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Need some reassurance...

ejbeach01ejbeach01
in General Training Discussions

Ok...I am going to give everyone the real fast breakdown of my OS that began in November.

  • Finished final race in early Oct.  Took 2 weeks off and then started light run/bike.  Was recovering from a strained calf, everything was fine after the 2 week break.
  • During the 2 weeks off, made some adjustments to my bike and had a couple tri-geeks help me adjust my fit.  I had about zero drop all season and went to about 8cm which was as low as my Trek EQ 7 would let me go w/out some new stuff. 
  • Did my week 1 FTP Test and got 305 watts.  But I sat up for this test, not on the aero bars.  So the fit change didn't impact me much.
  • End of week 1 rode outside and did a 40min TT.  Could only hold 270 watts on the aero bars with this new fit.  From that point on I decided to ride aero for everything. -- on the new fit which was 8cm lower.
  • Weeks 2 and 3 were all aero. 
  • Middle week 3 got a new stem with more drop.  Installed it and got about 3 more cm.  adjusted seat for hip angle and stack/reach.
  • Rode week 3 and 4 with new fit.

So here is my thing.  It has been almost 5 weeks and I can tell by my workouts that my FTP has not changed.  Going into this I think I was under the impression that I would acclimate to the new position pretty quickly and start to get back to my in-season ftp of 305 on the aero bars.  But that hasn't happened yet.  I also realize that the fact that I was able to drop an additional 3cm in week 3 and still maintain my wattage means I probably was improving and acclimating and now I have to do that again as 3cm may have been more significant than it sounds.

Im a bit of a newb when it comes to fit questions and things like that.  I also tend to take a bull in a china shop approach to many things...so can someone explain, in english, just how much impact this type of drop has.  For the most part I maintained my hip angle as my previous fit was very non-aggressive.  So why the big drop in power and how long does it typically take to acclimate and see a rise back to where you were?

Comments

  • dan_forbesdan_forbes
    Not a ton of time to put together a completely thoughtful answer here, but it sounds like you need to give yourself more time to adjust. You are making adjustments here and there and not giving your body enough time to adapt. I'm certainly no expert in fit, but I have been fitted professionally and it took about a month or so for me to feel totally comfortable and to see gains. There are many technicalities that go into a fit and really can't speak intelligently on them as I don't know. But I think I know the lower you get, the less room there is to breathe unless you are messing with hip angles at the same time to open up space for your lungs. You also went to 8cm lower which seems a touch drastic for one shot (but again, I could certainly be wrong here) gave it a couple of weeks, then dropped it again within a total of 11cm in 3 weeks, that's a ton. Anyway, if you're comfortable, give it more time. I'm sure pictures would help others with much more experience than me. Anyway, just my 2 cents and I can certainly be wrong... good luck.

    Dan
  • manconamancona
    I can't answer your actual question and it will vary a ton between different individuals. However just to add a few thoughts:

    Was your in season FTP of 305 at 0 cm of drop? If so, I don't think it is fair to use 305 as your baseline as 305 at 0cm drop is different the 305 at 11cm (8+3). IF you did the same thing in season I bet your FTP would have dropped a good bit as well.

    Are you confident your hip angle really hasn't changed at all between the 0cm drop and the 11cm drop position?

    I'm pretty willing to bet that you will be able to go faster with lower watts in your new position. At the end of the day you don't get any points for watts on the race course. The time you finish is what matters and being aero will help you there even if your watts are lower.


  • ejbeach01ejbeach01
    Posted By Matt Ancona on 29 Nov 2010 12:28 PM

    I can't answer your actual question and it will vary a ton between different individuals. However just to add a few thoughts:



    Was your in season FTP of 305 at 0 cm of drop? If so, I don't think it is fair to use 305 as your baseline as 305 at 0cm drop is different the 305 at 11cm (8+3). IF you did the same thing in season I bet your FTP would have dropped a good bit as well.



    Are you confident your hip angle really hasn't changed at all between the 0cm drop and the 11cm drop position?



    I'm pretty willing to bet that you will be able to go faster with lower watts in your new position. At the end of the day you don't get any points for watts on the race course. The time you finish is what matters and being aero will help you there even if your watts are lower.









     

    I'm with you there as the time being all that matters...but on the trainer watts is all that really matters...I don't really want to go out in the cold to see how much faster I am on my little 3-mile TT course.  Yes my in-season ftp was 305 with about zero drop.  And I didn't mean to say that I should just bounce right back to 305 after 4 weeks of riding.  But I was thinking that after 3-4 weeks I'd acclimate and start to see some gains as I adjust. 

    As far as hip angle...I am sure it did change some.  Just not drastically.  As far as the fit goes, despite a pretty drastic drop from where I was, I am plenty comfortable. 

  • Coach PatrickCoach Patrick
    Eric, bottom line is you have made changes that affect your ability to put out watts. Basically you have to take your week 1 FTP as your real baseline and work against that instead of holding on to last season. Last season I was sitting at 330 pre accident. I am now doing intervals at 305 after testing at 300 5 weeks ago...I had a pity party until I reviewed the data and saw that last OS I was in the same boat.

    Quite possibly the worst thing you can do with an EN program is try to rush it...there's just no slack-age in the plans, you are working harder than you have all year (and perhaps more than ever), adaptation and fitness (plus speed) will come!
  • mgraffeomgraffeo
    You've got a choice to make. Either

    1) stop changing things, so that you can compare data from one session to another a few weeks later

    Or

    2) keep changing things, with the understanding that you wont be able to compare pre and post.

    You got the advice a few weeks back that comparison after changes would end up feeling like you're chasing your tail. Mouth, meet tail.

    Seriously, I would recommend stopping the changes, and even reverting back up the last 3cm, so that you have a chance to see what improvements you've had. There's plenty of time once the spring rolls around to tweak fit. This time of year should be about driving up FTP, not continued position tweaking.
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