I enjoy creating personalized training plans based on an athletes experience, goals and time available to train. Not everyone can afford coaching and still want a guideline to follow, the reason Dave and I created training plans on training peaks with educational videos for endurance athletes of any level and type. While we try to offer a wide range of training plans, self coached athletes will still try to customize them to fit in with their life schedule. The most common reasons for customization include a mismatch between the athlete’s schedule and the plan’s schedule, the need to adjust the plan length, the inclusion of additional races, and scheduling conflicts.

To customize a training plan, there are several principles to follow. First, avoid scheduling challenging workouts on consecutive days and make sure to include lighter days in between. Second, distribute various workout types evenly throughout the week to maintain balance. For example, if you swim Monday, try to swim again by Thursday.

If there is a gap between the purchase date and when the plan’s start date is, consider starting hte plan and repeat the first few weeks and use that time to gradually get ready to be able to do the training load if you are not at the fitness level yet as well as focus on other priorities that can help set you up for success like sleep and nutrition. If you purchase a 24 week plan and your event is 20 weeks away, skipping the first few weeks of the plan is an option, make sure you review all the educational content, if you do not have enough time to complete the entire plan. If your recent training is not similar to the weeks you are skipping. you should modify the first few weeks of the plan to avoid injury. I can help you do this.

All our plans have suggested race dates or race simulations. Scheduling additional races can be simple if they fall within recovery weeks, but it can get complicated if they do not align with the plan’s recovery weeks. In these cases, half-recovery or partial-recovery weeks can be used to adjust the training load and obviously release the training that weekend to race, dont do both.