making the most of mornings....

[Bobby]

I'm following a trainerroad sweet spot base program (ish)

I live too close to work to commute, and the mornings are busy (walking dog, herding the kids etc),  so i do all my turbo sessions in the evening, with the occasional lunchtime thrown in for good measure.  Once a week, and at the weekend I try to do something outside too - usually at night.

Without too much disruption I could carve out 45mins in the morning before everybody else wakes.  That's not long enough for the 1-1.5 hour sessions in my trainerroad plans, so what should i do instead?

Any advice on what sort of rides to fit in?

[BobScarle]

I have been using a couple of the GCN videos on YouTube, in particular the sweetspot intervals. They are around 40 - 45 minutes long.

[Bobby]

Thanks, leaves me wondering the best way to roll these in...

Drop 1 longer session for 2 shorter ones?
Chop a 1.5hr session into two 45min sessions?
Just take the extra sessions & don’t push too hard in them?
Use the time for cross-training?

[DuncanM]

Many of the Trainer Road workouts have shorter versions. Eg - Carson goes down to 30 minutes (it's called Carson-5). However, two of these doesn't give as good a workout as the full hour of Carson, partly because you are doing 2 sets of warming up and cooling down, and partly because the latter intervals are where you are working your body in a fatigued state, and this can have specific benefits.

If you have the time for doing your Trainer Road plan in the evening, then I would do whatever you like in the morning, with the proviso that you don't try to smash it in the morning and then take extra fatigue into your Trainer Road session later in the day. This is a common question asked on the podcast, and so I'm sure if you have a look at the Trainer Road blog then there will be some useful information there.

[Bobby]

Many of the Trainer Road workouts have shorter versions. Eg - Carson goes down to 30 minutes (it's called Carson-5). However, two of these doesn't give as good a workout as the full hour of Carson, partly because you are doing 2 sets of warming up and cooling down, and partly because the latter intervals are where you are working your body in a fatigued state, and this can have specific benefits.

If you have the time for doing your Trainer Road plan in the evening, then I would do whatever you like in the morning, with the proviso that you don't try to smash it in the morning and then take extra fatigue into your Trainer Road session later in the day. This is a common question asked on the podcast, and so I'm sure if you have a look at the Trainer Road blog then there will be some useful information there.

That makes sense - I think I'll shoot for a mid-volume training plan & treat the mornings as a bonus.  I think that additional effort in the morning (as long as it's predominantly sub-FTP) shouldn't stack up too much fatigue, and will really help bring the fitness along.

Cheers

[simonp]

If you're doing early morning then you could do fasted 45m endurance such as Carter.

This is easy enough that doing this a few times a week won't be disruptive. Don't eat anything beforehand, just drink water during. If you need a coffee, it's black only or maybe with butter or coconut oil.

[L CC]

Do something different.
Weights, running (spit) swimming.

[simonp]

Rowing!