Training Peaks Overview

I've gotten some questions about my training plan from Training Peaks, so I thought I'd take a few minutes to walk through the process and show some samples of the workouts.

Below you can see a typical week for me (click to see larger version) :

• Monday is weightlifting,
• Tuesday is anaerobic,
• Wednesday is recovery,
  
• Thursday is strength,
  
• Friday is recovery,
  
• Saturday would normally be strength,
  
• Sunday is recovery.

All of this was calculated for me through a Wizard that asked about how many hours I want to train in a year, what my (perceived) limitations are, what my goals are, etc. The end result of the wizard is an "Annual Training Plan" which maps out my events and helps make sure I am ready for them:

So far I am extremely happy with the training. I am currently paying $49.00 every 3 months for this service and consider it money well-spent. I know for myself, I have to pay some token amount or it will be too easy to slack off and this option bridges the gap very nicely between custom, human coaching and trying to work out the plan myself. If there is one down side, it would be that everything is geared for racers. Some of the workouts ask me to do racing practice, or practice like I'm in a criterium - corner at speed, etc. I don't have much use for these workouts so I tend to substitute some other skill. Other than that, though, it is a great tool. I am training (riding) less but feel stronger overall than ever before. Next weekend's 200K brevet will really test how prepared I am.