Did ramp test Monday… FTP went up from 250 to 257. Then Bays+1 (completed), then today it was dade+4(got through everything then the last first set failed lowered by 5% then completed This Sat it asks for Mount Goode 3x15. @95-99… There is no way I can complete that. Then Sunday it’s supposed to be North Pack. Even if I got through Sat no way would I get through Sunday. To me this seems way too much right after the FTP increase… Even at 250 FTP im pretty sure Id fail those… It’s pretty discouraging… Thoughts?
What plan you on and what volume? Seems to me
you could be better off with LV and then if you want add in some recovery rides if you feel like it.
Stop saying fail. Just adjust intensity, backpedal, do half of it, add a week of lower IF, etc.
There a loads of options, and none of them are based on past results - which is how it should be.
Don’t let perfect get in the way of good enough. And stop saying fail. They’re workouts, not exams.
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I guess a custom plan based on the goal of racing more gravel but that’s all out the window… Wonder if I should cancel the current plan and adjust for Cross? Trying to figure it out
Why not, should be totally do-able?
Nail the rest before then and try, you might be surprised.
Don’t let Dade+4 get in your head some people can’t do that as above FTP % doesn’t scale for a lot of people. However under FTP we are all similar, and if you really can’t do it after a good days rest then 257 is not your FTP. I am assuming Friday is a rest day, I am always amazed how the body recovers if you help / let it.
But if I am not mistaken i read if you adjust down you might be defeating the purpose of the workout? So what is an appropriate adjustment to still achieve the overall goal but less intensity or at that point do I just say screw it and complete it as high as possible but less than requires?
Thanks for the feedback… Friday is my rest day going to make sure I sleep in and eat and hydrate and we’ll see how it goes.
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In the long run of getting stronger and a better (and faster) cyclist, worry less about if you adjusting intensity will alter the physiological system “intended” and take advantage of the gains that simple consistency brings.
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Because, really, what have you got to lose?? Go for it. Adjust if you need to. It’s all good. 
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Seriously try it.
Work on the rest and recovery, hydration, quality food, today as focused and hard if it is an ‘A’ race.
Today’s recovery = A race.
If, big IF it does not go well you have lost nothing by trying.
PS. It is Friday for me, lol.
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Dade +4 is hard. I had a few backpedals in the last set… whatever. The next week, mathes +4, only 1 backpedal. These 3 minute vo2 max jobbers just aren’t my thing. Interestingly I did the next workout in the progression Kaiser +4 outside and actually nailed it. Maybe it’s it’s a power meter mismatch, maybe I got better cooling outside, or maybe the fluctuations of real terrain are easier on me than erg (note for future vo2 workout: try slope mode!!).
And sometime you just have a bad day – no sleep, didn’t recover, nutrition, whatever. I was supposed to do Aniakchak 2 weekends ago (a slightly upscaled northpack) and I really wasn’t thinking anything of it. But I could tell right away in the sprints I wasn’t going to make. I stuck it out for 30 minutes before throwing in the towel – well, switched to baxter and that was that. No shame, adjust and move on.
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It’s always like that, I find whenever my FTP goes up - for the next week the workouts are horrific.
Just grit your teeth and take the pain👍
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That’s a solid block of work for sure. As has already been said, don’t beat yourself before you’ve got on the bike.
TR asks more of most of us than we realise we’re capable of. That’s where I find the value really comes to the surface. You nail those workouts, put that experience in your pocket and then you draw upon it when you’re out on the road. Next time your ride buddies are trying to lay the hurt on, you can say to yourself ‘I can do this for 15 minutes x3. Give me your best shot!’ 
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Stop living in the future and setting yourself up for failure. You are in dire need of some mindfulness training and being a better coach to yourself. Focus on the training that day in that specific interval and not intervals and workouts that have yet to come. Your future training doesn’t exist yet, it’s just a thought (anxiety) in your head. Take one small task at a time and give that 100% of your attention. Then, close that chapter and move on to the next task (interval).
What is “failing” a workout, if you didn’t do it as 100% prescribed? The workouts are guidelines and can’t take into account every variable specific to YOUR personal training. There is flexibility built into every workout that with small adjustments still give you very productive training if not all of the intended goals of the workout. Your FTP is a range, not a specific number and can fluctuate day to day. Allow yourself some breathing room to adjust workouts by lowering intensity a few percentage points, taking short backpedals and/or extending rest periods.
Where else in your life do you tell yourself that unless you complete said task 100% perfect it’s a failure? Is that the standard your wife, kids and boss hold you to? Take it easy and realize training is about consistency an no one interval, workout or week will determine your fitness. Just keep your training steady and adjust as needed per stress and fatigue.
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And another example of the TR plans being too hard… Love the team but the plans have too much intensity, period. A bunch of other threads on this already so I won’t reiterate.
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Thanks everyone… Appreciate the motivation and knowing others struggle at times and then in the end I guess HTFU. Appreciate all the feedback and different ways to look at what is going on.
I’d say more another example of FTP being set too high, making all the workouts too hard.
A bunch of other threads on this (and how much the ramp test sucks) already 
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I’d say both.
You need to keep in mind that for most, if not all, workouts the goal is not to hit a specific wattage but to get get the correct stimulus to a physiological system In general if you adjust 5% down you are still getting the intended benefits of the workout. For Dade +4 (I just did the exact same workout yesterday) it’s a VO2 workout. So the ultimate goal isn’t to hit a specific wattage (~300W in your case) but to get maximum aerobic uptake. So if you finish most intervals gasping for air and HR near max then you did exactly what you were supposed to do, even if you only average 290W for the interval.
That workout was not a failure if you only had to turn it down on the last interval. If you had crashed and burned on the second interval…then yeah maybe you failed it. But that would also be a learning opportunity to say “maybe I wasn’t fueled enough today. I’ll fix that next week”.
So from now on, instead of saying “I failed that” reframe it as “wow I pushed up against my limit and maybe I found it on that day”. So as long as you went nearly as hard as you could for each 2.5 min interval then you got the physiological impulse and given proper recovery today you will see the benefit down the road.
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Somewhere in the podcasts Chad mentions using intensity to deal with workouts that you are struggling with. Dropping the intensity down to 90% should still get you the main benefits of the workout if I recall correctly.
I understand we get hung up on I cant do this…but try. Do your first intervals at 100%. DId you make it? Struggling? Drop it 2%. Can you do it now. Work it to where you can succeed. This isnt about pass or fail. It is about doing more work then you were previously doing.
So if you do the workout at 5% less intensity would you of been able to the workout at your old FTP. If you say yes…then I think your stuck in the mind games of a rising FTP.
Dont overthink it. Positive thinking one interval at a time is how to approach it.
I look at the workout being hard…means I have an area to improve. So I do what I can. Overtime I will improve.