First PM intervals on new trainer - what now?

Briefly, I'm 50, ex cat-2 from the 70's-80's off the bike for 10 years and bought a bike 2 months ago. I have ~600 total miles from a T/Th/Sat/Su training schedule with 22-45 miles rides about 50% flat/rolling hills 50% god awful hills. I can only train after 5:00 on weekdays which is getting impractical so I just got a Kurt trainer with their speed-converting PM (better than nothing).



I've been reading posts a lot, but am still lost as to how to set up a training schedule for the upcoming trainer-centric months. In any case, tonight I rode the following:



5 minutes warm up

20 minutes at ~210-220 W

5 minute rest (@ 150-175 W)

10 minutes at ~220-225 W

5 minute rest

5 minutes @ 230-235 W

5 minutes rest

1 minute @ 375 W

2 minutes rest

1 minute @ 425 (barely)
Then a warm down resulting in an avg of 195 W for about 1'15" and ~20 miles.



I have two questions I would appreciate your comments on.



1. Can one calculate a FT from this for subsequent training sessions, and;



2. What's the general idea for the next time I do this, or something similar? Am I supposed to just shoot for 5 W higher than I did this time or just "see what I can do". i.e. Is the point to use this as an objective test or as a training tool?



Thanks.

 

Not really, but you definitely have some data for your next training sessions. It looks as though you could probably maintain ~220W for the full duration of a 2x20 L4 effort. If it were me, I'd do my L4 sessions at 220W for now. If you find that you can increase power in the last 10mins of the 2nd 20, then you're ready to bump up the power a bit for the entire session. For L5 efforts, you might want to try ~250W for now. You don't need to finish these efforts falling off the bike tired. At this point, that's all you really need is a target power for your targeted adaptations.

Since you have just begun riding a trainer, you're going to go through a period of adaptation during which you might not put out as much power as you normally do on the road. It would be misleading to test now, so I'd say just do some training rides for a couple of weeks depending on the adaptations you are targeting (e.g., L4, L5).

 

Thanks. I appreciate the comments. I did notice that my avg speed on the trainer during the intervals was only ~19-19.4 or so, while I am averaging 20.5-21 on 25 mile out and back and multi-lap routes - wiht more perceived effort on the trainer. I've followed the other threads on this point and look forward to seeing if after a few weeks my avg trainer speed and avg road speed converge.