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Creating a Workout from an ERG or MRC File

Do you have workouts in ERG or MRC format you'd like to use with TrainerRoad? You're in luck!

This article shows you how to import those workouts into our Workout Creator so you can use them with TrainerRoad.

We currently support ERG and MRC file formats. Just drop the file on the workout list in the Workout Creator, and you'll be prompted to name the new workout.

Note: Make sure the extension is all lowercase like ".mrc", though, or else it won't recognize the file type.

MRC File Format

Here's what an MRC file looks like:

[COURSE HEADER]
VERSION = 2
UNITS = ENGLISH
DESCRIPTION = A description
FILE NAME = blah.mrc
MINUTES PERCENT
[END COURSE HEADER]
[COURSE DATA]
0.00 50
6.60 50
6.60 140
7.98 140
7.98 50
9.07 50
9.07 150
10.10 150
10.10 50
14.07 50
14.07 115
22.07 115
22.07 50
32.08 50
32.08 115
40.08 115
40.08 50
51.88 50
[END COURSE DATA]

 Some notes about the format:

    • Copy the course header exactly as it is. We don't use most of the fields, however, the MINUTES PERCENT line is important. It tells us what to expect in the columns.
    • The 'minutes' column should be in decimal format. So 10.50 is 10 minutes 30 seconds.
    • The PERCENT column should be separated with a tab from the MINUTES column. The values are in percent of FTP.
    • In general, the points should be in pairs except for the first and last point. For each time, the first entry should be the end %FTP of the last interval and the second entry should be the %FTP that the new interval starts at. 
    • If the time changes and the %FTP changes between two consecutive points, this will create a ramp, changing linearly from the first %FTP to the second over the time difference. For example, the following snippet would create a ramp from 100% to 140% from 6.6 minutes to 7.98.
6.60 50
6.60 100
7.98 140
7.98 50 

ERG File Format

This is very similar to the MRC file format but you'll specify WATTS instead of PERCENT. Importing an ERG file will convert it to a %FTP workout based on your FTP. Alternatively, you can specify the FTP to use in the header as shown below. 

[COURSE HEADER]
VERSION=2
UNITS=ENGLISH
DESCRIPTION=test
FILE NAME=ergtest
FTP=220
MINUTES	WATTS
[END COURSE HEADER]

Adding text cues

You can also add text cues. Just add a section like this in your file after the course data section.

[COURSE TEXT]
600	This is a new message	10
615	This message will show up at 10:15 into the workout	10
[END COURSE TEXT]

The first column is the seconds from the start of the workout, the second is the message and the third is the duration of the message. Make sure you separate the columns by hitting the "Tab" key.

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