Input on FTP and IF after weekend Olympic race
Raced for the first time in 20 months at a local olympic. Didn't really taper for the race, but rather used as a way to shake off the race rust as I move from the GF to the IM plan this week in prep for IMMOO. Had a decent race overall but was disappointed in the bike.
Quick background...started out the swim WAY to hard...had to slow down after 3-400 yards to get my heart rate and breathing under control. Ended up with a 23:50 swim which was roughly as expected but definitely had a higher cost than expected. Bike was 1:13:XX at 22.5MPH with 245NP. I was targeting 261NP (0.9IF) based on my FTP of 290. I wanted to use the PM as a whip vs. a guide but that just didn't work. Any time if pushed up in to the 260s it felt to taxing and I didn't want to blow the run. Admittedly I am not a good tester and my FTP is set based on my feel and how I respond to training at those levels. I upped my FTP from 280 to 290 after TOC and have been able to largely hit my numbers so feel it's pretty accurate. Run was as on track. 41:XX at a pace just a few seconds off of my Z3. Total race was 9th overall and 2nd in the 30-39 elite men's division.
So...why wasn't I able to hit my targeted numbers?
- burned too many matches on the swim and my cardio system couldn't catch up in time?
- Lack of a taper limited my performance (Split ride on Tue of 37 miles at 257NP), easy 14 miler at 201 NP on Thursday, 6 miles at Z4 on Wed. Also played 9 holes of golf with the wife Friday evening.
- Just a 'bad day'
- Rode poorly...1.03 IF
- FTP isn't correct
Other thoughts?
Comments
I think you're just mentally weak, and maybe the Axe Body Spray is having a negative performance effect?
I think I would clock it up to blowing yourself up on the swim, being under rested, etc. I wouldn't change your FTP. At this point you (and I) are only really using the number as a number to enter into various devices to give us good-enough-accurate IF and TSS numbers.
More later, gotta go
It depends on how long the bike split will be.... Your not riding your FTP (60 minute power) in this case you were riding your 73 minute power , with swim before and a run after... On average the HIM or IM bike will be your 2.5hr or 5-6hr power (how this relates to your your "estimated 60 minute power will be different for all) but the reason we do RR's is to nail it down...
The OLY is a brutal distance, much closer to a sprint than a HIM . It must be paced but hurts from beginning to end.
I recently rode the Quassy OLY (74 min) at 214w or IF.96 of my estimated FTP 222 .... My 222 was derived from a very recent 2 x 20 (2') test with a result of 218 and my recent power curve of 222.... Ironically 2 weeks prior I also rode a 74 min uphill TT coming in at 210w..... Looking back over my last several OLY's they were all within 206-218w and the FTP was between 220-230 , that makes the IF fluctuate quite a bit.... But thru collecting data, reviewing where I am at recently, knowing pretty close to how long the course will take you, can give you a good target....Its really quite amazing to me the small windows of power I have on all my race data when comparing the same distance/time frames... The same Quassy OLY was ridden by my Heather and Kim Dubord at IF's .88 with bike splits of 1:40.... Those girls have 1:40 power number ... Nothing more...
Like Coach R said , FTP is only a setting , an "estimated" one at that.... Now you know your 73 minute power.... Your results are damn impressive.... I'd say you did a great job riding your 73 minute power after a swim and saving enough to run well (for that day) ! Try not to get caught up in my FTP is this, my w/kg is that , and I rode this IF.... When racing its all about knowing what you can do and getting from point A to B as fast as you can.... percentages , targets, etc are guidelines and great places to start but again just study your performances, wko's , test's, powercurves, back it all up with that specific distance/time frame..
Feedback on your specific Q's
So...why wasn't I able to hit my targeted numbers?
burned to many matches on the swim and my cardio system couldn't catch up in time? Yes to some extent... The swim did cost you energy !
Lack of a taper limited my performance (Split ride on Tue of 37 miles at 257NP), easy 14 miler at 201 NP on Thursday, 6 miles at Z4 on Wed. Also played 9 holes of golf with the wife Friday evening.
Yes of course a taper could bump up the performance a tad but probably not that much for a trained athlete like yourself and a short race
Just a 'bad day' Nope doubt it very much .... looks like a good day to me
Rode poorly...1.03 IF.... Nope unless it was pancake flat ?
FTP isn't correct
Other thoughts? Probably... But most people's FTP are probably overstated simply cause we dont test for 60 min.... nothing to worry about...
What bike split would have given you first in your AG?
As Tim says, the "Standard " distance (name change @ ITU in anticipation of other distance tris in the Olympic Games?), is a serious race, IMO the hardest of all the common distances to perform well in. You can fake a sprint - it's really just like an everyday workout. But swimming a mile, then finishing with a hard 10 K is a different beast. Were you well rested, mentally pointing towards this like you would an IM? Oly's are way easier to recover from than HIM or IM, but preparing for them is just as hard, I believe.
I'd be willing to bet that you would be closer to your goal NP if you weren't out on the roads. Put you on a trainer and put a gun to the head....you'll have a smooth ride that you can control and push and hold the .91. Hard, but doable. Even with the other circumstances.
But, throw in rolling hills and the descents start screwing with the NP. I have come to believe that the negative impact of the downs is greater than the value of capping watts on the climbs. When I do training rides outside where I'm trying to hold anything over .9, I have got to work so f'in hard on the downs to try to stay even close to the goal watt window. In addition, that extra hard effort to push watts up on the descents isn't represented very well in IF or VI. Meaning that the energy cost for me to chase the downs up into the goal NP range just isn't worth it. I can absolutely cook my legs doing this kind of riding and I know I wouldn't run well at all.
So, my point is...you may have ridden harder than you are giving yourself credit for. Just because the final NP was lower than goal NP, the VI suggests that there were hills in the area. And, hills have downsides, no pun intended.
You sound ok with your run effort, you got 9th OA and 2nd in Elite. Super Race! But nothing wrong with looking for improvement. That's why we're all here.
Thanks for the input...good thoughts. There were two freaks in the elite division that put up 1:05 bike splits. The kid that won it is 22, put up an 18:18 swim (1:07 pace) followed by 25.5MPH average and a 6:00 pace on the run. Just sick! After those two bike splits the next best was 1:10:23 so not too far off. It was a 45K bike loop. I feel like I should have gotten pretty close to that.
Chris - totally agree on your point regarding zero averaging and downhills. I noticed this on a 50 miler I had last weekend that involved a fair amount of street crossings. I'd lose 1-2 NP points for those stops but even as I hammered hard to get some of that back it was like 1 step forward for two steps back. Perhaps it would be better to turn off zero averaging for those types of rides as long as you hold yourself accountable to not coast on the downhills.I happen to be in a similar position as what you're going through. I have my first race after a 2 yr break on June 28th. It's my 1/2 way mark before I pick up the HIM plan heading into an Oct race.
After finishing this stretch of OS and then SC/GF plan, I have no prob telling all you guys that I'm cooked and I still have 2 weeks before the race. You didn't taper but I'm having to drop back into some shorter intervals and shorter runs, not as a planned taper but as a survival move.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that I'm going to race that course (rolling hills, false flats, not many flat areas, very hot & humid) with Goal Watt strategy on the false flats and ups but I'm not going to even worry about it on the downs. I'm going to press, steady hard, upper zn3/low zn4 RPE on the downs. I will take NP off my screen so that it doesn't screw with my head. The numbers will turn out low at the end of the day but this is more about race execution than perfect log numbers. I'm not anywhere near the runner you are and that is why I'm going to try this 2/3 Numbers Watching and 1/3 RPE type riding.
Anyways, I thought that might be relevant to your topic.
While you should file this data away for your next OLY, I'd focus instead on what you can control:
(1) The Swim Warm up..can't tell if you got one but if you want to swim hard you have to get one in. And you have to practice a hard start to settle in your workouts (remembering, of course, that "hard" swimming gets most of us about 3 seconds more per 100...was it worth it to you?
(2) The Bike File...what did your HR do across the ride? Did you ever let it drop at the start? Did the power fade all day? Where did the VI start to bounce around / you lost focus (if at all)?.
(3) Big takeaway on a solid run here...interesting that you are mad at non-z4 bike but happy with a non z4 run. Will be interested to learn more on why that is...do you think you are a big god but are humble on the run?
To your points 1) I did not do a warm up. I didn't intent do go out so hard, but kinda got caught up in the moment with all these super fast swimmer dudes in the elite wave.
2)My HR did drop over the course of the race...from mid 150s to mid 140s. Power was pretty steady given the course. VI increased a bit toward the end but not materially.
3)I'm just going on some of the collective advise/wisdom I've gotten which was that Z4 bike and Z3 run are a good target for an Oly. Maybe my plan was bunk in which case it doesn't matter how well I executed.