OS and FTP Questions
A couple more question crossed my mind last night that I'm hoping someone will please address.
1. I saw in a previous posting (by CoachP I think, but can't find the posting again to confirm) the suggestion that most people find they need a 2-week break after completing the OS. I'm wondering what this means - just decreased, unstructured volume during this period? Or does this mean that people rest hard for a couple of weeks? I wouldn't think that after busting your butt for 20 weeks you would simply go dormant for a couple of weeks and risk losing some of that hard-earned fitness, but just wanted to get some guidance on this aspect.
2. In the context of FTP testing and interval training in the OS, do people do these sessions upright or locked into the aerobars? I saw a discussion about how FTP changes when you go from the trainer to outdoor and I can only assume that there is also a difference (likely a drop in FTP?) going from upright to aerobars. So, with that in mind, is the best approach to try to do the bike testing and sessions in the aerobars? Or do people not worry about this and just give'er as hard as they can in an upright position in order to draw get the maximum power (at least in the OS) and worry about the transition from upright to aero during the actual race training phase?
Thanks everyone.
Tyler
Comments
Looks like Matt Ancona just answerwed my second question in response to a question posted in another thread. Thanks Matt.
The recovery weeks are typically less intensity, but still have volume to them.
My personal experience has been...
My indoor FTP (sitting up) at the beginning of the OS is about 10-15 watts lower then my peak from the season.
It builds up through OS and I end up a good bit higher than the previous years peak (diminishing returns definitely kick in here).
I start training outside... sitting up I can hold the same or more watts outside as I could inside, however my aerobar outside FTP is lower.
After about two months outside I can hold my previous indoor sitting up FTP outside in the aerobars.
Then I just build the far on that fast and work up to being able to hold about .85 for over 4 hours every weekend.
To your first question this depends on you and how you react to the OS. The key is you need some sort of break, but what you need will be different depending on a ton of things. One year I took a week long vacation and didn't have a bike, so I only ran easy every day and that was more than enough break for me. Last year, I ran a marathon the last week of the OS, but then took a very easy week after to recover (I don't recomend this approach for most but it worked for me as I didn't push hard in the marathon and was fully recovered the next day).
Basically it comes down to I get my FTP as high as possible in the OS and then get my body to adjust to it and be able to hold that power in the aerobars and for long periods of time in the season.
The transition is more of a mental peice. You're going to be training pretty hard, and focused, for 20wks in the OS. Depending on where you exit the OS, in relation to how far off your A race is (ie, you end in March and you're racing IMCanada = a long time) we will want to you take a couple weeks of relaxed training. Enough to keep your fitness but dialed down enough so that you're giving yourself a mental break before getting back on the horse towards the rest of the season.
Don't worry about what those transition weeks look like yet...we have an app for that
.
Historically, people who've blown off this transition advice generally tend to feel a little mentally stretched further along into the season.
And if you need advice particular to your situation, you would just ask us in Macro Thread in the Gen Disc forum.
Tyler, the rest is key (whre are the vets on this) as even though you are fit, continuing without rest will mean bombing unintentionally over the rest of your year. We plan two light weeks (most get back to swimming with two focus weeks). After 20 weeks of hard work, 2 weeks of down time doesn't set you back very much at all. Really!