I’m generally most interested in longer duration PRs, so I will sometimes look at what it would take to get a new 45-120 minute PR, and if I’m feeling good for a workout that has a chance of coming close I’ll do things like bump up the power during the rest intervals, or add an extra interval at the end.
Since I don’t race, I’ve come to realize that PRs (especially longer duration ones) are subject to a fair bit of manipulation. I’ve recently smashed some power PRs, but I think only a small part of that is fitness, and it is mostly tailoring a workout structure to target those lengths of PRs. This has been a nice ego boost, but since they were not achieved ‘organically’ I don’t think they are as meaningful - they won’t be touched again unless I massively increase my fitness, or target a certain duration PR specifically.
I have started using the Empirical cycling’s FTP test (Kolie Moore's FTP test protocol), which has resulted in more meaningful PRs that are near threshold.
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