Is 40 watts too much?

bigbadwoulfe

Is an increase of 40 watts in FTP a reasonable goal at the end of the year?

Backgrounder:
Been riding for 8 monhts
Trained 11 hrs per week since December
Have a reasonable grasp on power training.
Current FTP at ~298 watts since last testing. (average of 2x20 multiplied by 95%)
20 MP at ~314 watts
Weight at ~74 kg
Age (relatively young)

Thanks for the answer.

daveryanwyoming

~13% increase, sounds a bit aggressive but you haven't been at this for years so who knows? Only one way to find out.....

velomanct

Depends how well trained you are right now.

I can increase FTP 80-100watts going from winter slug to pure race shape.

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bigbadwoulfe

Turns out I only need another 20 watts to achieve that goal. Did an all out test this morning and power came up to 320watts. Its been a long time since I've done a full 1 hour test so the figure surprised me a bit. I was a bit intrigue as to the amount of RPE that I had put in. I was not even trying too hard. The difference though is the way I tackle the small hills, I did not push it but instead stayed focused on RPE not going over board and me entering L5.

As to the level of training I in right now, I'd say I'm in peak form. I timed my peak to my first ever MTB race, but sadly, I crashed two times and DNF. Before the 1st crash I was in third position, after the 2nd crash due to a blown tire and dropped chain on my chainring, I was in 12th position. Decided to call it quits right there and then. Thats what I get for having trained mostly on the road with minimal training on MTB trails. Next A race will be on the 15th of June. Hoping to not make the same mistakes that I did before.

1st mistake - Little training on the trails. (I was too fast for my own good)
2nd mistake - Was going too fast on the decents which resulted into two crashes.
3rd mistake - I decided to not go on. I figured that If only I continued on, I could have gotten 4th which is not bad at all.
4th mistake - I did not pre ride the course at full racing speed.