Second FTP Test of the Year
What could be better than doing a 60 minute TT on your trainer? How about doing two of them on consecutive days?
A recent thread in the wattage group inspired the idea to do another FTP test today. Or maybe it was a couple of threads I mashed together. I don't remember really. I do remember there was some recent conversation about doing multiple timetrials in a single day, and some about block training, and some thoroughly intriguing discussion about poopie balls. I crammed all that into the very limited capacity of my brain and the decision to do another 60 minute TT today seemed like the only natural thing to do.
Now you have to understand, this really was an easy decision to make. See, if I failed miserably, which is sort of what I expected, that would be only natural. Right? I mean, yesterday's test was a 60 minute TT after all. Those things make you tired.
If my wattage today was nearly as high as my wattage on yesterday's test, which is what I really expected, well that would be quite natural too. Wouldn't it? I'm just sayin', yesterday's test was a 60 minute TT, right. Those things make you tired.
But neither of those things happened. In fact I eeked out an additional 3 W average power over the 60 minutes today. That's what I should really have expected.
Even though TSB was positive yesterday from taking the previous day off I probably had some residual fatigue from all the snow shoveling. Probably a better explanation is that yesterday's test served as a "leg opener" for today's test. This is pretty common, right? Lots of times you find you can follow a hard day with a surprisingly good performance.
So there you have it. Instead of the 5 W bump in Functional Threshold Power I had estimated before testing; and instead of the 3 W improvement I got yesterday, my new FTP is actually 6 W higher.
And because I know you're thinking and wondering... No, I have no plans to test yet again tomorrow.
nice going, stud!
Of course, two FTP tests in a row should be nothing for a guy who can do two 40 km TTs in a row on a day when the heat index is >100 deg F. ;-)
(Was it the famous Oregon State running coach Bill Bowerman who argued that the goalof training was to make the racing feel easy?)
Funny, those thoughts
Thanks! Funny, those thoughts echo almost exactly those going through my head in the last few minutes of the second test. Though I have to admit my thoughts about the 2 x 40 km TTs in a row had more to do with comparing PE that day to PE in minute #55.
No comparison, really, which in itself is an important takeaway for me.
Skipping back to minute #55 for a moment. I could write a paper on the passing minutes of an hour-long test. By far, minute 55 is the hardest for me. That's where the suffering fades into the background as the finish approaches. I wonder what happens if I do a 55 minute test?
Test conditions
Mark-
What do you use for your warm up for your FTP tests, and what do you do to try and keep your concentration?
I do an hour straight on the trainer routinely, but only make it an FTP test about once a month or when I notice I'm having a good day.
The one variable which always seems critical for me to have a good hour is, unfortunately, that I have to basically stare at the PM the entire time in order to not let my power drop. If I'm watching a video or surfing the web while I'm on the trainer, my power will drop a bit here and there and affect the test result. It's probably only a couple of watts difference to the average, but when I'm testing I care about those watts...
For my warmup on my planned FTP tests, I ride at around SST pace for 10 mins, then ramp up to my expected FTP and try to hold that from the 15 minute point for an hour. I've considered using a longer/sharper warmup, but don't really have much more time for the workout than that most days.
For my unplanned FTP test, it's usually just a matter of going for an hour from the point that I find myself at my expected new FTP with low PE.
FTP Test Warm-up
I warm up for a 60 minute TT FTP test about the same way I warm up for a long TT. In fact, I use a trainer to warm up for races too.
The protocol isn't really all that structured. I've seen guys adhere to strict warm up schedules, but in my experience warming up is as much about getting PE right as it is priming the system for action.
Anyway, my warm-up usually is just a few minutes of easy spinning that gradually ramps up to near-threshold effort. About the time I start to get heated up and break a sweat I hop off the bike to turn on the fan. When I remount I ramp up quickly to what's usually a brief L5 effort. Then I spin easy for a few seconds. At this point I'm ready to pull the trigger.
I can't surf the web or watch a movie or TV when I do these things. I can't even do that in a normal workout. For me, it's music. I focus on how hard I'm working and my balance and technique. (My form breaks down on long hard efforts, irritating my back.) The music distracts me from the suffering that builds as the hour progresses.
-- Mark
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