FTP crash block was a mix of 30/15s (30 seconds on 15s off x11 -13 as one set, do 3 sets) and 4x8min (variations on this being shorter blocks, but an extra), twice a week, one long 3h ride with 5, 10 then 15 sec max efforts in it, and 1 or 2 1.5hr steady rides too. It was also a 2 weeks on 1 rest week cycle, as opposed to a traditional 4 week block to minimise the risk of over training and made it a nice 9 week quick fix. Pretty much what Trainer road are offering with their Polarised plans to be honest, just a 3 week cycle.
The LT2 @ 360W I mentioned was in 2005 or 6 (I can’t quite remember) and was lab based. I was training on HR at the time so those numbers were not so meaningful, what was important was LT2 occurred at 186bpm. Now I have a CP (effectively FTP) of ~300, but been in a covid holding pattern with training since May waiting for racing to start. it started this week. The big thing is weight, down 16kg from a 2019 peak, and 8kg down in the past 12 months. Another 4 to go to get to a good weight for racing that I think I can sustain while enjoying life at the same time.
Can I get back to ~360W? Honestly, I probably can’t in the next few years, family, job, life, delicious food get in the way. Like I said earlier, getting to 4+ w/kg would be nice, but I see that as a winter project. In June I was flying in training - and it felt amazing - but took a week off as I didn’t want to peak before racing. That gave me some hope that I can add those extra watts later on the base I have now. My first coach always said it’s the second winter the real gains are made - I’m holding onto that right now.
What I have noticed in this comeback is that my initial progression was very fast, some of that is just knowing what to do, what sessions are supposed to feel like, how to get in shape, I’m also a bit more disciplined about my sessions and training methods have improved. On the flip side, recovery is slower and plateaus in power harder to break through. Though I think you could hack that a bit with training novelty, once you get to a stagnation level - do some different training.
A personal comment on threshold work vs. polarised training: I find the threshold stuff (including sweet spot) to be physically fatiguing. The polarised training I was feeling a lot less physically fatigued to the point I was questioning if I could do more, but was always mentally fatigued by the end of a block.