Bike- where to go from here?
I just did an FTP test and had the following results: 5 min VO2 max- 254 watts, 249 NP; 20 min Test 236 NP which translates to 224 FTP (trainer)
Previous FTP from October was 216 watts & 247 watts VO2, so I'm surprised at the bump given that I've had a hip issue and very inconsistent riding. The hip issue caused me to abandon all hard, threshold stuff for many months, so I followed the trainerroad, high volume, sweet spot base plan (loosely) leading up to Hell of Hunterdon. After that, I started to get outside some and just rode without any thoughts to FTP, intervals, etc. I also tried to get a lot of hard short hill repeats in. Once again, things have been inconsistent, leading me to test today.
So, here are my questions:
1. VO2 to FTP ratio is about 1.11, which suggests the need for more VO2 max stuff, correct?
2. Given the hip issues, I might stick to more Sweet spot vs. FTP, VO2. How do I mix in a little bit of this higher end stuff given a 5-6 days per week riding?
Thanks for any information. Just feeling lost in my own head on this.
New thoughts after some Wiki reading:
Tuesday- Outside ride with hill repeats on the Blue Hills fire access road. This is a 6-7:00 minute climb with lots of over VO2 max sections. It's a good hill to see how many repeats I can do, or to get 1-2 all out climbs for time.
Wednesday- leisurely ride. Nothing above 80% of FTP
Thursday- use the 5 minute hack developed by Graffeo
Friday- leisurely ride. Nothing above 80% of FTP
Saturday- longer ride with lots of 80-90% of FTP and a few short FTP intervals (less than 12 minutes)
Sunday- build up to a 3-5 hour ABP ride.
Comments
Keith - yes, you are remembering correctly, an NP ratio of VO2 to FTP of < 1.2 indicates a need to raise the roof (VO2), for a more spacious attic above your ceiling (FTP).
There are multiple ways to achieve that. For the time crunched, a few VO2 sessions a week for several weeks, or even one hard week doing nothing but FTP+ intervals can do it. But if you have time for a lot (12 hours+) of riding, then simply relying on the natural work of getting up and over hills, traffic light/town sign sprints, etc might also do the trick, along with the volume. I've found the latter working quite well as I stack Big Bike Weeks one on top of the other - I'll probably hit > 1,000 miles between May 13 and June 19. (Tour of California 8 days, then 14 days of Bike Camps with ENers riding with me here in CO, then home for a couple of mountain climbs in WA)
Keeping in mind that the goal (for IM racing at least) is a high five hour power, more so than a high VO2, the big volume approach probably works just as well as focused intervals at 110-120% of FTP.
Regarding the value of a week of high intensity work, VeloNews June issue has an article called "Fatigue Your Way Into Form" based on this research:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4270748/