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Darren Nix Macro Thread

darrennixdarrennix
in Coaching Forum 🧢

Hiya!  I just finished the first week plan and did my bike and run assessments... it looks like the next step is to get a Season Roadmap from you guys -- is there anything I need to do to make that happen?

Comments

  • Coach RichCoach Rich
    Hey Darren,

    This is done for you, sorry for the delay.
  • darrennixdarrennix
    Hey Rich, thanks for assembling the Season Roadmap. I saw that you recommend against doing the SF marathon -- is that because of the proximity to IM or because you don't recommend doing marathons in-season at all?

    Also, I've decided not to do the Half in November so I'm inclined to spend Oct-Jan getting faster on the bike... it seems to be in line with the EN approach and the run is already my strongest leg. Do you think I should switch to one of the Bike Focus plans?

    Also, I did the bike power test as recommended this week and here's the results:

    http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/1152424-Bike-test-for-Power-Athletes

    I based my FTP at 226w because that's what a 40 minute test I did back in April (pre-Wildflower) showed. For this 20-minute version I felt like I still had a lot of juice left at the end so I pushed about 280 for the last 4 minutes. I think holding 226 for an hour would be pretty brutal, though. Does that mean I should continue using 226 as my 100% benchmark for the workouts?

    Lastly, I don't have power meter on my bike and I have to waste a lot of time getting to a flat, safe section of road where I can do intervals so I think I'll be doing most of my non-long-ride training on my shiny new Wahoo Kickr. Have done two workouts on it and think it's great so far.

    I have my tri bike set up on it and have done both my workouts in the aero position including FTP test; I noticed I can push noticeably more watts when I sit up but that's a no-no, right?

    Thanks!

  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    Posted By Darren Nix on 04 Oct 2014 07:51 PM


    Hey Rich, thanks for assembling the Season Roadmap. I saw that you recommend against doing the SF marathon -- is that because of the proximity to IM or because you don't recommend doing marathons in-season at all?

    Please read this: http://www.endurancenation.us/blog/training/marathons-and-triathlon-training/



    Also, I've decided not to do the Half in November so I'm inclined to spend Oct-Jan getting faster on the bike... it seems to be in line with the EN approach and the run is already my strongest leg. Do you think I should switch to one of the Bike Focus plans? No, please stick with TSR I created for you, which has you doing the OutSeason training plan.



    Also, I did the bike power test as recommended this week and here's the results:



    http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/1152424-Bike-test-for-Power-Athletes



    I based my FTP at 226w because that's what a 40 minute test I did back in April (pre-Wildflower) showed. For this 20-minute version I felt like I still had a lot of juice left at the end so I pushed about 280 for the last 4 minutes. I think holding 226 for an hour would be pretty brutal, though. Does that mean I should continue using 226 as my 100% benchmark for the workouts?  Sorry, I'm confused. Is this a graph of our test that you did on TR, or this some other testing protocol?



    Lastly, I don't have power meter on my bike and I have to waste a lot of time getting to a flat, safe section of road where I can do intervals so I think I'll be doing most of my non-long-ride training on my shiny new Wahoo Kickr. Have done two workouts on it and think it's great so far.



    I have my tri bike set up on it and have done both my workouts in the aero position including FTP test; I noticed I can push noticeably more watts when I sit up but that's a no-no, right?  Do the workouts on whatever bike and riding position has you pushing more watts. You'll have time later in the season to shift over to the aero position, but for now more watts is more better. 



    Thanks!




  • darrennixdarrennix

    OK, that all makes sense: continue with current out season plan and no marathon.  

    As for the FTP test, the test called for "

    Bike Test, for Power Athletes ONLY! WU: 10' easy, then 8' building from 50% estimaged FTP to 100% estimatedFTP in 2' increments, 2' easy. The intent here is to get in a good warmup, so use your best judgement. Test 1 -- Vo2 Max Test: ride 5' at the best (hardest) effort you can sustain for the full 5'. A good target is 120% of your estimated FTP. Recover 1: 10' easy spin, stretch, recovery.Test 2 -- Functional Threshold Power (FTP) Test: time trial for 20' at the best (hardest) effort you can sustain for the full 20'. Recover 2: Minimum 5' easy spinning. 

    "

    So I just created that workout on trainerroad using 226W as my estimated FTP and then executed it on my trainer.  The link was a report of my performance.



    During the 5' 120% period I averaged 278w vs target of 271.  During the 20' 100% effort, I averaged 236w vs target of 226 and felt like I could have gone harder now that I have a baseline.  

    I'm confident I could hold 240w steady for 20' but not for an hour.  So, my question is: for future workouts that call for an XX% of FTP effort, should I use 240w or 226w as the benchmark?

  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    Posted By Darren Nix on 06 Oct 2014 01:23 PM

    OK, that all makes sense: continue with current out season plan and no marathon.  

    As for the FTP test, the test called for "

    Bike Test, for Power Athletes ONLY! WU: 10' easy, then 8' building from 50% estimaged FTP to 100% estimatedFTP in 2' increments, 2' easy. The intent here is to get in a good warmup, so use your best judgement. Test 1 -- Vo2 Max Test: ride 5' at the best (hardest) effort you can sustain for the full 5'. A good target is 120% of your estimated FTP. Recover 1: 10' easy spin, stretch, recovery.Test 2 -- Functional Threshold Power (FTP) Test: time trial for 20' at the best (hardest) effort you can sustain for the full 20'. Recover 2: Minimum 5' easy spinning. 

    "

    So I just created that workout on trainerroad using 226W as my estimated FTP and then executed it on my trainer.  The link was a report of my performance.



    During the 5' 120% period I averaged 278w vs target of 271.  During the 20' 100% effort, I averaged 236w vs target of 226 and felt like I could have gone harder now that I have a baseline.  

    I'm confident I could hold 240w steady for 20' but not for an hour.  So, my question is: for future workouts that call for an XX% of FTP effort, should I use 240w or 226w as the benchmark?

    Sorry for the delay getting back to you.

    I'm pretty sure that in the notes for that test we say that your FTP is 95% of that 20' power of 236w above = 225w or right at your estimate. Regardless, there's a difference between the FTP you'll train with and the FTP you'll race with. It's fine to see your training FTP as a moving target that will change a bit from day to day, depending on how you feel. Personally, I benchmark myself from session to session, spotting trends over time and those trends tell me it's time to bump up my FTP. That said, I don't do formal interval work and never on a trainer so...

    Your racing FTP, from which you'll calculate race watts and pacing, is very important to have nailed down very accurately. But I imagine you won't need that for quite a while. 

    If it were me, I think I'd just roll with 225-235w and see what happens. 

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