Underachieved on test, or overachieved on intervals?

trigirl1203

Another power noob question-

So I did my first FTP test and came out with 160 for my FTP.  Today, I completed my Tuesday bike 2x8' @ 95-100%, and my intervals were 181w for the first 8', and 190w for the second 8'.  Now, I wanted to puke after each, so I assume I did those correctly?? Or did I overachieve and will suffer from this all week?  Or could it be I underachieved on my test (which I completely screwed up b.c I went too hard on my first interval)?  Thanks for the input..Im learning

Kevin Walter

Probably the test. It usually takes a few tries to get the hang of pacing the 2x20. First times I did it, I improved a ton each time. In retrospect though I think it was more a reflection of better test taking rather than real improved fitness. If you do a few workouts like this and are consistently outperforming your FTP then I think retesting a little sooner than called for officially in the plan would be fine.

MattAaronson

I agree with Kevin. I posted something about this in the "member tips for the OS" thread...it happened to me last year.

jhbinsc

+2 on Kevin. If you keep blowing away the 95-100% intervals, consider retesting in 4 weeks instead of 8 weeks. ou'll get better at testing, just takes time and practice.

Coach Rich

+3. In general it takes a little while for the numbers to make sense with the RPE, learning how to pace yourself for tests and intervals, and in general put a number to the "hard" that you've been experiencing.

ezellrh

As a noob to power and to the HAUS, I've been paying a lot of attention to the on-going convervation about overachiving. I am definitely interested in everyone's feedback, but I wanted to throw my admittedly NOOB opinion into the mix. As I understand it, a person's FTP is the max power that person could put out on the bike for an entire hour. So, by definition, if your FTP test was conducted correctly and the data tool gives a person accurate zones to train to, any interval below an hour should be "attainable" if not easier than an hour at FTP. By extention, a shorter interval, say 6, 8, or 10, should be definitely easier to achieve since its a fraction of an hour.

@ Lauren, to your original post, you reported being on the verge of "puking" at the end of each 8 minute interval. Looking at that reported effort through my noob eyes, that doesn't tell me that your FTP is necessarily off. It very well may be off, but the result of that particular 2x8 intervals doesn't lead me to this conclusion.

Again, very interested in everyone else's opinion, but this are my admittedly noob thoughts.

Michael Byerts

I would tend to agree with Roy. 8 minutes at 95-100% of your FTP should not cause dry-heaving.

Trent Prough

Don't forget though that these are only 2X8's. They are nothing to what is coming. So if you are puking on 8' then when we get to 15' and 20' you won't make it. So just be careful this quick thinking you have that much higher FTP. I'd say it's some where in between maybe. My 8' intervals if i pushed to puking would be close to 10% increase too but do you think you can hold that for twice the time. Now I'm not saying you don't have a higher FTP than tested since you kinda burgered the test but also don't want to see you thinking the FTP is crazy high and as the intervals increase in time you can't hold on. JUST SAYIN' from experience.

[Deleted User]

It seems to me that wanting to puke at 8' means you are probably going harder than FTP. But probably not 30 watts higher! As mentioned above, your FTP is probably somewhere in between. You describe your RPE graphically for your intervals, but no mention of how you felt during the test. Did the test seem easier to you than the much shorter intervals do now? Also, it might be interesting to compare your heart rate during the test to your heart rate during your recent intervals, if you have that data. Doing some sort of SWAG on current FTP for a little while and then retesting once you are used to the power meter, trainer, and intervals may be the way to go if you are very uncertain.

trigirl1203

Thanks for all the quick responses! One of the many reasons I love EN

So, would it be recommended to do those intervals of 95-100% at my tested FTP or shoot for 10w higher? Thanks guys!

jburbatt

Since it's your first time with power I'd probably stick with the numbers you have and stick with the plan as written. Overacheiving now is going to really come back and bite you as the fatigue from the OS builds up. I don't ever want to puke after 2X8s, even if I was going 10% over my FTP. Going 20% over is significant since now you're in Z5 territory and considering that the general interval for these is 2.5/2.5, it doesn't really surprise me that you wanted to puke after 2x8s at 120% FTP. Try doing the intervals as written with the test #s you did for a few weeks and THEN see how you feel. As Trent said, 2x8s is nothing compared to what's coming...

tuckerm

Posted By Jennifer Burbatt on 15 Nov 2011 09:24 AM

Since it's your first time with power I'd probably stick with the numbers you have and stick with the plan as written. Overacheiving now is going to really come back and bite you as the fatigue from the OS builds up. I don't ever want to puke after 2X8s, even if I was going 10% over my FTP. Going 20% over is significant since now you're in Z5 territory and considering that the general interval for these is 2.5/2.5, it doesn't really surprise me that you wanted to puke after 2x8s at 120% FTP. Try doing the intervals as written with the test #s you did for a few weeks and THEN see how you feel. As Trent said, 2x8s is nothing compared to what's coming...

+1

Keith Wick

If you look at it from a perspective that most of us would struggle to do 8' at vo2 max and would probably puke. You can then loosely theorize that if you take 190 watts as 120% (vo2 max range), then that would put your FTP somewhere around 158, which is where you are. Given that you held it for 8', I'd be willing to guess that you are above that FTP number, but I would look to increase your FTP to an estimated 165-170 (5 to 10 watts). I'd finish the next few weeks and look to retest late week 4/early week 5.

jhbinsc

Agree that upcoming workouts in OS will get a lot tougher. Nothing wrong w/ sticking w. original FTP for now then perhaps retesting at week 4 instead of waiting until week 8. SWAGing another 10 watts may not hurt you as the fatigue accumulates...or it might! 20 wks is a long time to be fried.

trigirl1203

Thanks everyone...I think I will shoot for 10w higher than original FTP for the 95-100% intervals, and see where that gets me until the next test!