Although I get wildly varying predictions from BestBikeSplit, I do use it to generate three basic targets; flat, minor inclines and proper climbs. That usually recommends a 0.9 IF maximum which I think is good for me. Threshold is not going to add significant uphill speed but will definitely wear me down.
On race day, there are always the spikes though; that sudden short steep bit you weren’t expecting, that rider who puts the power down just as you enter the draft zone. So there will always be some vo2 max/anaerobic minutes in the file.
You make a good point about having time to pass though, with Race Brain - Activated it’s easy to panic about getting through when you have much more time than you feel. Also clouds our judgement on others drafting, it’s easy to see a melee of people passing as a problem but most of the time they clear each others zones well within time particularly at the beginning of a bike leg.
In the southwest, I like to eat as much chili verde as possible (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Any form will do, but as a topping on a “wet” burrito is probably my favorite. 2nd would be a chili verde burger w/ an fried egg on it. It’s known more as a New Mexico thing, but it’s wildly available in most of the southwestern US.
If you’re spending extra time in UT, rent a car and go hike in some of the national parks. The parks in Utah are some of the best in the US (Zion, Arches, Canyonlands, Bryce Canyon).
My other international travel tips relate to money. Make sure your credit card doesn’t have an international currency exchange fee and if you want cash, ATMs will usually give you a much better rate than currency exchanges in the airport (even after any ATM fees charged by the banks, but better if your bank doesn’t charge ATM fees).
Make that n=2. I’ve maintained for a while that the “more rampFTP = more race performance” can lead to skewed expectations. I could easily push my ramp-tested FTP well beyond 4 w/kg with a few more vo2 workouts per block, but it would barely improve my TT performance, if any at all. It might work for some, I don’t know, but my performance came much closer to my expectation when I stopped chasing TR-FTP gains and focused more on steady state power in my aero position.
I suspect, like so many things it depends. I don’t think its worth discussing FTP testing, but I do think it’s worth looking at the training plans around it. If you’re on a TR FD plan you will know from your long rides for sure whether you can hold the power for the period and run off the bike afterwards. I suspect that if you’ve done a lot of long course racing a training that a significant increase in FTP doesn’t need as much adaptation to the endurance time scales as it will for someone new to power based training/racing.
If you’re not on a TR plan, then you just need to cover those bases in your own way. I’ve always felt that Longfellow and a 10k run a few weeks before an IM tells me where I’m at for sure.
There’s individual variations on the extent an increase of our pwr at 20min
lifts the power duration curve at 6h mark.
How many newbies hear do SS or HIIT, increase your FTP and then race 180km at 0.7 IF?
I believe the questioner used FTP
(who knows from what? garmin watch / ramp / 20min / aiFTP)
multiplied it by 0.7 IF and then got disappointed at their performance.
Hopefully this person reads this thread because they should be proud of their performance and not dissapointed by unrealistic optimism.
I live in the US and i haven’t used cash in months so if you have a CC (without insane fees) you’re good. Unlike China, cash still works everywhere here so matthewgreer’s ATM tip is very good.
Those national parks are incredible. Pictures don’t come close.
If you’re coming through Phoenix instead of LV, then the Grand Canyon and Antelope canyon are worth it too.
If you look what happened before the race, aiFTP had been too generous throughout the summer as i was in low PL territory. Mid Aug, I needed a value to pace the race. I had just failed a wo at 264W and it still bumped me up to 269W
I did a ramp test and its 235W was consistent with my power in long rides. So I used that for the race.
On Sep 8, aiFTP gave me a 244. TR support had indicated Marion ( threshold PL 4.2 3x12min @ 98%.) is a good way to gauge if FTP is set right. I failed it.
so I went back to 235W and worked on increasing SS & Thresh PL into upper 5 & 6.
Lessons learned here, I only touch aiFTP once I can do a 2x20@100%
AI has been fine in training, but post race?Nothing yet.
One recovery week last week and I’m starting SSB LV this week and don’t think a RAMP is a good idea yet. Wondered the results people see after IM and don’t really expect it to take into account the race damage done but we will see…
I had a ramp test on my calendar tomorrow. I’m starting SS Base after doing an IM on 10/8.
First week after the race, I did absolutely nothing. No biking, running or swimming at all. Last week, I rode 5 times. Lazy Mountain 3x, Whorl and Seneca Rocks -1 (3x15’ @ 80%), so all pretty easy. Previous plans were 140.6 HV Build and 140.6 HV Specialty.
aiFTP just gave me 276w (down from 287w). It seems reasonable given the time off and if there’s going to be a TrainerRoad plan that is the least correlated with increases in ramp test results, it’s going to be 140.6 HV.
I’ve had two experiences w/ aiFTP previously:
The first time, I was like everyone else and wanted to test it vs a ramp test. Got the number (281w), declined it and did a ramp test to compare. Ramp test came in a 283w, so in the noise as far as I’m concerned.
The 2nd time after build and at the start of specialty, I just let aiFTP do it’s thing an it gave me a small bump up to 287w.
Part of the disconnect may be using AIFTP too often and you may need to feed the model with more actual ramp test data. It appears that after doing a single ramp test, it’s already made a massive correction to 244w instead of 269w.
I would suggest 6 weeks between FTP updates at a minimum instead of the 2-4 that you’ve been doing over the summer. I’m sure the 2-4 week FTP updates wreck havoc on your progression levels too.
aiFTP goal and attractiveness is to avoid ramp tests so it shouldn’t need them as inputs! I don’t understand how it kept giving me 260+. Maybe it got stuck, low PL–> high aiFTP–> low PL.
I was checking aiFTP and applying its value relatively often i.e. every 4 wks (end of June, end of July,…) It did nerf my PL keeping me in low PL for SS and threshold
My lessons learned are
avoid a fixed count of weeks (not 2 or 4 or 6) since the right time to adjust depends more on what I can do than time elapsed. 6wk may be ok if in steady state but too far if I started after 3months break.
use qualitative criteria based on completed workouts:
If I can complete 3x12 @ 98% , then it’s set right.
If I can complete a 2x20min @100% then i can consider pacing off of that value and bumping FTP up (if goal is to increase FTP or otherwise keep it there if goal is to extend time at threshold).
What you see in middle of August was my attempts to find the right target watts for IM pacing so i looked at my long rides’ results, a ramp test and a fresh aiFTP that went even higher !?!? To be fair, aiFTP never claimed to be useful for pacing.
If you’re in the northern hemisphere is and not doing IMFL, you’re early in the offseason and having it set too low is likely the better long and short term solution than too high. I’d set it at 235w, do a sustained block of training (maybe one of the base plans?) of at least 6-8 weeks before touching aiFTP again. Be honest in your end of ride survey’s and let AT take control go from there.
I agree being set too high is worse than too low. I’ve been increasing the PL and started SSB toward MTB XC Marathon. I applied the criteria that TR Support gave me (Marion). Now that my PL are between 4 and 7, i think aiFTP and AT are working much better for me.
Example: Saturday I did RoanHigh a SS 6.7 at 253 ftp and it felt like what a SS is supposed to feel.
Yo yo, @JoeX are you still maintaining the roll call? Can you add me back in? I’m getting keen again!
Separate question for folks training in a home pool/non lap pool:
How do you tether yourself and what sort of sessions do you do? We are moving to our new pad that has a nice sized pool, but not able to do laps as it is only about 8-10m long max. Unfortunately I don’t have a spare 16k+ for a jet system (I’d upgrade to disc brakes on both bikes before that), so I’m relegated to a tether.
I’ll only be able to get to a proper lap pool once a week, but if I can tether and get a couple other sessions in a week at home I’ll be fully sorted for tri training again.
