When you're flying VFR, lateral navigation is largely up to you. You don't need to tell the controller that you're flying a TEC route. The only time it might be an issue is when flying through the Bravo as there are specific VFR transition routes through that airspace.
If you'd like to practice VOR navigation, don't worry about TEC routes. Just find some quiet airspace and practice course tracking and interception. It's good to practice individual skills that you're trying to master in as isolated a fashion as possible. In other words, make the focus of the flight be radial intercepts and tracking. Don't make it 10x harder by trying to fly non-standard VFR routes through the Bravo as a result when your goal is simply to track a radial...ANY radial
Airways near PSP, VNY, SBA, CMA, OXR, or CNO might be a good start.