Training plan suggestions

You forgot to post your ring finger size.... Edit: ummm, length, not ring size. 😄

I'd recommend that once you get your PM, you first just go out and play for a few rides. Hard efforts, long efforts, steady riding periods, try to dial-up a certain wattage without looking, etc. Just to get a feel for what certain levels feel like, and what you're capable of.

My second recommendation is that you don't just jump on the trainer and try to pound out hard efforts. Most people find it difficult, if not impossible, to produce the same power on an indoor trainer as they can on the road, at first. It can be discouraging if you're not expecting it. After several rides you may find it easier to produce power on the trainer, and then you'll be off and running.

A really good guide to power training is Training and Racing with a Power Meter by Allen and Coggan. You might take a look at that since you're diving in head first. 🙂

Aha, hold on, let me grab a tape measure and see about that ring finger.... 😄

I know, a little heavy details, but then I oftentimes read that beginners/newbies/etc don't give enough information and/or have no goals. So hopefully nobody will say I was too vague or wishy-washy~! :eek:

I can right imagine there is an adjustment period with a trainer, especially for someone new to them (and power). I mean right off the bat, I'm thinking of being cool enough (fans), etc. Lots of things to consider. I figure it will take several sessions just to get comfortable, and then from there, getting to the business end of things.

So put it this way, in as simple fashion as I can. For a beginner who aspires to race and wants to raise her FTP - what amount of time/percent would you spend in the different zones....L2, L3, L4, L5, L6 ?

When you get your PM, on a good day after a period of rest: Go re-do your test climb and get the real numbers on this test. I do not know what your time will be, but it should be over 30 minutes? This is a great threshold test.

Keep your hours up, and do exactly what you are doing until you meet your weight goals. Recover from periods of hard work. You may wish to calculate your FT progress as w/kg. You don't need to be all euro-anorexic (like the rest of us 😉 but your progress in certain periods will be realized by maintaining FT while losing weight.

Find a coach. Free information over the internet...you get what you pay for.

Lucy_Aspenwind said:

So put it this way, in as simple fashion as I can. For a beginner who aspires to race and wants to raise her FTP - what amount of time/percent would you spend in the different zones....L2, L3, L4, L5, L6 ?

If I were in your position (same goals, same relative lack of structured training to date), I think I would target L4 exclusively at this point in time. Does that mean you ride at L4 pace exclusively? No, because you will have some warmup and cooldown time and some recovery durations between high-intensity efforts and some recovery rides. By "target L4 exclusively," I mean that L4 time is your only actual weekly ride time objective. IOW, you can sum up your weekly training goal very simply -- xx minutes at L4. How much L4 time? The more the better, but you might want to gradually increase your volume and monitor your recovery to begin to understand how much volume you can handle. What intensity? About 90% of your max power for the given duration. What duration? Anything from 10mins and up. There's nothing magic about 2x20s, either the 2 or the 20. I do L4 efforts at every duration from 10mins to more than an hour, with the longer ones at ~91% of my FTP. You don't need to do any high-intensity effort (other than L7) at 100% of your max power. You'll get more benefit from 40mins at 91%FTP than 20mins at 105%FTP. You'll probably get your book sooner than you get your PM, so you'll know how to figure out your FTP long before yoiu get your PM. That should keep you busy for awhile and there's no way in hell it's going to set you back in pursuing your goals.

RapDaddyo said:

....you can sum up your weekly training goal very simply -- xx minutes at L4. How much L4 time? The more the better, but you might want to gradually increase your volume and monitor your recovery to begin to understand how much volume you can handle. What intensity? About 90% of your max power for the given duration. What duration? Anything from 10mins and up. There's nothing magic about 2x20s, either the 2 or the 20. I do L4 efforts at every duration from 10mins to more than an hour, with the longer ones at ~91% of my FTP.

Thank you 🙂

I hear that loud and clear. Really putting it in those terms makes it very simple.

This is in contrast to how I have felt using a HRM for training - aka in the dark! Is my HR higher because I didn't sleep well? Is it hot? Is it lower because it is cold? and the list goes on...

The whole question of frequency and training volume is obviously one I will need to address and see how my body responds. I know there are some numbers like IF and TSS to serve as a guide.

What do you think - is 250 watts (FTP) realistic for a woman with pedestrian genetics? I suspect I didn't choose my parents anywhere near as well as some folks 🙄

Lucy_Aspenwind said:

The whole question of frequency and training volume is obviously one I will need to address and see how my body responds. I know there are some numbers like IF and TSS to serve as a guide.

Unless you are doing more than ~40mins in a day or more than ~3 hrs in a week of high-intensity efforts (L4+), you probably aren't at much risk of overdoing it.

Lucy_Aspenwind said:

What do you think - is 250 watts (FTP) realistic for a woman with pedestrian genetics? I suspect I didn't choose my parents anywhere near as well as some folks 🙄

If you read the "Killing me" thread, you probably already know my philosophy on setting your sights on a number. I don't do it myself and I don't advocate it. Rather, I believe in systematic, periodic performance testing and enthusiastically celebrating any and all improvements in performance regardless of how small (e.g., 1W). In ~6 months, if you have trained with a great deal of discipline and tested yourself regularly, you'll have a pretty good idea what your potential is. And, hopefully, you will have celebrated many performance improvements. Tyson repeatedly wanted to set goals, not just in total but week by week! I repeatedly discouraged that approach because you run the risk of turning success into failure (e.g., yes, I increased my FTP by 5W but my goal was to increase it by 10W). In my world, I'm dancing around about the 5W increase!😄

RapDaddyo said:

Unless you are doing more than ~40mins in a day or more than ~3 hrs in a week of high-intensity efforts (L4+), you probably aren't at much risk of overdoing it.

Check. Got that down about the >= 3 hrs @ L4+.

RapDaddyo said:

If you read the "Killing me" thread, you probably already know my philosophy on setting your sights on a number. I don't do it myself and I don't advocate it. Rather, I believe in systematic, periodic performance testing and enthusiastically celebrating any and all improvements in performance regardless of how small (e.g., 1W). In ~6 months, if you have trained with a great deal of discipline and tested yourself regularly, you'll have a pretty good idea what your potential is. And, hopefully, you will have celebrated many performance improvements. Tyson repeatedly wanted to set goals, not just in total but week by week! I repeatedly discouraged that approach because you run the risk of turning success into failure (e.g., yes, I increased my FTP by 5W but my goal was to increase it by 10W). In my world, I'm dancing around about the 5W increase!😄

Ha, but you are already at a zillion watts of FTP (ok ok, minor exaggeration on my part, just minor though!). I understand what you mean though. For a newbie like me, the gains are potentially on a steeper curve. Whereas you are in a whole other league of experience and development - so yes, 5 watts there would be a big deal - just like it is for the pro's.

I know what you said about goals and such vis-a-vis Tyson, but I haven't forgotten the details of that 'its killing me' thread (i read all 54 pages you know [img]cyclingforums.comrolleyes.gifOpen ↗[/img]). You said to the effect, by may you (tyson) would be at 200 watts....and he was 🙂

I like goals more for the sake of having a focus....a number in my head that I can readily motivate myself towards as a barometer of sorts. Instead of just saying, I want to get better or something vague like that. Still, I try not to think of it as a ceiling or peak, rather ideally, it would be a step in further progress.

We'll see in six months though, either way 🙂

Lucy_Aspenwind said:

I know what you said about goals and such vis-a-vis Tyson, but I haven't forgotten the details of that 'its killing me' thread (i read all 54 pages you know [img]cyclingforums.comrolleyes.gifOpen ↗[/img]). You said to the effect, by may you (tyson) would be at 200 watts....and he was 🙂

I guess I'll never live that one down.😄 But, if you look at the date of that prediction (IIRC) it was after Tyson had trained for several weeks and I had a little insight into his rate of progress (and his motivation and discipline). That's one of the few predictions I have ever made. As a rule, I avoid predictions (myself included).