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The Rose Bowl Program
Planned October 11, 2026 · Race day January 17, 2027
I asked my AI assistant to plan the whole road to the Rose Bowl 5K through the Hub's MCP connection: every phase, every day, from today to race day. It read my training and my reports, drafted a program, showed it to me in the Hub, changed it when the evidence said so, and saved it only after I said yes.
Fourteen weeks, seven phases, about six hours a week, ending in a race on a Sunday in Pasadena.
Note
The rule it follows: the Hub describes, I decide. Every phase and every day was a preview I could change before anything was saved.
The Hub plans in two passes:
- The program. Placeholders for every day of every phase: which sport, roughly how long, whether it builds or maintains, and for lifting, which joint groups. This is what it planned today.
- The week. The real workouts for the coming week only (sets, drills, ERG targets), written from that week's reports. Later weeks stay placeholders until their turn.
Before drafting, the assistant read a short brief the Hub prepares: goal and days left, the phase now and next, any holds, reports that stand out, and each sport's usual week. It then asked for detail only where the decision needed it. Three things in that brief changed the first draft:
- I'd come down with a chill. My check-in journal said so, and my breathing and soreness scores sat well above their usual. The first week back got gentler: one easy run instead of two, and shorter rides.
- My last week was bigger than usual, about one and a half times my normal week, mostly in my legs. That's evidence, not a rule, so it shaped the first days instead of blocking anything.
- My own note from a ride: the saddle got very uncomfortable by forty minutes. The long rides now build saddle time gradually instead of jumping.
It also took my pushback. I said 21 days of low-impact foundation was too long when I'd been running well. My reports agreed, so foundation became 14 days and running came back as two easy runs a week.
| Phase | Dates | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Low-impact foundation | Oct 12–25 | Bike three times a week; run, swim and lift twice each to keep them |
| Cycling capacity build | Oct 26–Nov 15 | Three rides a week, evenly spaced, growing a little each week; the third week tapers so I test fresh |
| Consolidate & reassess | Nov 16–22 | The test week: bike, swim, strength and a steady run check |
| Balanced capacity development | Nov 23–Dec 20 | Two of each sport, eight sessions a week; one harder and one easier session per sport; the fourth week lighter |
| Event preparation | Dec 21–Jan 3 | Runs go to three a week, one of them at 5K effort |
| Freshness & race decision | Jan 4–17 | The taper: same rhythm, less volume, race on Sunday the 17th |
Weekly time stays near my usual six hours, dips to about four and a half in the lighter weeks, and falls to about three in race week.
Solid icons are saved or completed workouts. Faded icons are the program's planned sessions, waiting to become real workouts the week before.
Clicking a planned day shows the phase's purpose and what's planned: here, the bike test in the test week.
The program builder shows each phase as a grid of its days. The assistant filled it through the MCP; I can change any day by hand.
The week has a shape that repeats, with small steps up:
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation & cycling build | Easy run, swim | Ride, lower + trunk lift | Upper + trunk lift | Ride | Easy run, swim | Longer ride | Rest |
| Balanced development | Moderate swim | Harder ride, lower + trunk lift | Easy run | Harder swim | Easy ride, upper + trunk lift | Longer easy run | Rest |
| Event preparation | Easy run, easy swim | Moderate ride, full-body lift | 5K-effort run | Moderate swim | Easy ride | Longer easy run | Rest |
Some of the rules it planned around, all from the Hub's guidance:
- Runs are never on back-to-back days.
- Lower-body lifting stays away from run days; upper-body lifting stays off hard-swim days.
- Sports that build get about three sessions a week; sports that maintain get two.
- A lighter week every three or four weeks.
These are examples of each type, built the way the Hub's MCP rules say to build them. Efforts are described as effort, not as my paces.
From the Hub's research-backed template library, scaled to my FTP:
- Warm-up: 8 min at 55% of FTP, 85–95 rpm
- Endurance: 38 min at 65% of FTP, 85–95 rpm
- Cool-down: 4 min at 50% of FTP
The cadence version keeps the same ride and adds six one-minute spin-ups at 100–110 rpm. The taper week's "openers" are a short ride with a few brief efforts, just enough to feel sharp for the test.
The Hub chose its "Balanced aerobic" profile: about 22% drills, 10% kick, the rest steady freestyle, with no paddles or buoy because shoulder soreness governs swimming.
- Warm-up: 400 choice, easy
- Drill / swim: 6 × 50, first half a drill and second half full stroke
- Kick: 2 × 50 + 25, comfortable, arms at sides or a board
- Main set: 2 × 300 + 275 freestyle, steady, 20 s rest
- Cool-down: 200 choice, easy
Drills come early while I'm fresh, and each is followed by full-stroke swimming so the drill carries over.
For now every run is easy: 25–35 minutes, or a set distance, whichever comes first, at a pace I could talk at. In event preparation one run a week becomes 5K-effort pieces with easy jogs between, and race week keeps short race-pace touches and strides.
When a check-in says running isn't a good idea today, the Hub offers about 20 minutes of dynamic mobility instead (leg swings, walking lunges with a reach, hip circles, ankle rocks, thoracic rotations) or an easy bike or swim.
The Hub plans lifting by joints: upper (shoulder, elbow, wrist), trunk (spine, hip) and lower (knee, ankle), at a load level of light (30–60% of an estimated max), medium (60–80%) or heavy (80–90%). A session is about two main lifts plus up to three minor ones: a single-limb lift, a support lift for the sports I'm building, and core.
Lower + trunk, medium load (30–40 min):
- Goblet squat: 3 × 8–10
- Hip thrust: 3 × 10
- Minor: single-leg calf raises (run support), Pallof press (anti-rotation), dead bug
Upper + trunk, medium load:
- Lat pulldown: 3 × 8–10
- Single-leg cable row: 3 × 10 each side
- Minor: reverse fly with a hold (swim support), side plank, suitcase carry
Always two to four reps in reserve, never to failure. In the balanced phase the lower-body day steps from medium to heavy and back to light in the lighter week.
| Day | Test |
|---|---|
| Tue | Bike: ramp or FTP test after a full warm-up |
| Thu | Swim: timed 400 and 200 |
| Fri | Strength check: comfortable top sets, all groups, medium |
| Sat | Run: steady 3 km, heart-rate matched |
The other days stay easy so each test is done fresh. The results reset the numbers the next phase is built from.
Every Sunday the assistant writes the coming week's real workouts from my reports and the placeholders above, and asks me to approve them. The program itself can change at any check-in; dates are checkpoints, not promises.
The first real week starts tomorrow, gently, because I'm still shaking off the chill.