I’ve always found this forum helpful, so any opinion is well accepted.
M22, 250 FTP, 74 kg, 3.38 W/kg
Currently following an “Increasing FTP” plan, with a balanced training approach.
The first week and a half of build phase happened to be on the same days of my easter holidays, during which I managed to make some spare rides, but nothing structured.
When I was back, I did my last workout of week 2, and I’m currently in week 3.
Next week should be recovery, but I’m a bit doubtful about it.
My FTP was expected to increase to 257 at the end of the build, but after a very tough SS today, it dropped to 251. Don’t really know what went wrong, maybe heating issues…my HR was in threshold all interval long. A couple of breaks were needed to turn on my AC.
Would you stick to the recovery week, or would you copy training from another week?
Feel free to roast my calendar attached
I wouldn’t worry too much about it. The first few workouts after a break always feel more intense to me. Once the body is used to the training again, things return to normal.
Might also have been one of many other factors, like sleep, caffeine intake, stress, fueling, …
Give it a few more workouts. I’d expect it to normalize again soon. If not, there’s likely something bigger going on and the repetition might already have given a clue on the cause.
What about the rest week then?
Use it as an opportunity to reset. Anything else will only mess up your plan going forward: you now have an upcoming rest week (more likely an endurance week with the new training model) followed by three weeks of intensity. If you replace the rest week with intensity, you’ll be up to at least 4 continuous weeks of hard work - and personally, I’m very much looking forward to the resting after 2 weeks already
