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While the purpose of this thread is to explain how to make adjustments to workout intensity, duration and frequency, some appear to be both confused and adamant around goals, etc.

Here's a very rough draft of how I, living in a free country, choose to prioritize energy system targeting based on my individual training goals, fitness, place in the season, target events, etc.

Please don't reply that you are not living in a free country because I can't help you with that.

I view training plans as living things primarily concerned with energy system prioritization.

The end.

Seriously, though, that's all I do. For any particular event, I need some blend of being able to perform over a long period of time, medium period of time and short period of time.

For most of the events I enter, I take my training from general ==> specific, endurance ==> long intervals ==> short intervals.

This is because the ability to maintain and the time it takes to gain/lose each system decreases as you go from long ==> short.

For this reason, I also spend the largest number of weeks with a focus on endurance and the least number of weeks with a focus on short power.

My endurance phase is all long as it needs to be unless I need to compromise based on the number of calendar days I have before the event.

My "in-between" phase length depends on the importance of that energy system relative to other energy systems but also the potential for improvement because my strategy MAY need to consider my strengths over my weakness, depending on which has the most potential to improve and also my thoughts regarding my competition and THEIR likely strategy, etc.

The prioritization occurs both in when to "change focus" ("phase") and also with a phase or block with respect to how time is distributed among energy systems.

Friel does a great job of simplifying this and making it practical in Fast After Fifty.

What it all boils down to is how are you going to allocate time at intensity? In "base", many do more endurance which you then maintain, for example, one long weekly ride. In the in-between times (does that conjure SpongeBob memories for anyone?), "middle intensity" stuff takes center stage and make way for short power as the event approaches. Of course, for time trialists and some triathletes the middle intensity stuff is also event-specific so they may even swap short and middle intensity stuff to "raise the ceiling", etc.

Regardless, I following the same process for any event. I just manipulate how I budget time at intensity.

The end.