Beginner Power-Based Training, Day 4, 5, & 6: Getting the numbers!

Day 4

On the fourth day of having the power meter I did another indoor two hour ride which was a little harder than the day before. The following day was a recovery day and I felt a tad sore but it was barely unnoticeable in a static position. On this ride, I was paying particular attention to pacing again and holding a given range of power, at least in terms of the 3s power average. With that said, I held what I believed was my high-end aerobic endurance pace, using my heart rate as a reference, which is about 84% of my Lactate Threshold. There seemed to be a positive relationship with the watts I was holding which was 190w up to 200w. 

Day 5

After 5 days of having the power meter, I finally tested my FTP. I used the testing protocol from Coggan & Allen's book (2nd ed.), right down to the 20-min warm-up, the 3 high cadence intervals, the 5-minute recovery, 5-minute all-out effort, 10 minute easy, and the 20 minute time-trial.

Since I didn't have any power zones and it was also my first ride outdoors within a week, and it was also relatively humid, and because of a bunch of other factors, I know that this won't be repeatable in terms of test conditions, so I'm already anticipating the next test which will be more accurate and repeatable. 

On my 5-minute all-out effort, I didn't feel like I was going "all-out." I paced myself (based on RPE) so that I wouldn't blow up in the end, but in the end I felt like I had been going 90-95% in anticipation of the 20-minute time trial. So for the next test, maybe I'll be able to go harder.

During the 20-minute trial, I think I paced myself well. I didn't start out too hard, but again I had a lot of kick left in the final 3 minutes. This is pretty evident in my HR, which shows a gradual rise then a quick rise in the end! This pattern can also be in my 5-minute effort. For the next test, I'll try to keep a reserve for a longer time...maybe about 5 minutes-7minutes, instead of 3.

When I analyzed my data I got an FTP Power:weight ratio of 4.42, which according to Hunter & Coggan's chart, falls in the middle of Cat 2 power. Pretty cool, but I know these values are probably underestimated in accordance with the Categories. I'll have to see if this is actually accurate, by racing smart. My 5-minute power, although not fully established, fell exactly next to the FTP value in the chart, which was pretty cool but I know it is higher than the effort I did before the TT.

Day 6

The day following the FTP test, I did an active recovery spin on the trainer. Nothing really new here, except with my training zones established, I knew what would've been too hard, so I didn't need to wear an HRM. 

However, I did see the effects of yesterday catabolic test, it was really hard to get the power up without leaving "recovery" in terms of RPE. In other words, if I had spun up to 55% of FTP, I could Lactic Acid. Therefore I stayed at around 90-100w. Interestingly, for the 6th day with the power meter, my low intensity pacing has been pretty decent. My speed on today's ride kind of shows this, as it is pretty constant after the initial warm-up period, which is quite obvious in the graph,

Sorry these are Strava mobile graphs haha...