It’s not mine, it’s all from Chadmcneese. I just pulled out the numbers based stuff.
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You’re right, that was a big week leading up to it. I did feel like I needed a break. Now after a rest week, I feel great and ready for tomorrow’s Gran Fondo!
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Yeah, I think you’re definitely gonna be ready to ride! You know, in those workouts, even if you don’t get through the last set, it’s still a lot of good work. It’s going to pay off.
Yes, looking at it now. That was still 45 min of great work to top of the week. I feel better about this now, thank you!
Only recently with the experimental polarized plans have I encountered these threshold workouts. The triathlon plans I’ve done for several years didn’t often include them. I’ve found them very challenging. My setup is an Elite Direto trainer and 4iiii left side power meter, using the power meter as the source and using Power match to adjust resistance at the trainer. I also record my rides on my Garmin watch so I can see the difference in power readings between the two meters. It turned out that the trainer’s power was creeping up on successive intervals, while the 4iiii was staying constant. So if I was supposed to hold 8’ intervals at 245w, the trainer would creep up to 265w by the last interval, and I would be completely fried. I think it was a matter of left leg fatiguing faster than my right leg. Once I switched to just using the trainer for power, the threshold efforts were just right, and repeatable as expected/predicted. They’re still very challenging but I complete them successfully. Pretty pleased to finish up 12 weeks of base being able to complete 6.5-rated threshold workouts.
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One thing to think about…OTS is less susceptible to temperature than orthogonal strain gauge array. I think I’ve said on this forum a couple times: if you want a real strava edge, put your power meter crank arm in the freezer before you zero it.
I got Pavillon today. Just barely completed it with one stop in the middle of the second to last interval, marked as all-out. All-time high power for 1:11-1:30; I have no idea why TR thought Robion (which is 1 PL higher) was appropriate two weeks ago.
(Huh, just noticed it’s not “Pavilion” but “Pavillon”. Is it French or a reference to the shape of the sets?)
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Good job!
I’ve been on the wildcat → montalban → bonales → lliwedd progression and it’s been rough, so good to hear that I’m not alone with this type.
I had to pull out every mental trick in my book to finish bonales last week. Lliwedd coming up this week. I’m bracing myself.
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Well, how did it go?
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Thanks for asking. It went pretty good. I beat my time from last year by just over 8 minutes. Averaged 199w for 5hrs 10min, which is definitely a personal best. And set a bunch of PR’s on the course.
I messed up my fueling a bit, didn’t get enough in the beginning because of the opening climbs trying to get in a good group. Chasing a group I shouldn’t have. And a long not very technical, but hard to drink at, descent.
I tried to catch up on fuel into and at the fuel station, but took on too much and got an upset stomach. Felt like barfing for a while, lol.
Second half I backed way off and just suffered, trying to get back on my nutrition without overdoing it. By the end, last 10 miles or so, I felt a lot better again and could put some power back in.
Finished 78/224 versus my 117/249 the year before.
I definitely think some long rides before this would have served me well. If nothing else, to just be comfortable with the amount of time in the saddle and evening out my fueling.
But like mentioned before, I’m more of a crit / cx racer and this is probably the only GF I’ll do this year.
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Hmmm.
Maybe I should work some Robion fails into my training program.
Good job.
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Ha ha, I’m telling you it works!
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I posted the below topic, imho the jumps are too large between these types of workouts
You and me both. These things suck. I do have a solution though - avoid, avoid, avoid. 
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if you are failing these workouts your FTP is too high. you are barely above threshold in these workouts.
Take the ego hit, swallow the pill, and go train consistently without blowing up.
If you really think your FTP is right go do a 25-30min test in resistance road and see
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I’m trying to go by AI detection. Are you saying it doesn’t work?
The fact you are failing the workout…you are saying it isn’t working for your application
Went through a similar “journey of fun” recently. Hoping I can help by sharing some things I wish I learned when I joined. Already great info here so far.
What @Jarek said is critical: AI FTP can def put you 2 - 10% higher than you should be. That will be fine for Rec - SS, but Thresh + it will really kill you. One critical point to accept is that your FTP fluctuates massively on a daily basis; sleep, nutrition, fatigue, etc. If your FTP is set just a bit low, you’ll feel great and continue to progress. If it’s set just a bit high, you’ll feel like crap, fail workouts, and be de-motivated. You’re not going to progress any faster by having your FTP set 2 - 10% higher than it should be. Quite the opposite!!! You’re far better to have it set a few points lower, keep that consistency near 100%, and keep smashing it! 
For some, they ramp test really well and get a good estimation off that. I’m terrible at supra threshold efforts. For me, a huge step forward was finding a great way to benchmark my FTP accurately. Smith -2 is perfect for this. I know exactly how each of these levels should feel, and from that I know exactly what my FTP should be set at in TR. [Should be set at in TR, for the WOs to be set appropriately for me. Let’s not get into defining actual FTP, etc.]
The other super important point was made by @trpnhntr : In a way, there’s no such thing as “workout levels”. The two that he posted pics of, equal in level, are absolutely nothing like each other. That they are “the same level” is completely irrelevant.
You just have to learn through trial and error what WOs you’re good at, and which you’re…not…at. There’s no way around this hard lesson. Sooner you learn it, the more fun you start having, and can start progressing.
Then you just have to kind of manually track what kind of WOs you’re doing, and work on improving in the ones you want to. I can kill Connell, Thresh 8.0, but Spickard, Thresh 6.8, is one I’m practicing on trying to beat.
I could probably smash Gray +5 and call it a Very Hard, or maybe even just Hard. I couldn’t pass Whiteleaf +4 if my life depended on it!!! Whiteleaf is a Threshold with Bursts , a totally different type. I’d have to start practicing those down around a level 3 or 4.
Hope this helps, and hope you keep having fun!
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