Hey all,
BACKGROUND
I’ve only started recently taking training more seriously and upping both my volume and my intensity in my workouts every week. I would say I started really putting in work this February when I tested my FTP to be at around 200W (62kg) and now as of this post my most recent FTP has been 232W (61kg). I am a Junior athlete who races both XC and Road and I’ve incorporated TrainerRoad’s structured program into my week only two months ago.
QUESTION ON CTL, ATL, TSB & TSS
I’ve been trying to gain fitness every week and honestly I’ve been able to see some improvements just by keeping consistency in my training. The only really thing I’ve been using to try and stay in a zone of gaining fitness has been using the intervals.icu application fitness tracker. It shows my Fitness, Fatigue, and Form and allows me to see where I should be to gain fitness using the Form graph. I feel like it’s working for me but I’m not sure if maybe I’m overtraining even if the graph according to the Form graph isn’t in the “High Risk” (overtrained) zone. Is there a better way to track if your making good progress during the week and knowing when to really take a day off or just rest in general? Sometimes I will go off feel and somedays I just feel really sore after my last ride yet the fitness metrics say that I am barely in the “Optimal” (Gaining Fitness) zone so I try and push myself to get out on a ride.
JUNIOR RACING QUESTION
I’ve quickly jumped into racing as a competitive person and find myself surrounded around super strong fellow Juniors with monster power and crazy technical ability. The only times where I feel motivated to train more and put in the hours to get better is when I am able to validate that my training is doing SOMETHING to make me faster like on a group ride or practice race. Overall I think my competitive nature is getting in the way of me trying to JUST have fun and I’m not sure how to go about it. Do you have any tips on staying fit but at the same time just laying off the stress of trying to find success in the sport?
I appreciate any insights you can contribute.