I took a couple weeks off the bike for no good reason, accepted an FTP boost like a dummy, and jumped right into something I’d really consider threshold.
Despite rating it “Very hard”, it still bumped me up to the level of the workout after I finished.
10x 1 min VO2max
Plus one additional set, with a short break in the middle to check on some homemade bread
Did something like a FTP test today, I’ll call it a workout.
If I had it to do again, I would have extended it out a bit instead of pushing the power up at the end. Power dropped out a couple of times, not sure why.
Target was 225 and I reset my FTP to that number after this test.
Garmin says my vO2 max went up a point to 68 (whatever that means).
I had ‘Half Dome’ in my calendar tonight, a SS PL of 3.0, after doing a SS of PL3.0 on my commute yesterday by RPE the system wanted to raise it but I stuck with the original Half Dome workout.
Looks like my HR monitor dropped out in the 2nd interval and whilst I tried to up my cadence at times it still wasn’t great. Maybe when it cools down I’ll feel more comfortable for it to up itself naturally. Its supposed to drop near 10deg C at the weekend after all this 
Tonight in the pain corridor :-/
I had an 90mins Threshold wo in my calendar tonight but as per the last few weeks I used ‘Alternates’ to select a 60 mins one to let me clean up and wind down before bed. Alternates gave me Cloud Ripper -4
My cadence under load still isn’t great just now (it has been 
) but I think its moving in the right direction by leaving the resistance set to 25% and varying my gears and cadence around it. It felt relatively easier than last nights SS work out with todays temperature drop. It was only 1deg C cooler in the pain corridor but its been about 10deg C cooler out doors.
Last hard workout for the first block of HV polarised. Next week is rest week plus AI predicted FTP.
I’m not sure what to expect in terms of a bump in FTP as its only the fourth week of the block
next week but my heart rate is lower with power up. Plus I’m enjoying the commutes and the extra time on the road that brings rather than in the garage looking at a screen.
2x 20 min tempo
Brought to you by carbs and caffeine. RPE was through the roof during the first interval. Took a caffeinated gel and started really downing my carb mix. Ended up taking another gel when I extended the second interval to complete the Col du Tourmalet in Zwift.
Col Du Tourmalet im the first part and then additional 30min of sst. Total 100 min TiZ. Legs a little flat from the start but overall decent day.
Fun fact - after doing 100min at 245W ai estimated my FTP at 221W. Good call - it’s always better to underestimate than overestimate 
(yes I know it’s bases on PL not on power curve)
My highest eftp on intervals.icu ever as well ad my biggest bump in eftp
These intervals were hard, very very hard…maybe the hardest workout I ever did
The 2nd work out of my Recovery week was tonight (I did the 1st outdoors).
It is a bit like comparing apples with oranges as it was a recovery workout and the temperature out side has dropped nearly 10degC (the pain corridor 4deg C) but thanks to @mcneese.chad inspiration to swap the vacmaster to the rear things felt much better even without the small floor fans 
Sweet! I know I joked when a local rider said to use a fan at the rear, but my jokes quickly turned to amazement at how much cooling potential there is on our back. Huge surface area that is prime for direct airflow. It sort of becomes the “tailwind” since it improves cooling so much 
The last work out in my recovery week was originally a 90 mins one but I used the new plan durations feature (for want of a better name) to select 60min workouts on a Thursday by default but the plan kept on wanting to adapt back to 90min ones so I had to click ‘Skip Adapteations’ a few times. Somehow it defaulted back to a 90 mins workout tonight anyway so I used alternates. I chose Colosseum -4 as it was slightly more varied rather than long continuous intervals.
I took a couple weeks off the bike (and got back into strength training). I knew within 30s of the first set that 100% was too much. Dialing it down to 95% made it manageable.
My first Vo2 after rest week and a 2.5% bump after 4 weeks which I’m chuffed to bits with.
I’m clearly not taxing my heart rate despite being a stretch workout which means I’m considering going to a breakthrough rather than an AI predicted stretch workout for next week.
I’ve revisited my suggested threshold workout and moved that to stretch too which I’m sure will get my heart rate up
I love seeing people do this. Make your hard days hard
Redondo +3
Only four days after a mild increase of my FTP (fyi : 52 years old, ftp 248, +/- 3.7 w.kg). It’s “only” sweet spot, but with a IF of 0.97 and a progression level of 9.2, I was quite stoked to nail this one. During the first interval I didn’t think I was going to make it. But somehow kept hanging in there. And guess what : I really enjoyed the last couple of intervals.
Still gave it a “very hard” rating though. Rating it as “hard” felt a bit too cocky 
Got bored with Tempo, SS so went for an anaerobic workout. Was pretty straightforward, probably best to do these with Erg off but managed to get it done with it on.
Finally back on the turbo (am I really saying this???)
AT wanted me to do Peters - TrainerRoad but my turbo trainer does not allow me to do short super high power burst. So I changed WO and this one looked fun.
