I am a triathlete and have a coach who sets my training plan. In the past I have used the Ramp test and then the FTP detection as a rough figure for determining my race pace in the bike leg of triathlons. I don’t use TR plans currently.
I am not sure that the TR AI FTP estimate is now of any use to me I will need to do old style testing
Is this right? Am I missing something? At the moment I am wondering if it’s worth continuing with my TR subscription
My opinion is the answer is No given how TR is setting AIFTP as the ability to a TR level 3 threshold workout.
If TR had instead said AIFTP is the ability to a TR threshold level 5 workout and rate it has hard, in my opinion that would have corresponded closely to the conventional view of what FTP means and then could have been used for race / outside effort pacing
Does your coach create your workouts or does he select of those available in TR? When I was using a coach, they created the workouts and plan and had me do 20 minute FTP tests as part of that so there was no need for TR.
He sets the sessions which are his own and not TR sessions. I have just used the TR platform for training purposes but now questioning the value to me. I haven’t been with him too long so until now I have used my AI predicted FTP and prior to that ramp test results.
He is your coach. With actual feed back from him there is no need for an artificial coach.
I think it varies by individual, but the new AIFTP does not align with the physiological FTP I’ve used in the past for pacing. The old AIFTP wasn’t perfect for me either, but it was pretty close. I believe the TR team has talked about adding some TTE estimates (20’, 60’, etc.) for athletes to provide data for pacing, but I haven’t seen anything. You can actually back into those numbers pretty easy by just finding a workout that mimics your effort (ie - there is a workout that is nothing but a 60’ threshold effort). But manipulating your FTP manually, the workout difficulty predictor will tell you how it thinks you will do, so it’s basically pacing “what if” tool. If you had a ~1 hour TT coming up and wanted to see how likely you could hold 280, 290, 300, etc., you can just plug those numbers in at FTP and see if the system thinks you will fail the workout or not. I’ve played with it a bit and I’d say it’s directionally close (much closer than the current AIFTP estimate).
All that said, I’d never fully trust a system for pacing data. It might give you a decent starting point to do some real-world testing, but I’d always test in the real world before locking in a pacing strategy for an important event. That doesn’t mean you have to go replicate the event, but If I had a TT coming up that I thought would take ~50’ at 300 watts, I’d do a test run at 300w for at least 35-40 minutes and feel it out. If I could do 40’ in a practice session, I know I could find another 10 minutes on race day. But I’ll always do race wattage, just not the full duration. And I’m not a tri guy, I don’t claim to know how to account for swim/run on either side of the bike.
Yep. My coach basically insisted that I do 20 min FTP tests, and outdoors. I’m sure if i insisted on doing a ramp test or something else instead, they would have acquiesced, but I figured to get my money’s worth, I should stick with their guidance. So, if you’re doing his workouts, his plans, and his tests, then TR would be redundant and possibly conflict.