hey all,
4.0W/kg intervals.icu eFTP (294W at 73.2kg) came unexpectedly fast thanks to some hard races (including 22nd in prime time zracing yesterday). Not sure I could quite do an hour at 294 but the breakthrough race was 279W for 57 mins a week ago and I’m stronger now. So it’s not far off.
@didnthurt – one thing I’ve realised since covid is that I can’t ride everyday now. The easy recovery days would need to be so easy that I can’t be bothered getting into lycra and would rather just go for a walk or gentle jog :) In the last 2-3 years I have gotten ill quite easily and find proper rest really helps. I did a blood test yesterday and found I have a low white blood cell count, which I’ll investigate.
@sheck – nice going! I am still on W7 (but with races thrown and social rides thrown in). I’m finding the increased volume and FTP makes it tough to tackle them. Right now I am posting here and “letting my dinner settle” instead of getting on Cucumber.
@tpbiker – I know the feeling of looking at past numbers (actual or estimated) and falling short but I guess we are (mostly) advancing in years. It is just harder..
@Jamz thanks! I’m not doing any sweet spot other than what’s in the BMU workouts (nowhere near 2×20 recently). I might trying throwing some in. I did a good zRacing last night in the prime slot and gave up on TdZ so have some flexibility now.
@joebristol – agreed about boredom. Now that the novelty of Zwift has worn off I mostly watch videos during workouts.
I don’t think 4W/kg is some special threshold at which mtb suddenly becomes more enjoyable. I’d probably have barely scraped 3W/kg in spring 2023 but still had some fun rides :) Anyway sure you can keep making progress!
@Haze I’m a erg mode convert now. Makes it so much easier to watch videos or chat etc. I get the point about learning to pace but I think that can be done with a relatively low amount of free/pace group rides. Having said that I still get it wrong in races sometimes :/
@Kryton57 hope the new coaching programme goes well. From other posts I saw it sounds like your son is smashing it, which is great. I might come to a beastway race this year.. maybe see you there.
@Ro5ey – I haven’t done a proper (long) FTP and also going by zFTP and eFTP. I think zFTP is slight under estimate for me (in October I’d done a 59min AdZ at 251W and feeling good but zFTP was 245W) and eFTP a slight overestimate. In races the adrenaline makes it feel less painful and it’s more fun! Before I attempt the long FTP test want to be confident I’ll actually hit the mark.
Sorry if I missed any posts, hope everyone keeps smashing it (4W/kg or otherwise!)