Home OutSeason January 2011 Group Discussion-OutSeason January 2011

Week 14 FTP

 This workout was probably the best thing that happened to me in the OS. considering that i was unable to maintain my 1st FTP on the 2nd FTP test, even with retesting and retesting; I set out yesterday to do FTP on the chicago lakefront, to avoid the demotivational efforts of my drainer. (and weather not looking good for tomorrow.

previous FTP was at 235

I acoounted for a 15 watts outdoor bump, so I was actually hooting for a 260.

Came in at a CRAZY 270 at the end of the 42:00; and my w/kg are back in the 3 range (finally)

alright peeps, I want to hear some good stories tomorrow

adios

Comments

  • Posted By Hasan Baydoun on 03 Apr 2011 09:36 AM

    Came in at a CRAZY 270 at the end of the 42:00; and my w/kg are back in the 3 range (finally)

     

    WOO - Way to go HASAN! Good motivator for the rest of us. Amazing what a little fresh air and open sky can do for the cyclist.

  • Al,
    I have to be honest with you. YOURS is the one I'm waiting for ;-) I still remember your reply to me regarding my power, and using it at IMWI last year!!!!! thanks for all your guidance.
    If I was the road, I'd be afraid of AL!!!!
    -hb
  • Way to go Hasan. Solid bump.



    Due to life getting in the way, I did my test today instead of tomorrow. I was hoping for a first outside ride of the season (it was 80 yesterday), but no such luck...it's snowing like crazy! Gotta love Colorado weather. Anyhow, on to the details:



    Week 1 FTP 158

    Week 8 FTP 179

    Week 14 FTP 190



    My high last year was 193. My plan going into this OS was to exit the OS around 200. I'm getting close! Overall I'm feeling like I'm trending in the right direction.



    Good luck everyone with your tests tomorrow.

  • Like you say Aaron - so long as we are trending upward - this be good!!

    My Results:  FTP wk#1: 222  /   FTP wk#8:  injured no test  /  FTP wk#14:  253

    Given I didn't bike wk #1 (vaca) and missed 2 1/2 weeks of bike/run in weeks 7/8/9 - and then did remaining part of V02 portion on RPE (cause my PM went on the blink), I'm pretty happy with wk 14 test - image - especially keeping the Ave Power steady for both intervals.

    I had nothing left after this - so I think I performed better than wk 1 test which was a bit erratic.  Most importantly I don't think I re-injured myself.  Test was done on trainer.

    Details (also first time loading info into wko+ - anything look out-of-whack below? ):

    • Time:  00:42:40 (i went a little long? dumb me)
    • KJ: 635
    • TSS: 91.6
    • Ave Power 1st 20min: 257
    • Ave Power 2nd 20min: 256
    • Norm Power: 253
    • Ave HR: 141
    • Ave Cadence: 87 (I''d prefer cadende be 89/90 - thats usually my comfort working zone)

     

     

  •  Great job guys. 

    I sure failed mine today. Started and shut down after 6min. Will not retest until later. I, most likely ,did not get worse than what I was, but no gains either. Will update you later. I will now mangle the whole week to do 2x20 as a workout on Saturday. I am done with 2.5min intervals. They are either going to get longer or I will not do them at all.

  • awesome work, gentlemen!  how are the ladies doing??  I had a good test yesterday despite feeling pretty sluggish and a bit yucky all day.  Despite gorgeous (actually, too warm) weather, I chose to stay in and ride the drainer since I don't know any solid routes that wouldn't have stops, not to mention I haven't ridden out with my power yet and I don't want to kill myself bc I'll be staring at the joule.

    week 1 test =  147; week 8 = 157; week 14 = 167

    Moving in the right direction!

    vi 1.02

    12.608 miles

    HR 177

    cad 92 (for me that's really good)

    speed 17.7

    I'm really happy with my 5' splits - breaking them down into intervals like that mentally helps me so much, each 5' I try to bump up my NP a few ticks (I have that on my joule face) and the last 5' I sit up and give it what I have left.  I was worried I killed myself in the first 20 but somehow I managed to get through the last 20...I'm actually surprised my NP wasn't higher bc the first 20 was 167 and I hit 170 for the last.  Oh well:

    here are my splite:  156/165/170/175  and 157/168/169/181 (I have no idea where that 181 came from, except I was so happy to be almost done... I will say that my quads were burning when I laid down to go to bed),

    Coach R estimated 170 for the heads we win... so I'm pretty hopeful that I'll crush that!

    No run test for me (missed the last one, too) bc of plantar fasciitis... so run like the wind and I'll be thinking of you all.

  • I think I should have read some of these before I headed out to do my test this morning for motivation. I got a little bump (5 watts), so I guess that's good. The last training block has been difficult for me, I was hoping for more after working that hard. There's always next time, but I'm transitioning to the 12 wk IM plan after a week off - not sure how much higher it will go. But I am higher than my highest last year.

    Week 1 - 168
    Week 8 - 182
    Week 14 - 187
    Best last year - 178
  • Very disappointing test tonight, and I'm pretty surprised. FTP of 228, up from 225. So an increase of three measly watts, ~1.3%. I thought for sure that 230 was in striking range. WTF??

    It was a valid test I'm sure…I was pretty spent at the end. I'm coming off essentially two rest days (ran Sunday morning, test Tuesday night), felt good all day and felt good on the bike during the ride. In fact when the numbers were all said and done I was really surprised it was so low…I could have sworn I saw >230 more often than not on the screen.

    In 5-minute increments:
    Interval 1 (NP 228): 224, 226, 227, 237
    Interval 2 (NP 232): 226, 229, 227, 245

    Compared with my week 8 test:
    Interval 1 (NP 223): 215, 219, 224, 232
    Interval 2 (NP 231): 224, 228, 228, 237

    So looks pretty well-paced, maybe too much in the tank at the end but at most that means I left 1-2 watts on the table. Mathematically the work intervals averaged 230… the recovery interval (AP=147) brought it down to 228 (actually in a weighted average it would be 226, but WKO says NP=228 for the whole 42').

    My w/kg is still 3.6 – no change in weight since the last test. I guess the 3.66 could round to 3.7, but then again I'm 138lb more often than 137lb and don't feel like I deserve the benefit of the doubt on this test.

    http://connect.garmin.com/activity/77482123

    Based on travel schedule this week I'm going to miss a ton or workouts, but perhaps that is for the best…an unstructured low-volume week to let me regroup a bit, then come back stronger.
  • OK, I'm still improving.

    Today's 5/10/20 FTP test showed me today/Feb22 @ 5' > 255/240, 20 min x 0.95 > 221/199

    I started the OS @ 174 & 205. My w/kg are 3.4 from the data tool but actually 3.354.

    I'm suspecting I can finish the OS @ an indoor FTP of 233, outdoors @ 240 (242 is my goal).

    This looks like a big set of gains this OS, but actually, it just puts me where I was at this time in the season last year, as would the 242 outdoors. So I'm really just regaining all the ground I lost Sept-Dec last year.

    I passed another milestone swimming this AM: 60 minutes/2800 yards (400 of which is drills, 1000 warm-up, and 1400 of "main set stuff"). My target there is to be doing 80 minutes three times a week by mid-May, then in June in my local lake, which is about 633 meters long, swim six "lengths" each in under 13 minutes - my previous self could do those in 11:40-12:10. depending on the wind. So 13 minutes would only lose me 6 minutes in the IM, a victory in my mind.

    This weekend, it's down to San Diego for five days of riding and running without rain, getting ujp to 60 miles a pop. Then, back to the last 4 weeks of OS and an half marathon graduation party May 15th.

  • @Matt & Aleksander & Bob. There's a wiki entry about interpreting test results saying that the point of testing is not to score higher but to see how the body is reacting to training and not to sweat one subpar test result, which could have many causes. If it helps, I only boosted my output 2 watts between Week 1 and Week 8 (and that was because I rounded up to 2 watts). I had a really bad patch at work the previous week and missed several workouts. I think it's important to focus simply on the idea that we are doing way more work than our competitors and it will show come race day in 3 months.
    @Matt. 137 lbs? Wow. I haven't been under 150 since I was fifteen (and I was all arms and legs then). Glad I don't have to race you on a hilly course.
  • Posted By Becky Hirselj on 05 Apr 2011 01:46 PM

    /170/175  and 157/168/169/181 (I have no idea where that 181 came from, except I was so happy to be almost done... I will say that my quads were burning when I laid down to go to bed),

    That's called finishing strong Becky, nice job!!!



     

  • @Mike, thanks for the reference. I am ok. I will live with myself, will not test until week 18 now as I start to taper after for a sprint and olympic race. I will carefully work the FTP and observe the output, see how it goes. Not doing it for a week, does not do me any good. I just lost the feel for that effort level and need to get back into 2x20min, those make me strong.

    Nice job everyone. Glad to see some gains.

    Bare with me as I am mangling this week. Yesterday AM, failed test with total 35min with some FTP work like broken up 2x10......Bad. In the evening, I jumped back on the trainer, Thursday bike with no run as it was late, 3x10min(4min)@FTP. I was fading through the workout but remained in the zone. This is just an indication that I did not recover enough from the weekend racing and 6x2.5min, as I had it back to back.  

    Total 60min, AP 226W xP 232W IF .84 TSS 70.00

    FTP=277W 

    interval 1 AP 287W IF 1.04 cad 102 HR 148

    interval 2 AP 283W IF 1.02 cad 102 HR 157

    interval 3 AP 272W IF   .98 cad 100 HR 157

    No run with this one, but as I don't test today, I am heading for a track workout. I saved the day partially. Hoping to turn it around by Saturday, when I will be doing the 2x20min.

  • I'm slow rolling into my FTP test. I did my race this weekend. Soccer and Baseball season is starting and coaching has been keeping me on my toes getting ready! Guess who loses that time battle!

    Let me start with saying I was more than disappointed with my run test this weekend. Not having had my rest lately I was not very confident in my FTP test today. I haven't been able to get my bike workouts like I would like... I'll file today's test under "Be careful what you wish for..."

    FTP going in = 242

    Today:
    20' #1: pNorm=257 (249,258,259,262)
    20' #2: pNorm=260 (258,261,260,261)

    New FTP=256 an surprising 14w bump and almost 6% I guess work works. Looking back those 2.5/2.5 sets don't seem so bad!



  •  Today's bike for me is Saturday's ride+run. I have also modified the bike work to change up a little. I am getting a little mentally burned out on 2.5min intervals.

    The workout called for 5x2.5min(2.5min)@120%FTP, I went with 4x3min(3min)@120%FTP+10min@95%FTP, after that 30min run @HMP. I am slowly twisting OS into short course work now. No plans here yet, so I will be adding some specific flavor to it.

    120%=332W   95%=262W

    4x3min(3min)+10min@95%

    60min AP 211W xP 241W IF.87 TSS 76.35

    interval 1 AP 324W cad 107

    interval 2 AP 332W cad 108

    interval 3 AP 329W cad 108

    interval 4 AP 331W cad 108

    interval 5 AP 262W xP 262 IF .95 cad 104 HR 150

    Run 3mi@HMP 6:27 6:28 6:28, 1mi EP, total 4mi in 28min.    HMP=6:33

    Bike came out as I wanted it. Not too hard, I reduced to total of 12min@VO2max as I increased the interval to 3min. 95% felt hard but doable, I will race that at sprint and olympic distance, so time to start spending time there in the later stages of the workouts to test and build ability to hold it for long and when exhausted.

    Run overpaced in mile 1 and 2 as it was uphill, mile 3 has a net loss, so I was fading. Need to pace that better.

    Enjoy your rest of the day.

  • Upon reflection, I was quite unhappy with my FTP test last Tuesday. Although I was pretty spent at the end and couldn't get another watt, I felt like, well, I should have done better.



    So, after flying home from a trip to Brazil where I spent less than 12 hours on the ground and got 2 consecutive nights sleep on an airplane, I decided to re-test.



    The short story is…new FTP of 235, a 4.4% increase from week 8, a 3% increase from Monday's test and an 11% increase from where I started the year at 211. Watts/kg up from 3.6 to 3.8 as long as I stay below 138lbs.



    During this test I made one modification that I think made a monster difference…I set my Edge500 screen to show the "average lap power". You want to talk about a motivator, holy smokes…because if you see 235 as the lap average, you can't for one second let your power fall below that average…otherwise the average will fall.



    The other thing that I learned is that you don't know HURT until you HURT. I thought I was pretty spent at the end of the last test. But it wasn't true. In fact, as I write this email my calf muscles are twitching involuntarily. I just didn't go hard enough the other night. That "last 5 minutes of the 20" was too high…if you do the test right as I just did, that can't happen. It's not possible. My HR hit 190 during the test…the only time my HR goes that high is in a 5k running race.



    http://connect.garmin.com/activity/77934318



    Test in 5-minute increments (42' FTP of 235 per WKO):

    Interval 1 (NP 238): 231, 235, 240, 245

    Interval 2 (NP 236): 233, 234, 234, 243



    Compared with my test on Monday (42' FTP of 228 per WKO):

    Interval 1 (NP 228): 224, 226, 227, 237

    Interval 2 (NP 232): 226, 229, 227, 245



    Overall I'm much happier with this result and glad I decided to re-test. Plus my new training zones will be even more insane and lead to even more improvements going forward!!



    Cheers,

    Matt

  •  @Matt, great work. You are a machine. 

  • Way to re-work it Matt - I too have Lap average Power flash every 30 sec or so....agree its a motivator.....
  • I'm a big fan of having that kind of data available. I bought a Joule over the winter and one of the cool things about it is that I can actually display pNorm in real time. Similar to your avg watts displayed I can see where my pNorm is and similarly I can make sure I'm not letting myself slip below that number. I'm pretty stoked about what it will look like on race day.

    Today's forecast: 74F. Hitting the trainer this morning and hopefully getting my daughter on the tandem for a fun ride this afternoon!
  • Sorry that I am so late to the testing party, again. I am a week behind and then I waited until Saturday to test so that I could do an outdoor test. I paced it really poorly (averaging 120% of prior FTP for the first 5 minutes was a mistake), but the NP for the 42 minute interval came out as being up 35w over the (poor) week 8 test. Even though I have my Garmin set to auto-zero and it was theoretically properly calibrated, I didn't actually believe that number until I did the 2x20 on the trainer this morning and found that I could hold 95% of it. I had both feet in the pain cave for the last 5 minutes of the first interval and the last 12 minutes of the second interval, but held steady output. So, I guess the new number really is my FTP (gulp while looking at the upcoming workouts).
  •  @Michael, good work, get ready to hurt.

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