So I did some racing recently at Chicago grit and I hit my lap counter when I was getting dropped from the race and it turns out that I was averaging about 250 to 260 watts. My FTP is currently 230 and it’s increasing very slowly. I need to make more power every time when I go to train the AI system always wants to reduce my FTP or when I complete workouts throughout the 28 days it only my FTP only increases by like 2%. I feel like I would do better in races if I had the power to hang in there for the duration time and durability.
Higher ftp definitely makes racing easier.
What is your current training volume?
6-8 hours with completing the workouts given by TrainerRoad.
are those given workouts part of a training plan, or are you using TrainNow workouts? If it’s the later, do you manually add recovery weeks?
And what’s your W/kg at your current FTP?
If the AI keeps decreasing your FTP despite the good volume, there must be something wrong with the overall workouts. Making your calendar public or posting screenshots of your last month might help to understand that
If this keeps up that’s like +50W by this time next year. Aerobic gains don’t come overnight.
Be patient and consistent, and you’ll keep improving. If you try doing a huge volume/intensity block you’ll likely end up burned out or overtrained or injured. ‘You eat an elephant one step at a time’ or something like that.
You could do 300+ watts average and get dropped in CAT5 if you’re always out in the wind.
I understand
Im just not understanding how to get strong with TrainerRoad if it always wants to lower my FTP
How good is your cornering, positioning, decision making, and ability maneuver through a pack? Most people can make a lot of progress here without any fitness improvement.
I did well with holding my position by not going past 10 bikes and cornering approved with every race because it’s a series race. IQ is also pretty good but is improving with every race as well. It’s like after 20 minutes of responding to attacks from the race, my quads just start burning and it feels like I’m always racing on the edge.
Can you increase volume?
What workouts are you doing over the last few weeks/months?
I was on a training plan for 12 weeks to prepare myself for Chicago grit and it increase my fitness but for me to stay in those particular races I need more power probably another 20-30 W to my FTP would’ve been great. The next thing I am gonna try to do is increase my volume and also get some gym time in.
2% per month ends up going from 230W to 286W in a single season.
Obviously have no idea how to translates into w/kg for you or how far along you are in terms of training experience but that is a mighty increase for one season.
This is a misunderstanding - it doesn’t want to lower your FTP. It believes your FTP is lower than you think it is. I can’t say who’s right!
While power is obviously important for racing, it’s definitely not the most important part, especially in Cat 4/5 races. Learning positioning will immediately give you a boost in your performance. I’d recommend watching a bunch of NorCal Cycling videos. Especially his race highlights and commentary videos. One can win Cat 4/5 races with an average power under 200 if raced strategically. I just double-checked the numbers, and a while back I won the Colorado Cat 4 State Championship with a normalized power of 219, average power of 211, and max power of 866. Those numbers averaged me 24.9 mph. The race felt easier than a lot of TR threshold training sessions.
All of that said, be patient with your training. Tiny incremental and consistent improvements turn into huge improvements over years. Trust the process. If you do, come back to this thread 5 years from now and update us on your FTP. I bet you’ll be 20% improved.
OK, I will trust the process to continue the training. It just sucks on how I want to lock my FTP down after I work so hard to get it up but your point I could do better with positioning and handling my bike. I tried to say towards the top 10 bikes for the majority of the race however, after the surges attack, I just can’t hold the wheel any longer. It feels like my legs are about to explode. Racing at Chicago grit told me a lot about bike handling and I will say. As the days progressed, I can tell that I was improving a lot.