It Hasn't Killed Me After All...but

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I will have to do a FTP test to see where im at , what are some good workouts to test FTP ???? Thanks Bruce

I will have to do a FTP test to see where im at , what are some good workouts to test FTP ???? Thanks BruceCheck out: http://www.twowheelblogs.com/2-old-2-go-slow/how-to-determine-your-functional-threshold-power

for good ways to estimate FTP. One of the easiest ways to work into your training is to simply do the hardest(steady) long(20 to 30 minute) intervals you can handle. It might take you a few tries to find your best pace but you're getting good training as you dial in your efforts over a few weeks time. That's roughly what Tyson did on RDO's advice and is the second best FTP estimator on Andy's list.

Good luck,
Dave

I will have to do a FTP test to see where im at , what are some good workouts to test FTP ???? Thanks Bruce
How did your 2x20 @225W feel? You should be having a "continuous sensation of leg fatigue" (-misquote from the book). It should be hard enough that you can barely talk or take a drink of water. If you were able to do this without the fatigue sensation then rachet up your target range to 230-235. If you can't finish the 2nd 20 minutes in the target range then it is too high.

When 2x20s at a specific power level feels like you still have something left, then you can either add a 3rd 20, or increase the target power. You can usually tell if it's too high - when you can't finish the set.

6 straight months of this has allowed to not get dropped from crits anymore.
(Assuming you train L5s - VO2Max too)

On the Computrainer website, the following inspired me to change my gym workouts.


Riding my CompuTrainer allows me to gauge my progress on certain key workouts such as my set of 2 x >20 km time trials. Week to week, I can measure and compare my wattage and heart rate in a setting which is constant and not effected by wind or terrain. I can visibly measure my recovery from racing and training and my progress toward the next race. I call it my "quality control workout". Before an Ironman race one of my key race prep workouts is a 5 hr CompuTrainer ride with 3 hours at 200 watts"- Lisa Bentley, Canada, 11 Time Ironman Champion

So I thought s..t, I'm just fa---ing around on the trainer in the gym. So this week I stepped it up to 2 hours with a good solid hour at 200W after my FT and VO2Max intervals. I find the mind goes numb around 90 mins and the rest is easy. In July I shall increase the workouts to 2.5 hours.
One thing I'm not sure of though; I remember RD saying there is no need to go below 220watts after doing your intervals. Anyone got any thought on this?
Tyson

Well this week so far i did the 2x20 at 230watts , and a 1hr5min at 200watts with a 10min warm up . Its going slow but its going , not as easy as when i was running less a few weeks ago , this week so far 4hr of running.
Lisa Bentley is a stud , i have heard of some of her Computrainer sessions , yicks.

bruce

Well this week so far i did the 2x20 at 230watts , and a 1hr5min at 200watts with a 10min warm up . Its going slow but its going , not as easy as when i was running less a few weeks ago , this week so far 4hr of running.
Lisa Bentley is a stud , i have heard of some of her Computrainer sessions , yicks.

bruce
Well done there Bruce. I'm sure you'll look back in a few weeks/months and laugh at 230W.

There are many in these forums who don't like trainers, which I can understand.
Yesterday when I had 5 minutes left of the first hour, I thought I couldn't do any more through sheer boredom. However, after a 5 minute break and a good drink of Gatorade (diluted with water) I got back on the trainer and surprise, surprise I felt better than the first hour. Ended up doing 1 and a half hours at 200 watts. Starting tomorrow, instead of upping the time on the trainer, when I've finished my FT intervals, I've decided to do 1 hour plus @ 210watts. (reason - obvious benefit of the higher wattage and being less of a rhinosorearse).
Tyson ;)

At last things are finally coming together.

Back in the dark days of January 2006 at the ripe old age of 63, I valiantly struggled up the 15% gradient hill on my Sunday course, thinking the time for hanging up my pedals was fast approaching. (or at least pedalling up steep mountains would soon have to end).

Then towards the end of January - BINGO, I found this forum and started serious structured training under the guiding hand of RapDaddyo and others.
The encouragement they gave me cannot be expressed in words.
However, all the encouragement in the world won't help you without f---ing hard work, and I mean Hard work.

At the beginning, generating 300 Watts for any length of time on the bike was just a pipedream - a speck on the distant horizon.
However, with a lot of "excruciating at times" workouts, last October I managed 5 minutes at 300 watts and back at the end of June this year, after a couple of days rest I manged to double that figure.

Today in the gym I did the first ever Vo2Max workout (5 minute intervals) at 300 watts, and strangely enough it felt a lot easier than the 290Watt intervals last week. Finished off the session doing not 210 watts as predicted above, but took RD's advice and did 1x40@ 220Watts. (ran out of time)

Am getting stonger by the week and look forward greatly to my 66th b'day next August. Barring accidents, the 15% gradient should be almost unoticeable.

As I said though, nothing happens without slogging away at those intervals.

You can do it too - just keep at it.;) Tyson

At last things are finally coming together.

At the beginning, generating 300 Watts for any length of time on the bike was just a pipedream - a speck on the distant horizon.
However, with a lot of "excruciating at times" workouts, last October I managed 5 minutes at 300 watts and back at the end of June this year, after a couple of days rest I manged to double that figure.

Wow! 600 watts for five minutes;) Your whole scientific training journey has been truly inspirational SOT. Keep up the good work mate:o

Wow! 600 watts for five minutes;) Your whole scientific training journey has been truly inspirational SOT. Keep up the good work mate:o
Very funny Ade!:D The ambiguity of the English language! For anyone who took Ade seriously; that was 1x10 minutes @ 300watts. Tyson

Very funny Ade!:D The ambiguity of the English language! For anyone who took Ade seriously; that was 1x10 minutes @ 300watts. TysonStill nothing to sneeze at Sly, great work! Have you considered trying some local time trials. If you can put out 300 watts for 10 minutes you should do quite well in 5km and 10km time trials. They're a good way to explore racing since they're pretty darn safe(if you crash it's your own fault with nobody else around) and they're basically L4/L5 efforts so they're killer training as well.

If you're gonna suffer, you might as well have a number pinned on your back :)

-Dave

Still nothing to sneeze at Sly, great work! Have you considered trying some local time trials. If you can put out 300 watts for 10 minutes you should do quite well in 5km and 10km time trials. They're a good way to explore racing since they're pretty darn safe(if you crash it's your own fault with nobody else around) and they're basically L4/L5 efforts so they're killer training as well.

If you're gonna suffer, you might as well have a number pinned on your back :)

-Dave

Agree wholeheartedly Dave. I'm hoping to get in 1 or 2 TTs as a guest of one of the local clubs when I go to England soon.
Tyson

I'm hoping to get in 1 or 2 TTs as a guest of one of the local clubs when I go to England soon.
TysonA celebrity guest???

ok.... I'm deffinately a newblet and don't understand any of what you're saying. What are FTP's and how can I measure mine? How do I know how many watts of effort I am exerting. I guess interval's are a good idea that I never thought of...but where do I start? You don't have to answer if you know of a faq I could read somewhere.

PS - how can I tell how many MPG I am going? I have no way of measuring distance accurately. Don't they make little mini-computers? cheap ones I hope. Do I even need if I am doing FTP or whatever? sory I am really interested but know not where to start :P

ok.... I'm deffinately a newblet and don't understand any of what you're saying. What are FTP's and how can I measure mine? How do I know how many watts of effort I am exerting. I guess interval's are a good idea that I never thought of...but where do I start? You don't have to answer if you know of a faq I could read somewhere.

PS - how can I tell how many MPG I am going? I have no way of measuring distance accurately. Don't they make little mini-computers? cheap ones I hope. Do I even need if I am doing FTP or whatever? sory I am really interested but know not where to start :PWithout any device whatsoever you are really up against it.
The first thing you should do is buy yourself a Cateye cycle computer.
http://www.cateye.com/. This will at least give you an idea of how far and how fast you're going.
I personally use the average speed reading to judge the amount of effort I'm putting in. If I start to slack, then of course the ave speed figure drops and I know I have to work harder to bring the level back up again. I now have it down to a fine art where I know how many decimal points I loose on each climb and how hard I have to work on the decent and flat to bring it back up again.

As for FTP; this is your functional threshold power, the constant power (effort) you can sustain for 1 hour. The last 5 minutes should be the hardest but not impossible. There are 2 simple ways you can ascertain your FTP.

1) Buy a power meter - very expensive.

2) Find a gym with trainers where you can preset the power and go for it.

There are other methods such as a time trial etc. but the above 2 are the easiest methods.

When you've found your FTP, read the first 20 or 30 pages of "It's killing me thread" and away you go.
Cheers
Tyson;)

Method 3
If you have a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine
http://www.1upusa.com/kurtkinetictrainer.htm (http://www.1upusa.com/kurtkinetictrainer.htm)
you can get a fairly accurate estimate from a speed to power chart like this. I road for an hour on the KKR at 19.8mph=252watts FTP. (ftp://ftp.g)

17mph=183.33w
17.1mph=185.53w
17.2mph=187.74w
17.3mph=189.98w
17.4mph=192.23w
17.5mph=194.51w
17.6mph=196.80w
17.7mph=199.12w
17.8mph=201.46w
17.9mph=203.81w
18mph=206.19w
18.1mph=208.59w
18.2mph=211.01w
18.3mph=213.45w
18.4mph=215.91w
18.5mph=218.39w
18.6mph=220.89w
18.7mph=223.42w
18.8mph=225.96w
18.9mph=228.53w
19mph=231.12w
19.1mph=233.73w
19.2mph=236.36w
19.3mph=239.02w
19.4mph=241.70w
19.5mph=244.40w
19.6mph=247.12w
19.7mph=249.86w
19.8mph=252.63w......My FTP
19.9mph=255.42w
20mph=258.24w
20.1mph=261.07w
20.2mph=263.93w
20.3mph=266.81w
20.4mph=269.72w
20.5mph=272.65w
20.6mph=275.60w
20.7mph=278.58w
20.8mph=281.58w
20.9mph=284.60w
21mph=287.65w
21.1mph=290.72w
21.2mph=293.82w
21.3mph=296.94w
21.4mph=300.09w
21.5mph=303.26w
21.6mph=306.45w
21.7mph=309.67w
21.8mph=312.92w
21.9mph=316.19w
22mph=319.48w
22.1mph=322.80w
22.2mph=326.15w
22.3mph=329.52w
22.4mph=332.92w
22.5mph=336.34w
22.6mph=339.79w
22.7mph=343.26w
22.8mph=346.76w
22.9mph=350.29w
23mph=353.84w
23.1mph=357.42w
23.2mph=361.03w
23.3mph=364.66w
23.4mph=368.32w
23.5mph=372.01w
23.6mph=375.72w
23.7mph=379.46w
23.8mph=383.23w
23.9mph=387.03w
24mph=390.85w
24.1mph=394.70w
24.2mph=398.58w
24.3mph=402.48w
24.4mph=406.42w
24.5mph=410.38w
24.6mph=414.37w
24.7mph=418.39w
24.8mph=422.44w
24.9mph=426.51w
25mph=430.62w
25.1mph=434.75w......Lance Armstrong FTP maybe
25.2mph=438.91w
25.3mph=443.10w
25.4mph=447.32w
25.5mph=451.57w
25.6mph=455.85w
25.7mph=460.16w
25.8mph=464.49w
25.9mph=468.86w
26mph=473.26w



ok.... I'm deffinately a newblet and don't understand any of what you're saying. What are FTP's and how can I measure mine? How do I know how many watts of effort I am exerting. I guess interval's are a good idea that I never thought of...but where do I start? You don't have to answer if you know of a faq I could read somewhere.

PS - how can I tell how many MPG I am going? I have no way of measuring distance accurately. Don't they make little mini-computers? cheap ones I hope. Do I even need if I am doing FTP or whatever? sory I am really interested but know not where to start :P

Method 3
If you have a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine
http://www.1upusa.com/kurtkinetictrainer.htm (http://www.1upusa.com/kurtkinetictrainer.htm)
you can get a fairly accurate estimate from a speed to power chart like this. I road for an hour on the KKR at 19.8mph=252watts FTP. (ftp://ftp.g/)

17mph=183.33w
17.1mph=185.53w
17.2mph=187.74w
17.3mph=189.98w
17.4mph=192.23w
17.5mph=194.51w
17.6mph=196.80w
17.7mph=199.12w
17.8mph=201.46w
17.9mph=203.81w
18mph=206.19w
18.1mph=208.59w
18.2mph=211.01w
18.3mph=213.45w
18.4mph=215.91w
18.5mph=218.39w
18.6mph=220.89w
18.7mph=223.42w
18.8mph=225.96w
18.9mph=228.53w
19mph=231.12w
19.1mph=233.73w
19.2mph=236.36w
19.3mph=239.02w
19.4mph=241.70w
19.5mph=244.40w
19.6mph=247.12w
19.7mph=249.86w
19.8mph=252.63w......My FTP
19.9mph=255.42w
20mph=258.24w
20.1mph=261.07w
20.2mph=263.93w
20.3mph=266.81w
20.4mph=269.72w
20.5mph=272.65w
20.6mph=275.60w
20.7mph=278.58w
20.8mph=281.58w
20.9mph=284.60w
21mph=287.65w
21.1mph=290.72w
21.2mph=293.82w
21.3mph=296.94w
21.4mph=300.09w
21.5mph=303.26w
21.6mph=306.45w
21.7mph=309.67w
21.8mph=312.92w
21.9mph=316.19w
22mph=319.48w
22.1mph=322.80w
22.2mph=326.15w
22.3mph=329.52w
22.4mph=332.92w
22.5mph=336.34w
22.6mph=339.79w
22.7mph=343.26w
22.8mph=346.76w
22.9mph=350.29w
23mph=353.84w
23.1mph=357.42w
23.2mph=361.03w
23.3mph=364.66w
23.4mph=368.32w
23.5mph=372.01w
23.6mph=375.72w
23.7mph=379.46w
23.8mph=383.23w
23.9mph=387.03w
24mph=390.85w
24.1mph=394.70w
24.2mph=398.58w
24.3mph=402.48w
24.4mph=406.42w
24.5mph=410.38w
24.6mph=414.37w
24.7mph=418.39w
24.8mph=422.44w
24.9mph=426.51w
25mph=430.62w
25.1mph=434.75w......Lance Armstrong FTP maybe
25.2mph=438.91w
25.3mph=443.10w
25.4mph=447.32w
25.5mph=451.57w
25.6mph=455.85w
25.7mph=460.16w
25.8mph=464.49w
25.9mph=468.86w
26mph=473.26w
Hey Wiredeud, the guy was balking at even buying a cycle computer, you'll give him a seizure suggesting a KK trainer! http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d150/tinkletinkle_/0811.gif Tyson

It might be more economical to get the KKRoad at $275 with a cat eye computer if he uses it for three months and changes his mind he can sell it for about $175 on ebay that would be breaking even compared to GYM membership fees. If he uses it longer than 3 months he is ahead of the game. Not to mention he can put a huge fan in front of the KKR.:)


Hey Wiredeud, the guy was balking at even buying a cycle computer, you'll give him a seizure suggesting a KK trainer! http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d150/tinkletinkle_/0811.gif Tyson

Thank you muchos :) I will look into the cateye computers. I don't really balk at the idea - it's just that it has to be offset with all the other costs of life/cycling/paintball/rent ya know. Thanks though!

Thank you muchos :) I will look into the cateye computers. I don't really balk at the idea - it's just that it has to be offset with all the other costs of life/cycling/paintball/rent ya know. Thanks though!
Yeah, isn't life a bitch having to choose between eating and buying a new set of wheels etc.:D

Over the next 3 weeks I shall get my filthy hands on 2 nice little lump sums and have to decide where to spend some of it on cycling. Most of it will go into an English bank drawing 5.75 interest put aside for my 9 year old daughter's education.:( Maybe my wife will let me spend some of the interest at the end of the year.:rolleyes:

She has agreed to let me buy either a KK trainer or a Computrainer. At the moment the latter is ahead, but I need to try them both out when I go back to England next week before making a final decision. I have ummed and ahhed for months now, but decision time is fast approaching. TYSON

you might want to try and look around in the offtopic forums. THey have an investment section and, if you sort through all the grabage, they can sometimes suprise you with some good advice.

I know I'm trying to figure out what to do with student loan money so that I can have some in the bank to open up an acupuncture practice