I think I’m starting to get the hang of XERT (podcasts are highly recommended), and the best part, but also the most difficult to accept, is to stop worrying about the future. If there’s time to do a workout in the morning I’ll just open up Xert - Login, hit refresh and do whatever it says under the training tab. If there’s no time in the morning, but in the evening I’ll do the same. Sometimes it’s a different type of workout, but that’s ok. It’s all calculated and no need to worry about it. Next day is a new day with new training or no training. That’s also ok.
I’m also accepting that if I’m off for a couple of days (like next week, I’m traveling for work) - I’ll just leave XERT as it is, it’ll show a big deficit - but it’s just 4 days off - I’ll get back on track eventually.
But here’s a question for you XERT experts. XERT looks at my trend, and how I usually do my training; which often has a bit more hours in the saddle during weekends. It seems to put XSS earlier in the week in the bank and withdraw them during the weekend. That’s fine since it follows my rhythm. But how do you guys do it if there’s an event coming up in the weekend which will mean less time available. I wish there was a way to flag days in the future - like “only 60 minutes available” so that XERT can take this into account and recommend that I do a bit more/different the days before.
Or should I just ignore recommendations and do a workout that I would normally do in the weekend. It’s mostly just going from 80 minutes to 120+ minutes, but I still want to make sure I follow the recommendations since fatigue also comes into play…
What I do is look at the planner on a Monday and see what the deficit looks like on the Sunday. For example this week I have a 300km audax on Saturday, so I know that will be several hundred xss, as a result I have only done a couple of short (75mins) workouts this week, this helps keep me reasonably sharp whilst meaning by Saturday I should be fresh for my long ride.
Alternatively if I have a large deficit on the Sunday but no long events planned at the weekend I will usually try and increase my midweek rides a little, especially if I can get outdoors, if this isn’t going to be possible I lower my improvement rate so I’m not trying to chase something that I haven’t time for.
I think I’ve settled on the don’t worry tactics and just do what I have time for now and don’t worry too much about the weekend deficit.
The ‘as much as I have time for today’ algorithm is easier to deal with, especially during a Continuous IR
There are times when it’s best to ignore the advice especially when “based on < day of the week >” when your schedule dictates otherwise.
All that really matters is the relative position of the pacer needle and what you have time to do today. No need to worry about a deficit (or a surplus).
In the summer when I typically reach 4 stars I often drift to the left (towards red) during the week knowing a long weekend ride will drive the needle back up. Sometimes that ride is on Saturday, other times on Sunday. I am not heeding the daily advice in this case but riding what I can and where depends on the weather (indoor vs outdoor).
This is a sound tactic. I have a similar strategy: whenever I have a training deficit I simply move the goal slider to maintenance. This immediately causes the annoying deficit to just disappear and then you are free to do whatever you want with the rest of your day.
