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Bombed a test (again)-Need some feedback

trigirl1203trigirl1203
in General Training Discussions

So this week I did my bike test-and was confused with my results.  My 20' Z4 interval was under where I was doing my Z4 intervals on last week's 2x20' workout.  To give specifics- Last week I did my 2x20' FTP intervals at 178w and 183w.  When testing today, my 20' interval was only 174w...and I didn't push too hard on the 5' of VO2 either.  Any thoughts on this?  Do I use the 174 or should I take 95% of one of the 20' intervals I was capable of last week? 

I just want to make sure I'm using the correct numbers for the next 6 weeks of workouts image Thanks!

Comments

  • cgres123cgres123
    Hey Lauren,

    Goal is to do about 120% of your current FTP for your 5 min VO2 test.

    When you do your full 20 min test you need to pace yourself. The plan said 95% of your 20 min interval, if it is 174 use 174 perhaps you need to be there for a bit longer. If you find your smoking the plan I would bump it up by 5 -10 watts until a re-test.
  • kimmydctkimmydct
    I am re-testing tonight and was thinking about the "math" involved. Here's my example:

    My current FTP is 152 so my training intervals have roughly been 145-152. If I am to keep my same FTP, I need to ride the 20' test at 160 to account for the 95%. If I am to get a bump, it has to be higher than 160.

    So had I not remembered the 95%, i would have prob tried to hit 160, not realizing that would put me in the same place! Maybe just a matter of expectations?

    Personally, if I were to test below previous test, I'd keep the same zones. (Coaches or more experienced peeps may say otherwise!)
  • trigirl1203trigirl1203
    OK so maybe I should've added in that my old FTP was 161....but after a few weeks that was way too easy for me so I was doing most of my intervals at 175+ (my first 20' test was 169w, thus the 161 FTP)....
  • kimmydctkimmydct
    Ah, thats a big difference. I assumed your FTP was around 178 based on your intervals. In this case, I'd use the FTP you tested at...
  • Michael ByertsMichael Byerts
    What was your normalized power for the 20' interval? If you bombed the test, you might have produced a much higher np as your watts went down in the last 5-10 minutes. If so, for the purpose of training, I would consider taking 95% of the normalized, not the average power.
  • Nemo BrauchNemo Brauch
    The "old" test was NP of the entire 42 minutes (2x20(2')), when you were doing your 2x20 intervals, what was the rest period? If it's longer than 2', you can't just look at those 20' intervals and assume those should be your FTP. Remember that both the 2x20 and the P5/20 tests are approximations of your FTP and not a "true" test so you have to do some educated guessing.

    That said, if you feel like you came away from that test having paced it reasonably well, I'd stick with the number it gave you. 174 vs 178 is just noise.


  • trigirl1203trigirl1203
    Thanks for the feedback! Im going to put in my new FTP as 175ish and see how that goes for the next few weeks.
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