Modifying Your Training Plan
Life happens. Illness, injury, travel, work stress, and unexpected schedule changes are inevitable. This guide will help you navigate these situations while minimizing disruption to your training adaptations.
Understanding Workout Priorities
Not all workouts are equally important. Understanding priorities helps you make smart decisions about what to modify, swap, or skip.
Workout Priority Hierarchy
Priority 1: Long endurance sessions
Weekend long rides, runs, swims
These build your aerobic base and event-specific endurance
Most important to complete each week
Priority 2: High-intensity sessions
Sweet spot, threshold, VO2max intervals
Important for performance gains
Can be shifted if you have adequate recovery
Worth making up if schedule allows AND you're well-rested
Priority 3: Easy/recovery sessions
Zone 1-2 endurance rides
Recovery runs/swims
Not worth "making up" if missed
Can be replaced with rest days if needed
General Modification Principles
What works well:
Swapping days for similar-intensity workouts (e.g., Tuesday/Wednesday)
Moving a long ride from Saturday to Sunday (or vice versa) for weather/schedule
Replacing an easy session with a higher-priority session you missed (if you're well-rested)
Doing endurance the day after intensity (common and generally fine)
Try to avoid:
Stacking multiple missed workouts into one day (especially 3+ workouts)
Back-to-back high-intensity days without a recovery day between
Doing high intensity the day after a long ride (you'll often flounder through it—better to do easy endurance instead)
Replacing rest days with high-intensity work
Reality check: Some athletes successfully do things that seem inadvisable (high intensity after long rides, stacking workouts in one day). Pay attention to your individual response. If you can recover and perform well, you have more flexibility than someone who can't.
Missing Individual Workouts
The Core Rule: Don't Stack Everything
Resist the urge to make up everything you missed. Continue with the plan as written for most workouts.
When you can make strategic swaps:
If you miss a Priority 1 workout (long ride/run):
Can swap with next day if it's an easy/shorter session
Can do it in place of an easy endurance session later in week (if not tired)
Don't stack it with another hard session
If you miss a Priority 2 workout (high intensity):
Can shift forward to replace an easy session (if you're well-rested)
Can potentially do it the day after a long ride IF you're not tired—otherwise just do the scheduled easy session
Don't stack back-to-back high-intensity days
If you miss a Priority 3 workout (easy/recovery):
Don't bother making it up
Just continue with the plan
Example of good swap:
Miss Saturday long ride
Sunday was scheduled easy 60-min spin
Solution: Do long ride Sunday, easy spin another day or skip it
Example of problematic stacking:
Miss Wednesday VO2 Max workout
Thursday already has Tempo intervals
Don't do both—pick one or just continue with Thursday's workout
The Protocol of Three
If you miss three consecutive training days, don't jump straight back to hard training:
Re-entry approach:
First 2-3 days: Easy training only
Gradually resume scheduled intensity
Reassess whether your plan fits your current life situation
Why this matters: Missing 3+ consecutive days usually signals something bigger than schedule conflicts—illness, life stress, burnout, or plan difficulty mismatch. Jumping back to high intensity increases injury and overtraining risk.
Training Through Illness
Quick Decision Guide
Do you have a fever? → YES: Rest completely
→ NO: Continue below
Are symptoms below the neck? (chest congestion, body aches, chills) → YES: Rest completely
→ NO: Continue below
Symptoms above neck only? (runny nose, mild congestion) → Light training MAY be okay:
Zone 1-2 intensity only
Shorten workout duration
Skip if you feel particularly fatigued
No hard efforts, intervals, or races
When in doubt: Rest. A few days off now beats weeks of compromised training later.
Returning After Illness
Wait until you've been fever-free for at least 24 hours before resuming any training.
Don't jump back to full training immediately. Your body is still recovering even after symptoms resolve.
Gradual return protocol:
Days 1-2 post-illness:
Easy aerobic sessions only
50-60% of normal duration
Monitor how you feel closely
Days 3-5 post-illness:
Increase to 70-80% normal duration
Still easy intensity
Can add light tempo if feeling strong
Days 6-7+ post-illness:
Resume normal training if energy levels are good
Be cautious with first hard session back
If fatigue spikes, extend easy training another few days
Severe illness (7+ days off):
May need to adjust race goals if close to event
Focus on maintaining fitness rather than building it
Consider extending recovery period
Managing Injuries
Stop or Modify Immediately
Don't train through pain. Acute pain is a warning signal. Ignoring it typically makes things worse and extends recovery time.
Pain assessment:
Sharp, sudden pain: Stop immediately
Dull, aching pain that worsens during activity: Stop and assess
Mild discomfort that improves with warm-up: Proceed cautiously, monitor closely
Cross-Training Principles
When injured, the goal is maintaining fitness without aggravating the injury.
General guidelines:
Choose activities that don't stress the injured area
Running injury → Pool running, cycling (if pain-free)
Cycling injury → Swimming, pool running
Swimming injury → Cycling, running (if shoulder isn't involved)
Important caveat: Don't view cross-training as license to increase volume. Match the duration/intensity of what you'd have done in your normal training, not MORE. The temptation is to compensate, but overloading other systems increases injury risk elsewhere.
When to Seek Professional Help
See a physical therapist, sports medicine doctor, or appropriate specialist if:
Pain persists more than 7 days despite rest
Pain is severe or sharp
Swelling, bruising, or visible deformity
Pain prevents normal daily activities
You've had this injury before and it's recurring
You're within 6-8 weeks of a key race
Don't DIY serious injuries. Early professional intervention usually shortens recovery time and improves outcomes.
Training During Travel
Maintaining Fitness on the Road
Prioritize key sessions: If you can only do 60% of planned training while traveling, focus on:
One long aerobic session (Priority 1)
One hard workout per week if time permits (Priority 2)
Fill in with whatever else fits
Hotel room workouts:
Bodyweight strength work (if traveling without access to gym)
Stretching and mobility work
Core stability exercises
Finding places to train:
Research running routes before arrival (Strava heatmaps are useful)
Many hotels have gym partnerships or guest passes
Pool running in hotel pools works if outdoor training isn't safe/practical
Adapt to circumstances:
30 minutes of quality > zero minutes of perfection
Walking meetings instead of sitting still
Use stairs instead of elevators for easy aerobic work
Time Zone Changes
Jet lag impacts:
Disrupted sleep affects recovery and performance
Coordination and reaction time are impaired
Judgment about effort levels can be off
Training through jet lag:
First 1-2 days: Keep training very easy
Don't attempt hard sessions until adjusted (usually 3-5 days)
Use morning light exposure to speed adaptation
Training can actually help reset your clock if timed properly
Race Travel
Arriving at destination race:
1-3 days early: Minimal acclimation needed, stay on home schedule
4-7 days early: Partial acclimation, awkward middle ground
8+ days early: Full acclimation possible
Training taper during race travel:
Don't add training volume to "explore" the area
Stay off your feet more than normal
Reconnaissance of race course is fine, but keep it truly easy
When Training Feels Too Hard
Persistent Fatigue Despite Following the Plan
If you're consistently struggling to hit prescribed intensities:
Step 1: Check the basics
Sleep: Are you getting 7-9 hours consistently?
Nutrition: Are you eating enough total calories and protein?
Life stress: Major work or personal stressors impacting recovery?
Illness: Low-grade illness can sap energy without obvious symptoms
Step 2: Reduce intensity first
Complete prescribed workouts at lower intensity
Example: Threshold session at 85-90% of target instead of 95-105%
Endurance rides at lower end of Zone 2
This maintains training stimulus while reducing stress
Step 3: Reduce volume second
Cut workout durations by 20-30%
Maintain workout frequency (better to do shorter sessions than skip days)
Keep some intensity work to preserve top-end fitness
Step 4: Add recovery time
Take an unplanned rest day or very easy day
Extend your recovery week by a few days
Sometimes one extra recovery day prevents two weeks of struggling
When the Plan Feels Too Easy
If you're consistently finishing workouts feeling like you could do significantly more, and you're recovering well:
Option 1: Add time to endurance sessions
Extend long rides/runs based on how you feel and how well you're recovering
Monitor that you're still recovering adequately between sessions
This is the safest way to increase training load
Option 2: Add time in zone for intensity work
Example: 4 x 8 minutes → 4 x 10 minutes
Only if endurance sessions already feel appropriate
Monitor recovery closely
Option 3: Increase intensity (use sparingly)
Only if: You feel great AND heart rate is running lower than expected for your power targets
Example: Targeting sweet spot power but heart rate is in low tempo range
This suggests you may be fitter than your current zones indicate
May warrant retesting FTP/threshold
Don't make all three changes at once. Add one variable, monitor for 1-2 weeks, then consider additional changes if still feeling undertrained.
Life Stress and Training
How Non-Training Stress Impacts Recovery
Work pressure, family challenges, relationship issues, and personal stress directly impair your ability to recover from exercise. Your body doesn't distinguish between training stress and life stress when it comes to recovery demands.
Research shows that mental and emotional stress impairs physical recovery and increases cortisol levels that interfere with adaptation.
High-stress periods:
Back off intensity first (keep volume for mental health benefits)
Prioritize sleep even more than usual
Maintain easy aerobic training for stress management
Skip hard sessions if feeling overwhelmed
Signs life stress is impacting training:
Elevated resting heart rate
Disrupted sleep despite fatigue
Persistent muscle soreness
Decreased motivation
Increased irritability
Balancing Training and Life
Training should enhance your life, not dominate it. If training is creating more stress than it's relieving:
Reduce training volume temporarily
Focus on what you enjoy most about training
Skip races that are adding pressure rather than excitement
Remember: there will always be another race
Communicate with family/work:
Set realistic expectations about training time
Don't sacrifice critical life responsibilities for training
Build flexibility into your schedule
Plan key training weeks around lower life-stress periods
Adjusting for Schedule Conflicts
Moving Workout Days
General principles:
Keep hard days separated by 48+ hours when possible
Try to avoid stacking multiple hard sessions on consecutive days
Endurance sessions can move more flexibly than key interval work
Acceptable adjustments:
Swapping Tuesday/Wednesday workouts
Moving long weekend ride from Saturday to Sunday (or vice versa)
Replacing an easy session with a higher-priority missed workout (if well-rested)
Generally problematic (but some athletes handle it):
Doing high intensity the day after a long ride (often better to do easy endurance instead)
Back-to-back threshold or VO2max days
Replacing rest days with hard training
Compressed Training Weeks
If you have a particularly busy week:
Identify the 1-2 key sessions (usually one long, one hard)
Do those sessions even if you have to skip others
Fill in what you can around them
Don't try to compress 7 days into 4
When to Significantly Modify or Abandon the Plan
Situations Requiring Major Changes
Extended illness or injury (2+ weeks):
May need to adjust race goals
Focus on rebuilding gradually rather than catching up
Major life events:
New job, moving, family emergency
Survival mode: maintain minimum fitness
Return to structured training when life stabilizes
Persistent overtraining symptoms:
Elevated resting heart rate for 1+ weeks
Declining performance despite adequate rest
Chronic fatigue, irritability, sleep disruption
Frequent illness
Action: Take 1-2 weeks very easy, then rebuild gradually
Rebuilding After Setbacks
General approach:
Start conservatively (60-70% of where you were)
Build back gradually over 2-4 weeks
Don't try to make up for lost time
Reassess race goals if needed
You'll regain fitness faster than you built it initially if you have a solid training history. Well-conditioned athletes bounce back more quickly than beginners building fitness for the first time.
Still Need Help?
If you've tried the modifications suggested in this guide and are still struggling with persistent issues, major disruptions, or uncertainty about how to proceed: Explore our coaching services for personalized ongoing support.
Key Sources
The modification strategies in this guide are informed by:
Mental Stress Impairs Strength Recovery - How non-training stress affects adaptation and recovery
Stress, Cortisol, and Athletic Performance - Physiological mechanisms of stress-recovery interference
Progressive Overload in Resistance Training - Why stacking missed workouts undermines adaptation principles
Return to Training After Illness: Clinical Guidelines - Gradual return protocols and guidelines
Detraining: Characteristics and Effects - Timelines for fitness loss and regaining fitness after breaks