Cycling program v4.0 2011-2012 (Page 10)

My guess is you could've started off harder, looks like you had plenty of gas in the tank at the end.  The first time I did the test I had a similar graph.  Don't beat yourself up, though, as your first test is always unknown territory.  You now have some data (and experience) to pace yourself the next time (note the pacing values I put in my spreadhsheet ...).

Finished the 20min test this morning (after a sleepless night, no less).  Wow, I always forget how brutal those things are.  Wanted to stop after 5 min., so had to dig deep ... Deep ... DEEP!

I think it was Jorge who said last year that a lot of it is learning how to suffer .  He wasn't kidding.

Week 3 Day1 - SOB.  complete.  I need to work on my cursing.  Last night, I started out cursing at a decent tempo, and had some really nasty bombers at the end.  Does this mean I could have started off cursing harder.

thanks Jorge I'm feeling the love this morning.

Part of the learning process with this or any training program is to learn to do maximal efforts (tests) and pace by 'feel' (RPE). Doing something like the 20 min test can be difficult during the first attempts because it is easy to overestimate our effort and end up pushing too hard early on only to drop down toward the end. On the other hand, it is also usual to underestimate your fitness and thus do the test too conservatively. 

As we test again in future weeks, this will hopefully be one of the gains from the program; not until to increase your critical power, but also to get in tune with your body and learn how to pace by feel. As for a test graph, ideally you want it to be relatively flat for the entire test or perhaps start a bit low and finish a bit high but on the aggregate all pretty even paced. 

For this less experienced testing I suggest: start 'a bit' easier of what you think you can do for 5 min, then settle into what you think you can sustain and finish a bit higher (if you can) for the last 5 min. It is better to under pace than over pace and fail to complete the test.

maybe but for a 1st test looks pretty even. It will be good for the coming weeks for sure and *if* you feel some of the workouts are too easy, then bump your CP 2-3 watts and go from there

Ready for change of pace.  I did the v3.0 plan last year and saw some great gains.  All since I finished the plan, I had been doing 2x20, 5x5, and 1x20s repeatedly.  Time for something new.

I have a power meter the entire time this round.  Looking forward to it.

Doing a run focus this winter so I'll only be doing workouts 1 and 3.

Hi,

I'm actually in my Spring/early Summer season but my first tri of the season (Noosa a couple of weeks ago) showed that my cycling still sucks!! I only started cycling 12 months ago but I was hoping my progress would have been a bit better than it's been so far!

Anyway, I'll be starting on Monday aiming to concentrate on improving my cycling speed leading up to a couple of Oly's later in the season - first one is Mooloolaba on 25 March.

Cheers,

David

Both tests complete.  20 min test: 292 watts  5 min test: 348 watts  Lots of fun.

Jorge I am not sure if I have missed it in the thread but why the change to 5 min for the second test?  When I enter the 3min avg in golden cheetah I come out with a different CP, than with the 5min avg.  It is only 6 watts difference so not a huge amount  but it makes me curious as to why the change?  Thanks.  

Ouch!  That test hurt and now a bit demoralizing as my numbers don't look as good as what everyone else is saying.  But it does give me a target and I will improve so no complaining here.  Power slowly crept up during the test and I had planned on gunning it at the end but had nothing left to push harder.  I could have kept going another minute or so but I was almost completely cooked.

Don't worry you not the only one with low power numbers...of couse not sure which is right for me.   ibike says 177, trainer road says 245,

I can only dream about hitting those numbers... nice effort! Week 2 Day 2 in the books... 

20?  I wish.  The HR test is 30.  Can't wait until the power meter gets here so I can consolidate my pain into a smaller time frame

Week 3 day 2 done!

After the 30min HR test, today almost felt a little relaxed.....almost

Ahhh this could be a whole seperate thread!!!  Which is harder--20' power test or 30' HR test??  Yes the pain is consolidated but HR kinda hits that point where it's just pegged and you are "holding" it there---with power if you are looking at 1s recording you see any little blimp or drop of power--both are evil!!! 

20 minutes of pure hell complete.  Blanket party on Jorge anyone?  I thought I went out too hard but was able to hold on the entire 20 minutes with a very slight drop off the last 2 minutes.

I have a question about this number though.  I've heard FT used for a 60 minute effort.  There is no way I could have held this effort level for 40 more minutes.  What do we call this number, and is it the base for the intervals from here on out?

I'm sure someone will explain it better, but the average power for that 20 minute effort is multiplied by .97 I believe.  The result is your FTP or CP.  

It's just your 20 minute power.  This value is not used for workouts unless an interval specifies to use 20 minute power.

This 20 minute power can be used to ESTIMATE the watts you could hold for 60 minutes.  Some people take 95% of 20 minute power as an estimate for what you could hold for an hour - your estimated FTP.

Or, you can perform another shorter duration power test ( e.g. 5 minutes ).  A curve can be created using the 5 minute and 20 minute power to estimate Critical Power.

20 minute test complete.  The last 5 minutes were pure torture and my wife heard the bizarre noises, groans, huffing, and puffing and came over to make sure I was ok. 

I'm not shy, so I'll post my number so everybody else can feel better about theirs.  I averaged 178 watts with a very flat graph as I set out to hold 180.  I'm hoping if I stick to the plan and work real hard I can get that into the 200's by spring.

A lot of trepidation from me going into the first 20min test last night as I haven't ridden much for the past couple of months, and had a decent number at the end of the plan from last winter.  Anyway, first couple of minutes I was holding 255 watts, and was thinking that if that kept up I'd be pretty happy at the end, but over the course of the next 15min I kept slowly losing a watt at a time, until the last couple of minutes where I made up 1-2 watts.

Anyway 247 watts, down from 260 in April (it's been a while since I tested), so I'm not displeased and hopefully I'll get back to 260 by the next test.  5min of torture is next, and I'll be interested to see how I cope with that since prior "short" tests have all been 3min.

I plan on doing the cycling program this winter but haven't really been biking seriously for about 2 months. By Sunday I'll have done my second marathon in 3 weeks, and I want to both recover and transition back into cycling before I do the 20 min test. I've never done a test before, just got my powermeter and doing some cross-training on the bike while I get used to it.

I am going to drop the running down to maintenance levels and focus on the bike after Sunday's marathon. Bike is already on the trainer. Any suggestions for building back mileage and how long before doing the 20 minute test?

You can start with Jorge's plan as soon as you're done recovering.  The first two weeks of the plan will help get your cycling legs back.  Testing is in week 3. 

Neil - Thanks for posting that. Because now I'm not feeling so guilty about my 20MP performance.  You see my results were down 15 points from the last test I did winter v3.  Eyes forward, my goal is to get back those lost watts and build few more.

Thanks! PT says 192 for avg and 245 for FTP but I am assuming we are using avg power.    Either way now I have something to work from.