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Coach Gunnar live calendar review: June 6 to June 15, 2026

  • Owner: Coach Luca
  • Date created: 2026-06-05
  • Athlete: Sidney McGill
  • Race target: Ghost of the Gravel, June 27, 2026, Cochrane AB, 118 km
  • Reviewed source: athlete/planning/2026-06-06-to-2026-06-15-trainingpeaks-live-calendar.md
  • Compared against: current local calendar files for June 6 to June 15, current rolling 3-week outline, and current June 6 to June 27 plan summary

Bottom line

Coach Gunnar's live TrainingPeaks plan is not an improvement over the current local plan for Ghost-specific preparation as written.

It has useful intent: it adds high-power work, keeps formal rest days on June 9 and June 15, and maintains a large endurance load. The issue is distribution. The live plan places two very hard anaerobic workouts, two heavy strength sessions, a 4-hour ride, a 3:10 tempo day, and another 4-hour ride inside the same June 6 to June 14 window. It does not include a single 5-hour race rehearsal, does not clearly rehearse Ghost fuelling, and does not protect back/SI and taper freshness as well as the current local plan.

My recommendation is not to adopt Gunnar's plan wholesale. The better move is to borrow one idea from it: include a small, controlled short-power stimulus earlier in the week, while keeping the local plan's June 13 5-hour simulation and recovery structure.

Plan comparison

Date Coach Gunnar live plan Current local plan Review
Jun 6 2 minute bangers, 1:59, 135 TSS, 6 x 2 min at 130-150% FTP Endurance 3:00 Gunnar adds useful race-surge capacity, but the dose is too costly two days after the June 4 long ride.
Jun 7 Endurance 3:00 Easy endurance 1:15-1:30 plus treadmill run-walk Gunnar gives more aerobic volume. Local plan better protects recovery and run reintroduction.
Jun 8 Heavy strength 1:00 plus active recovery 1:00 Endurance 1:45 plus lighter gym 35-45 min Gunnar's strength prescription remains too heavy for recent SI/back context, even with no plyos.
Jun 9 Rest Short power control Gunnar's rest day is a useful recovery idea after high load, but the local plan now borrows a smaller short-power dose without accepting the full June 6-8 stack.
Jun 10 Big 30s, 1:54, 190 TSS, 10 x 30 sec at 200-300% FTP Easy endurance 1:15 Gunnar's workout is highly fatiguing and too close to June 11-14 load.
Jun 11 Endurance 4:00 Gravel pressure primer 3:15 Gunnar's endurance volume is useful, but local primer is better because June 13 remains the full rehearsal.
Jun 12 Heavy strength 1:00 Easy spin plus optional light upper/core activation Gunnar's second heavy gym session is poorly placed before the weekend load.
Jun 13 Tempo 3:10, 137 TSS, 4 x 10 min at 75-85% FTP Ghost simulation 5:00 Local plan is clearly better for Ghost rehearsal.
Jun 14 Endurance 4:00 Full rest acceptable, or optional recovery spin Gunnar's 4-hour ride adds durability but risks burying the taper and does not replace a single 5-hour race simulation.
Jun 15 Rest Rest Agreement.

What Gunnar's plan does well

  • It acknowledges that Sidney needs top-end power and the ability to respond to surges, not only steady endurance.
  • It includes formal rest on June 9 and June 15.
  • It creates a large aerobic stimulus with 3-hour and 4-hour endurance rides.
  • It keeps plyometrics out of the strength sessions, which is appropriate given the current risk context.

Main concerns

1. The plan is too anaerobic for this point in the Ghost build

June 6 has 6 x 2 min at 130-150% FTP and June 10 has 10 x 30 sec at 200-300% FTP with 190 planned TSS and the note "Be prepared to destroy the legs." That is a major anaerobic load inside a peak gravel block.

This kind of work can be useful, but the full dose is not the best tradeoff 17-21 days before a 118 km gravel race when the athlete also needs long race-specific rehearsal, high-carbohydrate fuelling practice, and freshness.

2. The plan misses the most important rehearsal

There is no single 5-hour simulation. Instead, the weekend becomes 3:10 tempo on June 13 plus 4:00 endurance on June 14. That creates endurance fatigue, but it is less specific than one uninterrupted long ride with race breakfast, bottles, sodium, equipment, pacing, terrain, GI notes, and final-hour pressure.

The current local June 13 simulation is the better anchor.

3. Strength load is not well matched to current back/SI risk

The live plan has two 1-hour strength sessions with heavy squats, heavy split squats, core circuit, suitcase carries, and no plyos. Removing plyos helps, but the strength work is still too heavy and too close to key bike days for the recent SI/back context and the race-specific block.

The current local gym plan is better: one conservative reintroduction on June 8, optional light upper/core activation on June 12, then no heavy gym before Ghost.

4. The weekend load creates fatigue without enough specificity

June 13 tempo plus June 14 endurance totals 7:10 of riding across two days. That can build durability, but for Sidney's Ghost target the better question is whether she can execute one long, fuelled, gravel-specific race rehearsal and still finish well. The current 5-hour simulation answers that question more directly.

5. Fuelling rehearsal is under-specified

The live TrainingPeaks entries do not clearly prescribe race breakfast, grams of carbohydrate per hour, sodium per hour, bottle concentration, product choice, or post-ride GI notes. For Ghost, that is a material gap.

The current local plan is stronger here.

Is Gunnar's plan an improvement?

No, not as a full June 6 to June 15 plan for Ghost.

It may be an improvement if the only goal were short-power sharpening or a general high-load training stimulus. For Ghost preparation, the local plan is better because it protects the 5-hour simulation, uses a clearer taper logic, controls strength risk, and explicitly rehearses fuelling.

The one thing I would take from Gunnar's plan is the signal that he wants Sidney to touch high power before the race. I would implement that as a controlled and much smaller short-power session, not as both the June 6 bangers and June 10 Big 30s.

Recommendation

Keep the local plan's structure:

  • Keep June 13 as the 5-hour Ghost simulation.
  • Keep June 14 as recovery, not a 4-hour ride.
  • Keep June 11 as a primer rather than a second major long ride.
  • Keep strength conservative and back/SI-protective.
  • Keep explicit fuelling progression and GI notes.

The recommended local-plan adjustment has been applied: June 9 is now a controlled short-power session inspired by Gunnar's intent, but much lower in cost than the live TrainingPeaks bangers or Big 30s.

Local plan change summary

I recommended one small change to the current local plan, not a wholesale rewrite. That change has been applied: a scaled-down version of Gunnar's short-power emphasis now sits on June 9, with June 10 staying easy. That keeps the race-relevant punch without compromising June 11 and June 13.

Saved summary file:

  • athlete/planning/2026-06-05-recommended-local-plan-adjustments-after-gunnar-live-calendar.md