Definitely a beast. That race file looks impressive and then you see his weight…
The TR CX specialization plan is mostly anaerobic workouts that don’t necessarily improve FTP, but do improve ability do high short-term work. Once you get into racing season, if you race twice a week and do a skills session once a week, it is difficult to get in the longer aerobic workouts necessary to keep FTP up. That’s why you sometimes see Euro CX pros taking a week off during the season to go do long rides in Mallorca.
My strategy during CX season is to only race once a week and do a long ride at least once a week.
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5w/kg has been a huge goal/dream of mine for years. I started a structured plan after 4 years of aimlessly riding huge miles. First test was around 270 FTP around November 2018. I am currently the fittest I’ve ever been at at 315w FTP at 147lbs, 69cm (4.72w/kg).
My power is still going up, but getting to 335 FTP seems absolutely insane and impossible. I’m completing all my TR workouts on a High Volume plan and subbing in a 5hr outdoor ride on Sunday once a month, then racing at every opportunity and swapping out my workouts for races. I try not to get distracted by race results and train straight through them because I have sights on a bigger goal. This has really helped keep my training way more consistent and growing through the whole season. Even with this approach of no tapering I’ve managed to sneak out a couple wins. It does feel a bit weird to race an entire season with no A race…
In terms of power increase, I am going to keep on this path until it seems like FTP has plateaued.
I don’t know how much more body fat I can lose. I think I have my diet pretty dialed in but there’s definitely room for improvement, and I eat A LOT to be able to keep my training load consistent. My Withings+ scale tells me I’m around 12%. I am going to get my first DXA scan and RMR test on Monday and am interested/excited to see the results compared to my scale. I am really hoping I have more fat than my scale at home says so I can get started on losing it with confidence. Right now trying to hit that 10% marker on the scale is daunting and I refuse to compromise my workouts by screwing up my nutrition.
I would love any advice from anyone that can relate to any of this.
Best of luck to everyone out there with big goals like this! YOU DA REAL MVP
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Wow, a 66 kilogram toddler! Keep it up lil fella
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@mikestarr, ever tried motor pacing? Works for the Pros. I only did it for one season back in the 70’s, but it did wonders for my speed and aerobic capacity, which is basically what FTP is.
I’m not sure I agree with the Beaumont vs Froome comparison at 10hrs. Froome routinely races half that time day after day at a world class elite level. I would not be surprised in the slightest if he could sustain big time power for 10hrs. There is a reason Froome is at the top of pro racing.
Not to take anything away from Beaumont. But he is not exactly a ‘racer.’ If we do a 10 WEEK ftp comparison, then Beaumonts massive mileage durability and endurance comes into play much more IMO.
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Tried intermittent fasting? try eating your daily calories in a 6 hour window, eat nothing the other 18 hours, works a treat!
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yes. Tried it for about 9 months or so. Like every “new” approach with dieting one always feels so great and convinced in the beginning … just to figure out later that it isn’t so much better in the end.
I’ve probably tried out every fad which is out there in the last 10 years. Must admit, I’m simply interested in how these work. Worst experiment was 1 year full keto about 10 years ago. Thinking back makes me still feel sick about the food choices.
But this is just my experience …
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I would focus on pushing out your 300 watts to longer durations. IE: hold for an hour or longer. You can win races by having longer time to exhaustion vs higher FTP.
I personally sit around 300 watts at 150-155 lbs and I am working on holding closer to FTP for longer. I want the power curve to have less drop as the hours go on.
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YOU DA REAL MVP 
Have you seen a nutritionist? How did you dial in your diet? I always have been eating the same stuff, which I consider reasonably healthy but may not be helping with my training goals
that’s great advice, that’s my strength as well. I’ve done 290 for 60 minutes before but if I could muster 305 it would be a huge difference.
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I definitely recommend Matt Fitzgerald Endurance Diet, it helped me a ton.
Breakfast
Full cup of oatmeal with blueberries/banana/flax/maybe some seeds
Lots of black coffee
Lunch
Always always have a sweet potato with lunch. I consider the sweet potato the cornerstone of my life. It’s the evening workout fuel. Usually I do the Nate Pearson special of: 1 sweet potato around 350g, 1 full can of black beans, about 6-8oz of Pico De Gallo, handful of microwaved frozen broccoli and some tapatio in a bowl. It’s actually really good. Other times I’ll make a nice big salad with some sort of protein, then just munch a sweet potato on the side.
During/after my workout
This is NOT the time to think about your diet. I always have 1 bottle with water and 1 bottle with some kind of carb mix (Gatorade because its cheapish). I don’t ever try to do any fasted workouts or limit carbs in any way on the bike. If I feel like I might be depleted, I’ll do a gel before the ride. In my mind, completing the workouts with top quality is more important than anything else. Also always have a recovery drink, even after Petit. I use Endurox R4 (orange).
Dinner
Typically 1 full cup of brown rice (uncooked) and a TON of vegetables and 8oz of lean protein like chicken or fish.
My wife is also vegan and an amazing cook, so I eat whatever she makes which is typically very healthy (she just finished reading The China Study) but I also makes sure to get at least 100g of protein every day, and 400g of carbs so I am often adding chicken and additional rice to dinners that she cooks.
I also got rid of all oreos, reeses, candy, chocolates and sweets out of the house. I can’t be trusted around them. 2 weeks ago my friend left a plate of Ikea cinnamon rolls at my house and I ate all 6 of them at midnight like a savage.
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You are my eating doppelgänger.
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This looks very similar to the plan I’m about to be on to make the big push to get down to 10% on the Dexa
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My DEXA result was 10.6% on June 1 using this diet and a good amount of self control. You can do it for sure.
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After this race season is over I want to try to figure out how many grams of carbs per meal I need to do and still have great workouts.
I want it both ways; fuel my workouts and improve my Bf down to 10% dexa. I think 10-12 is super duper good for an amateur. I’d even be happy with 12% year round.
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I’ll probably try and keep a spreadsheet this time around. Might be a bit over the top, but I’m already doing the food log and the kj data is pretty easy to drop in along with a daily weigh in 
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I’m 18 watts off 5 w/kg but I think I can get within about 10 now; its just I haven’t done a real outside effort in awhile. No way I can hit that indoors.
Years ago I wasn’t even close; always around 3.5. Then I crashed, punctured my lung and lost upper body mass. I broke 4 last year and all this was from weight loss while slightly increasing my wattage. I’m somewhere about 12% and at 47 yo I can’t lose much more. Getting to that was hard; training is nothing compared to losing 2 lbs a week clean.
At 5’7" and 60kg, I’m a very situational rider. I have no sprint, and I crush on the hills. While I’m not slow on the flats I’m not going to keep up with the bigger guys. It worked well at Patterson Pass but in a crit its just 300 watts which may get me in a break, but most likely pack fodder.
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I AM WORRIED. I have only just started doing TR in May and had my FTP jump from around 225 to 262 and now 307. I am focused on the over/under type work outs that couch chad subscribes and this seems to be working for me. how long will this last?!?
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@mikestarr how did you work in your recovery? Did you just dial in a lower TSS every 4th week? what type of plan are you doing? I am currently working on a short power build plan to grow my FTP to around 400 ( I am bigger than you and need the extra ftp ;-)) I am doing a mid volume plan but with 2 rides a week subbed to out doors one group ride +2hrs and crit racing almost every Sunday. Looking to step the training up however my work hours and travel can get in the way! Currently only have Monday and Wednesdays to recover/improve.