Originally Posted by
caloso
Are you targeting a particular percentage of FTP on these or is it more like as hard as you can go for the interval?
There is no science to what I'm doing, really. Attempting to mitigate my biggest weak area, the start of an MTB or CX race.
I'm basically trying to mimic a race-like scenario, in which I (and everyone else) gets off the line hard, gradually dropping down into a sustainable pace. First 30s at around 425w, next 30 at 400w, then settle in and drag it out to 10min. The first minute really destroys the ability to have a nice high average, but MTB racing isn't a TT (well, unless you're racing an actual MTB TT).
I did 335w, 331w, 331w, and 332w for the 4 intervals last night, with the 5min between each done at 150w or so. The last time I did a hard 20min test I averaged 341w. The last 30min effort I did was 336w, IIRC. So, I estimate my FTP to be 320-325w.
Once the weather improves I'll start doing some longer efforts. Or, just more 10min efforts. Or both.