Using Trainer Road in your 2016-2017 Nov OS

Brenda Ross

Trainer Road: Getting Started

 

TrainerRoad.com is
an adjunct to using an indoor trainer for cycling workouts. TrainerRoad
is an independent web-based service, using a subscription payment model
($12/month). It is designed to be simple to use on a wide variety of
trainers, and the TrainerRoad website has an excellent suite of instructions and videos for initial set-up. 

Please note that TrainerRoad is an optional enhancement to your Endurance Nation cycling workouts and requires a computer and a minimal level of technical expertise. It is VERY cool.  It is not mandatory you use this and it does not replace the TeamEN mojo in the Forums, Dashbord or anywhere else. 

We have put many of our EN
workouts on TrainerRoad in a private group as a resource for ALL TeamEN
athletes. This includes all of our OutSeason bike workouts and the
weekday interval ride for all of our Ironman and Half Ironman training
plans.  Access to this group is limited to paid TeamEN athletes only. 

For those of you without a powermeter, TrainerRoad allows you to simulate having power and improving your workout. For those of you with a powermeter,
TrainerRoad puts your power data right on the screen -- it's a huge
upgrade and it fits very well with how we structure your training.

What Trainer Road Does:

• TR
  works whether you have a standalone power meter (like a PowerTap or
  Quarg), or use Heart Rate to monitor your workout intervals.
• TR supports most standard trainers, and can use them plus your HR data to generate a "virtual power" reading
• If
  you have a CompuTrainer, TR will act in place of your CT software to
  set the resistance on the CT, adjusting as needed during the course of
  the workout.
• TR's on-screen graphics are simple to read even when one's vision is clouded with sweat and heavy breathing.

 

TO REQUEST ACCESS

To get access, please do the following:

1. Create a TrainerRoad account online here: www.trainerroad.com
2. Login to Trainer Road.
3. Go to this URL in your browser: www.trainerroad.com/teams/3-endurance-nation
4. From this
   page you can request access to the group. This process will take one
   business day to happen, so plan accordingly. Eventually this page will
   have more resources for TeamEN, but that is all TBD as TrainerRoad
   evolves.  

DOWNLOAD, INSTALL & USE TRAINER ROAD

TrainerRoad is an application that runs on your PC and Mac. You can find everything you need on their Getting Started page.

When you are ready
to do an EN workout (having already requested access above, and given
us 1 business day to approve you!) you launch Trainer Road and Click on
the Custom Tab. 

Step One:
Click TrainerRoad to find all of the TeamEN workouts alongside the
regular TrainerRoad workouts. Search by workout titles to find them:

• 2017 IM Wk1 BEG = The beginner week one bike ride from the 2014 Ironman plan.
• 2017 OS Wk9 INT = The intermediate level bike ride from the 2014 OutSeason plan. 
• 2017 HIM Wk14 ADV = The advanced level bike ride from the 2014 Half Ironman plan. 
• Test - This will show both options for the EN Power and Heart Rate tests.

 

Step Two:
Find the workout you want using the search bar. "2017 OS Wk9" will, for
example, pull up all workouts for Week 9 of the OS, all ability levels.
"Wk9 Sat" will pull up all Saturday workouts for Week 9, etc. 

Step Three: Click on Workout Name to review the actual workout, then click "Open" to start the workout on your laptop.

SUPPORT

If you need support, please post to the Trainer Road thread in the forums here. You can also submit a support ticket using the blue Support Tab located on the right side of every EN webpage, but it's not as direct as the thread above.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:
Custom Workout Creator: Click here to watch a short video on how to use the (beta) TrainerRoad workout creator. Please note the left sidebar is for PERCENT OF FTP, not absolute FTP. That might not be clear in the video (hat tip to Al Truscott on that one).
TrainerRoad Challenges: Periodically TrainerRoad will run it's own virtual cycling challenges. We hope to have some for the Team soon, but in the meantime feel free to play along with them!

John Stark

Excellent instructions, Brenda!  Glad we still have this as part of the EN arsenal.

jfields74

This is such a great resource for the team! This along with my Wahoo Kickr rocks!

Peter Beauregard

Jamie.....I agree! Pairing the Kickr and Trainer Road is a prefect training partner for the OS. Set the workout you want, and just hang on for the ride.

dougandpam1

Brenda, I linked to the trainer roads EN workouts a few seasons ago and still have access.  I just took a look at some of the workouts in the new 2016 OS plan (i.e. Week Week 2 Thursday) and the coaches made some changes to the workouts...Do you know if anyone is updating the old 2014 TR workouts to reflect the new 2016 OS plans?

brandondu

What ^^he^^ said? Are the 2016 OS workouts going to be uploaded to TR?

Paul Hough

For us very old school people here, what do you need for trainer road? Does this mean putting a laptop in front of my bike in my pain cave?

donymo

@Paul  Yes. Trainer Road allows you to "plot" your workout, making the transition from one interval to the next easy. Try and you'll love it! I believe you can do one month for $10 or so to see if you like it. I think it runs on phones and tablets as well.

dougandpam1

Paul, yes you do need a laptop, but you can also use it on a smart phone or tablet (provided you are using a Blue Tooth signal, or have some type of ANT adapter to get your bike signal into your device).  I use my laptop when at home in the pain cave, and use my iphone app version when on the road.  In either case, you will need a way to receive the signal from your bike/HR monitor.  When I first started using TR, I did not have a power meter on my bike so I used the virtual power settings with my Garmin Speed/Cadence sensor and an ANT stick from my Garmin 910XT.  I now have a power meter so am using real power (still fed in with my Garmin ANT stick)..both methods are fantastic ways to train the specific workouts of the EN system so do not let a lack of a power meter hold you back in using TR.  If you go to the TR website, they have pretty good instructional videos and from my experience, it was pretty easy to set up and use. 

Carrie Chavez

I need some assistance on getting the 2016 Trainer Road OS workouts. I show I am part of Team EN but only get 2014 and 2015 programs. I contacted Trainer Road and Liz Johnston replied back that EN needs to add me to the Trainer Road Team. ID account into Trainer Road is carriechavez. Does some from EN need to add me into the Team account?

dougandpam1

Hi Carrie, I've been using TR with the EN workouts for a few years now and am not able to see any of the new 2016 OS workouts yet either.  I asked the question earlier in this thread if someone was going to update the TR workouts with the new 2016 OS  workouts and have not seen a response.  My guess is that if you are seeing the earlier EN workouts, the TR folks have already added you to their system and that the 2016 have not been created. Not sure who created the 2015 OS workouts for us.

Peter Beauregard

Doug...I think I remember from a podcast last year that Coach P. was the one who created these workouts on TR.

Francis Picard

If they are not yet there, you can create the wkouts yourself by using the time they create the 2016 wkouts ? - I didnt know that someone created the wkouts for us! thats awesome, time saving for me this year !

Carrie Chavez

Doug,

 Thanks for the update. I will check the 2015 OS workouts and make sure they match.

dougandpam1

Thanks Carrie,

I took a quick look at the 2016 Advanced plan and one of the differences (at least for week 2 of the plan) is that for 2016 the coaches made a change to the Thursday workout by going for 4X4'Z4(6') - for the 2015 plan they used a 6X2'(2') system.

Doug 

ejshimon

Is there a Trainer Road EN coupon code that I missed somewhere? I thought Rich mentioned one would be put out there soon.  Thanks!

 

dougandpam1

Big Thanks to Coach P who just uploaded a number (if not all) of the new 2016 OS workouts for Trainer Roads.

ejshimon

Thanks Coach P for loading 2016 workouts!! Can't wait to see what Trainer Road has to offer.

Todd Bray

Quick question......the Week 1 Thursday workout in TR is different than what's coming up in the intermediate plan. In TR it says "2016 OS Wk1 Thu ALL ABILITIES."

Should this workout be completed instead of the 6 x 1.5(1.5) @ Z5?

Thanks!

Francis Picard

I just requested access!

Tom Glynn

TR tells me I'm not currently active. There is no option to request an update. How can I get my account activated?

tspinner21

Just a few points for window users:

1. If you are using Bluetooth and a PC you need a Bluetooth Dongle.

2. There is ONLY ONE TYPE OF DONGLE THAT WORKS! BLED112!

I wanted to share with everyone, this way you don't have any downtime waiting for the correct dongle to show up after purchasing the worng one (like me). Learn from my mistakes to make your experience better 

Enjoy!

Robert Sabo

How do most people add say an extra 10-15 minutes of ride to a workout when using TR? I use a computrainer and I have a Powertap wheel on the CT with my Garmin 510.

Todd Bray

I may be wrong but that's the one downfall with TR. You are pretty much locked into the time when you begin the workout. You can change the intensity of the workout but not add time.

If there is a way to do this someone please post as I'm yet to figure it out. Thanks!

donymo

"Duplicate" the workout and add minutes to the end

Note: You have to click "CREATE CUSTOM WORKOUT" and Trainer Road will install the workout creator (if you have not done this before).

Todd Bray

You have to do this before you start the workout though don't you? You cant' just decide to do an extra 15' when you are say 30' into a workout........correct?

Sorry if I'm showing how "green" I am to it.....

donymo

Correct - you cannot do it on the fly (as far as I know)

KonCity

I just requested access!

John Stark

Posted By Todd Bray on 09 Nov 2015 11:22 AM


I may be wrong but that's the one downfall with TR. You are pretty much locked into the time when you begin the workout. You can change the intensity of the workout but not add time.



If there is a way to do this someone please post as I'm yet to figure it out. Thanks!

Is there a reason why you don't just end the w/o and keep spinning?  Do you want the data chart and/or do you use the TR data file for your tracking your workouts?



Just curious.



I use the Garmin 510 during all workouts and upload that file to Training Peaks.  Not TR.  So even iR the TR w/o ends I am not "done."  I turn on some tunes and keep spinning.

Todd Bray

I'm using a KICKR w/TR and the trainer is controlled by TR. This being said, when the workout ends the power is no longer controlled. I guess one could use the KICKR app to control it but I think Robert's original question was in reference as to how to extend a TR workout.

Stephanie Weldon

I just requested access! Looking forward to getting this going! Thank you!! Happy Thanksgiving!!