A couple of weeks ago I did my first VO2 Max workout in a minute. It was 7.8 with 3 x 3 efforts at 2:30 minutes each. It was hard. I finished it though, but rated it very hard (as it was). The AI lost so much respect for me because of this one ride. It dropped my predicted FTP drastically after that and since then hasn’t really challenged me at all. The next week had a VO2 Max 5.7 which I did and rated moderate. Next week, I have a VO2 Max 5.6. All of my other rides have been pretty scaled back too. I just want it to respect me again. Its also odd that my TSS per week has gone from 475 to 522 to next week 500 as usually it builds over the 3 weeks of a training block. I don’t really know what my question is, but I guess how can I make the AI trust me again?
Good to have humour about it - sharing your last four weeks calendar screenshots would help people see the cause.
It may simply be that you need less stimulation than you think, and/or that TSS is no longer a great metric to improve by.
I’m not sure the concern - the first weeks you’re doing high level workouts, rating them and your FTP goes up 5% all ok.
The next threshold is only moderate and vo2 - previously hard and very hard - Id suspect you’re trying to game it into giving you harder workouts in the last five days.
When ftp changes, the workout power targets don’t change. You may have been expecting everything to get 5% harder? Reality is that the workouts would be much the same if you rejected the 5% increase. Have a look at the target power on Saturdays workout, last week and the 24th. Should be a gradual progression.
Ps recovery week is still relevant.
Pps finding any level vo2 very hard is not a bad thing
Recovery weeks are meant for hammering anaerobic efforts with the boys, obv. Maybe some rock climbing and a 10k or three. I have no idea why I’m tired going back into build phase but I’m sure AI is to blame.
Thanks. You are right. I guess I was just confused why my VO2 Max workout went from 2:30 minutes at 211 to 2 minutes at 209 to 2 minutes at 207. Its getting slightly easier every week which seems slightly counterintuitive.
I would guess that you aren’t performing so great in those vo2 sessions.
I would try riding shorter/easier on Sunday and Tuesday - I think fatigue management is advising that too, now that I look.
So, let’s talk about not performing great. On what metric(s) is that being judged? I’ve done all the rides and didn’t miss any of the targets. Is that like cadence varies too much? HR gets too high?
I don’t know. But for example, my power might average the right numbers but gets more erratic at the end of a harder session. It will have analysed millions of rides and seen the performance trend if the next sessions are more or less erratic at the end. That’s just an idea I’ve made up.
I wouldn’t worry about it…Do the workouts, post an honest feedback, and your fitness should improve. You should notice the workouts start to fall in the Goldilocks zone. Maybe correct any erroneous rpe as well.
Hey @otictac1 
You were still like 3 weeks away from your predicted AI FTP Prediction when you completed that VO2 Max workout. When you are farther away from the prediction, workouts can drastically change the prediction, and this is normal… as you get closer to the prediction, this number should be more stable. Just like the weather forecast, so I wouldn’t say AI FTP Prediction lost respect, haha. It’s just predicting your fitness on a future day, so I wouldn’t get too stuck on it. Plus, you’re still seeing gains (+4.9%)!
You can also always play around with your Training Approach. I see you have it set to Demanding; try seeing if changing it to Balanced changes the prediction. Sometimes that extra bit of recovery makes the difference. But other than that, I think you’re on good grounds!