New to Sufferfest, what plan to start with

Training
#1

I’m brand new to Sufferfest, joined yesterday and jumped in with the full frontal 4dp test. I was told I’m a sprinter, so surprise there, and that my Vo2 max is my weakness. I have been riding on Zwift and outside for the last 3-4 years, but still feel like I have a lot of room to improve. My main reason for joining was to increase my overall fitness and have a plan that will integrate strength training and yoga as I was struggling to balance all 3. I race on Zwift, but not IRL. Eventually I would like to build my climbing ability as my husband loves to climb and it’s my nemesis, but one goal at a time.

I have been looking over the plans and I’m not sure if I should start with the All purpose road or fitness Kickstarter? And if I should start at Novice? Any help getting me started in the right place would be appreciated.

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#2

Hello and welcome to the land of suffering :wink:

Fitness kickstarter is for those that were off the bike for plenty of weeks and do not want to put a lot of stress in a short period of time.
By reading your post, this is not your situation.

If you want to focus on e-racing, try the corresponding plan.
All purpose road is great, because it hits many areas.

Check the rest of the plans, read the descriptions and pay attention because some of them include outdoor rides as well, but of course, you can always do these inside as well.

As for the level selection, novice, intermediate and advanced do not correspond to your current bike experience, but how many hours/week you are willing to give in training.
Obviously, advanced puts more stress than intermediate, which is harder than novice.

Happy suffering!

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#3

Welcome to Sufferlandria @hkovacs14, you can never leave. My 2 cents, there are e-racing plans to consider plus what @lapingv755 said above.

If you’re up for it, I suggest you join the Tour of Sufferlandria 2021 Tour of Sufferlandria – The Sufferfest it literally just started and is sooo sooo much fun. The forum is active and there’s a FB group that is active too. It’s the annual SUF fundraiser for the Davis Phinney Foundation for Parkinson’s. $15 US to join and every $10 US raised gives you extra chances at an amazing pride pool (grand prize is a Kickr Bike!). This is my 6th year in a row (though it’s been held since 2013).

You can always follow the Tour with a training plan (that’s what I’m doing). You can’t lose.

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#4

@Glen.Coutts Thanks for the feedback. I was looking at the tour, but was hesitant as I was worried about it beating me up to much. You mentioned following the tour with a training plan, can you elaborate more on that or point me to how to do that?

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#5

You can apply the training plan in the app. It’s under plans on iOS or Training Plan on Mac or Windows. Just look for the Tour of Suf plan and apply it to your calendar. You can choose from a few options but if you’re super nervous, you can choose the Get Me Through It option which will reduce the ride intensities so they won’t overwhelm you. Pro tip, if you do sign up, download the day’s videos in advance, then when you’re ready to ride, open the ride from the calendar or the ride intensities won’t be applied. And ALWAYS feel free to reach out here or send an email to theminions@thesufferfest.com if you run into any issues and they’ll get you sorted. Does this help?

#6

Getting on any plan will make you stronger. All purpose road with strength and yoga would be a good start. I would recommend choosing a plan with training volume you can manage. All purpose road has novice, intmdt, advanced. Much better to add workouts if needed, imo, rather than biting off more than you can chew and missing workouts due to fatigue