Increasing power threshold over the winter (Page 6)

So I totally screwed up on my first ever 20min TT on my new Computrainer.  I'm not sure if I've to retest, please say no....  The test hurts a lot more than I had imagined!

20min TT - Avg Watts = 134. Weight = 113. FTP = 95% x 134 = 127. Power to weight = 2.5. Avg cadence = 88. Avg HR = 153.

Problem is that I went out way too fast. Overall avg is 134W but it's really all over the place. Power first 5min = 146W, next 5min = 132W, next 5min = 124W and last 5min = 134W. Question is what would be the avg power if I had kept a relatively even pace for the whole 20min?  Can I take the avg of first and last 5min, like 140, resulting in FTP 133 and power to weight ratio of 2.6?  I'd love to get to 3.0 in 16 wks, i.e. FTP of 154.

 Patricia,

One the great uses of a power meter is to learn proper pacing. Many folks don't do it well. By watching your power numbers you can learn to do it better. I've worked the past year on this and can do even pacing or slightly increasing power on intervals and time trials, but in tris I tend to go to hard early so my first half and second half power numbers are different.

Keep practicing and it will get easier. When you do intervals you can play around with this and improve this important skill.

After riding on my trainer for a couple months I can normally zoom in my power and have a VI of 1.0-1.02 which means my variability in my power is not much. Ideally you want it to be 1.0 in racing and time trialing which means your power output was consistant. 

Some things I figured should be important to for you to know so we are on the same page when taking about power training. Notice – you don’t need to know 100% all the formulas or details behind this, as long as you understand the lingo and why training in certain way can benefit your training that’s enough!

If you have cycling peaks WKO+ here is a nice write up explaining graphs and definitions: http://www.pezcyclingnews.com/?pg=fullstory&id=4455

FTP = Functional Threshold Power = max sustainable power for 60 min
NP = Normalized Power (click here for more info)
TSS = Training Stress Score = indicator of total training stress from a given workout
VI = Variable index = NP/Avg watts
ATL = Acute training load = daily training sessions
CTL = Chronic Training load or accumulated stress over a period of time (the sum of all training sessions during a given cycle)
TSB = training stress balance = the relationship between CTL and adaptation (recovery)

Training zones per A. Coggan:
Z1 - Active Recovery – 55% of FTP or less
Z2 - Endurance – 56-75% of FTP
Z3 - Tempo – 76 to 90% of FTP
Z4 - FT – 91 to 105% of FTP
Z5 - Aerobic Power – 106 to 120% of FTP
Z6 - Anaerobic capacity – over 121% of FTP

Tests:
1.      Best 20 min power test: after warm up ride 20 min as hard as possible. Take avg watts and x 0.95 to calculate rough FTP
2.      Best 2x20 min power test: same as above x2. take avg watts for both sets and x 0.97
3.      Best 60 min: after warm up ride all out for 60 min. avg watts  = FTP
4.      VO2 or best 5 min: this can do before an endurance or tempo session. After warm up ride for 5 min as hard as possible. Avg watts = Aerobic Power

In your case we have been very meticulous in getting the best out of every session due to your IMCdA goals and work schedule/life priorities. We broke down your training priorities in two: run cycle and bike cycle

We are 10 week into your 12 week run focus cycle in which we pretty much build you up to 6x run a week. During the same period we started adding 2 bike session (1xFT and 1xTempo) a week to increase your power but most important to get you ready for the hard work for the bike cycle coming up. We went from short FT sessions (6x5 min, 5x7 min, 4x8min, etc) and now you are almost at 2x20 min @ FT every week plus 1-1.5 hrs @ Tempo, swimming enough AND running often; IOW we have established the foundation of your training. We haven’t been working your body super hard (yet ) but we have worked diligently to help you train consistently

In two weeks we’ll switch gears to more biking and we will work you hard at FT (2x a week) 1 tempo 1.5-2 hrs and a 4th endurance ride (4+ hrs) weather dependant or a shorter version if on trainer. Since the heavy volume is coming up and with your crazy work schedule, we have to find the best balance between training and life

My Race Log

I'm not familiar with the trainer in question so it might be good or it might not.  Generally, I'd be cautious about relying on the data it provides without being able to test it for reliability and repeatability somehow.  Sorry I can't be more helpful.

Kathy, 

You're absolutely correct.  I found this table - http://www.computrainer.com/html/manuals/workout/Table2.html  10% increase in power results in only 3% increase in speed in my case, all other things being equal.  It's hard to believe, but Computrainer guarantees speed would go up 2mph in 5mos or your money back - http://www.computrainer.com/rm_inc/PIGuarantee.htm, that would take a 37% increase in power in my case!!

This makes a lot of sense.

I'll use that # for FT.  I'm still building base (Z1-Z3) and working on pedaling efficiency.  I'll be ready for FT intervals next month.  I'm mostly following Friel's Computrainer workout manual (for short distance triathletes) and applying Coggan's power training levels.   I'm experimenting on my optimal cadence.  Using CT's ergo mode, set a constant power level, and then figure out what gear-cadence combination feels the best.

"Ugh, did my FTP test today and only picked up 4 stinking points from Dec 4th."

4 points is 4 points in 38 days....not bad.

I did a series of TT this past summer and everyone I'd hit 183...over a 6 week period..it was quite annoying until one week I hit 193.

I set a modest goal of improving 20 watts from high of last season. The more toward your potential the harder it is to make gains.  

I did my 1^st official FT session as part of my 6 week cycle Last post I totally forgot to mention that I am planning to easy up into this sessions because a) run is my main focus for another 3 weeks and I don’t want trash my legs too much doing FT bike sessions interrupting that focus and b) cuz I want to find the right balance with my current workload and avoid doing too much too fast.

Anyway, since I’ll be doing 2x FT sessions per week, my 1^st session of the week was on the easy side. I did 45 min on the trainer and spent the majority of time between endurance and tempo (Z2-Z3) and added in the middle of my session 2x5 min @ 255-260 watts (98-100% of FT) with 3 min Z1 spin as recovery. I could have definitely done longer or more intervals but since I still need to run 45 miles total for the week and I’ll do a 2^nd FT session in a few days there is no need to rush things. The next 2 days will give me a better idea of how taxing this session really was (plus the s/r) and tell me how much more I should push the next session. Still I will keep it on the conservative side for a few weeks.

I recently did 2 x 20 minute efforts as hard as I could, pretty much the way it's spelled out in the Carmichael Training Systems (and maybe Allen and Coggan?) book.  Every plan seems to have their own way of doing the FT test.  I did these 5 minutes apart, doing 234 watts in the first one and 236 watts in the second test.  So I assume that I average these and take 97% of it for my FT?  Or is it 95%?  Anyway, I'm guessing my FT power is somewhere in the vicinity of 220-225 watts, close enough for me.  This is an improvement over my previous test about 8 weeks ago that calculated at around 210 watts or so.  I guess I'm looking at around a 10 watt increase so far.  I'm hoping to get this up around 250 watts by this summer and for November's IMAZ.

I've been doing 2x20m sweet spot intervals 2-3x a week for the last 8 weeks plus a longish social ride on the weekends. I have been using the 20m TT test protocol from The Book, but I did an FTP test using the 2x20 method for the first time this morning because, at the very least, it seemed like a more challenging test and better training. I was afraid of overcooking it so I held back and ended up doing just the opposite. I had too much left in the tank at the end:

The results ended up being: 1st interval 245W, 2nd int 248W. Gridline is at the avg, 246.5. 246.5*0.97 = 239 and change. If I round up (and I will since I feel I went too easy) to 240, that represents a whopping 2W increase in 4 weeks. I'm a bit underwhelmed, but perhaps I was simply expecting too much. I may try to change one of my workouts to threshold intervals and see how it goes.

All that and more: 

Power-Tap #1:
    Duration:      20:00
    Work:          294 kJ
    TSS:           34.7 (intensity factor 1.021)
    Norm Power:    245
    VI:            1
    Pw:HR:          4.8%
    Pa:HR:          6.73%
    Distance:      5.837 mi
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           206    275    245     watts
    Heart Rate:      134    181    170     bpm
    Cadence:         72    108    93     rpm
 

Power-Tap #3:
    Duration:      21:00
    Work:          312 kJ
    TSS:           37.3 (intensity factor 1.033)
    Norm Power:    248
    VI:            1
    Pw:HR:          -0.9%
    Pa:HR:          2.18%
    Distance:      6.101 mi
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           167    293    247     watts
    Heart Rate:      136    186    175     bpm
    Cadence:         85    111    92     rpm

Entire workout (209 watts):
    Duration:      1:06:41 (1:07:53)
    Work:          824 kJ
    TSS:           95.5 (intensity factor 0.933)
    Norm Power:    224
    VI:            1.07
    Pw:HR:          4.45%
    Pa:HR:          17.51%
    Distance:      18.11 mi
        Min    Max    Avg
    Power:           0    293    209     watts
    Heart Rate:      67    186    153     bpm
    Cadence:         41    111    90     rpm
 

What was your FT 8 week ago? If you only gained 2 w in 4 weeks doing 2-3x 2x20 min per week, what was the% of FT for those intervals? How long and what % of FT is your longish ride? I am just trying to understand what’s going on cuz I would expect a bigger FTP gain with so 2-3x20 min session a week. A possible explanation could be that on your previous FT test you did the 20 min version and while you might be able to post an excellent 20 min watts avg when you extend the effort over a longer time your power decreases a bit on the power curve

Jorge, so far it's been roughly one per week, though sometimes I get in two of them.  A lot of my other stuff has been at what is more of a Tempo pace, averaging about 8-10 beats below my FT heart rate, along with the occasional hill interval (shorter) which puts my HR up around 5-10 beats past my FT.  Those intervals are about 5 minutes long each, spaced a bit farther apart, like 5-10 minutes or so.