Have you tried the Kolie Moore testing method? I did for the first time last week and thoroughly enjoyed it so much more than a ramp test! Even though I didn’t even come close to what I thought my FTP was. But it was an eye opener for sure!
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I have not! The ramp seems to approximate close enough for me, when I can actually get my head around pushing to failure. If I can’t push myself to suffer adequately for a lousy three minutes I’m skeptical that I could push myself to suffer adequately for 30+ 
But that’s the thing! It’s not that uncomfortable at all! Forreals! Even when getting to the point of exhaustion, it’s a different type of effort than that point on a ramp test. But I’m in the cult now, and am a total convert and true believer! 
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Got some catching up to do! I did the KM FTP test on Saturday and holy cow, sweet spot doesn’t kill me now. Kinda crazy! This was 3x15min at 92% with 1min rest on Tuesday
On Wednesday I went for 2x20 at 90% and decided to skip the rest intervals and keep chugging along. No doubt was feeling fairly exhausted near the end, but a different kind of effort level than when nearing my max and huffing and puffing counting the seconds.
After yesterday finally taking the trainer out of ERG I realized that resistance mode is a different feeling even at the same watts, and seems to be easier. Maybe it’s mental? Anyway, I did the majority of this workout in resistance and just playing with the percent of resistance to find what felt like high tempo, ended up doing 45min at 85%.
Full conversion to FTP testing with the TTE Kolie Moore protocol right here. All this time, I’m sure my sweet spot workouts were, in fact, at threshold.
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Did Bays https://www.trainerroad.com/app/career/bobw/rides/89893125-bays yesterday and Baxter https://www.trainerroad.com/app/career/bobw/rides/89954887-baxter today.
I tried to see if I could keep my HR in Z1 for the whole of Baxter but ended up with just 4m36s in Z2 so not too bad!
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Did this to spin the fatigue out of my legs after my 100 mile/ 4500ft single speed jaunt earlier this week. Onwards.
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I definitely feel it’s mostly mental. In ERG mode it feels like I can’t let up my cadence even for 2-3 seconds. It just feels super grating. In resistance mode I can hold the same watts but it’s just the ability to slightly vary the power I am sending down my legs for even a split second seems to make it a lot easier to withstand. I still continue to use ERG mode for my workouts but specifically because I think it helps to improve my mental toughness.
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Antelope - Still filling in before Academy
75mins @90%FTP decoupling @1.5% - Base is okay, must do some vo2 max stuff, my weakness…
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sure, at least on my Kickr direct-drive being in Erg mode seems to promote droning along at a single cadence. To be honest it feels unnatural at first, and then you kinda forget about it until you start riding outside again.
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I did Wilhelm +3, that was painful
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Megantic. Taking another session outdoors on my lunch break. I’m really enjoying these workouts outside, despite knowing I’m not nailing the power numbers perfectly. The max HR looks like it was a glitch with my HR monitor, so I suspect I’ll need a new battery soon. Surging up to 213 bpm and back down to 166 over the course of 11 seconds seems very irregular. After the cooldown, I tacked on a good 12 minutes in Z2 on the way home before an easy spin to the door the last mile.
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Was supposed to be Bald Knob but it’s so boring so instead I did:
I am so glad I found it. What a fun mix of zones. But maybe a little too much for a recovery week. I hope I didn’t mess up all my mitochondrial growth!
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Avalanche Spire for me tonight I stayed down in the TT skis for the first 40min and all but warm up and cool down of last nights 1.5h session. I’m actually more comfortable and powerful on the poles but I have to beat the phycological barrier which crept in during the bc and chemo which is causing me to sit up too often.
Edit: Oh and when my HR straight line recovers at the end of the 4th interval it because I jumped off to plug the laptop in before it died 
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Kaiser +5 today. CX specialty has been a bit of a mixed bag, nailing difficult Tuesday and Sunday workouts, but the past couple of Thursdays with vo2 intervals extending past 2.5 mins and 15/15’s on Saturdays have been tougher. I’ve been adapting and not forcing myself to do these at the prescribed intensity, and I’m having success with that. Not sure if I stated this anywhere prior to now, but I’m thinking of getting out of the 2nd half of CX specialty HV (and miss out on a couple of Spanish Needle workouts, darn lol) and do a 3 week zwift racing “season” before starting SSB HV again in November.
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Palissade
Felt much harder than it ought to, considering how good i’ve been feeling lately
Going into it, i thought “i’ll probably add a couple more % after the second interval”
Well, I’m glad i didn’t, cause I struggled to finish it as is
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My wife has some friends visiting from out of town. I’ve heard somewhere that a glass of red wine is as good for your heart as a workout. I did a whole lotta good for my heart last night. 
This morning I had to do my penance, and a sweet spot workout is as good as any for that.
Carson:
Lots of electronic wierdness this morning. I verified tire pressure and roller engagement after cleaning the roller yesterday. I zeroed my power meter (Vector 3s) as usual. Waited for the trainer to warm up before doing spindown. Small ring in front and mid-cassette.
Warmup and first interval went fine (it struck me as odd that now 85rpm cadence feels like grinding!) Second interval (the 75rpm / standing drill) the trainer wouldn’t resist enough to hold power target. I tried re-doing the spindown, stopping to let the trainer catch up, playing with powermatch – nothing helped. Then in the recovery interval it wouldn’t lower resistance enough. Finally I hard reset the trainer and switched from BLE to ANT connection. 3rd and 4th intervals it wouldn’t settle in to power target. Finally I gave up on Erg mode and set it to resistance mode & it was better. I noticed the connection with the trainer was only 2 or 3 bars in both BLE and ANT+ mode, so there may have been some interference (although the switch from Erg to Resistance & back again was immediate). To add insult to injury my phone (I run TR on Android phone) started acting wacky when my sweat drips started triggering resistance changes as well so I had to hop off and grab a towel. Just one of those days I guess. 
I have a couple of Zwift events for this weekend, then I think I am going to forget all the devices in the TR app and start clean & see if it helps.
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Total fail this morning, so I ended the workout early and did 15min easy in the end.
I don’t actually know what might be the main reasons for this, but I think one big thing is lousy sleep quality for last few days, as one of our dogs is currently having some issues with his back or something…
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Not today but yesterday was quite pleased to complete a ‘harder’ workout. Been all over the place with riding recently and these are the first legit efforts I have done in three weeks.
Old Rag +6
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Me, too! At least your workout was tough. I just failed Polar Bear. I love Polar Bear.
I had a bad sleep, too and I was thinking defeating things like “remember you’re older now and you need your rest” that kinda stuff basically ushered me to the quitting door. I think I am hungry too. Gonna make a pb&j sandwich.
Next week, I will start again fresh.
Hope your dog is okay.
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