2007 Functional Threshold Progression

This year I started out in January recovering from a nasty sinus illness in December. My chronic training stress level (CTL) was low at 38 tss/d. As I recovered I did a threshold test in January to see what my base line was. I always do a 5 minute all out test and a 20 minute all out test on the same route. On January 7th my functional threshold power (ftp) was 279 watts. My training stress balance score (tss) which is a measure of freshness was in the negative at -21. Normally ftp tests are done fresh. I assume this is my baseline ftp when I am not training.

By February 7th my CTL was 48 tss/d and I did the Tundra TT which is basically an all out effort for about 25 minutes. I was able to do an impressive 302 w average for the 25.12 time. Of course, I think this is more indicative of a 25 minute FTP and not a predicted hour ftp of 302. In fact, my ftp for 60 minutes should be about 287w with that effort. My TSB score at this time was -1.7.

In April I tested again and came out with a ftp of 282 w. My TSB was a -2.2 and my CTL was 57 tss/d. This was after a long bike tour and some time off due to injury.

In July I tested again again after beginning my training for cyclcross. I had been doing lots of threshold work so it was no surprise to see that my FTP had climbed to 301 w. My TSB was 7 and my CTL was 63 tss/d.

In October I tested and found that the intensity build I had been doing and the cyclcocross races has increased my threshold to 315 w. My CTL was at a high of 70 tss/d and my TSB was -7.

So I raised my FTP 36 points which was a 11% increase in 10 months. If my focus had been to raise it from the beginning of the year I am sure I could have increased it more. The power meter was a wonderful tool for planning, implementing, and reviewing workouts to improve this critical fitness marker.

I also lost 10 pounds in those 10 months and did so that it did not cause a power decrease.