Training plan summary, May 27 to June 5, 2026
- Athlete: Sidney McGill
- Prepared: 2026-05-27
- Audience: Sidney, with a copy intended for Coach Gunnar
- Purpose: a short, readable summary of the current training picture, the two plans on the table for the next nine days, and where they differ
The situation in one paragraph
Sidney is four weeks out from Ghost of the Gravel (June 27), her near-term performance target. She is still resolving a multi-day SI and back flare that included radiating leg pain through about May 25. The first symptom-stable ride was on the morning of May 27, when she rode 3:10 endurance, 83.5 km, 137 average heart rate, hrIF 0.60, with 838 m of climbing, after also adding a morning arms-and-back gym circuit. That ride was tolerated. The picture is improving but the next 48 to 72 hours are still confirming stability before any force, sprint, or heavy strength work is appropriate.
The two plans for the next nine days
Plan A — Gunnar's TrainingPeaks calendar. A general-conditioning week: three planned 3-hour endurance rides with race-pace fueling, two heavy strength days (May 29 and June 3), two short neuromuscular days (Openers on May 30 and ZIPP on June 2), and two rest days (May 28 and June 5).
Plan B — Luca's calendar files. A staged return-to-load week with a Ghost-specific back half: protective easy riding May 28 to June 1, then threshold June 2, endurance plus light strength maintenance June 3, gravel sustained pressure on gravel surface June 4, and easy plus short openers June 5.
Total bike time is similar on both plans, roughly 13 hours. The difference is in what each day is asking Sidney's body to do.
Day-by-day side by side
Where the two plans agree
- May 27: Sidney completed Plan A's 3-hour endurance ride. The race-pace fueling instruction was the right call and is being carried into Plan B's key days going forward.
- May 28: Both plans default to rest after the larger-than-planned Wednesday.
- June 1: Both plans default to a quiet Monday recovery anchor.
- June 5: Both plans agree the day before the long Saturday simulation needs to stay light.
Where the two plans differ, and why
Plan B's coaching position is that four days in this window are not appropriate for the current clinical state, plus one day is under-specific for the Ghost target.
The four days where Plan B asks Sidney to do something different from TP
- May 29 — heavy strength. Heavy back squat and split squat at 3 x 4-5 reps loads the SI joint and hip extensors hard. Five days after radiating leg pain, that load is not the right next step. Plan B replaces it with a 1:00-1:30 easy ride, no loaded gym work.
- May 30 — Openers. The structured workout includes 18 bursts at 110-150% FTP in short reps. Standing high-power efforts engage the trunk and pelvis at force levels that have a real chance of re-aggravating the back. Plan B replaces it with a 2:00-2:45 controlled endurance ride, no opener bursts, on road or smooth gravel.
- June 2 — ZIPP. 12 x 15 sec all-out sprints develop top-end power but do not build the sustained-pressure capacity Ghost requires. Plan B replaces it with 2 x 22 min at 94-99% FTP, which directly trains the sustained climbing and front-group pressure Sidney will need at Cochrane.
- June 3 — heavy strength repeated. The same heavy template restored mid-build-week is overload after a Tuesday key day and before a Thursday key day. Plan B uses a compact 25 to 30 minute maintenance lift instead, with explicit guardrails for the back.
The one day where Plan B is more Ghost-specific
- June 4 — gravel sustained pressure on gravel surface. Plan A prescribes a 3-hour road endurance ride. Plan B prescribes 3 x 20 min at 82-88% FTP, mostly seated 80-90 rpm, on gravel or mixed terrain, with race-day equipment and fueling rehearsed. Ghost is a 4.5-hour gravel race; this is the closest match in either plan to what Sidney will face on race day.
What Sidney should know
- Plan A has good instincts and good fueling language. The reason Plan B differs is not because Plan A is bad coaching in general. It is because Plan A appears to be running without the clinical context of the May 25 SI/back flare in view.
- Plan B is not more conservative for the sake of being conservative. The front half is protective because the back is still proving stability. The back half (Tuesday to Thursday) is genuinely demanding and is built to deliver real Ghost-specific work.
- Plan B's prescription for the four contested days only matters if it actually gets executed. On TP, Sidney will see Plan A. On any day where the two plans disagree, the morning message will name what to skip and what to do instead, with the reason.
- Two simple rules that apply to every day this week:
- No extra gym work and no unprompted intensity. If something extra is on your mind, message first.
- Stop if shooting leg pain, increasing SI pain, mid-back spread, numbness, tingling, or weakness appears.
What Coach Gunnar should know
- Sidney experienced a multi-day SI and back flare from approximately May 20 through May 25 with radiating leg pain down one leg. The first symptom-stable day was May 27. This may not have reached you through the normal channel.
- She tolerated the May 27 3-hour endurance ride well at hrIF 0.60. The fueling instruction was clear and helpful.
- Coach Luca's parallel recommendation for the next nine days adjusts four specific TP sessions for the SI and back picture, and adds one gravel-surface session in place of one road endurance day:
- May 29 heavy strength → easy endurance, no loaded gym
- May 30 Openers → controlled endurance, no high-power bursts
- June 2 ZIPP → threshold 2 x 22 min
- June 3 heavy strength → light maintenance lift only
- June 4 3 hr road endurance → 3 x 20 min at 82-88% FTP on gravel
- These recommendations are not being published to your live TP calendar. They live in Sidney's internal files. The intent is to keep your TP plan as the executable source of truth and to surface the clinical context for your review and any adjustment you choose to make.
Watch items for the next 72 hours
- Morning back stiffness 0 to 10
- Any radiating leg symptoms, numbness, tingling, weakness
- Sleep quality
- Recovery from the May 27 combined gym-plus-ride day
- Fueling and protein consistency, particularly after key days
Any return of radiating leg pain, numbness, tingling, weakness, bowel or bladder change, bilateral symptoms, severe rest pain, or pain waking from sleep needs same-day clinical assessment.
Bottom line
Plan A and Plan B agree on three of the nine days in this window. They differ on the other six. The four most consequential differences are May 29, May 30, June 2, and June 3, all driven by the clinical picture from the recent SI and back flare. The fifth difference, June 4, is driven by Ghost specificity. The recommendation for Sidney is to follow Plan B's prescription on those six days, with morning messages confirming what to do each day based on actual symptom status.