Joe Friel’s well-explained tomes not withstanding, my head explodes at the mere thought of figuring out my own training plan. And compiling and reviewing my rides with any hope of extracting useful info? Not likely. Or, at least, not with enough depth to affect meaningful change in my “training”. Ain’t nobody got time for that.
Fortunately, Today’s Plan does all that for you. And now they’ll even review upcoming events and give you a customized training plan specifically for that race, group ride or whatever. Create an account, tell it what you’d like to accomplish, and it’ll spit out a plan (which you can edit based on real world responsibilities) and provide that plan online and through it’s app. You can then sync the workouts to a Garmin cycling computer or use the app to stay in target zones.
Screenshots, video and more below…
The training plans come from coach Mark Fenner and are pulled from a database of more than 500 structured workouts.
Once you’ve provided the weekly calendar (how much time you can commit and when), Today’s Plan fills in each slot with a workout designed to provide the right mix of duration and intensity to finish the week with the right load. Perhaps the best part of all is it will pull all of your ride data (power, heart rate, time, distance, etc.) from the info you’re already syncing to Strava, Garmin Connect, etc. It knows what you did without any extra input from you.
Well, actually, maybe the best part (second best?) is that you won’t have the guilt of knowing there’s a coach waiting for an explanation as to why you keep missing your workouts. The algorithm doesn’t judge. That unappeasable voice inside your head, however…
Video instructions come with each workout, and all of your data can be viewed online or through their iOS / Android apps.
They offer a 14-day free trial, after which subscription plans run from 6 to 16 weeks, plus unlimited training and analytics-only plans. The free plan is somewhat limited, but should show off the program’s capabilities. Paid plans open up advanced analytics, including Di2 gear metrics and the ability to create your own workouts. The system is also available for coaches, so you can share your data with another coach and have them edit or create a different training program while benefiting from the auto-upload of data. Coaches can also manage and compare performances of multiple athletes on the same screen.
Lastly, promoters can now list their events for free with Today’s Plan, which will then create customized training plans for that event based on the participant’s current state of fitness.
