Optimizing Base Period

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by acoggan [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

I'm not quite sure what you mean by that, but if it helps clarify matters: I, and I alone, am responsible for the idea that there is a "sweet spot"* - Frank only named it.

*Ignoring, of course, the fact that Lydiard basically arrived at the same conclusion long before I did.

Thanks

His web post is often referenced on the topic, but yes a misplaced credit and I apologize.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by gudujarlson [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

You misunderstood me. I said that for me 90% FTP = %85 20MP. So 20MP = 273, FTP = 260, and 90% FTP = 234. My 20MP is based off a 20 min test done on a standard course. I surprised myself a few weeks ago by setting a new personal best during a 20 min test that was 6% above the last. I attributed the gains to a change in training and better pacing.

Off the bike I don't feel any unusual amount of fatigue, but when I try to repeat these efforts 2 or 3 days in a row (2 per day) I find that I cannot maintain the range over the entire duration or I can but it requires a what seems like a 100% record breaking effort (not a 90% effort). I did not notice the same problem earlier in the year when weeks consisted on a mix of L2-L7 work where the same workout was not done on back-to-back days (e.g. M L7, T L4, W L6). During such mixed work I rarely didn't meet power goals and was able to maintain a higher CTL.

I begin to wonder if my last 20MP test was a fluke. The thing is, if I go with the protocol I proposed above, I don't need to worry if my FTP is set right because none of the workouts are based on a percentage of FTP. It really all hinges and whether there is anything magical about the 88-93% FTP power range. There certainly seems to be some evidence that there is nothing magical and I think you have stated the same thing as well, but how do I reconcile that with Training and Racing with a Power Meter which bases everything off percentages of FTP?

There is another way to define a target power for a training duration that doesn't require any benchmark other than for the duration of interest. I use it all the time. You can ride your training efforts at, say, 90% of your max constant power for a given duration. I ride L4s at durations all the way from 10mins to 120mins. There is obviously a huge difference in my MMP across that range. But, if I choose 90% of my MMP for a given duration it should feel about the same to ride a 10min effort at 10MMP * 0.9 or a 120min effort at 120MMP * 0.9.

Quoted post said:

Originally Posted by RapDaddyo [IMG]/img/forum/go_quote.gif[/IMG]

There is another way to define a target power for a training duration that doesn't require any benchmark other than for the duration of interest. I use it all the time. You can ride your training efforts at, say, 90% of your max constant power for a given duration. I ride L4s at durations all the way from 10mins to 120mins. There is obviously a huge difference in my MMP across that range. But, if I choose 90% of my MMP for a given duration it should feel about the same to ride a 10min effort at 10MMP * 0.9 or a 120min effort at 120MMP * 0.9.

Nice strategy to use in the offseason. I use the same principle, leaves you a little more mentally fresh when you start your event specific blocks too.

Paul