@ Joe Lombardi - How good are you at guesstimating off of that test and your history where your FTP is? do a few wkos at the SWAG # (SWAG=some wild arse guess) and adjust as needed. To be honest, I haven't tested since doing weekly 2x20s in July before Lake Placid and since did IMLP, Leadville MTB 100 & IMWI on the old #(267). I started up some good regular trainer riding in the later fall at 250. If i had to do 2x20(2) - my preferred test) on rest, I am guessing i might hit 250, I am SWAGing 245-250 as my starting point based on my solid knolwedge of how hard I am working.. @Catherine - good to know you and have you on this group, I feel like we've not met in person or forums before, but you clearly from a number of your posts know your shizz... reason for being here is having accountability... Do the hard test, dig deep look for the next thread i post with the instructions again "like a gun to your head, get off bike wanting to puke and collapse" as long as you win the cage fight with the gorilla, and it is clear to me that you DO know what that means! @David Glenn - never did the VP thing w TR, I would assume that as long as you have a snappy internet connection, it should be working fine and agree with the comments above - it's about doing the work. Remember there is no perfect, these WKOs are so friggin hard, especially the way the coaches seem to have amped them up this year, that if you do within 5% of the load, your doing more than 95% of your competition! @Jon - didn't look at the file, but the math works!
@Scott: thanks. I am pretty sure the file is correct, just wanted to make sure I was doing my math right. Is there a place to put my FTP into my plan? I recall that from my last time in the house
@John C: easing into it sounds reasonable, but honestly it's tough to comment on an injury-related issue ... if you haven't talked to Coach Patrick lately I'd suggest you set up a call
As for any practical advice we can provide ... no unloading the dishwasher for you! (Or loading it either)
So ready and not ready to start this.. but gotta get back to work I guess ? I plan on having a lower FTP than my ending (270). What is important for me is at least my 2017 beginning FTP is higher than my 2016 Beginning FTP.
Bike is my less stronger area and I wanna really work hard this year on improving the bike!
Thanks for leading this one Scott, you can pull out the whip on me
@ John C - You have a good idea of your previous FTP and of what HR to push use that as an indicator if you are still working through back issues. I've done both ways and worked my way in to an OS usually joining the NOV for cycling and then jumping in to the JOS and just hammered out a poor test on one or two occasions to start an OS. If your back gets better I'd scheduled in a test as early as possible because when I've joined the earlier OS I've given myself excuses to not push it as much, shorten the workout etc.
HR -Test 20' lactate threshold was 171. I faltered in the last minute or 45 seconds but kept pushing just not as hard. I figure I'm somewhere in the 200-210 range, we will see once I get my new bike head unit.
This was my 2nd ever HR test and first one in years as I've had power for all but one of my EN tests. So I figured why not do a test to get in to the mindset and have a nice baseline reading for when I can do a power test, most likely in week 2. I most likely use the extra day I have banked to fit in a 5'/20' test.
Good morning everyone and welcome to the magic shack. This is where it all starts. I can't wait to see all the work to be performed today. I rode my FTP test last Monday resulting with my FTP being right where I left it last year at 250W. I am going to have to do some things here to change that. Train smart!
I've always said I hate bike tests and I still do. All are different in there own ways ( either went too hard or left too much etc...) but All seem to suck no matter what. OK I got that out of the system.
Well I usually don't do the 5' test and then 20' because I seem to go to hard on the 5 and nothing left on the 20 but in the warm up I felt good and 300 to 320 watts was not feeling bad so I went for the 5' this time. My estimated FTP is 240ish so should've went for around 290 but ended up with 299 watts for the 5'. Legs felt toasted for 2 minutes but then not too bad so all in all felt like I'd be ready for the 20'. Took off and the first 5' of the 20 was around 260 so maybe a little strong but I just stayed right around the same effort or maybe backed off a little to make sure I'l make it to the end. around 8' in I noticed the average watts on the screen going down ever slightly so I'd try to gun it a little to keep it up but it just keep creeping down. I then noticed the power was dropping off to 0 to 50 watts from time to time. I thought "oh crap connectivity issues during a test" . I was trying too hard to keep my Pnorm up but in reality was probably pushing way too many watts. When I got to the 12' mark it had caught up to me and I knew what had probably; happened and was slowly losing effort and mentally had lost it.
Will probably swag FTP this week but retest next week with the 2X20 to reaffirm. hopefully the run test doesn't have quite such a debacle .
@Trent - great help to those who are newer in understanding power testing!
I am a week and a day ahead, did 3x10 on my FTP of 250 as 243, 243 & 248. Going to try and push all of these up a little as I feel that I could perform at the top of the band..
@ Joe Lombardi - How good are you at guesstimating off of that test and your history where your FTP is? do a few wkos at the SWAG # (SWAG=some wild arse guess) and adjust as needed. To be honest, I haven't tested since doing weekly 2x20s in July before Lake Placid and since did IMLP, Leadville MTB 100 & IMWI on the old #(267). I started up some good regular trainer riding in the later fall at 250. If i had to do 2x20(2) - my preferred test) on rest, I am guessing i might hit 250, I am SWAGing 245-250 as my starting point based on my solid knolwedge of how hard I am working..
Well one good thing about living in the same town as your coach is the chance to bump into him at the YMCA...had a brief chat about my "test" and what I have been doing and he made me feel much better about the situation...he suggested similar Scott...ie. needing a couple of weeks and doing some 2x10 to work the legs back up to feeling the bike...I am gonna swag an FTP off of data from my last ride (early October) which was a long Hill Climb in NH...I had 1 hr NP of 220 (20min of ~237)...the do jive pretty well so I am starting workouts with 90% of that or 200...for the first few weeks and then see how I feel....my old best FTP was 235...so I'm shooting for 250-ish by the end of OS..
No fun. Bummer on the test. As I read this I thought of the 5 min all out. This was the first time I had done the test this way with 5 min and then the 20. I also wondered if it left me with nothing in the tank. I did lose power as the test went on, but I held on for much of it.
Thanks for being honest and real. Have a great day.
I like the standard Trainer Road FTP test, and it's the one I've used over the past few years, so I did that one, rather than the TR OS FTP test. Pretty similar, though I think the OS FTP test doesn't include the 3 over-FTP spin-ups before the VO2 max interval. Six of one ...
So ... VO2 NP = 184w, FTP = 147w. Lower by 10 watts from my max going into IMTX last year. And I haven't been on the bike since October, so I'm pretty happy with the results. Testing gets more familiar, but never easier!
I used the TR test as well and I really like it. And yes, you are correct, Catherine, the TR has the 3 spin-ups that EN does not.
Well... that wasn't too awful. Did see some stars at the end but not whole galaxies! Zwift REALLY helped! As expected after lots of time off, VO2 NP - 171 / hr - 155; 20' NP - 146 / FTP - 139 / hr - 157. Interesting that my HR was higher for FTP interval; maybe I was still half asleep? ??
Got my test done this morning! FTP 254 which is about what I expected given I took most of December off due to illness. The 5 minute VO2 test is always the hardest! I always end up barely hanging on at the end of the 5 minutes. Crazy as it sounds, I find the 20 ftp test somehow easier simply because I know I need to pace myself throughout the 20 minutes. Looking forward to getting to work!
Have been on the trainer over the last month using old IMLP 2016 FTP 238 numbers as a guide. First day of OS and here we go. Was able to rip out a pretty good test came in at 227 FTP. I will take that and I hope everyone checking in has a great result. Next up will be a run test, hmm?
Well... that wasn't too awful. Did see some stars at the end but not whole galaxies! Zwift REALLY helped! As expected after lots of time off, VO2 NP - 171 / hr - 155; 20' NP - 146 / FTP - 139 / hr - 157. Interesting that my HR was higher for FTP interval; maybe I was still half asleep? ??
Your 5 min interval was more than 120% of your FTP, so you certainly were working hard enough. For me, it usually takes 6-12 minutes to fully plateau my heart rate when going @ the red line.
First 17 FTP test done. Still dislike it very much. Still hurts just as much no matter the watts!
As usual, my 5' test was not 120% of my 20' test...always soft on that.
5' test-236 - avg hr 167 20' test-209 - avg hr 166 FTP 198 better than last year's JOS which was my all time worst. As Joe said yesterday...no place to go but UP!
Failed FTP test today . Did my 5 minutes vo2 max and my heart rate skyrocketed to something that I haven't seen in years. Then 2' into the 20' ftp test I realized that I didnt have the mojo to complete this and aborted. Guess taking almost a month off from training and being sick a week before the OutSeason took it's toll. I will reattempt again or I may be just fudge my FTP based on the 5 minutes vo2 which is usually pretty accurate for me.
Bike test complete, flopped on floor in a pile of sweat with the room spinning... Yep, this is the outseason! Very happy with a 251 FTP, down from 263 in season last year. VO2 not at 120% like some others, we'll have to work on that.
Congrats to everyone who suffered through their FTP test today!
I was not sure exactly what to expect since my first ride in 6 weeks was an FTP test, but I knew it was not going to be pretty. 251 FTP down from 287 in the fall, pre IMAZ, but up from 212 this time last year, so I'm pretty happy. Now I'm off to lick my wounds and recover before the damn 5k on Wednesday. I really hate the first week of xOS. :-)
Great work everybody. Good to see I am not the only one who was at the red line. I may be doing my run test tomorrow (I'm traveling and have found a high school track to run at--I did my test on Sunday). Cheers...
Reading about all of this work give me motivation! My test is done. Certainly nothing to be proud of, but with my weight at an all time high and my FTP at an all time low, I have plenty of strength to gain this OS! Let the "fun" begin!
Got it done ? It wasn't pretty ... but got the entire set done ... I've never raced or tested with power, uncharted waters for me so bar is low ... upside is high!
All right...so today is Jan 9 and I am all resolved and ready to go.
For those that don't know me, my first year in EN was 2010, though my first OS was the following Winter. So I've been doing this a while. I won't pretend to be any more expert than anyone else, but I know what works for me pretty well.
I had a guesstimate FTP value of 235 or so based on some late season riding and a bit of relaxation the last month. In order to prevent the Trent problem, I always make a guess going in so I don't have to re-do it. So I set a 5 minute target of 280. But 30 seconds in it was obvious that wasn't going to happen. So I just went "really hard" and figured I just would would have to work on the VO2 in the next month...or maybe my guesstimate was wrong.
Turned out the 5 minutes was only 267 :-(
But I recovered ok and then started the 20. In the first 2-3 minutes I was averaging 256 W, and that felt right. Turned out it was. I held 256 quite steady for the whole 20 minutes, with the average only going up to 257 for a minute or so (around minute 7-8) and 255 for another minute or two around minute 15. It was one of the best executed 20 minutes I've done.
So I'll call it 243 for FTP. But knowing that I didn't get my VO2 segment as high as I should have, if that feels too high in the first few weeks, I'll bump it down a few watts.
I'm looking forward to hanging out with all you guys and gals this winter!
I've only ridden about 5-6 times since IMLou this fall. It showed. I figured I'd try to get through the testing procedure to see how far I'd dropped off. Well... I couldn't even get through the test. I did the VO2 set and then bonked at about 8 minutes on the FTP. Good news is I have a baseline... Bad news...last testing resulted in 346/276...this one 303/252(but only for 8 minutes). I'll be playing catch up to you monsters... but I'll get there some time this OS. Keep posting everyone...You're helping to ignite my desire to get busy again...Thanks!
I was pleased with my test. Its too soon for me to put my back through an all-out effort, so using Jan '16 as a target, I did my 25 min as a 5x5 min Ramp at .70, .75, .80, .85, and .90. Getting off the bike was the most pain full part! Heart rate is pretty elevated, even at rest, but if tomorrow goes well in PT, I'm going to proceed with the .90 level of 210w... with option to retest in a couple of weeks so I don't feel guilty reading about the suffering of my team!
Comments
@Catherine - good to know you and have you on this group, I feel like we've not met in person or forums before, but you clearly from a number of your posts know your shizz... reason for being here is having accountability... Do the hard test, dig deep look for the next thread i post with the instructions again "like a gun to your head, get off bike wanting to puke and collapse" as long as you win the cage fight with the gorilla, and it is clear to me that you DO know what that means!
@David Glenn - never did the VP thing w TR, I would assume that as long as you have a snappy internet connection, it should be working fine and agree with the comments above - it's about doing the work. Remember there is no perfect, these WKOs are so friggin hard, especially the way the coaches seem to have amped them up this year, that if you do within 5% of the load, your doing more than 95% of your competition!
@Jon - didn't look at the file, but the math works!
@Scott: thanks. I am pretty sure the file is correct, just wanted to make sure I was doing my math right. Is there a place to put my FTP into my plan? I recall that from my last time in the house
@Scott: I figured out how to input the numbers into my profile. It is easier than it was 4 years ago. Big upgrades here!
As for any practical advice we can provide ... no unloading the dishwasher for you! (Or loading it either)
I plan on having a lower FTP than my ending (270). What is important for me is at least my 2017 beginning FTP is higher than my 2016 Beginning FTP.
Bike is my less stronger area and I wanna really work hard this year on improving the bike!
Thanks for leading this one Scott, you can pull out the whip on me
Good luck everyone testing tomorrow!
@ John C - You have a good idea of your previous FTP and of what HR to push use that as an indicator if you are still working through back issues. I've done both ways and worked my way in to an OS usually joining the NOV for cycling and then jumping in to the JOS and just hammered out a poor test on one or two occasions to start an OS. If your back gets better I'd scheduled in a test as early as possible because when I've joined the earlier OS I've given myself excuses to not push it as much, shorten the workout etc.
HR -Test 20' lactate threshold was 171. I faltered in the last minute or 45 seconds but kept pushing just not as hard. I figure I'm somewhere in the 200-210 range, we will see once I get my new bike head unit.
This was my 2nd ever HR test and first one in years as I've had power for all but one of my EN tests. So I figured why not do a test to get in to the mindset and have a nice baseline reading for when I can do a power test, most likely in week 2. I most likely use the extra day I have banked to fit in a 5'/20' test.
Good morning everyone and welcome to the magic shack. This is where it all starts. I can't wait to see all the work to be performed today. I rode my FTP test last Monday resulting with my FTP being right where I left it last year at 250W. I am going to have to do some things here to change that. Train smart!
Well I usually don't do the 5' test and then 20' because I seem to go to hard on the 5 and nothing left on the 20 but in the warm up I felt good and 300 to 320 watts was not feeling bad so I went for the 5' this time. My estimated FTP is 240ish so should've went for around 290 but ended up with 299 watts for the 5'. Legs felt toasted for 2 minutes but then not too bad so all in all felt like I'd be ready for the 20'. Took off and the first 5' of the 20 was around 260 so maybe a little strong but I just stayed right around the same effort or maybe backed off a little to make sure I'l make it to the end. around 8' in I noticed the average watts on the screen going down ever slightly so I'd try to gun it a little to keep it up but it just keep creeping down. I then noticed the power was dropping off to 0 to 50 watts from time to time. I thought "oh crap connectivity issues during a test" . I was trying too hard to keep my Pnorm up but in reality was probably pushing way too many watts. When I got to the 12' mark it had caught up to me and I knew what had probably; happened and was slowly losing effort and mentally had lost it.
Will probably swag FTP this week but retest next week with the 2X20 to reaffirm. hopefully the run test doesn't have quite such a debacle .
I am a week and a day ahead, did 3x10 on my FTP of 250 as 243, 243 & 248.
Going to try and push all of these up a little as I feel that I could perform at the top of the band..
No fun. Bummer on the test. As I read this I thought of the 5 min all out. This was the first time I had done the test this way with 5 min and then the 20. I also wondered if it left me with nothing in the tank. I did lose power as the test went on, but I held on for much of it.
Thanks for being honest and real. Have a great day.
FTP test DONE!!! Not the numbers I saw last year but not as bad as the last time I tested so I'll take it and work from here!
FTP = 150 for me!
Your 5 min interval was more than 120% of your FTP, so you certainly were working hard enough. For me, it usually takes 6-12 minutes to fully plateau my heart rate when going @ the red line.
As usual, my 5' test was not 120% of my 20' test...always soft on that.
5' test-236 - avg hr 167
20' test-209 - avg hr 166
FTP 198
better than last year's JOS which was my all time worst. As Joe said yesterday...no place to go but UP!
I was not sure exactly what to expect since my first ride in 6 weeks was an FTP test, but I knew it was not going to be pretty. 251 FTP down from 287 in the fall, pre IMAZ, but up from 212 this time last year, so I'm pretty happy. Now I'm off to lick my wounds and recover before the damn 5k on Wednesday. I really hate the first week of xOS. :-)
Great work everybody. Good to see I am not the only one who was at the red line. I may be doing my run test tomorrow (I'm traveling and have found a high school track to run at--I did my test on Sunday). Cheers...
FTP :
beginning NOS 15 : 238
Ending NOS 15 : 270
JOS 16 starting : 245
Knew it was going to be lower but at least its higher compare to when I started last year.
VO2
beginning NOS 15 : 314
Ending NOS 15 : 334
JOS 16 starting : 306
It wasn't pretty ... but got the entire set done ... I've never raced or tested with power, uncharted waters for me so bar is low ... upside is high!
Party on!
For those that don't know me, my first year in EN was 2010, though my first OS was the following Winter. So I've been doing this a while. I won't pretend to be any more expert than anyone else, but I know what works for me pretty well.
I had a guesstimate FTP value of 235 or so based on some late season riding and a bit of relaxation the last month. In order to prevent the Trent problem, I always make a guess going in so I don't have to re-do it. So I set a 5 minute target of 280. But 30 seconds in it was obvious that wasn't going to happen. So I just went "really hard" and figured I just would would have to work on the VO2 in the next month...or maybe my guesstimate was wrong.
Turned out the 5 minutes was only 267 :-(
But I recovered ok and then started the 20. In the first 2-3 minutes I was averaging 256 W, and that felt right. Turned out it was. I held 256 quite steady for the whole 20 minutes, with the average only going up to 257 for a minute or so (around minute 7-8) and 255 for another minute or two around minute 15. It was one of the best executed 20 minutes I've done.
So I'll call it 243 for FTP. But knowing that I didn't get my VO2 segment as high as I should have, if that feels too high in the first few weeks, I'll bump it down a few watts.
I'm looking forward to hanging out with all you guys and gals this winter!
I've only ridden about 5-6 times since IMLou this fall. It showed. I figured I'd try to get through the testing procedure to see how far I'd dropped off. Well... I couldn't even get through the test. I did the VO2 set and then bonked at about 8 minutes on the FTP. Good news is I have a baseline... Bad news...last testing resulted in 346/276...this one 303/252(but only for 8 minutes). I'll be playing catch up to you monsters... but I'll get there some time this OS. Keep posting everyone...You're helping to ignite my desire to get busy again...Thanks!