady finish or target time) A helpful reminder: distance alone is not a reliable guide. The same distance can mean very different effort types depending on terrain, surface, and speed. Duration tells you much more about pacing demands. A quick Decision Guide For More Ambiguous Road & Gravel Events Road races: Rolling Road Race vs Climbing Road Race Start here if your event is a mass start road race and you are unsure which road discipline fits. - Rolling Road Race is usually best when the decisive moments are repeated surges, attacks, and short climbs. Think punchy efforts and frequent changes in pace. - Climbing Road Race is usually best when long, sustained climbs are the defining feature. Think sustained climbing power and longer efforts. Helpful shortcut: - If the key climbs are short and punchy, lean Rolling. - If the key climbs are long and sustained, lean Climbing. If you are not sure, pick the discipline that best matches where you expect the hardest efforts to happen. On some courses, long climbs early do not decide the race, and the event can still be ridden like a Rolling Road Race. Long Road Events: Gran Fondo Gran Fondo is the best fit for events where the dominant demand is steady pacing and endurance. - Typical match: long road events where your goal is to finish strong, ride a steady pace, or hit a target time. - Terrain can be flat or mountainous. For most riders, the pacing challenge is still the main limiter once the duration is long enough. Gravel Events Gravel events can be very different, so the best match depends on duration and how the event is raced. - If your event is primarily a long, steady endurance day where pacing is the priority, Gravel is usually the best fit. - If your event is shorter and raced aggressively with frequent surges, you may also consider Rolling Road Race, Climbing Road Race, or Cross Country Marathon, depending on terrain and surface. Helpful shortcut: - Over about 4 hours: Gravel is usually the best starting point because pacing and endurance are critical for most athletes. - Under about 4 hours: Gravel still works well, but a more race-focused discipline(Rolling/Climbing Road Race) can be a good option if the event is punchy and you are racing for position. Time Trials Time Trial discipline is built around steady, controlled efforts against the clock. - Best fit: most TTs, especially flatter courses or those where pacing is steady and continuous - If your TT is unusually punchy or very climb-heavy, Climbing Road Race can be a reasonable alternative, depending on how the effort actually feels on the day. Hill Climbs There is no dedicated hill climb discipline, so match based on climb duration: - Over about 20 to 30 minutes: Time Trial - About 2 to 30 minutes: Climbing Road Race - Under about 2 minutes: Rolling Road Race or Climbing Road Race (choose based on whether the effort is more punchy or more sustained) If you are doing a season of mixed hill climbs, Climbing Road Race is usually the most well-rounded option. Stage Races Stage races are their own category because day-to-day recovery becomes part of the performance demand. Choose the discipline that matches the stage race type you are doing. If your stage race includes mixed stages, pick the discipline that best represents the dominant demands across the event. Off-Road Event Types in TrainerRoad Off-road events vary significantly. The easiest way to pick the right TrainerRoad event type is to match the discipline to the effort you will repeat most often: short surges, sustained hard laps, or long pacing with hard climbs late. Short Track Cross Country (STXC) Pick STXC if your event is: - About 20 to 30 minutes - Very fast and intense with constant accelerations This plan builds repeatable high-intensity efforts and quick recovery between surges. Cross Country Olympic (XCO) Pick XCO if your event is: - About 60 to 100 minutes - Lap-based with repeated climbs and technical features This plan builds the ability to repeat hard efforts near and above threshold across a full race-length effort. Cross Country Marathon (XCM) Pick XCM if your event is: - About 3 to 8 hours - Off-road with meaningful climbing and repeated hard sections This plan builds long endurance and fatigue resistance, while still preparing you for surges and hard climbs late in the race. Cyclocross (CX) Pick Cyclocross if your event is: - About 45 to 70 minutes - Constantly changing pace with repeated bursts, corners, and short run-ups This plan builds repeatable high-intensity efforts and recovery for one-hour racing. Off-Road Triathlon Many off-road tri formats align closely with Olympic distance demands on the bike, even if the bike leg is shorter, because the terrain is more demanding. - Best starting point: Off-Road Triathlon - Only choose Sprint, Half, or Full if the event distances truly match those formats Quick Tie-Breakers - XCO vs XCM: around an hour and very intense, choose XCO. Multi-hour pacing with hard climbs late, choose XCM. - XCM vs Gravel: if it feels like an off-road race with frequent punchy efforts, choose XCM. If it is more about steady pacing for a long day on mixed surface, choose Gravel. Common Exceptions: When A Different Event Might Help You If there is more than one good option, that is normal. Look at your event’s advertised type, expected finish time, and whether you are racing for results or pacing for a finish or target time. Long events where you are racing for results If the event is long but your goal is explicitly competitive and the race is likely to be decided by surges, attacks, and climbs, you may choose a discipline that places more emphasis on variability and intensity. That can be a good choice, but there is a trade-off: - More emphasis on punchy and race-like fitness - Less emphasis on the deepest steady endurance compared to Gran Fondo or Gravel If your main goal is to pace steadily and finish strong, Gran Fondo or Gravel is still usually the best match. longer climbing events or stage races where you will ride a steady pace In these cases It can be smart to pick a Gran Fondo or Gravel plan, to train for smooth steady efforts instead of training to chase and make breaks up a climb. Mixed terrain/discipline race like a stage race or mixed surface event In those cases, pick the discipline that best matches: - The effort type you will spend the most time doing - Will you be holding a steady pace, or chasing and making breaks? - The effort type you most want to improve for your goal An example could be a longer event where you ride Road, Gravel, & Single Track with plenty of elevation gain: - If you intend to hold a steady pace, Gravel would be a good choice. - If you are going to race it, Climbing Road Race or Cross Country Marathon would better fit that intent for most athletes. Between those you would want to pick what you want to improve. Have More Than One A event? A events should be planned at least 8 weeks apart. TrainerRoad will focus the plan around your A events, in order. After each A event, the plan can shift focus toward the next A event. After the final A event, the plan uses your last B event discipline, or your last C event discipline if there is no B event. A events are the strongest drivers of plan focus. Changing Your Event Type In many cases, you can change an event’s discipline. When you do, TrainerRoad may prompt you to update your plan so training matches the new discipline. There are a few situations where changing discipline requires deleting and recreating the event instead, such as switching between cycling and triathlon categories, or switching between stage race and single-day event categories. FAQs How do I Build a Custom Training Plan? You can use the resources below to learn how to build a custom plan and to dig deeper into their structure: - TrainerRoad Plan Builder Over View & Walk Through - Understand the structure & science behind TrainerRoad Plans. How to Choose Which Event to Make My A Event? In most cases, you want your A event to be your primary event for the season. You can learn more here: - How to Add A, B, & C Events to Your Calendar - How to Prioritize Your Races and Build a Seasonal Race Plan I'm not Training For an Event, What can I do? TrainerRoad has many goal-based plan options as well. You can learn about them here. How Should I Choose the Event Intensity? It's helpful to think of the intensity rating of the event as the aspirational pace you want to ride it. Every athlete is different but here is a bit of general guidance: - Recovery - Tempo could be an all-day or repeated-day effort(rest day or easy day during a stage race). - Tempo - Hard could be a race level effort for 3-8 hours. - Hard - All out efforts would be a max level effort for shorter events(1-3 hours)

Choosing Your Training Plan • Last updated on Feb 13, 2026

Plan Builder FAQs

If you don't see the answer to your Plan Builder question down below, please reach out to [email protected] for more information on Plan Builder. General What is Plan Builder - Plan Builder creates a custom training plan that brings you to peak fitness for your goal event or discipline. Plan Builder takes into consideration your goals, how much you want to train and when, all of the events on your training calendar, and the demands of your goal event to give you a truly customized training experience. Why Plan Builder? - Plan Builder accounts for all of the unique variations in your training schedule, event schedule and lifestyle that might affect the progression of your training plan. By adjusting your training plan in accordance with your needs your plan will be easier to follow and ultimately more effective. Where Do I Start? - If you don’t have a training plan, you can jump straight into Plan Builder. 1. To start constructing your custom training plan, first, go to your online career. 2. Select the Training Plans tab in the navigation menu on the left-hand side of the screen. 3. Select Build Create My Custom Plan to launch Plan Builder. Screen Shot 2025-01-16 at 11.30.13 AM.png Is Plan Builder available in the TrainerRoad app? - Athletes can build their custom Plan Builder plans via the desktop apps or the TrainerRoad Website. With that said, we recommend building your training plan on the website as the website's version of Plan Builder has added functionality. - To use Plan Builder from within the desktop app, make sure you're on the latest app version, then go to the Training Plans section of the app. How Plan Builder Works How did you come up with the recommended training volume? - The recommended training volume is based on your training approach and the amount of training you have completed in the past few weeks of training. I want to start my training plan in the past. Can I do that? - Yes! If you have already started training you can backdate the plan by selecting the date you started training this season. Why didn’t Plan Builder suggest the Base, Build and Specialty phases in order? - It is very rare that your available training time will perfectly align with the length of a Base, Build, and Specialty Phase training progression, so adjustments need to be made. When these adjustments are needed, Plan Builder uses the latest sports science research and millions of training data points to create the ideal training progression to bring you to peak fitness. Why is Plan Builder suggesting I go back to the Base Phase in the middle of my plan? - In many cases, athletes with less experience doing structured interval training benefit most by spending more time in the Base Phase. Additionally, a mid-season return to base training can allow the body to recover from more strenuous forms of training, and reach new heights by entering a base phase with a higher FTP. Why is Plan Builder suggesting I go to a Specialty Phase in the middle of my plan? - Plan Builder strategically uses different training phases to increase fitness and freshness in order to make you as fast as possible for your goal event. In many cases, the Specialty Phase can be a great opportunity for the body to increase freshness without losing fitness. This is particularly true for athletes with a lot of experience doing interval training and serves as a great mid-season reset point for any rider, especially during long training progression Why is Plan Builder suggesting I do more than one Build Phase? - Athletes that have a moderate level of experience with interval training can benefit from more time spent in the Build Phase to fully reach their potential. Doing too many weeks in a row of Build training can be extremely fatiguing, so Plan Builder will split up excessively long Build Phases with a Base or Specialty Phase. Events What if I don’t have any goal events? - No events, no problem! If you aren't training for an event you can build a goal Based training plan. What if I have multiple priority events? - You can add as many C events and B events as you’d like, but A events (priority events) must be spaced eight weeks apart. Anything less than 8 weeks between goal events won’t allow you enough time to recover and rebuild sufficiently to reach peak fitness once again. - If you have two priority events within 8 weeks of each other, evaluate which event is not as important and make one event an A event and the other event a B event. You will still have rest allocated before the B event but you will only have a taper and a peak for the A event. What if my priority event is a multi-day event? - If you are training for a multi-day event, mark your event as a ‘Stage Race’ when you categorize the discipline of your event My stage race includes multiple disciplines. Which should I choose for "targeted discipline" - Mark the event you’d like to prioritize as the targeted discipline. You’ll taper for the entire stage race, but your Specialty training will be geared towards your targeted discipline. What if I already have events on my Calendar? - If you already have events on your TrainerRoad calendar Plan Builder will accommodate these events. If you’d like to start fresh you can delete the current events on your Calendar and add them when you use Plan Builder. For more information on how to delete events check out this help center article: Editing Your Calendar What if I need to add events later on? - New events can be added at any time. If you would like to add additional events to your TrainerRoad Calendar go ahead and check out this help center article: Add A/B/C Priority Events What if my goal event is more than a year away? - Plan Builder will create a training plan for any event within two years of the day you’ll start training. What do you mean by A, B and C Events? - Categorizing your events as A, B and C events is an easy way to prioritize the importance of your events. For more information on prioritizing events go ahead and check out this help center article: Prioritizing Races (A, B & C Races) Do I need an A Event for Plan Builder? - If you plan on racing, at least one of your events should be an A-priority event. If you aren’t sure which event you would like to make your A event check out this help center article on prioritizing events: Prioritizing Races (A, B & C Races) What if I want to train for a whole series of events instead of just one event? - If you are training for an entire series, we still recommend you make one event within that series an A race, and marking the rest as B races. This will allow Plan Builder to bring you to peak fitness. Plan Builder will build in tapers, rest and openers around the existing events, so your training will be kept on track. I don’t know what sort of event my race is. What should I pick? - If you don’t know what sort of event your race is, select the discipline that is closest to the type of event you plan on racing. I am training for a time trial distance other than 40k. Does Plan Builder work for that? - Yes. When creating the event, enter the event duration and intensity and Plan Builder will take care of the rest. Adjusting Your Custom Plan What if I need to take time off? - When you need to take time off you can edit your Calendar to adjust for time spent off the bike. For detailed instructions on how to edit your training plan check out this help center article: Editing Your Calendar What if I have already started training? - You can use Plan Builder even if you are in the middle of a training plan right now. First, you will want to delete your current training plan from your Calendar. For detailed instructions on how to delete a custom training plan check out this help center article: Delete/Unschedule a TrainerRoad Plan - When you add your custom plan to your TrainerRoad Calendar go ahead and choose the day you started training for your current season. When your custom plan is added to your Calendar, it will include the workouts you have already completed this season. How do I start over, clear my calendar, and create a new Plan Builder plan? - If you already have a training plan added to your TrainerRoad Calendar you will want to delete (or unschedule) this training plan before you build your new custom plan. Note that this will only delete planned workouts - any workouts you have completed will be saved. For detailed instructions on how to delete a custom training plan check out this help center article: Delete/Unschedule a TrainerRoad Plan What happens to my current training rides if I delete/unschedule my current training plan? - When you delete your current training plan to add a custom plan all of your completed workouts will remain on your Calendar. What happens to my A/B/C priority events if I delete my new plan? - If you delete a plan created through Plan Builder, any events that you added to your calendar via that plan will remain on your calendar. If you create a new plan, you can add these events to your plan by clicking the "Include" button in the Existing Events section of Plan Builder. Should I take the Ramp Test before I start Plan Builder? - The Ramp Test will automatically be the first workout in any training phase or plan. If you are just starting a TrainerRoad plan, we definitely recommend starting off with this workout. If you have recently completed a Ramp Test in another training plan you can skip this Ramp Test at your own discretion. I don’t have much time until my goal event. Can Plan Builder create a training plan on a short timeline? - Absolutely! Plan Builder will build a training plan for your goal event, as long as you have at least one week until the event. I want to train on different days than Plan Builder suggests. Can I change that? - Definitely. You can customize the schedule of your training week during the "Schedule" section of creating the plan. Simply drag and drop your training days. Can I decide which days I want to train outside? - Yes! When you create the schedule for your training plan you can mark specific days in your training week as outside rides. You can do this one by one, or adjust this per training block when building your custom plan. After your plan is made, you can change any workout to be an outside or inside workout on the fly. Can I change my training volume halfway through my plan? - You can change the number of days in your training plan at any point after Plan Builder has made your custom training plan. To change the training volume of your plan after it has been built, follow these steps: 1. Go to your online career. 2. Select the Calendar tab in the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. 3. Navigate to your current training block, or the block you are about to start. 4. Select the Block on your Calendar: 5. In the menu that appears on the right select 'Edit Weekly Schedule' 6. Adjust your training schedule in the subsequent steps. Can I make changes to my training plan once I’ve added it to my calendar? - Absolutely, your training plan can always be edited. You can add additional events, swap workouts, edit training weeks and even delete workouts. For detailed instructions on how to edit your Calendar go ahead and check out this article: Editing Your Calendar

Plan Builder • Last updated on Aug 20, 2026

Plan Builder Overview

Plan Builder is a tool that creates custom plans tailored to you and your goals. Plan Builder considers the unique demands of your goals, your available training time, and your recent training history to build a plan specific to you. Screen Shot 2024-09-16 at 1.02.29 PM.png With Plan Builder, training plans exist for just about every cycling discipline and can account for the specific needs of individual athletes. Build your custom plan and get training right away! Note: The most up to date Plan Builder is only available on the TrainerRoad website! We recommend building your custom plan on the TrainerRoad website to gain access to all of Plan Builders new functionality Plan Builder Walk-Through Plan Builder takes you through a series of steps to build you a fully tailored custom training plan. In Plan Builder, you add a start date, set goals and events for your schedule, choose how you would like to approach your training and customize your plan schedule. After Plan Builder builds your plan you’ll have the option to review it before adding your new plan to you Calendar. Customizing your plan is super easy, so let’s jump into it! Step 1: Sync Your Training History If you have any activity history, Plan Builder can use that data to help shape your plan. You can sync your activity history from Garmin Connect or Strava. If you don’t have any training history coming into TrainerRoad, don’t worry. Your plan will adjust as you progress through your workouts. How to Sync All of Your Garmin Connect Activities 1. Log into TrainerRoad to access your Account Profile. 2. Select “Activity Sync” from the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. 3. Click the option to “Connect with Garmin.” 4. Authorize TrainerRoad to access your Garmin Connect account by selecting “Agree & Connect.” 5. In Garmin Connect, authorize TrainerRoad to access your Garmin Connect account and data. If you would like a more detailed walkthrough, check out this article: Garmin Connect How to Sync All of Your Strava Activities 1. Log into TrainerRoad to access your Account Profile. 2. Select "Activity Sync" from the menu on the left-hand side of the screen. 3. Under Strava, click "Connect." 4. Read through how the TrainerRoad-Strava integration works and click "Agree & Connect." 5. Enter your Strava login credentials. 6. Authorize TR to connect with your Strava account. If you would like a more detailed walkthrough, check out this article: Strava Step 2: Choose your Goal and Start Date First you will need to let Plan Builder know if you are training to prepare for a specific event or if you would like a training plan to train for a general fitness goal. Screen Shot 2025-03-27 at 8.03.19 AM.png Once you have done this you will be prompted to choose the start date of your plan. You can start a plan at any time in the future, as long as plans do not have overlapping start/end dates with other plans. Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 3.56.44 PM.png Step 3: Add Events or Goals Once you have chosen your start date you'll be adding your events or choosing your main goal and discipline! Select the options below for more information on adding events or choosing a goal and discipline. To Prepare for an Event This is where you will add your goal events! These can be cycling events and cycling stage races. Events can be added at these three different priority levels: - A Events are your most important events of the season. Your training plan is designed to have you at your best for these events. As such, you can only have a few A events in a year. These events have a full taper before the event with a recovery week after. A events should ideally be 12 weeks apart in order to be in peak form for both. - B Events can be seasonal objectives in their own right. They allow you to try different race prep and strategies to see what works best for you. B events receive a taper in the week of the event. - C Events are great practice and experience, but the outcome of these races should carry little value. C events will not change your plan. You can treat them like a hard workout. Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 4.25.21 PM.png If you are unsure what races you are doing or what your final schedule is this upcoming season, no worries. You can always add events to your Calendar after your plan has been built and your plan will automatically adapt around the new additions. With that said we recommend adding at least 1 “A” priority event to your plan, when you build your initial training plan. Unsure of how to prioritize your races? Check out this blog article for more information. General Fitness Goals If you've chosen General Fitness Goals first you will be prompted to choose the length of your plan. You can choose between a 1 month, 2 month, and 3 month plan or opt for another duration! Screen Shot 2024-09-16 at 12.40.43 PM.png Once you have done this you will prompted to choose your plan's main focus by selecting your primary training discipline and your training plans primary goal: Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 4.01.12 PM.png Step 4: Training Approach In the next step you can decide how aggressive you want your training to be by choosing your Training Approach. When choosing your training approach there are five options; conservative, moderate, balanced, demanding, and aggressive: - Conservative - A conservative approach is for athletes looking for more modest gains while benefiting from a reduced training load. This is a great approach for athletes looking to maintain their fitness or who are returning from injury. - Moderate - A moderate approach is for athletes who want steady progress and constant improvements with a comfortable and manageable training load. This is a solid option for athletes who haven’t trained in a long time or are new to the sport. - Balanced - This approach is called balanced because, for most athletes, this is the best approach to progress fitness while receiving enough recovery to remain consistent and prevent long-term fatigue. - Demanding - This is an approach for athletes who are prepared for a demanding plan and who understand their recovery needs to make progress. - Aggressive - This is an approach for athletes who want to push the boundaries of their current limits. Athletes will need to have a solid understanding of their nutrition, hydration, rest, and recovery needs for this training approach. Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 4.29.51 PM.png Be sure to read the descriptions of each option on the slider. When in doubt we recommend opting for a more balanced approach! Once you've generated your schedule you'll be able to view your training plan! Step 5: Schedule Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 4.39.48 PM.png Here in the schedule step, Plan Builder will automatically recommend a training schedule based on your training approach and imported training data. You will see an outline of what a general training week will look like. You can customize your schedule in the training week outline in these five ways: Dragging and dropping workouts: You can drag and drop workouts in the weekly schedule to the days of the week that you would prefer to complete them! workout move test.png Note: If you drag two workouts so they are close together you may receive a warning. Be sure to give yourself enough recovery between workouts! Changing the duration: You can change the duration of your planned workouts using the time drop down for each workout. Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 4.44.24 PM.png Changing the workout type: You can change your indoor structured workouts to TrainerRoad Outside Workouts, Group Rides or Solo Rides, and Zwift Race from the drop-down menu. Screenshot 2025-06-09 at 10.32.31 AM.png Screenshot 2025-06-09 at 10.33.11 AM.png Adjusting amount of workouts per week: To adjust the amount of workouts per week or the number of intense workouts per week go ahead and click on the settings icon located in the top right hand corner of the weekly schedule. Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 4.40.21 PM.png From here you can adjust how many days per week you want to train and how many intense workouts you want per week. Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 5.12.32 PM.png Keep in mind, if you choose to do more days of training you may receive a warning that your plan has too much training load. You can restore the plan to the original settings to get you back on track by selecting Restore Schedule. Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 5.01.59 PM.png If you'd like to tinker you can also reduce the duration of workouts, or change how many intense days you have per week to get your desired training schedule. Restoring your Original Schedule If at any point you'd like to restore your plan back to the initial recommendation go ahead and select the Restore option located to the right of the settings button and then hit Restore Schedule: Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 4.55.29 PM.png Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 4.58.40 PM.png Step 6: Name your plan and Review! Finally you can go ahead and give your training plan a name, and take the plan to review! Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 5.04.53 PM.png You will see a breakdown of your custom training plan with details of your schedule and an overview of your plan phases and when they start, before you add the plan to your Calendar Screen Shot 2024-09-12 at 5.06.36 PM.png Your plan will be composed of these three different phases: - Base Training Phase is where it all begins. It's the foundation of cycling and triathlon success, developing resilient aerobic fitness and laying the groundwork for higher-intensity, discipline-specific training later on. The importance of base training can't be overstated. - Build Training Phase builds discipline-specific fitness on your aerobic foundation, pushing you out of your comfort zone to increase your sustainable workload and make you faster. - Specialty Training Phase Focuses your training on the specific demands of your goals and/or events. This is a demanding discipline-specific final block of training. FAQ What if I already have events on my calendar? Plan Builder will detect events already on your calendar, and ask you to "Include" them once you reach the “Events” step of the process. What if I need to add events later? No problem! When new events are added after a custom plan has been added to the calendar, we’ll ask you if you would like those events to be accounted for in your plan and edit the plan to better fit that event. What if I need to take time off? You can add time at any point in your TrainerRoad Calendar once your plan is built. Learn how here: How to Add Time Off to My TrainerRoad Calendar What if I’ve already started training? Go ahead and choose a start date when you actually started training, even though it's in the past. This will make the plan automatically start where you were in your training! Why does my plan go Base/Build/Base? In your plan, when you have extra time before your goal event, alternating between Base and Build phases ensures your body stays responsive and well-prepared for your target event. Utilizing the Base phase after building fitness allows you to reduce fatigue, prevent plateaus, and enter your Specialty phase with the energy needed to maximize your event-specific gains. TrainerRoad Base training is not the same as Traditional Base training. So when TrainerRoad Base training is used after a Build phase, it does not revert the plan to significantly easier Z1/Z2 training. Instead, it strategically shifts your training to maintain progression while giving your body the necessary preparation for the final push into the Specialty phase. Note: If your plan is long enough, alternating between Base and Build serves the same preparatory function mentioned above. I got a different volume than what I’ve been doing, why is that? Your recommendation is customized for you based on your current capabilities as an athlete, your goal, and your Training Approach. If you are seeing a different volume than what you have been doing you might’ve been doing too much volume before, or not enough. Why did my long Endurance ride change to a Solo Ride? We recommend doing particularly long Sunday Endurance rides outside. You’ll notice that your training plan’s Solo Ride still has wattage/RPE targets and instructions on how to ride so that you can maintain the same goals as your scheduled workout. How do you know which training plan and schedule is best for me? We do a deep analysis of all of your data to intelligently recommend how much volume, intensity, and recovery you need. Where are Masters plans? Masters plans are training plans with one less day of intensity per week. You can adjust how many intense days per week your training schedule has. To do this open the Settings panel to change between 2- and 3-days of intensity per week. Masters should use 2-intense workout plans. Can I adjust the total amount of workouts per week? You can adjust how many workouts per week your training schedule has. To do this open the Settings panel to change between 2-6 workouts per week. We highly suggest using our customized training schedule recommendation, though. How can I make a plan for maintaining fitness? When you start building a plan, you will be asked if you want to build a plan for an event or fitness goals. If you would like to build a plan to maintain fitness, select fitness goals, then select your discipline and choose “Maintaining Fitness” as your goal. This will build a plan focused on maintaining your specific level of fitness. Can I make workouts too long or too short? If you edit your plan in a way that would be detrimental to your fitness goals, or ability to complete the plan, you’ll see a Warning banner on the page. This means your plan schedule is not recommended. Changing workout durations to be shorter than the initial recommendation, isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but you may be able to handle more than you think! I'm not trying to win races, but I do want to get into better shape. Is there a plan for that? Yes! Plan Builder can build plans structured around your primary discipline and goals. How does the PBv2 work for athletes who don’t have a target event? Plan Builder can build plans structured around your primary discipline and goals. How do I balance my strength training and other activities with my TrainerRoad Plan? Does Plan Builder consider strength training or cross-training? If you don’t have Activity Sync set up with TrainerRoad, we recommend getting that set up so that all of your training, strength training included, is imported to TrainerRoad. If you do anything that would lead to long-term burnout, TrainerRoad AI will adjust your TrainerRoad workouts down or prescribe a Rest Day. Will my current training plan change with the update? You’ll see the option to optimize your current custom plan if you have one added to your Calendar. You can always update your Training Approach and Training Schedule by clicking on the plan name or plan annotation from your Calendar. How can I update my plan if my goals or schedule change? You’ll see the option to optimize your current custom plan if you have one. You can always update your Training Approach and Training Schedule by clicking on the plan name or plan annotation from your Calendar. Where can I use the new Plan Builder? You can use the new Plan Builder on the TrainerRoad website! Can I use Plan Builder if I have limited time to train? Yes! You can even make plans with only 2 workouts per week. You can adjust the duration of any workout to be shorter if you want. Will Plan Builder re-build the plan if I add new events after the plan has started? Yes! Plan Builder will adjust around any event added to your Calendar. Can I still choose specific training phases (Base, Build, Specialty) manually? Yes! You can still add individual training phases to your Calendar. To add individual Training phases to your Calendar select Training Phases at the Training Plans page. I'm training for an event but I don't know the exact dates yet. What should I do? If you aren’t sure what the exact dates of your priority events are you have a couple of options! Add the event to your plan with an approximate date of when it may be. Once you know the date, update the event date on your Calendar and we’ll ask to update your plan to peak your fitness for your event. Build a plan without an event, selecting the event’s discipline and your personal goal. Once you know the date, add the event to your Calendar and we’ll update your plan to peak your fitness for your event. Are Triathlon plans supported? You can build a training plan with Plan Builder! There are some differences in the steps when you build a triathlon plan with Plan Builder instead of a cycling plan. Can I make a Polarized plan with the new Plan Builder? Currently you cannot build a Polarized Plan Builder plan. The good news is that this is something we are hoping to implement in the future.

Plan Builder • Last updated on Jul 21, 2026