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Garmin Coach newbie questions

seabeegps
3 months ago

I have done training plans before, but not the Garmin Coach plans. So it is easy enough to set up - and mine is cycling specific. 

So first question I have - since I also run, how does this get incorporated into the plan? 

But more importantly... does every workout NEED to be done in workout mode to correctly get associated with the prescribed training session? It seems so, since tonight I was doing an indoors TTT race on Zwift, which would very much align with the prescribed Tempo ride. Fortunately I did a warmup first and realised that it seemed the Garmin is controlling my trainer if I go into workout mode. Stopped the Garmin, went into free ride mode, and all was well. Except... now Garmin does not seem to think I did the workout! Even though it was recorded and synced, but in free ride mode and not in the workout mode. Which is rather inhibitive for free rides on indoor platforms, even though you match the workout "unofficially". 

Presuming this means my long ride this weekend (outside) will also have to be done in workout mode and if it exceeds the time, I can just extend it somehow and will simply get marked down on compliance because I did not end up back up home at the correct time?

Or is there a way to do your ride (or run) in normal mode and associate (at the lack of a better term) it with the required workout, as one does in TrainingPeaks?

I did try a trick I read about on the forums to ark my workout tonight as "training" - but that did not work to align it to/associate it with the prescribed workout. Though that has changed to be a base ride, so certainly I did not comply to the new workout. Yesterday it still said Tempo for tonight, which falls nicely with TTT Thursdays.

Any help, comments or advise wrt Garmin Coach will be greatly appreciated! Otherwise I'm just going to use it as a guideline and not worry about the compliance figures in the end.

  • 0 3 months ago

    The Garmin Coach programs are essentially trying to fit certain types of workout into some overall periodization of weekly training load, while achieving over time a training focus balance adapted to your goal (for example, the training focus for a 5k will have more emphasis on anaerobic than for a marathon, but the difference is not huge).

    seabeegps said:
    So first question I have - since I also run, how does this get incorporated into the plan? 

    Since the Coach programs optimize for training load per week, if you do other activities you consume "space" to accommodate biking workouts. Therefore, the Coach programs are not adapted to multi-activity training per se.

    seabeegps said:
    does every workout NEED to be done in workout mode to correctly get associated with the prescribed training session?

    Maybe this has changed recently, but in the past, the association of a completed coach workout was not matched well with the calendar. After the completion, you would see both the workout to be done and the completed workout in the calendar.

    Anyway, this doesn't matter since the training load is updated correctly.

    seabeegps said:
    Or is there a way to do your ride (or run) in normal mode and associate (at the lack of a better term) it with the required workout, as one does in TrainingPeaks?

    No, But it doesn't matter.

    seabeegps said:
    I'm just going to use it as a guideline and not worry about the compliance figures in the end.

    This, exactly.

  • 0 3 months ago in reply to Etupes25

    Thank you for the feedback - it did confirm a lot. 

    I now see my longer of my 2 long rides for the weekend was moved to tomorrow, where I don't have the time! So yes, seems this will turn into a guideline for now.