Similar story with happy ending:
- pushed single mid-summer ride with slightly overused leg too long (24h) that caused overuse injury go very bad (crutches and stuff)
- took 4 weeks to recover, AI FTP estimated drop 280w → 246w
- whether this estimation was correct or not, doesn’t matter, simply started riding very slowly (~50-55% of this estimated FTP) as leg allowed do it pain-free
- for 2 months, no any structure, just went for longer and longer rides (peaked ~20h/week, 6x/week from usual 12h/week Sweetspot-centric plan)
- when returned to structured training, AI FTP proposed 249w
- in 4 weeks went SS/4x12 → SS/1x105, Z4/4x10 → Z4/2x40
- AI FTP suggested 263w, confirmed with Kolie Moore test
In summary, this forced pause and slow recovery was really necessary to build proper base and build up TTE. Yes, FTP was still lower than before but I would never dreamed to ride Z4/1x70 before this. Now I am back at previous highest FTP but with real base that I know I can trust.