Just finished full frontal this morning and was declared a sprinter. I know this is probably one of the most common questions here, but I wondered if I could get some help choosing a plan. I’ve ridden (and done yoga consistently) for many years now, but most of that was unstructured riding. I started experimenting with structured training last year and I really enjoy the goal-oriented nature of it (not to mention achieving those goals). I’m not a racer (apart from the occasional Zwift race, the desire the show well in gran fondo events, and some informal races/time-trail type events organized by some local guys) but I do want to get faster: I suppose my Mt. Sufferlandia is to be faster than the current king of the hill in my local riding group (I’ve played second fiddle to him too long).
Apart from that, I have a really good riding buddy and we like to go for rides on the weekends at least. These are usually around 2 hour (approximately 40 mile) affairs, but sometimes stretch longer (50+). This summer, we pushed near the century mark a couple times and finally bit the bullet: planning and riding a century with 7000 ft of climbing. My buddy is strong but a little heavier than me so these rides don’t necessarily have me on the limit (I wait for him at the top of climbs, etc.) Forgive the shoulder-patting; just trying to give a complete picture.
At any rate, I’ve looked through the plans available. I suppose the all-purpose plan (novice or intermediate?) is a good place to start, but it doesn’t seem to have a lot of FTP work (my declared weakness based on my full frontal results). One option I’ve though about is putting together my own plan with the building blocks plans, but I’m wary of doing more harm than good (given I don’t have any training/experience that coaches have). The other factor to consider is that I’d like to keep going on weekend rides with my buddy. Sorry for all the text, and thanks in advance for the help!