Really good video, thanks for posting.

Hits home with me because my default in long course tri is to govern myself on feel, not watts. I always feel like "I'm tapered, this should feel easy," and I'll end up well below power wise what I know I can do just because I'm afraid to make it feel hard knowing I have to run a long way off the bike. I think I need to trust the watts more.

It's a weird feeling moving from dying to finish a rep at a power and duration that seems unworkable on the road in any realistic scenario.

But then, after a while, you start to use it in the real world and know and understand what it feels like.

I do my indoor intervals in ERG with power. I do a lot of outdoor gravel riding in a pretty hilly area with just HR. Usually I don't bother to move over the computer mount and just toss it in a jersey pocket and just go by feel. I know a lap is about 40 to 45min so know that at certain landmarks it's time to drink, etc...

I think having some kind of combo of "regiment" and also "feel/touch" is necessary.

One aspect to it that I think applies to me at least is the "activation" and usage of your different energy systems. I guess that's why pros warmup how they do for different tasks. I find when riding that you can really feel it "kick in" and then you're ready for certain work zones. I guess, do you mobilize different energy sources like fat/glyco by providing some kind of stimulus? Like, during warmup you give it a few hits to get it pumping through you then it's there and ready for the ride?

Was about to give up my power meter out of frustration. Too many "red line" workouts at the same intensity with gradual improvement followed by injury.

Then I started polarized training: power day, capacity day, endurance day(which is what I was doing all the time).

Monitoring my %FTP and average %FTP (during the ride) on my power and capacity days made me realize that I was not going EZ enough on interval days. Not going EZ enough from the beginning of those workouts had bad results. It stunted my power and capacity output. It led to injury and stagnation.

Now I'm finding out at the end of a ride my %FTP can be low (70%) yet my NP can be closer to my max.

So without a power meter, I have difficulty telling how easy/hard I'm going. Especially at the beginning of a ride. My %FTP is often higher than I perceive the effort (easy). I then would get the rest of ride wrong because I would start too hard while fresh.

---

Indoor Triathlete - I thought I was right, until I realized I was wrong.