I have been using Athletica for a couple of weeks now. I am bike rider training for my A-race next summer. Long story short, but looking at the hiit session that are planned by the end of this year, I doubt they are realistic. An example, by December I am planned to do a hiit session of 6x10x30/30s. That is one extremely tough session and sums up to a total of 30 minutes at 130% of my FTP. And for the next day I have a 8x10 min SE session at 90% of FTP. I can smell overreach and in worst case overtrain.
Honestly, it depends on many things, among others: your fitness level and when is your goal event and where you start from. Also some of your settings can influence that too. I’m happy to have a look at your setup to make sure it’s looking good. Strength endurance sets are not that hard in my opinion, and your intensity should stay relatively low, maybe just tapping into zone 3a.
Yes please, I would be glad if you can have a look at my plan. I have previously had a professional coach and been the top 5% in my age group doing triathlon, and I have never had interval sessions with a load like the ones suggested by Athletica. Yes, the SE-sessions are “normal” but I am worried that the HIIT and threshold sessions are a bit over the top. If you have a look at what is planned for the start of June 2026 you will find that a build week consists of:
I think most athletes do this , look too far ahead. From experience I can tell you that anything past your “adjustable days” is written in pencil. If you had purchased a static training plan then I’d be worried. I’m guessing you chose Athletica because of its ability to adjust based on your fitness and how your fitness changes so give it the time to do that.
Also note…as a group of us has experienced over the past year or so of weekly HIIT sessions on Velocity…these workouts don’t necessarily get easier, in that your targets likely will lift as your fitness and power profiles improve, but you may well find that you are better able to successfully complete the sessions as you adapt to the workout profile.
When I first started doing the HIIT sessions regularly, I similarly took them a bit easier than prescribed; I dropped the power target, while maintaining the rest duration. I found my ability to hit the target power improved relatively quickly such that I no longer needed to adjust it from the prescription.
The SE sessions, too, have become more “doable” for me, even as I regularly find them extremely painful.
Thank you all for your advice. I understand that I shouldn’t worry too much about how the plan looks next summer, it will probably change many times before it’s time for me to execute the sessions. It will be interesting to watch the plan adapt as I progress. .