Updating FTP from IF data - how often and details of wko?

From what I understand, having IF over 1 (in the 1.05 to 1.2 range) for 1.5-2 hour rides means my FTP is higher than estimated.

My questions are:
1) How often does it make sense to update FTP? Should it be everytime one posts an >1h30 with IF>1 ?
2) If updating frequently, it would be nice to see the evolution of FTP versus time. Does that feature exist in WKO?
3) If it makes sense to update each time an IF>1 is posted, wouldn't it make sense that WKO had an 'automatic FTP calculation' option?
4) how about if FTP needs to be lowered?
5) Finally a technical WKO question:
I started with wko june last year, and was able to have the charts (eg performance manager) show the entire season. Now, where 2009 is well under way, I have trouble setting date ranges. Firstly, in the calendar, 'this season' still shows 2008 data. I have to chose 'all data' to see the 2009 entries. Secondly, if I chose June2008 - april2009 in performance manager I get a blank chart. I am only able to show november2008-april2009. How can that be? I could understand if it was only possible to show 2009, or only 12 months. But why the cutoff in november 2008? Anyone experienced similar issues?

Thanks
Henrik

OK, lots of problems here and I have to go to work. Quickly -

1) Consider updating when you see that sort of result. Also, a formal test "every so often" (however you define that) is a good idea.

2) If you update your FTP in the Power Training Zones area on the Athlete Homepage, you can scroll through the data changes. That's all I am aware of. However, the summary sheet at the bottom of the Athlete page or a chart that shows some important parameters, examples: 20-minute average, 60-minute normalized, 60-minute average, 30-minute normalized, will show you what you need, assuming you make "test-like" efforts every so often.

3) I do not think it is a good idea. It could lead to misleading confusion in some cases and will be difficult to implement. For example, what's a valid test and what's not? If my FTP is 300 W and today I do 60 minutes at 290 Wnp in a race, does it now revise my FTP to 290W?. I prefer having the user make the effort to set/change FTP.

4) If you know that you have been de-training, expect a lower FTP. Otherwise, the result might be an aberration.

Dates:
1) make sure that today's date is correct in your computer's clock/calendar.
2) On the Athlete Homepage, in the Athlete Settings, make sure that the date ranges for this season are appropriate for what you want.
3) For your blank chart problem - sometimes charts will be blank if there is too much information to show. You may need to change the "days per point" setting for the chart to something larger.
4) Also, I wonder if there are any FTP changes set in the Power Training Zones corresponding to the date ranges you speak of, November 2008, for example. Just a thought.

1) If an actual test indicates a change, then I'll use that single data point if everything checks out in terms of PM function and test parameters. If the data points are from rides, intervals, or races, I like to see several data points that suggest a new FTP.
2) It would nice to see it as a visual marker in PMC, but As far as I know, it does not. Therefore, see SteveB's post.
3) No. What if the IF>1 was due to a PM ZO error or calbration error? Also, As I alluded to above, one ride does not necessarily a new FTP make.
4) You'll know - typically after some detraining or after spending a substantial amount of CTL.
5) Go to the PMC chart, click options, click customize this chart, select custom dat range from the date range drop down menu and then enter your custom dates.

__________________
Steve Palladino

http://www.kp.org/mydoctor/steve_palladino

http://eteamz.active.com/FightinBoba...=24&id=4591042

Good answers above, but just a couple of thoughts.

- There are tests and ride data that definitely set a lower bound for FTP as in fifty minutes to an hour with an AP higher than your current FTP setting or a series of repeatable long (20-30 minute) intervals over multiple days or weeks that are higher than your current FTP setting. You could put an hour (doesn't need to be an hour and a half or two hours) with NP much greater than FTP or IOW, IF much greater than 1.0. Sure there are the rare NP buster rides (I've never had one) that folks talk about, but if you ride an hour, mostly in the saddle and record an IF of say 1.1 than you know your FTP estimate is low, how low? Tough to say, but if the ride pushed you very near your limit then your FTP estimates is due for at least a 5% and maybe a 10% bump.

-Most of the other methods are clues that your FTP may have changed, but they need to be validated with a long TT or by tracking long training intervals. A rigorous Monod or MAP test might be an exception, but I've seen both yield really bad results when self administered or with random protocols (like cherry picking Monod values from a season's worth of data or not being sufficiently motivated during the painful final minutes of a MAP test).

-I wouldn't want WKO+ to reset my FTP for me automatically, but I do wish manually entered FTP was available as a graphable data series the way weight is. In the case of weight it's user entered data, not extracted from power files but it's available for plotting on various charts. I'd like to see the same for user entered FTP so you could overlay it on charts including the PMC to see how FTP progressed throughout the year and perhaps how it correlates with your own annual loading strategy.

As for the PMC display issues, it sounds like you have issues with Season Start Date and Season End Date. If you have those set appropriately on your athlete's home page and have charts and your calendar keyed to those dates you shouldn't see calendar entries for a previous season. Have you set those up on the home page and did you enter new start and end dates for your second season? The blank PMC with too much data is annoying (and typically only applies to the small graph, if you double click the graph to get full screen viewing you see the data again). I generally set the small PMC chart to just show my current season start date through Today and only look back over multiple seasons when I've enlarged the graph to full screen. And changes made while the chart is enlarged don't apply once it's shrunk again so it's easy to stretch the dates to compare where you are against previous seasons and then just close it when you're finished.

-Dave

Thanks all for answers and opinions.

Indeed I hadn't changed the season start/end dates (hadn't noticed them). Now the date-ranges work fine.

I compeltely agree that when weight can be plotted versus time, so should ftp.