Last month I started a one month FTP plan to see if I could improve my times on some shorter local climbs. Per plan, I substituted my three 40 mile per ride weekday climbing interval sessions down to the plan's 15-20 mile per ride combination of endurance, over/under and interval sessions. My weekend rides also dropped in overall mileage. Over the month, I noticed with growing concern that my Strava 'fitness/freshness' score as measured with power meter and heart rate plummeted from about 115+/- (whatever that means) down to the low 80s. But I stuck with the plan. Yesterday, despite waking up with a mild cold and sore throat and feeling like crap in general, I still managed to
PR two 10-minute climbs, knocking roughly 25 seconds off each. So...exactly how relevant/useful to training is this nebulous fitness/freshness score. Judging by what mine has done over the last month, I should have been walking up both climbs by half way up.
Keith