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Original 40k race (7/24) - Power 236, HR 164, 0:59:50, 24.9mph, 2.88W/kg 40k (9/11) - Power 260, HR 165, 0:58:28, 25.5 mph, 3.19w/kg I know nothing about power, and am such a ham n egger as it relates to this board. Please don't misinterpret my questions as being disrespectful. It comes completely from ignorance.....
1) you busted your ass for ~2 months or so. Improvement was 80 seconds. Power increased by 10%. Are those BIG improvements? For the effort and time you put in? IGNORANCE typing here...it doesn't seem like that much. Not knowing jack squat about power, I would have thought that all that hard work would have gotten you more time than 82 seconds.
2) If FTP is what you could hold for 1 hour, what good does going at that effort (would that be the right 'power' word?) do you for 20 minutes? or 2x20'? Or is this similar to running at tempo pace?
3) If one has no power recording device, how would this be measured in RPE if you were on a trainer? I find trainer work to be significantly harder than road work.
Again, sorry for the seemingly stupid questions, and I hate to add to the hijacking that occurred earlier in the thread.
1) In a race/TT 80 seconds is absolutely massive - most TT's I've done have been decided by less than 5 seconds. 10% increase in power is an amazing accomplishment as well.
2) 20 minutes is more or less a general guideline for your FTP and it is long enough to make you work your ass off, while short enough that your legs don't burn out after each interval. A good estimate for FTP is 95% of your 20 minute power.
3) RPE is the rate of perceived exertion. Basically it represents how hard you "feel" you are working. You shouldn't need a power device or a HRM to tell you how hard you feel you are working.