NOS Bike Thread Wk 4 - Pre Test Week
OK, Next week is test week
PSA : Since next week is the test week and also Thanksgiving, You may need to move things around to make them fit around the turkey day. If you are travelling and will not be taking your bike, it is fine to test early and then concentrate on some runs over the weekend. Just try to get some quality workouts in. Turkey Trot 5K can be a good opportunity to test.
On Tap This week:
Tuesday : two intervals at Zone 3 and increasing to Zone 4
Thursday : 3 intervals at Zone 3 and increasing to Zone 4
Saturday : long Z3 ride with a Zone 4 interval near the end.
Concentrate on smooth pedal stroke and mental imagery to help get through the intervals. Some folks find that counting pedal strokes is useful, find what works for you. Just think, when you test and your FTP goes up, You will get to do this all over only HARDER! Yay!
Comments
Since I was out of town and off of the bike this weekend, and Monday is pretty easy so far, I am likely to do Tuesday's intervals this afternoon, We will see how that goes.
My schedule has me switching Tuesday workout to today (Monday). The bike workout was a good one .... ha ha ha, as in it took a good dose of mental strength on the last part of the second interval.
It still amazes me the “good feeling” I get several minutes after finishing these types of workouts.
Bike Main Set: 15min at 80% to 100% ; 15min at 90% to 105%
OK, so that is over!
While I was trying to do the second interval, I noticed that the power goal for the 18 min interval was 295 watts when my FTP is 266. So basically, that interval is 110 % of my FTP for 18 min. If I could do that, I would have a new FTP.
The Final Surge workout says Z4 to best effort. This is basically best effort as long as you can hold it then die. No wonder I have trouble with the second interval of these workouts.
Survived my bike workout this morning. It was all good until the 110% section! I was like, but if I can do 110% for 15 minutes, doesn't that basically mean my FTP... but but but
Well, we are testing next week.
@Janyne Kizer and @Ralph Moore 's posts raised a question.
What data should we be looking at from the last month's set of workouts to target our effort during next week's FTP test?
It would be a shame to put in all that hard work and flame out or aim too low.
For example, if @Ralph Moore can hold 295w for 18min as his second effort, should he be shooting for 295 during his 20' test? Or what else should he be looking at?
Thanks!
@Alexander E Evis the wiki has some pretty good advice on how to pace your FTP test. It says the best way is to start out just below what you think you can do for the first third (usually about our current FTP), a little bit higher for the second third, and your best effort for the last third.
I would advise NOT to use ERG mode for testing if you choose to do a formal test. There is a thread below that addresses some thoughts on FTP testing.
Personally, I plan to race the Monday Bump Race before thanksgiving or the Sunday Bump race afterwards. The race is about 30 min long and motivating enough that it breaks the monotony of the 20 min interval while still getting your best effort. Zwift will tell you if you get an increase in FTP from what is in your profile. One of the things that I find interesting about getting your FTP from a race is it is TOTALLY different pacing from a regular FTP test, you go hard at the beginning to hang onto the pack and then just try not to get dropped. When I got my last FTP bump, I hung on to @Tim Sullivan for about 15 min before I dropped off the back and it was STILL the highest 20 min effort I had done.
If you are interested, you might do the regular FTP test and then race the Bump race and see how the numbers correlate, everyone is different.
The answer to the question that you actually asked is usually start shooting for about 10% above your current FTP and then go by how you feel.
@Ralph Moore how do we find the Bump Ride? Just search for it on Zwiftpower?
P.S. I get so frustrated with Zwift events and Zwiftpower. Half the time, I can't sign up from Zwiftpower because the embed to Zwift doesn't work. Zwift itself does not have a decent search and displays only events coming up in the immediate future. ARG!
Thanks @Ralph Moore . I'm a bit practiced at the 20' test but have never done a bump race on zwift. I'll make sure I get the first done and maybe try the second later in the week for comparison.
@Janyne Kizer Use the Zwift Companion phone App. The Bump Ride is Sunday Night at 7:10 PM and Monday at 7:15 PM.
So Thursday's workout happened today. Wow, for my 5th OS, I figured that I would do the advanced bike workouts. Those long intervals are TOUGH!
First two were pretty strong but I cracked about 1.5 min from the end of the last interval and was in Erg mode so I had to stop pedaling for a sec and switch out to get going again.
Notice that my power gets much more irregular and bounces around as I get increasingly tired. I was having to stand every little bit just to keep going. As @Coach Patrick says, "do whatever it takes" to finish the interval". Standing helps, swearing sometimes helps, and there are those who just grunt and shout "oh God". Whatever Works for you. As far as this workout, It is done! I will take it.
That does bring to mind one of the tings that probably makes testing via Zwift Race "easier" than testing via FTP test: trying to catch the pack will make you get up out of the saddle and give it your all and you feel somehow excited after the race whereas if you get up out of the saddle and struggle that hard just to finish an interval on your workout, I feel that the same amount of work is "harder" and I feel shelled afterwards.
Looking forward to an extra day of rest before "Hang On" Sat AM. My legs feel like they can use it,
Thursday morning bike done here as well. Zwift kicked me out (OK, the AppleTV, etc. power off) 9 minutes into the last interval. I was so pissed! I lost all those points! ARG!
Restarted, skipped to the third interval, did the final three minutes and went on with my life. I think that it took roughly two minutes for the AppleTV to come back on and for me to rejoin Zwift.
I told my husband we need to fix this (not the first time that it has happened but it's not super common either) and he made some noise about adding electrical capacity is expensive. I said, "You make it sound like Zwift isn't important!" He laughed. I'm not sure if he was laughing AT me or WITH me. He had better watch out. I have the ability to take over his pain cave (I have the pain living room).
@Janyne Kizer clearly you were making so many watts that it flipped the breaker!
I am planning on the Hang on ride tomorrow and Cruise and crush on Sunday as being my weekend bike work. Gonna be rainy here and I am on call so the plan could change depending on factors beyond my control. Maybe the rain will keep the crazies out of the ER, Who knows.
Is it just me or do the test instructions in Final Surge look screwed up with incorrect characters?
@Kim DuBord You are correct. It looks funny. I thing the missing word is min.
@Coach Patrick you might want to check on this ^^^ the test instructions in Final Surge are not correct.
OK, so I was not able to hang on very long at all this AM. I was off the back at about 18 min in even at 2.8-3.0 w/kg. My legs just didn't have it, my hamstring was sore, and my HR was high. I ended up cutting it short and going to do some Yoga stretching in hopes that I can redeem myself tomorrow at Cruise and Crush.
I am not sure if I am just still tired from those 18 min intervals x 3 or if something else is going on but I am listening to my body as it says "not today". Off to work (on call) and live to ride another day.
I will say that for the past year I have been mostly training on Zwift with races and group rides where the power output fluctuates a bit and you can go hard for a bit and rest in the pack and getting back to the long, hard intervals is a bit of a change for the old legs. The truth will come out next week...
@Alexander E Evis : I’ve been stalking NOS since deciding that I needed a few more weeks of post-season rest. There are many ways to do an “FTP test.” I try to do the most “specific” test for my training focus at the time. I find the standard 20 min FTP test (after 5min of VO2 hell) works well to “prove” my FTP progression and ability to increase the level of my structured work. (Yes, @Janyne Kizer, completing 15min @110% indicates that you can complete 20min at greater than 100%... but how much greater? :-) I use Zwift racing more sparingly than most. Zwift racing is fun, social, and a great high-intensity WKO... but at my age, too much can negatively affect my consistency. I used the “Bump” (including considerable time out-of-the-saddle) to determine my FTP, and could not complete the workouts as prescribed... and reduced my training FTP accordingly. I base ALL training levels on my Powermeter head unit, and am often frustrated by the Zwift power numbers that are displayed! Additionally, keep-in-mind that we are estimating FTP from these tests. The physiologic definition is One-Hour Power. It’s easy to over-estimate the true FTP. Fortunately, exact values are not as important as trends. During specific race training, I still use the old 2x20’ with 2min recovery between estimate favored by some. At that time, I’m focusing on maintaining a percentage of FTP over a long duration. “Testing” is a powerful form of mental training that develops focus, control, and confidence... and gives excellent feedback on your training and race readiness. I am a “winter ERG guy” and personally enjoy Trainer Road and the Sufferfest videos. I do plan to participate in Team EN Zwift rides. They are fun and effective, and I personally need to maintain my shifting skills! It’s easy to give 110% (great in appropriate doses). I also need to get that elusive Tron Bike! On his initial welcome, @Ralph Moore reminded us that the EN OS should be treated as a single 14-week training period. Enjoying the suffering that comes with efficient fitness gains is really what its all about. I am a fast-twitch athlete trying to master the sport of Long Course Triathlon. I like high-intensity intervals. I just need to keep my eye on the prize. Entering specific race prep ready to build far onto my fast.
@Coach Patrick demonstrated supportive concern that my season plan included an early-season and very late season races. I’m committed to IMCOZ, so dropped my early spring 70.3 and therefore will complete the JOS. I broke the bad news to my Masters Swim Team... “I’m a triathlete, not a swimmer.” (I do still swim in the OS) My CTS has dropped 40% and I’m going to actively participate in NOS-lite... focusing on Run Durability (my key limiter).
Thanks for the update! I know we had to make some tough decisions, but our
long-term success often depends on how well we can prioritize what we are
doing right now. Success in a long course race is a function of improved
training process, and that’s exactly what we are up to.
As you have noted, there is no one “right way“ to do the best possible test
to measure your threshold power. All I care about is that you follow a
consistent testing protocol, as that will give us measurable change over
time.
I am glad to hear that you are on swift, as I find it to be a ton of fun
and I think there are games to be had from riding their consistently
through leveraging the community.
~ Coach P