Hey @ptsouth97, we took a look and responded to your Support ticket, but I will post the answer here as well for visibility:
Support Answer:
We took another look at your recent training, the AI FTP Detection increase, and how things have unfolded since then. Overall, this looks less like an FTP issue and more like a short-term adjustment period driven by a dense stretch of hard training, which you’re already starting to move through.
FTP Increase
Leading into the AI FTP Detection, you were completing very high-level Threshold and Sweet Spot workouts at your previous FTP, and they weren’t feeling overly taxing. That’s typically when we’d expect TrainerRoad to reassess FTP upward, since your training was showing more capacity than your old number reflected.
For example:
Long, demanding workouts like these feeling controlled is a good indicator that your sustainable power had improved, which is one of the reasons why the AI FTP Detection moved your FTP to 293.
What likely made things feel harder afterward
Shortly after that update, you took on a couple of very demanding efforts during what was scheduled as a lighter recovery period:
- January 27 – Zwift race
- 266W Normalized Power for 41 minutes
- Rated Very Hard
- January 28 – Zwift race
- 271W Normalized Power for 44 minutes
- Rated Very Hard
Back-to-back efforts like this can compress a lot of stress into a short window. TrainerRoad does factor recent training load into its recommendations, but when intensity is stacked very tightly, some fatigue can linger longer than expected and subtly change how the next few workouts feel.
These races are also pretty good indications that your FTP had increased too!
Putting Tallac -3 in context
- February 5 – Tallac -3 (Sweet Spot)
- 3x15-minute intervals
- 253W Normalized Power (planned for the whole workout)
- This was the workout ended early due to intensity
Relative to your prior Threshold work and sustained race efforts, this was a reasonable progression (especially when you compare the Normalized Power of pre and post FTP change).
While TrainerRoad was already accounting for your recent training, we think the combination of hard racing and limited recovery during a recovery week likely nudged this workout from “challenging but manageable” into “harder than intended” on that day. That points more toward residual fatigue than the FTP itself being fundamentally off.
The encouraging part is that we can see you’ve since successfully completed your most recent Threshold workout , which is a great sign. That’s a clear step in the right direction and suggests you’re settling in as fatigue clears and your training stabilizes around the new FTP.
What TrainerRoad is Doing Now
TrainerRoad uses both struggles and successes to keep your training aligned. That tougher Sweet Spot session helped guide upcoming workouts to a more manageable place, and your recent successful Threshold workout reinforces that you’re moving back toward consistent, productive training at the right wattages.
Answers to Your Questions
- Is there a mistake with my FTP?
There’s nothing here that suggests a mistake. Your recent training supports the current FTP when fatigue is under control.
- Should I lower intensity for every workout instead of changing FTP?
We wouldn’t recommend lowering intensity across the board or manually changing FTP right now. Letting TrainerRoad adjust individual workouts is the best way to balance recovery and progress without giving up the fitness you’ve built.
Overall this looks like a normal adjustment period following an FTP increase combined with a very dense block of intensity, rather than a fundamental mismatch between your abilities and the training. The fact that you’re already completing Threshold work again is exactly what we want to see.
If you’d like help planning Zwift races so they fit more smoothly with recovery weeks going forward, just let us know. We’re happy to help.
!