“I have also swapped to using Xert in the last 6 months or so which has further complicated things.”
For most mortals Xert is subscribing way to hard workouts.
I used Xert for over a year as primairy trainingtool and couldnt cope at the end with workouts having 3 or more stars.
From the moment I realised that I set the filter for max 2.5 stars workouts.
Much better!!
Furthermore I have been overtraining for years. At a certain point I was scared to reduce my trainingload and intensity just for the fear of missing out.
At a certain point I decided to not give a shit if I would be missing out or lose fitness and reduced intensity and duration of training. From that moment on I recovered much better, my heart rate accelarates much easier and I am much fitter and energetic also during workouts.
I use a small app called KudoCoach to make a trainingplan which determines my weekly trainingload and zone distribution (3wks incremental load, 1wk recover). With intervals.icu I plan out that weekly trainingload for the upcoming week. I use my Garmin watch to monitor recovery time and adapt my week plan if recovery requires. Kudocoach quantifies load for my running, cycling and rowing which makes it very easy not to do more trainingload than planned for that week. Works like a charm!
Good luck with your search and solution!
Gr Johan B
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Many thanks for your time taken in replying.
The problem with assessing training loads (probably my downfall) seems to be when trying to quantify thresholds & relative training stress for different sports from what Xert suggests. I have a separate cycling & running profile but from my understanding Xert feels unhappy trying to combine them into one profile as they say that working out the different impact between cycling & running would be difficult. That means having to rely on the Freshness Feedback slider which seems a reasonable compromise. But I feel that I have relatively poor self awareness of freshness/fatigue & so preferred objective measures e.g. HRV, RHR etc to do do an impartial adjustment. But they seem to have not alerted me to perhaps how chronically fatigued I actually was & so I did not really feel a need to periodise my training as it was mostly what I perceived as low intensity.
With combining three disciplines into one weekly training plan, I wonder if Kudo Coach feels able to do what Xert seems reluctant to, making users have two or sport specific profiles. Xert seems to have some very research focused & knowledgeable scientists & so I assume that is the basis for their reluctance. I am not sure if that is the difference between them & Kudo Coach perhaps. But it seems to work for you from what you say.
Another issue for me is using power (rather than HR) when combined with doing regular steep incline runs (which I favour instead of doing weights or plyometrics). I tend to feel less tired doing inclines than speed intervals but in terms of power (& so training load) the TLs tend to come out much higher than any speed session that I could sustain. I think that is partly why I was probably tending to over train (minimising the impact of the high TL to some extent) as if I had done those TLs on the flat I would have broken down far earlier with injuries. Also I think that I was taking TLs, Ramp Rate & Form as the gospel and not fully considering how my body was actually absorbing those loads, based on my previous years’ capabilities. The problem (with hindsight) was that my previous capabilities were not based on doing all three disciplines at the same time partially due due to lockdown & equipment available. With limited personal experience, I was relying on e.g. HRV, Xert & Intervals to guide me in combining them.
Following the excellent advice on here & distrust of my subjective assessment abilities, I have decided to start a 30 wk Half Iron Triathlon Plan with lots of base & endurance sessions & so will see how that goes. https://www.rebeccaromero.co.uk/70-3-triathlon-training-plans. It seems at my level of TLs (old ones though) & session durations but heavier on swimming than I am used to but I presume that she is trying to maximise the chance of getting into the leading pack on the bike leg which is all important. I enjoy swimming & so no great problem once my swim muscles & endurance have improved.
If that fails then I will explore Kudo Coach although it seems very cycle centric from the brief look that I have had. Also be fair to Xert, it is probably me not using it correctly as it does seem incredibly complicated (or they would probably say “versatile”). But then that can also be a way of blaming the user rather than the software potentially if/when it does not work. Hopefully the running side of Xert might get more development & perhaps a solution found to combine profiles in terms of a universal freshness level & more/better prescribed running workouts. They do seem very responsive to feedback & questions in my experience.
