Question about goal FTP and VDOT
I've seen that a number of people have a current FTP/VDOT and also a goal FTP/VDOT for the season listed in their signatures. While I have seen that the coaches have posted the average improvement numbers across athletes for the OS, is there a way to translate current FTP/VDOT to good estimate of mid-season FTP/VDOT?
I'm starting the Nov OS on Monday and once I test my FTP and VDOT next week, I'd like to get a sense for where it's reasonable to expect I could end up. I think I'm somewhere around FTP 245 and VDOT 52. Is there any reliable way to translate that to goal levels?
And a separate noob question -- I've noticed that a lot of people have signatures on their posts, with season races, FTP, vdot, etc... where can one update that?
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I'll leave it to the WSMs to answer your FTP/Vdot question.
I'll let one of the WSM predict a number for you as I would just be giving you a best guess. But I 'd like to share with you something to keep in mind during the OS and the postings you will see during it about the increase in Power and VDot numbers.
Lots of folks will be testing some on the high side and some on the low side. You have a best guess I see which is on the higher side. Since you are on the higher side more at the pointy end of the stick as they say around here. You will gain additional points in FTP/Vdot no doubt. But don't get discouraged when you see postings of LARGE jumps in other folks posting gains as they may have a lot more room to grow.
Just something to think about.
On the FTP front, it will depend somewhat on the type of training you have done in the past. Gains will come, just do the work. If you have been doing only long, slow workouts in the past then you should see bigger gains. Is will be my 3rd OS of slaying myself on the bike, so I expect smaller gains. So not knowing anything about your history, I'll take a stab in the dark and say that 10% is very doable. So if your starting point really is 245, then something like 270W is certainly doable. Something like 280W is possible, but 260W is also possible. Just work hard but do not 'over-achieve' on the workouts. The gains will come, but give it some time.
For the run, I can only dream of having a 52 vDot, so one of the fast guys will need to chime in on this. My stab in the dark would be like 1 vDot point, maybe 2, but that is a total stab in the dark...
Dan-
usually RnP will send out a questionarre about how long you have been riding/running, etc. are you using power or a heart rate athlete?
If you are new to biking and training with power you will see a considerable jump in your FTP. Some of the reasons being: you are learning how to test and ride more proficient and getting stronger quicker. As your numbers rise or you have been riding for years the numbers get harder to increase. They do increase but not as big as one who is just starting out. For me the VO Max sets seem to really assist me in raising my FTP.
Re: your VDOT/seems like you have good speed coming into this so you will have to work that much harder to increase your VDOT. Again DME mile repeats with a .25 recovery seems to do the trick for me.
A very ballpark figure for FTP is 15% in the first year. It could be more if you've not really known what "riding hard" means in the past, or it could be less if you've been training with a PM for a couple years previously. After a couple of years of smart training and bigger gains, they tend to get smaller, as each of us gets closer to that point of diminishing returns with our own genetic potential.
V-DOT is a little harder to predict, but the prinicple is the same. If you're a long time racer that's done a lot of quality work (e.g., you're an experienced 5K runner from HS or college), there's nothing totally magic about the EN secret sauce, but if you're new to racing with a great "quality running" plan, you can see pretty large gains in the first couple years.
I've been in "hibernation" for a while and just getting back to EN. I'm starting the Nov O/S and I have a question, has the what's the new FTP test protocol?
Thanks!
First OS -- starting FTP = 211, ending FTP = 248...part of that was due to learning how to test I think, but most of it was improvement.
Second OS -- starting FTP = 235, ending FTP 254 (with a few later rides suggesting in the 260 range)...all gains were hard to get!!
For me, 250 watts is about 4.1 watts/kg and at that point I find additional FTP gains to be really, really difficult to achieve. I really don't know how people get to 4.5 and higher...I'm beginning to think I'd need to use a different strategy and focus on the bike as opposed to all of the triathlon sports.
My VDOT started around 48.5 and has gone up to 51.5 over a couple of years.
Thanks everyone, it's been very helpful to hear your thoughts. As much as I'm trying to stay focused on the now, I'd like to be 'pointier' by mid-season and am trying to figure out how to set my long-term goals. For me, long-term goals help motivate the weekly workouts, kind of like a 'one thing' for training. Looking forward to see what comes out of the heads/tails process...
Alesandro, if you want to know about the FTP test, you can find out more about it here: http://members.endurancenation.us/Training/TrainingForums/tabid/101/aft/10182/Default.aspx