Originally Posted by
teebone .
Gudujarlson,
Let me provide a personal anecdote that may help you (or not). I think you path is similar to mine. Your stagnation and approach seem to be a pretty good parallel to mine.
I started as a recreational rider just looking to get my lazy rear off the couch. I graduated through a couple MTB's and into my first road bike. I connected in with a group and did the typically Tuesday night hammer-fest and Saturday long group ride. All was good as I learned and had others off the back with me. Then a buddy introduced me to racing. I was hooked, but had a very difficult time with cat 5 races. Crits were especially hard. I had delusions of grandeur coming into my first race....which were quickly dispelled when I got SHELLED off the back in the first 5 laps. I struggled to stay with the group. I did my 10 races (crashed hard once, finished with the group once) and "catted up". My training was a combo of things and continued with several iterations of Friel/buddy's advice/local cat 1, etc. In the 4's, I started to improve a bit and most often could stay connected with a crit, but still struggled with road races.
A year of two into the cat 4 career I was developing (sigh....) I got a power meter and started reading the forums. I started in with a self-coached, DaveRyan/RDO inspired plan (SST....L4.....long rides) and expected to grow fast. My FTP was ~240 when I started a power based plan. A year and a half later it was ~250. Ugh. Each L4 workout felt like it was pressing hard into my fitness. I felt exposed and frustrated. I have always been competitive and active, so I expected results. Further, I had lost fitness and gained weight the previous few years so I figured the results would even be accelerated with this new approach.
By 2010 I was ready to throw in the towel. But, I bought into the idea that fitness is built over the long haul and gave it another year. Steady builds, threshold focus, and removing non-essential work (e.g. 1 leg drills) began a slow push up. By the end of 2010 that steady focus pushed up my fitness to an FTP ~275. Results in races followed. I was finishing regulary in the teens of cat 4 races. No big deal, but a marked improvement in my placings....but more importantly my confidence in the longer term view of fitness. 2011 was even better. FTP ~285 and placings in the top 10, including harder races.
In 2012 I upgraded to 3, won a race, lots of top 5's, etc.
There is no magic bullet. L5-L7 is awesome...and it works. But only to sharpen the blade for a while. Hang in there. Keep focused on the long term view of your fitness. You'll go through periods of stagnation. Mix it up and do some higher L4 occasionally, however, don't lose confidence in your approach. That confidence will keep you moving through those valleys (which lasted 6 months at a time for me). When (not if) you get your breakthrough the fist-pumps are super sweet.
T