I wonder how individual the “custom training plans” are compared to the standardized ones. Right now, I’m ruminating if I would be better of with a customized plan to prepare for the infamous “Ötztaler Radmarathon” at the end of August. Two years ago, I prepared for the “Alpenbrevet Gold Tour” by using the “Mountainous/Hilly Gran Fondo” plan spiced up by some local sportives on the weekends. That went totally fine. But the “Ötztaler” is ab bit tougher because of the cut-off times and my personal goal to beat my younger self from the 2015 edition.
And since the standard plans are tailored to my rider profile and my strengths and weaknesses already I wonder what more could I expect from a customized plan then?
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A customized plan can take into account days off, travel, when you prefer to train etc. It’s worth it if only to try it out. I did last Fall for an hour record attempt and the customized plan is more specific to you.
Give it a try.
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Holgar, you have to watch out for " your younger self" He appears in my rides too , and usually manages to beat me to a pulp
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The customized plans start with the base of the plan designed for your rider profile, and then any training limitations such as weeks you can’t ride, or duration issues for rides during the week or weekend.
Basically wee will take the SUF plan that is most applicable for your rider profile and goals, and then modify the workouts to fit around your life to ensure you can comply to the plan as much as possible.
You can get thee higher level of customized plan that includes a mid plan 30min call to discuss how the plan has gone so far, and then we will make any necessary changes for the final 6 weeks.
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That‘s a great answer, thanks.
Let me play devils advocate for a moment and continue this thought:
IF I can manage to move my own schedule every day of the plan and don‘t have any specific off-days, et cetera, will I be better off just using the in-app training plans instead of the customized ones?
During my last olympic tri plan I literally never missed a workout. Me and my family are flexible enough to make this work.
Somehow your post makes me wonder if, for a person like this, there is any real benefit in using the custom plan - at the moment.
Maybe just going with a one off coach call would have the same effect?
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I would guess there are some customizations to the plans that includes different workouts to put on back-to-back days that you wouldn’t do/consider if you just moved workouts to different days (which is what I usually do). Plus the other adjustments you would get from discussions with the coach and adjustments the coach would make to the back half of the plan that you wouldn’t do on your own. But that is an interesting question.
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Super valid point! Most of the feedback we get from users on Customized plans comments that the time spent on the 30-minute call (and 30-minute mid-plan call) was the most valuable component. If you don’t have many restrictions that require moving plans around, then the majority of that time could just be used as a time to consult an expert coach and get any questions you might have answered.
We have even started offering a standalone coaching consultation call, where you don’t get a modified plan, just the ability to talk with one of our Coaches who can give you solid and credible answers to your questions.
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Yeah, I was thinking about your new offering when I asked the question. 
Thank you, @Coach.Mac.C, for getting back so quickly.
I fully intend to try the customized plans after this summer and compare with the standard approach for myself.
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Thank you very much for the insight. I thought of purchasing such a plan, but now I’m puzzled a little bit. So just to get it clear for me. If my goal were an alpine Gran Fondo of about 120 miles and about 15,000 ft of climbing, the customized training plan would still be very much like or even similar to the “Mountainous/Hilly Gran Fondo 12 Weeks” plan with adjustments to my personal time restrictions and the benefit of the initial (and if opted for it an additional) call with one of the SUF coaches. Is that right? Or would the customized plan differ in more ways than just to take my personal schedule into account?
I’m asking because I still have enough time left until the event. So a call may be the more appropriate solution for me because I could talk about which plan(s) you would recommend doing before starting the “Mountainous/Hilly Gran Fondo 12 Weeks” plan, which is exactly the point where I am right now.
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It makes it sound as if the personalised plan just throw in the general road plan, which is already tweaked to the riders weakness, and then juggle a few days about to sit the days that can be ridden.