Maybe this will be useful to someone, so I thought I’d update on this for a bit.
I rode Jepson as part of the regular SSBMV2 plan and was skeptical when I got on the bike if I was going to be able to handle it with an increase of 4% (total combined) in ftp. I’ll say it was tough but doable. In fact, it felt like it should in terms of effort. Hard but doable. I didn’t think I was burying myself to deep if at all.
I’ll monitor this weekend’s efforts which will surely be challenging at this new ftp.
This sounds quite familiar to me: good gains first but then my FTP drops after a training block. In your case the lack of recovery may be the biggest issue. I did just write about my own experiences, if you’re interested in reading:
@matiassaarinen excellent link! Thanks for that and I think you’re on to something. The back of my mind always thought that I’m sometimes not recovered enough, but that is so hard to tell. What’s the difference between being fatigued in a good way going into your next work out and simply being under recovered. Your supposed to build fatigue as the program progresses and then you shed some of it during the easy / taper week.
I rode both sat and Sunday workouts at my newly predicted ftp (4% increase since SSBMV1) and it was tough but doable. Sunday (Juneau-1) was a crappy ride as I was still fatigued from Sat’s tough ride, but mostly because they were long boring intervals – no on screen prompts which I’ve come to rely on lately.
We’ll see how this program progresses, but if the weeks are simply going to get harder, my body will need to start growing or I could have a problem in the next couple of weeks of being under recovered.
@Kostis_K I must be just a week ahead of you in the plan. The weeks definitely get harder for the last 2 you’re facing.
For what it’s worth: this is my 2nd year through the plan and I’m finding myself taking the in-workout “intensity boosts” a bit more conservatively this time coupled with, imo, a better FTP-setting from the ramp test for Vo2 work (my 20-min tests were ~8% higher which killed me on Vo2’s). Keep in mind the Build plan is going to be a significant step up in effort.
Ok, so I managed to finish out SSMVII with the increased ftp. It was tough but doable so I think it was the right move.
I do wish the recovery week was less intense as I don’t feel like I’ve gotten enough recovery.\
I did the ramp test before starting General Build and again it was low. I think I don’t have the leg strength that is expected/required for the ramp test. I’ve always been week at high power.
I just started General Build and did the first OU (Carpathian Peak) without any issues. On Sat I did the prescribed Spanish Needle which was nasty, tough, but I managed to finish. It def taxed my legs. In fact I did Antelope +5 (as planned) on Sund and bailed. The first interval I did at 100%, and felt like complete crap and sloppy. Legs were completely toast from Sat (I presume). I reduced by 5% for the next interval and barely made it through (10’ intervals btw). So I reduced by another 5% (10% total) for the third interval which I bailed on after a few minutes. The WO intensity increases every interval so my reductions were mostly keeping the effort at the same level as the previous one. If I couldn’t hold the wo at 90% I felt there was no point and that I should simply recover. My legs were so gassed!
I did not increase my ftp after this latest ramp which seems to be the right choice. Do I need to reduce it though?
We’ll see how this week goes. I don’t think my ftp has reversed, but I do think I needed more recovery in that last week of SSMVII. Less volume I suspect.
I think it is due to excessive fatigue. What I do is skip some of the workouts during the taper week and take complete rest (other than normal walking). This way the legs are completely rested for the upcoming Ramp test.
@Kostis_K Yes, I actually reduced my FTP when switching from the 20-min test to the Ramp test last spring. After doing that, I found that I could complete much more work and was boosting the intensity up over 100% when I felt I could handle it.
I did get a nice little FTP boost coming into Sustained Build Mid this year. Am feeling pretty cooked with one week to go before a rest week. Like @ktimesk I tend to take rest weeks easier than prescribed.
It’s been awhile. So I just finished the first half of General Build and this morning did the ramp test to KO the second half of the build. Today was the first time I could muscle through the ramp test since the very first ramp test I did back in Jan when I started TR. I’ve also lost 5kgs body weight since Jan.
Since Jan:
Trainerroad’s FTP has gone up 5%, or 12 watts and watt/kg has gone up 14% (extra points from the weight loss).
I’ve done a total of 4 ramp tests now, and the two in the middle sucked!
I didn’t change my ftp since my last crappy ramp test, so the workouts have felt “easier” and I was ok with it. Quite frankly, I shouldn’t have to dread every single workout. And so, they seemed much more manageable, but still tough.
Also, I took it slightly easier on last week’s taper week. I skipped the Wed WO for example.
Maybe it’s my age, but I don’t shed the fatigue as fast as I think I should. Perhaps by not increasing my ftp due to my own ego and also taking the taper week easier is why the ramp test today actually increased my ftp score. Dunno. Never will I guess.
My ftp went up 2% since my last manual increase about 6 weeks ago.
Here’s looking forward to the next phase and to hopefully riding outside soon. (Still too cold for me in Alberta!) - not long now though!
Did the ramp test this morning again (part of the plan) and ftp registered almost another 2%, which is great. Though, my BW is up almost 2kg since the last test - yeah it’s warm out again and it’s beer season. I’m sure there’s no hills on any events I’ll ride this year :0) ha!
But, I now know how to Execute these ramp tests, meaning I know the target step I need to finish to get a gain in ftp. Before, I just left it to whatever, but these last two tests were intentional to hold it through a specific power level.
I did burn out on the last week before the taper week that just happened. My diet went to crap, (well liquid diet anyway), lots of traveling, and fatigue came and stayed strong. So i had to skip / bail on 3 significant workouts, but still hanging in there. I’m more interested in year over year progress then short quick gains. It’s a fondo, not a crit, right?! I’m mean it’s a marathon not a sprint. You get the idea.
For the first 3 months I’ve had to do a pre-warm up (5-10’) before starting TR warm-ups, especially on those early morning rides. But now I warm up with the program, so that’s been an obvious positive change.
Welp, it happened. Half way through the specialty phase of Century plan, I TANKED; hardcore! I couldn’t keep up, burned out and was virtually spit out the back of my own training regime. I absolutely hated the bike; hated even looking at it.
It’s sad, but telling.
I did mid volume and now I suspect that was too much, or I simply went to hard on my last ramp test, thus boosting my ftp beyond what I could sustain. But, it was great learning about my limits…again! And again, this is where a coach would be great. My brain doesn’t make me to stop or skip a workout when things are out of reach. I just keep going until…plop!
I’ve now effectively taken 6 weeks off, only to ride with my wife and kids; which is great! I don’t have to worry about riding too much before a scheduled workout, and riding with the family is the best!
That said, today I did the ramp test kicking off the HIT Maintenance plan. Yes, the “HIT” part does worry me, but I’ll give it a go. I can always bail and revert to the TCTP maintenance plan until I start back up in January for 2020 season. Would save some money too! My new ftp is now 13% lower than when I burned out. However, I think that higher ftp was artificial and, for what ever reason, was actually too high. So, I’m guessing I’ve lost about 7%ish in “actual” ftp, but who knows. Plus, I’ve been enjoying summer beer in abundance, and well, let’s just say my watts/kg is the lowest I’ve ever measured. Double whammy on that metric!
Anyway, HIT Mtc is only 4 days a week, for which at least one of them will be on a mtb having fun!
I started sweet spot mid volume I in early November, first structured training ever and having done very little aerobic exercise for several years. Tried the ramp test once a couple days before starting the actual plan just to get a ballpark figure and know what I was getting into.
Felt fitness improve from week 3-4.
FTP increased 14% from baseline! (3.1 to 3.45 W/kg). And it seems legit, I’ve made it through first week of SSMV2 with tough but doable efforts.
Know very well this kind of gains won’t come many times over a training career, but it was really good for my motivation.
