for those that race with power (Page 3)

First off....I know relating power to RPE is in general useless....that's why I wrote I didn't really have a point.

Secondly, I don't understand what you mean "4 months without having a powermeter and no test is just wasting time".  There are plenty of people, elite athletes included that don't use power and seem to be improving just fine.

Thirdly, you didn't answer my question.  I was trying to find out how close to a race does one perform their most recent test.  Same as asking how long is your test and FTP valid for.  Are you saying 8-10 weeks?  I sort of disagree with that as well.  I have seen a 11 watt improvement over a month.  So theoretically my FTP could be off 20 watts by the time my race came around if I use your method.  (not saying I continually improve 10 watts per month, but that WOULD be awesome).

Olys:  If I can talk, I'm not going hard enough.  It's not quite long enough for me to target and ride to an average, so I go more by feel, and that feeling should be just a little bit easier than an FTP effort.  You are doing 2x20 @ FTP (or similar) as a staple workout every week, aren't you?

Typical sprint distance in PA is 500-750m swim, 20K bike (12 miles), 5K run.

So yeah the bike for many would be far less than 1 hour.

Don't get this one either.  How can you not ride to an average for something that's going to take more than an hour?  I do intervals for 60 seconds looking to hit a specific number - why would you not use FTP/CP over 40km.  If I know my 100% = 245, then I'm aiming for a number based on that.  Not looking to argue, I just don't understand the reasoning. 

prior to a race i want to be at about 5-6 weeks.  i want to have sufficient amount of riding time at a specific threshold numbers.  but that is me. 

Neil your metric is going to confuse us too much lol

Let me be more specific.  I'll peek at the real time power numbers to be sure I'm somewhere in the ballpark and that my RPE isn't totally off kilter.  If I feel great pushing 280 watts in the first 5 minutes of an Oly and don't do something about it, that's going to end badly.  But I'm not going to look at my average power 20 or 30 minutes into the bike and decide, "Oh, I should back off" or "I'm not going hard enough, I have to raise my average power."  In Olys and Sprints, I'm going by feel and what my body will let me get away with that day.  It may be a crappy day and trying to force 90% of FTP or whatever I've decided on will crush me.  It also may be a great day and hitting 99% will still leave me with legs to run.

and how long have you been riding?  have you ever tested in the past?

here is how i look at it:

after almost 1 yr with pm, i can load my data to a software and get a good idea analyzing last 2-3 months what my FTP is without doing the test also.  but what would be the point of having a sophisticated tool that i spent so much money on.

if you have software like golden cheetah it will spit your CP value with out testing also.

I've been riding with a PM for about 4 years now.  I have tested in the past and, actually, did one not too long ago (of course, no surprise, I already "knew" what the test would tell me).  I'm not against testing.  If nothing else, it's a good workout and the discipline of telling yourself "this one counts" maybe gets you to push harder than you do in other workouts (though I disagree with another poster who said you don't push that hard in regular training rides--I do, often).

I also don't need to load 2-3 months worth of data or have a software program spit out an answer for me.  After a few weeks, I know where I'm at.  And I can tell when 'where I'm at' has changed.  So why do I need to test?  As I mentioned, testing is NOT the best way to determine your FT (unless you do 1hr TTs for your tests).  And, in fact, at least according to one "expert" the power you can sustain for long intervals on a regular basis in training is likely a better method than "testing".  Essentially, that's what I do most of the time. 

I'm only critical of your statement that not testing for 4 months (or longer) makes the PM or the training during that period a "waste".  Not that you (or anyone else) shouldn't test frequently if you want to do so.  But there's no need to test that frequently if your training provides you the information that you need. 

If you can do 2x20 @ 110% of FTP your FTP is most likely inaccurate. for most a 20 min maximal effort is around 105-110% of FTP (or CP). Most 2x20 sessions are around 100% FTP or slightly higher but not by much.

If you can do 2x20 @ 110% of FTP your FTP is most likely inaccurate. for most a 20 min maximal effort is around 105-110% of FTP (or CP). Most 2x20 sessions are around 100% FTP or slightly higher but not by much.

If you can do 2x20 @ 110% of FTP your FTP is most likely inaccurate. for most a 20 min maximal effort is around 105-110% of FTP (or CP). Most 2x20 sessions are around 100% FTP or slightly higher but not by much.

Pretty much what Jorge said.  I try to do 2 x 20 type workouts at the best power I can sustain over the duration.  Depending on the day, this would typically be in the 95-105% range.  I pretty much know that if I am consistently in the top of that range, that my FT is probably up slightly (so, I'm actually in the middle of my "real" range).  If I do even a single workout that is indicated to be in the 105-110% range, then I KNOW that my FT is up. 

Pretty much what Jorge said.  I try to do 2 x 20 type workouts at the best power I can sustain over the duration.  Depending on the day, this would typically be in the 95-105% range.  I pretty much know that if I am consistently in the top of that range, that my FT is probably up slightly (so, I'm actually in the middle of my "real" range).  If I do even a single workout that is indicated to be in the 105-110% range, then I KNOW that my FT is up. 

Cripes...you doing these 2 x 20 workouts at max effort every week?