-
If your idea of racing is pootling around then perhaps TTing isn't for you. :P
How did you calculate your FTP from your 10? If you're taking estimates of estimates to get a power to ride at then I'd still be more inclined to ride it on feel and by feel I mean it should feel bad but not so bad you won't finish the 50. Every mile, ask yourself if you can ride harder or if riding harder is going to cause you to die a death before the finish.
hippy-
haha, perhaps, but I'm really only using TTs a practice/training for Triathlons, I'm just a bit more interested this year as I seem to be more middle of the pack whereas in previous years I've been very much towards the back.
I took the avg power from the 10 and took 95% of that to be my FTP.
I'm riding off numbers that are "generally accepted wisdom" as it seems like a shortcut to doing 2/3 races where I get it completely wrong, and at least limiting it to only a bit wrong, before I have a target myself, and I like using numbers for training and races, if you think that's wrong - sue me, but at the end of the day its about enjoyment as far as I'm concerned.
I pulled back after the first lap on Sunday as I was higher than my target and I was beginning to get slight twinges in my quads, so there is an element of listening to my body, but now I know for next time what the baseline is that I can definitely achieve, and will set myself a new target for the race, which will as you suggest, mean that I ride harder, but it'll still be based around a target power :p
Sainsburys_Ed
My best 40k last year in a tri was at an average power of 208 watts, so not really representative of what I seem to be able to do this year. also there is the small matter of having spent 25 minutes fighting and having to do a 10k afterwards!
if I did it on feel I'd be pootling round in 2hours 22 still like I did in the 100 last year...
If we are basing it on the hardest 1hr I've ever ridden it would be 248 watts which was the first hour of Sundays ride, which was definitely not balls out, I'm currently using my estimated FTP based off my best 10 of the year so far which was 301 watts...