Hi everyone, I’ve decided to go with an AI Forecast training plan after all, as I think it’s the better option for me. The issue with XATA is that I would have to train increasingly more—or constantly tweak so many variables—just to keep improving while working within a limited number of training hours. Plus, I feel that XATA requires a bit more experience in road cycling.
That said, I do have a few questions about the Forecast AI training plan and hope you can answer them for me:
I’m not training for a specific event; instead, I’ve initially set “puncheur” as my goal. What timeframe makes sense here?
Should I always switch the focus after that?
How can I swap training days? When I swap them, the forecast dot turns red. Then, when I start the forecast, it swaps the days back.
What should I do if I unexpectedly can’t train on a particular day? Should I simply skip the workout, or set my availability for that day to zero and then reactivate the forecast?
How can I swap a training day on my mobile phone? Drag and drop doesn’t work there.
And one more specific question: I’ll be camping for about 16 days starting August 22nd and won’t be able to train. Should I finish my current plan on August 21st and start a new one after the trip, or is it better to schedule the training plan to span the vacation period—for example, running through the end of September?
I typically use 60 days for a Goal improvement; essentially a 9-week plan.
30 days would be the minimum term.
An XFAI program will switch to XATA Continuous when the plan ends with the currently selected Focus Duration.
Always a good idea to switch Focus Duration periodically.
Regardless of program type I also select a Road Sprinter Focus on a HIT day once a month if my normal training doesn’t include any sprints.
If a swap creates a broken constraint, one or more days will show a magenta matchstick.
Sometimes that is a benign “availability” issue so no need to run Adapt Forecast. The red dot will disappear after the swapped days are completed.
Other times the plan needs to be rebalanced as multiple days are affected, or form is in conflict.
To view why go to the Forecast Chart and hover or tap on any magenta matchsticks to view the warning text.
Examples:
I’d set Aug 21 as the first target date and start a new forecast after the trip.
You won’t lose much fitness in a week and even 16 days later you’ll gain back quickly when you resume training. This is especially true if some aerobic activities during the gap which can simply be brisk walks.
With XFAI the Adapt Forecast red dot functions similar to the Training Pacer in XATA. I.e. a warning system.
Adapt Forecast will reoptimize the plan when necessary. Typically, that means shuffling the week ahead but may extend further if a major imbalance occurs such as a week off due to illness.
You might also choose to Update a forecast midstream such as change a slider setting. This differs from recasting which starts a new plan beginning today.
You might, for example, experience a BT during a plan that reaches your initial Goal.
You can return to Program settings and see if you can up the improvement target with the time remaining. Or configure a new goal and generate a new forecast.
First of all, thank you very much for the very detailed response.
Do I understand correctly that you mean I could either raise the improvement target after a BT? I follow that part.
Alternatively, you’re saying I could start a new forecast. Shouldn’t I finish a training plan before starting a new one?
And one more question about this: Are you planning to look for a workout that includes sprints? When I ride with XMB, I can just throw in some sprints myself, right?
