Hmm yeah if you can do 3x12 SS at a ‘moderate’ effort than 2x20 should be achievable assuming fueling, fatigue, etc are the same. And given he’s failed it twice it’s likely it’s something else.
Though if I think back to when I was getting started there was a pretty big mental hurdle going from 12-15m to 20m. I think it was mostly because with 12 minutes you mentally have 10 minutes as a checkpoint to reach and then you’re basically done with the interval. But with 20 minutes you get to 10m and you have to do it all over again.
One trick I’ve used on days when 20m is just mentally too long I’ll stand (while keeping the target power) for like 30s or so at 8m and then again at 15m to break it up into shorter intervals. That way the seated sections where I’m power through get shorter and shorter and I create two other checkpoints I can aim for on my way to 20m
If your FTP is set correctly, you should be able to do 2x20 @ FTP (100%) coming in as a “Hard” workout, but by all means not very hard or all-out.
If you can’t do the same at 90%, some thoughts:
Were you really fatigued or glycogen depleted going in?
Is cooling or humidity in your training space an issue where RPE builds fast towards the end of the interval?
Are your power meters reading correctly?
Is your FTP set correctly?
Do you have good music going and anything to distract you, or are you just suffering and staring at the interval counting down?
I did 3x20 at 90% today, with 3 minutes rest between each. My legs were a little fatigued and I’ve been a little bit in “offseason mode” and while I started getting cranky at the end, and heart rate was building towards my threshold HR, but I’d classify it as the low end of “hard” - work, but not a butt kicker.
I mentioned this somewhere on this forum before, but I suspect most fail these type of workouts early on in their Indoor-season not so much because the physical demands but because of the mental demands.
If you can split a 2x20 in to a 4x10 with 1 minute recovery I bet that should be doable. In a week or two of consistent indoor riding you should find yourself keeping the power up for the full 20 minute intervals. Both mentally and physically. After that you can resume any regular progression similar to outdoors.
Thanks everyone for your help. I’ve actually reduced my intensity days from three to two. I just completed a sweet spot workout of 2 x 20 minutes and I’m pretty happy with that.
It seems that going from outdoor riding to indoor while trying to keep the same volume and intensity wasn’t a great idea. Next year, after my last race, I’ll lower my structured training to just three days a week until December. I think that will really help.