I’ve done a few seasons and have a bit of an idea how my ftp increases - with this I nudge my ftp up manually every week. 2 watts per week @ 260 ftp equates to about 0.7% per week which would be about 103% after 4 weeks. Just an idea.
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Def agree on this.
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Thanks guys for the feedback.
I really believe that breath and heart rate are the ultimate validation for whether any workout difficulty is set right - better than ftp or the result of a test since they’ll adapt to my current rest and diet, and lets leave pain out of it since its so subjective.
bbarrera: 145/175 == 0.82. My max is ~195 * 0.82 == 160. From a couple years of experimenting 162 is what I believe is my lthr, so over-unders out to take me to 165 or so, assuming I’m able to stay cool and hydrated.
I think I’m going to drop my ftp by 8% to start, see if that gets my heart and breath down where it belongs. I can raise it up if the workouts don’t feel juicy enough.
Sweet spot sessions should not be too hard to finish without adjusting the intensity.
Could there be a chance of some physical reason for your tiredness, possibly overtraining or something like that? For me personally, there was a time I had a hard time getting basically any session done well, and when I went to see a doctor, we found out that my blood ferritin level had dropped for some reason (possibly overtraining), and that caused the tiredness for me.
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Funny as I’ve just started the SSB1 plan this week and just did my first sweetspot workout after off-season break. I don’t think ramp test works for me, it put me at 272W and the first interval of Mount Field felt easy. Very easy, to the point of wondering if my power meter was calibrated correctly. I adjusted by 3% on the second interval and additional 2% on the 3rd - only then I could feel I was more or less where I expected with RPE/heartrate/power.
https://www.trainerroad.com/career/konradkowara/rides/42606754-mount-field
But the real test is going to be an OU session - in my opinion these are really the best workouts to validate the FTP test results. Or a more painful way, something like 4x10 minutes at threshold.
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I would argue that Polar Bear is not sweetspot. Although the SS could stand for steady state
Sweetspot is defined as 85-94% of FTP although I tend to use a narrower band of 88-92%
Polar Bear is a max of 85% and is classified as tempo in the workout library
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I did a 23:00 * 2 with 3 minute break last night at 90%. Felt really good afterwards. Glad it was over but not absolutely busted and if forced could have done another - although my mind might have struggled a bit to keep focussed
I find the SS intervals the most satisfying of all the sessions I do. You know you have done a good work, you have gained TSS points and you are glad the session is over but your are not wiped out either.
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I felt this way about Mount Field and lots of others… I stuck with the plan and the OU’s showed me what I needed to know 
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I really don’t think so. Had a hard race a week prior but feel good. Just I am pretty sure I’m working harder and with more intensity than I should be. Main clue for me is breath and hr are too high. I really think the tests need to be used as guides or starting points. A few years ago I was doing a lot of sufferfest. For me the true validation of ftp was to barely be able to complete revolver.
I haven’t done sweetspot before so maybe its this sort of work that is hard for me.
I’d agree.
Upper end of Aerobic Endurance. As also detailed in the Goals.
Tempo rides are the height of aerobic endurance and while rather uncomfortable, they aren’t too stressful to keep you from spending pretty long durations at a productive work level that isn’t too demanding in terms of recovery.
During first 7/10 days after Build Plan, have been able to increase intensity by 2% and follow SS2 without trouble. Had to go back at 100% then to be able to finish my workouts. HR is now a bit higher but still manageable. So I would recommend to keep the FTP given by the test, even if it looks just a bit too easy according HR during first days, especially just after a build plan when we are used to accomplish high intensity workouts.
So Trainer Road places me in the Tallac Sweet Spot intervals with a goal 230. Today it was tough to get 225. 230 in Training Peaks is my high tempo (not sweet spot). According to TP, I don’t get to zone 4 sweetspot until reaching 231 thru 269. So I felt like I was in sweetspot for these “that sensation you get before your legs start to lactate uild” I do notice that Trainer Road’s calculations are different then how Training peaks calculates their zone 4 sweet spot ranges. Also huge differences are noticed on the road with same bike and same power meter. Much easier to pull 240 vs on the trainer. Their are so many variables.
TrainingPeaks doesn’t have a single zone model. There are a bunch of zone models on TP. I just manually override one of the 7 zone TP models to match TrainerRoad.
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