I tend not to bail on a session which is to my detriment. I always have that ability to go on indefinitely but at a 1/3 of the power. To get the optimum results I need to learn to perform to the maximum and if I can’t bail so I can do that another day. I’ve been out with my ex coach a few times where he has pushed to that the limit (totally destroyed not even able to go 1/3 power) or where he has bailed. He’s an ex UK pro so it’s worked for him 
Spoiler-ed for the folks who would rather not know the exact timestamp: 19:30 is the break-even point, assuming you’re hitting the targets. Time spent past that is all gain.
Trying to quantify which kinds of mental states are acceptable excuses for bailing early and which are not seems like a waste of time. None of us are in OP’s head. Your advice is HTFU; own it 
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You didn’t read my post, apparently. I have very simple criteria I use for determining whether to HTFU or bail, which I explained in the original post.
I think knowing that is going to help, flying blind gets so monotonous, now I can break it down mentally into stages. Thanks!
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I bailed on my last one and it’s the second time that I have done it.
I usually work out in the mornings around 5:00 am, but I learned a while back that I can’t do ramp tests that early. But on my last one it was simply the only time I had so I gave it a try and quit real early.
Close, but it’s at 19:30, assuming you are on the power targets.
For those that want a carrot. They can turn on the “Live FTP” in the Stats section of the Win/Mac apps (coming to mobile eventually).
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But imagine how happy they would have been if they got to 20mins Chad 
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@Charlie_1980, first of all, I don’t think you’re being too harsh on yourself.
Second of all, all is not lost if you have heart rate data on your ramp tests. Go back through your ramp test history in TR Analytics & note what your HR was during the ~1 minute period of the ramp test that most closely matched the power of that ramp test’s results. It’ll probably be at about the 14.5 to 15 minute mark.
Go to today’s ramp test & find the minute where you approached that same HR. Your test result would have been at or around whatever the ramp power was at that time. That will get you w/in a few Watts of what the test result would have been.
so I quit a ramp test at 17min today. I had no good reason to except it was getting to sufferland and I didn’t want to lol
I built up some pretty lofty expectations of a 10w increase, mainly because I had been crushing SSB2 HV and I just had a phenomenal recovery week where my legs felt good everyday (even after a 100 mile ride) and my HR was low relative to power. My HR was just hitting 170, and in the ramp test it goes to the mid 180’s when I’m really blowing up. Interestingly, in reference to @Brennus comment above, my HR on each step from min 13 (my currently set FTP) forward tracked 5bpm lower relative to my prior ramp test on the same wattages. I also see a 3-5bpm just in HR in steps, not sure if one can extrapolate from that as well. So it could be if I had stuck with it, I’d see a 5w increase or something.
All said, not sure how big of a jump I want to do for short power build, SSB plays to my strengths, short power exposes me as the fraud I am lol
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My last ramp test was 18 months ago or more. I gave up on testing all together and currently have the highest ftp I’ve ever had.
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I quit at 17:45 yesterday, and definitely had gas in the tank. Lots of good reasons, and my FTP may be the same as I’ve been at for a couple of months now (all-time high). I’ve trained there without too much problem through the first half of Sustained Build, but yesterday was all off. Even my Sweet Spot workout after felt pretty bad. Could be a lot of things:
- Didn’t sleep great
- Hot garage
- New bike with a new fit
- Cumulative fatigue from nine straight months of consistent training
In the end, a lot of factors contribute to stuff like this if you’re normally mentally strong. Sometimes it’s good to listen to your body.
My motivation isn’t super strong right now, even with a new bike to ride. My legs were tired and a bit sore all last week during recovery. I did a lot of work during my Saturday group ride. All told, I’m backing off for another week. I’ll ride when and how I feel like it, get more used to my new bike, and restart the second half of Sustained build next week.
Powering through/HTFU isn’t always the answer. Knowing when it isn’t is one of the toughest calls we have to make as athletes and coaches.
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I’ve never bailed on a ramp test that I started, but I have bailed on some that I was scheduled to do but decided I just wasn’t in the right mental state to tackle so I never even started it.
I wouldn’t worry about it too much. You’ll get to the point where you’ve completed so many ramp tests that the few you don’t perform as well on will just fade into the background.
My one ramp test I fell into the ERG spiral of death around there (17:45). I didn’t feel jaded at all I think I just lost concentration and 128w to 358w wasn’t happening at 30rpm. I could have went on all day at the 200w I settled to with ERG mode switched off
I opted to set my FTP lower than my last 20min test on the 30 April (281w) but higher than the TR suggested 152w. 272 based on the highest virtual TT I had done in the last 6weeks
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He does say about
Not if you increase your FTP a few watts before the test.
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- Sure, and as an OCD person, I figured giving the “exact” time could be more useful to those who didn’t already know, and might want to have the more accurate info.
- Well, the 19:30 = FTP is based on the FTP setting in TR at the start of the test, period.
- People altering the FTP before the test for any purpose still means the 19:30 is the “break even” point at the set FTP, which can be any difference (up, down or equal) from the person’s “real/current” FTP.
Very true. Nice to only have to get to 19 minutes or less to equal your current FTP, just a mental game.
^This is all tongue in cheek, but people do it.
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So I did another ramp test today on the other platform lol (it may be all semantics but I do kind of like the equal step increases). Made it to 20mins, which is the breakeven point there for my currently set 285w. Again, I bailed right at the point where things were going to get unbearably hard, so I might have made it 10-15 more sec at 400w. I can always say I didn’t max out because I’ve done another ramp test on the same day lol
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my last ramp test was November 18 of 2019, so does that mean I quit 8 months ago? 
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March 26 2019 for me. Just a bunch of quitters.
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go long!