Wow awesome work, everyone! I'd like to echo everyone else's sentiment and say a big THANK YOU to our super inspirational Bike Captain. It was great to read your words of wisdom every week.
Usually, the biggest hurdle for me is getting on the bike after work + big commute. Today, biggest hurdle was getting through minutes 10-15 on the 20' set. Hard, hard, hard. but, with my jello legs on the couch, i have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself. Week 03 Test (my first OS week) FTP: 196 Week 14 FTP Test: 227. Increase of about 16%.
Wow! Great work everyone. I just finished with the final FTP test which I have been dreading for so long. This is my first season with EN and I have to say that I'm extremely happy with my results at the end of the OutSeason.
Ok. I'm sorry guys. I tried to do the bike test. No dice. I have been under a huge amount of family stress the last week. I don't have the focus. I am hoping that I can complete it tomorrow. I couldn't even muster my FTP today. So sad.
I love to see the results everyone is putting in. You are all amazing. Thank you everyone for your guidance and Strava kudos.
So awesome to see all the impressive results today! It definitely validates what we've been doing the last 13.5 weeks. Have fun crushing your friends once you get outside!
@Reid, I'm guessing from your description that your FTP is at least as high as your Week 1 test and probably at least in the ballpark of your 2nd test. 1st, testing is extremely hard to master. As an example, Stefan, one of the most powerful guys on the team previously posted that he "is the master of test blow ups." It doesn't take much, a few watts to hard here or there and it's extremely tough to come back from. 2nd, sometimes it's just not our day. we've all had workouts, races, tests where we just do not feel as strong as we know we are. Lastly, you've mentioned a few times about fatigue, and recently I believe you weren't feeling well. Both of those things could definitely be contributing to your test results. I'm not sure what you have planned next but I think a couple weeks of lower intensity followed by a couple hard efforts and you will definitely be feeling better.
@Mandy, I'm not a woman so I'm not tuned into what good FTP numbers are Absolute FTP in most cases is not the most important consideration. You also want to consider weight. For example if 2 people have the same FTP but 1 person weighs 30 pounds more, the lighter person is going to be climbing up hills much faster all day.
As far as continuing to improve your FTP...the type of workouts that seem to be most effective are the high intensity intervals we've been doing in the OS. Continuing to do that type of work should boost your FTP. If you haven't done so already, connect with Coach Rich in the macro thread and submit a Season Planning Survey so that he can guide you on what training plan to follow next.
Third bike test of the Nov OS and more improvement. HR test: 40:04 minutes, 13.4 miles, 20.1 mph, 147 ave HR. I wanted the mph to be over 20. Kept my head down and my mind in the game, and did it. Happiness! Way to go everyone on this bike test!
I was following all the comments earlier in the day. Stefan's comment about not overdoing the VO2 interval rung true to me as in the past I have gone FULL ON effort for parts of this and been unable to hold a steady power for the 5 minutes. Today I paced it much better.
Average power for 5 minutes test was 269W. Is that my VO2 number or os there some formula?
Here are my time results for the Strava segment I made for testing this OS. I succeeded in making my segment too short for the full 20' but I'll take today's result as valid since it was only 11 seconds short.
It is great to get some Strava PRs and see my time improve by almost a minute.
My legs felt really good today. I think my new bike position has helped recruit my hamstrings into my pedal stroke. They were on the verge of cramping at the end.
My FTP is now 226W from 207 in October and 211W in December. This represents a 9% increase, and beats my Heads/Tails I lose, by 1W. Yahoo!!! There is more improvement there for me no doubt, and I am beginning to finally get into a better routine with my eating (e.g. eating less )
Test #1: 271W, 238W, 226W, 2.78 Test #2: 276W, 242W, 230W, 2.80 Test #3: 288W, 258W, 245W, 3.03
So 8% increase in FTP and just a few watts shy of my all-time high. Would love to crack the 250W barrier, but at least I'm back above 3W/kg.
I'm pleased with my progress on the bike and feel like I managed the long FTP intervals during the 2nd half of the OS better than ever (this is OS #3 for me).
It was great to follow everyone's progress today. For those whose tests didn't quite live up to expectations, don't underestimate the impact of the cumulative fatigue. We are certainly got a lot stronger on the bike these past 14 weeks. Congrats!
@Doug, appreciate your response and encouraging words. Maybe it was just the perfect storm of a number of factors. I'm not going to dwell on it. Time to move on. Thanks!
Gotta good FTP bump. At beginning of NOS I tested at 231w, but I knew I did not have a good day. I had tested outside the month before at 257w, which was a high by 8w. I kept that 257w to set my zones for the NOS. I missed the mid-NOS FTP. Yesterday, indoors on my trainer: NP 277w so FTP 263w. Looking back, my FTP was 241w at end of last year's NOS.
Special thanks to Cynthia Jenks, our teammate William's wife, who gave me a TRJ cow bell last summer. When my power starts to drop, I look at the cow bell and it pulls me back up.
I'm now visiting my mother in Pompano Beach, FL. On Sunday I will run the First Annual Bob's 10K on A1A. Most of the run has views of the Atlantic Ocean or the Inter-coastal Waterway.
Gotta good FTP bump. At beginning of NOS I tested at 231w, but I knew I did not have a good day. I had tested outside the month before at 257w, which was a high by 8w. I kept that 257w to set my zones for the NOS. I missed the mid-NOS FTP. Yesterday, indoors on my trainer: NP 277w so FTP 263w. Looking back, my FTP was 241w at end of last year's NOS.
Special thanks to Cynthia Jenks, our teammate William's wife, who gave me a TRJ cow bell last summer. When my power starts to drop, I look at the cow bell and it pulls me back up.
I'm now visiting my mother in Pompano Beach, FL. On Sunday I will run the First Annual Bob's 10K on A1A. Most of the run has views of the Atlantic Ocean or the Inter-coastal Waterway.
Big shout out to Doug for all your inspiration and motivation throughout the OS as our Captain, always leading from the front. Thanks for all your time and efforts, awesome job!
I attempted to test this AM but realized partway into my WU that is would not happen. So I just let it be a 30' spin and called it a day. Not a surprise either because I have been struggling with everything lately due to work, home, family, etc. Still not quite done with my end-of-year madness at the office and trying to get extra sleep while fending off the flu or something. Also working on resetting my circadian clock so I can exercise at 430 AM instead of 800 PM. Getting up seems to be going ok but the exercise thing lacks the mojo I am accustomed to but I'll keep plugging away.....
Nice work and congrats to all who have managed to crush the OS! I must say, I do have a bit of watt envy.... lots of powerful peeps on this Team!
Had a good test yesterday and was a big confidence booster that I'd gained back a lot of the FTP I had lost post CDA last year. Started NOV OS at 230W then progressed to 249W midseason and tested yesterday at 268 which is 8 watts shy of what I had when I raced CDA. If only I felt as good about my running...tomorrow will reveal that. Thanks everyone for a great outseason. I drop into HIM plans Monday for lead up to St George
Had shifted my week back a day so just finished the final test and pleased with the results.
Based on last few sessions planned to start at 320watts and ramp the AP by ~1 watt every 2 minutes as long as I could. Ended up w/ NP 331 over the 20' for an FTP of 314.
Start of OS: FTP 278w Week 8: FTP 300w End of OS: FTP 314w @ 170lbs = 4.1
Legs did not bring it today. Took a bit off my new power numbers for the ride (tried to be a hero!) And realised on interval #1 it wasn't going to happen. Knocked it down to old power numbers. Didn't feel amazing, but I am telling myself the legs will be great tomorrow.
The bike test went as well as my run test. I have really focused on the run during the OutSeason and the bike training has been more about not losing FTP than a focus to improve it.I have pushed hard throughout on all of the workouts and have been very happy with the gains I made. My first test of the NOS was 250W. I tested several times during the NOS and moved up a few watts every couple weeks. The improvements have been steady throughout even if they were not large. I last tested on 01/17/15 and had a 261W FTP. Today, I pushed my FTP up another 8 watts and finished the NOS at 269W. The only disappointing thing that happened during this test is that my HR monitor crapped out. I checked my HR at the end of the test and I was @ 180 bpm. That is the highest I have been all year. http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/686812251
I will say that the group posts during the NOS are easily the best posts of the year. This was the case last year and continued this year. I think that people get really inspired when the difficult of the work is as hard as the NOS and there are so many others pushing the same way. Great Job to everyone.
I decided that I would trust the plan and just follow the workout as given with my new bittersweet targets from the test Thursday. I kept my power, but heart rate climbed pretty high in the third 3 x 12 min Z4. I held and completed the workout and am now going legs up until my wife chases me off the couch in a few minutes. Hope to nail the run test tomorrow - a 5 km treadmill as its still -25 for the next couple days. Good luck to all testing tomorrow!
Nice post-test wko today; EN w/up with 12' @ 0.86, then 3x12' @ 1.01. Was fully prepared to dial the intervals down to 0.95, but I felt very strong even at a nice bump up in FTP. Will see if this has an impact on my 5k test tomorrow
I decided to do a slightly reduced version of the workout in the plan today, doing 3x8' instead of 3x12'. I also targeted the low end of the zone. It felt ok, and was good to get the legs back in action after resting yesterday.
Tomorrow I am doing the Zena Road 15k. Will let you know how it goes. Good luck everyone.
So here it is - the final NOS 2014/15 workout ... just finished the 3x12' @ new zones but had to cut the last one short to 10' - Legs just don't had enough fuel left after that run-session yesterday! Though the numbers were great and I'm happy Total workout of 71' @ NP 287 (0.90) 12' @ 318W (1.00) 12' @ 316W (0.99) 10' @ 313W (0.98)
Big congratulations to all NOS-peeps and take some minutes to reflect back all the hard work all of you have been putting out, how many liters of sweat we all have produced and burned almost a million of calories I'm dropping into a "QuickStart" month of body-weight training so my upcoming workouts will be totally different ... just keep posting your workouts on Strava to keep up the great mojo
Final few words - Thank you DOUG for everything here - you are an awesome powerplant superstar - keep rockin'!!
@Stefan, thank you! Definitely motivated by teammates like you that bring it to every workout!
I moved my week around this week and did my end of OS bike test yesterday. It ended up being a great cap to the OS. Test results were: 20' @ 335 2' @ 175 20' @ 353 42' NP = 340 or 4.3 W/Kg
Week 1 FTP = 283 Week 8 FTP = 323
It's been awesome to see all the results come in this week! Congratulations to everyone who completed the OS and saw great results. In my opinion it's just as tough if not harder than completing one of the long course plans. If you didn't get the results you want all hope is not lost. You did a ton of work. The fitness is probably there it just needs a little more time/work to show through. Cut back for a little bit and then get back to it. It's a long season and it's only February 1! Good luck the rest of the season! Looking forward to seeing what you all do!
Flipped my weekend around to take advantage of the weather. No 5 or 10K races in the area this weekend so yesterday I ran a nice 10 miler at my goal race pace. It's snowing here today so did the last OS bike workout in the cave.
3 x 12 @ 1.02, 1.00 & 0.96 at the new numbers. I could/should have paced that better.
On to swim camp for me. I have been swimming 2/3 days per week throughout the out season, mostly technique work, now its time to turn up the swim fitness a notch.
Finished the OS on a good note. Didn't do the run test, still looking for a race over the next two weeks. Did the EN WU with 12' @ 0.85 then clicked off 3 x 12' @ 1.0/1.0/1.0 and finished with 10' @ 0.86. Felt pretty good the whole way. This seemed even easier than the 3 x 8' on Tues.
I'm moving onto swim camp the next two weeks then into the HIM plan in prep for 70.3 CHOO, then ultimately the IM plan for IMMT. It's been great training with you guys. I appreciate all the words of encouragement and guidance. More than anything I appreciate the honesty of the posts. It's easy to just post the great workouts. I think I get more out of reading the ones about a bad day. It's easy to relate and know that you have them too. It's also good to see others pick those up on those days.
Thanks Doug for leading us through the OS and for everyone else supplying some motivation.
I haven't/won't do the final test as I've had the last week off and the few weeks before that were hit and miss (family and work took priorities). I'm very happy with where to OS got me (essentially laying to foundation to get back into shape after 2014 was an off year for triathlon). I started the OS at 160 ftp and finish with 180. I still have a ways to go but I'm happy to be starting the season at 180 knowing that I will make further gains into the season.
Comments
I'd like to echo everyone else's sentiment and say a big THANK YOU to our super inspirational Bike Captain. It was great to read your words of wisdom every week.
Usually, the biggest hurdle for me is getting on the bike after work + big commute. Today, biggest hurdle was getting through minutes 10-15 on the 20' set. Hard, hard, hard. but, with my jello legs on the couch, i have to say, I'm pretty proud of myself.
Week 03 Test (my first OS week) FTP: 196
Week 14 FTP Test: 227. Increase of about 16%.
I love seeing all the FTP numbers go up. Looks like to OS was once again very succesful
Here are my results for the bike.
Week#1 Vo2=243
Week#8 Vo2=259
Week#14 vo2=275
Week#1 FTP=169 ; w/kg=2.39 (156 LBS)
Week#8 FTP=225 ; w/kg=3.08 (148 LBS)
Week#14 FTP=225 ;w/kg= 3.35 (148 lbs)
Thank you all for the motivation. I've learnt how to push myself in this outseason.
Good luck to everyone who is doing the test.
Ok. I'm sorry guys. I tried to do the bike test. No dice. I have been under a huge amount of family stress the last week. I don't have the focus. I am hoping that I can complete it tomorrow. I couldn't even muster my FTP today. So sad.
I love to see the results everyone is putting in. You are all amazing. Thank you everyone for your guidance and Strava kudos.
@Reid, I'm guessing from your description that your FTP is at least as high as your Week 1 test and probably at least in the ballpark of your 2nd test. 1st, testing is extremely hard to master. As an example, Stefan, one of the most powerful guys on the team previously posted that he "is the master of test blow ups." It doesn't take much, a few watts to hard here or there and it's extremely tough to come back from. 2nd, sometimes it's just not our day. we've all had workouts, races, tests where we just do not feel as strong as we know we are. Lastly, you've mentioned a few times about fatigue, and recently I believe you weren't feeling well. Both of those things could definitely be contributing to your test results. I'm not sure what you have planned next but I think a couple weeks of lower intensity followed by a couple hard efforts and you will definitely be feeling better.
A lot of people (not everyone) have higher power numbers outside. You can find several threads on the site discussing this very topic. The most recent one that I'm familiar with was started by Coach P here: http://members.endurancenation.us/Forums/tabid/57/aft/17275/Default.aspx
As far as continuing to improve your FTP...the type of workouts that seem to be most effective are the high intensity intervals we've been doing in the OS. Continuing to do that type of work should boost your FTP. If you haven't done so already, connect with Coach Rich in the macro thread and submit a Season Planning Survey so that he can guide you on what training plan to follow next.
HR test: 40:04 minutes, 13.4 miles, 20.1 mph, 147 ave HR.
I wanted the mph to be over 20. Kept my head down and my mind in the game, and did it.
Happiness!
Way to go everyone on this bike test!
My FTP went from 211W to 226W.
I was following all the comments earlier in the day. Stefan's comment about not overdoing the VO2 interval rung true to me as in the past I have gone FULL ON effort for parts of this and been unable to hold a steady power for the 5 minutes. Today I paced it much better.
Average power for 5 minutes test was 269W. Is that my VO2 number or os there some formula?
Here are my time results for the Strava segment I made for testing this OS. I succeeded in making my segment too short for the full 20'
but I'll take today's result as valid since it was only 11 seconds short.
It is great to get some Strava PRs and see my time improve by almost a minute.
My legs felt really good today. I think my new bike position has helped recruit my hamstrings into my pedal stroke. They were on the verge of cramping at the end.
My FTP is now 226W from 207 in October and 211W in December. This represents a 9% increase, and beats my Heads/Tails I lose, by 1W. Yahoo!!! There is more improvement there for me no doubt, and I am beginning to finally get into a better routine with my eating (e.g. eating less
)
https://www.strava.com/activities/247981538/overview
Here are the results (5', 20', FTP, W/kg)
Test #1: 271W, 238W, 226W, 2.78
Test #2: 276W, 242W, 230W, 2.80
Test #3: 288W, 258W, 245W, 3.03
So 8% increase in FTP and just a few watts shy of my all-time high. Would love to crack the 250W barrier, but at least I'm back above 3W/kg.
I'm pleased with my progress on the bike and feel like I managed the long FTP intervals during the 2nd half of the OS better than ever (this is OS #3 for me).
It was great to follow everyone's progress today. For those whose tests didn't quite live up to expectations, don't underestimate the impact of the cumulative fatigue. We are certainly got a lot stronger on the bike these past 14 weeks. Congrats!
Bike test done tonight. This was my third outseason and has been my best overall performance.
@Doug, appreciate your response and encouraging words. Maybe it was just the perfect storm of a number of factors. I'm not going to dwell on it. Time to move on. Thanks!
Gotta good FTP bump. At beginning of NOS I tested at 231w, but I knew I did not have a good day. I had tested outside the month before at 257w, which was a high by 8w. I kept that 257w to set my zones for the NOS. I missed the mid-NOS FTP. Yesterday, indoors on my trainer: NP 277w so FTP 263w. Looking back, my FTP was 241w at end of last year's NOS.
Special thanks to Cynthia Jenks, our teammate William's wife, who gave me a TRJ cow bell last summer. When my power starts to drop, I look at the cow bell and it pulls me back up.
I'm now visiting my mother in Pompano Beach, FL. On Sunday I will run the First Annual Bob's 10K on A1A. Most of the run has views of the Atlantic Ocean or the Inter-coastal Waterway.
Gotta good FTP bump. At beginning of NOS I tested at 231w, but I knew I did not have a good day. I had tested outside the month before at 257w, which was a high by 8w. I kept that 257w to set my zones for the NOS. I missed the mid-NOS FTP. Yesterday, indoors on my trainer: NP 277w so FTP 263w. Looking back, my FTP was 241w at end of last year's NOS.
Special thanks to Cynthia Jenks, our teammate William's wife, who gave me a TRJ cow bell last summer. When my power starts to drop, I look at the cow bell and it pulls me back up.
I'm now visiting my mother in Pompano Beach, FL. On Sunday I will run the First Annual Bob's 10K on A1A. Most of the run has views of the Atlantic Ocean or the Inter-coastal Waterway.
I attempted to test this AM but realized partway into my WU that is would not happen. So I just let it be a 30' spin and called it a day. Not a surprise either because I have been struggling with everything lately due to work, home, family, etc. Still not quite done with my end-of-year madness at the office and trying to get extra sleep while fending off the flu or something. Also working on resetting my circadian clock so I can exercise at 430 AM instead of 800 PM. Getting up seems to be going ok but the exercise thing lacks the mojo I am accustomed to but I'll keep plugging away.....
Nice work and congrats to all who have managed to crush the OS! I must say, I do have a bit of watt envy.... lots of powerful peeps on this Team!
Got a 18watts bump from my previous test and a total of 56 watts from the start of the OutSeason.
Here is the results
Week#1 Vo2=243
Week#8 Vo2=259
Week#14 vo2=275
Week#1 FTP=169 ; w/kg=2.39 (156 LBS)
Week#8 FTP=207 ; w/kg=3.08 (148 LBS)
Week#14 FTP=225 ;w/kg= 3.35 (148 lbs)
Thanks for the response. I checked out the tread and yes, seems like the numbers will be different outside.
My roadmap is planned and headed to swimming camp after this.
Mandy
One more vote for thanks Doug!!!
Had to push test back one day due to work.
Wasn't sure I could surpass last test as I lost some workouts due to travel/illness (like many), but happy ending:
Test 1 FTP 200 Test 2 FTP 215 Test 3 FTP 226
Based on last few sessions planned to start at 320watts and ramp the AP by ~1 watt every 2 minutes as long as I could.
Ended up w/ NP 331 over the 20' for an FTP of 314.
Start of OS: FTP 278w
Week 8: FTP 300w
End of OS: FTP 314w @ 170lbs = 4.1
http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/1593637-2014-Test-Power-5-min-20-min
https://www.strava.com/activities/248348123
Looking forward to wrapping the run test this weekend and moving on to Swim Camp next week!
The bike test went as well as my run test. I have really focused on the run during the OutSeason and the bike training has been more about not losing FTP than a focus to improve it.I have pushed hard throughout on all of the workouts and have been very happy with the gains I made. My first test of the NOS was 250W. I tested several times during the NOS and moved up a few watts every couple weeks. The improvements have been steady throughout even if they were not large. I last tested on 01/17/15 and had a 261W FTP. Today, I pushed my FTP up another 8 watts and finished the NOS at 269W. The only disappointing thing that happened during this test is that my HR monitor crapped out. I checked my HR at the end of the test and I was @ 180 bpm. That is the highest I have been all year. http://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/686812251
I will say that the group posts during the NOS are easily the best posts of the year. This was the case last year and continued this year. I think that people get really inspired when the difficult of the work is as hard as the NOS and there are so many others pushing the same way. Great Job to everyone.
I decided to do a slightly reduced version of the workout in the plan today, doing 3x8' instead of 3x12'. I also targeted the low end of the zone. It felt ok, and was good to get the legs back in action after resting yesterday.
Tomorrow I am doing the Zena Road 15k. Will let you know how it goes. Good luck everyone.
Total workout of 71' @ NP 287 (0.90)
12' @ 318W (1.00)
12' @ 316W (0.99)
10' @ 313W (0.98)
http://tpks.ws/eStj
Big congratulations to all NOS-peeps and take some minutes to reflect back all the hard work all of you have been putting out, how many liters of sweat we all have produced and burned almost a million of calories
I'm dropping into a "QuickStart" month of body-weight training so my upcoming workouts will be totally different ... just keep posting your workouts on Strava to keep up the great mojo
Final few words - Thank you DOUG for everything here - you are an awesome powerplant superstar - keep rockin'!!
I moved my week around this week and did my end of OS bike test yesterday. It ended up being a great cap to the OS. Test results were:
20' @ 335
2' @ 175
20' @ 353
42' NP = 340 or 4.3 W/Kg
Week 1 FTP = 283
Week 8 FTP = 323
It's been awesome to see all the results come in this week! Congratulations to everyone who completed the OS and saw great results. In my opinion it's just as tough if not harder than completing one of the long course plans. If you didn't get the results you want all hope is not lost. You did a ton of work. The fitness is probably there it just needs a little more time/work to show through. Cut back for a little bit and then get back to it. It's a long season and it's only February 1! Good luck the rest of the season! Looking forward to seeing what you all do!
Flipped my weekend around to take advantage of the weather. No 5 or 10K races in the area this weekend so yesterday I ran a nice 10 miler at my goal race pace. It's snowing here today so did the last OS bike workout in the cave.
3 x 12 @ 1.02, 1.00 & 0.96 at the new numbers. I could/should have paced that better.
On to swim camp for me. I have been swimming 2/3 days per week throughout the out season, mostly technique work, now its time to turn up the swim fitness a notch.
Thanks everyone to the great mojo.
Finished the OS on a good note. Didn't do the run test, still looking for a race over the next two weeks. Did the EN WU with 12' @ 0.85 then clicked off 3 x 12' @ 1.0/1.0/1.0 and finished with 10' @ 0.86. Felt pretty good the whole way. This seemed even easier than the 3 x 8' on Tues.
I'm moving onto swim camp the next two weeks then into the HIM plan in prep for 70.3 CHOO, then ultimately the IM plan for IMMT. It's been great training with you guys. I appreciate all the words of encouragement and guidance. More than anything I appreciate the honesty of the posts. It's easy to just post the great workouts. I think I get more out of reading the ones about a bad day. It's easy to relate and know that you have them too. It's also good to see others pick those up on those days.
Good luck everyone, see you around the house!
Reid
I haven't/won't do the final test as I've had the last week off and the few weeks before that were hit and miss (family and work took priorities). I'm very happy with where to OS got me (essentially laying to foundation to get back into shape after 2014 was an off year for triathlon). I started the OS at 160 ftp and finish with 180. I still have a ways to go but I'm happy to be starting the season at 180 knowing that I will make further gains into the season.