Getting back to race pace

geoffsu

I raced a HIM August 4th and have been experiencing problems getting quallity rides in since.

A little background, My Map test score is 380w. In June I was able to ride 2-3 x 20min at 275w which is my Olympic distance race pace. In July, in preparation for the half I started 20km repeats @ 240w in preparation for the 90km ride. I am very happy with my race.

I have an important Olympic Sept 9th and need to get my wattage back up to 275w.

Last week I did a couple of 5 min @ 275w 2 min rest and wasn't able to complete the workout. I put it down to fatigue. Last night I tried to do 20 min @ 275w and was only able to get in 15min, got discouraged.

My Questions is, Am I going to be able to get back to Olympic race pace within the next 3 weeks? How do I get there?

Help,

Geoff

daveryanwyoming

Try dropping down a notch into SST work instead of your race pace/L4 focus. Do a week of workouts where you ride long intervals at 85-90% of your current FTP. You should be able to ride these in much longer blocks like 45 minutes to an hour or more each if you have the uninterrupted roads. If your power starts creeping up during these long SST repeats that's fine, just start them around 85% of FTP and don't try to build power just let them develop.

I've dropped back into these kind of mid season SST periods about three times this year following periods of frequent racing. Each time I've staved off burnout, come back fresher physically and mentally and have added 5 to 10 watts to my FTP after each of these SST refreshers.

Anyway, I know it's counterintuitive, but sometimes backing off a bit is a better way to build FTP than pushing the high end.

Good luck,
-Dave

geoffsu

Makes sense, I'll do a couple of rides round the 200-225w area for about 1.5hrs each. Next week I'll get into the intervals, maybe start off with 10 min intervals with 3-5 min rest in-between?

Thanks for the information, maybe there is still hope

Geoff