A few questions from a newb

Training Plans
1

Good morning,

I purchased the 6 week XC plan to help me prepare for Nats coming up in July. I have a few questions as I begin my plan.

  1. How do I connect FastCat as a coach on my Training Peaks?

  2. Today I’m supposed to do an FTP test. On Saturday I performed an effort around a local lake where I believe I got a good number for my FTP. Should I use this as it was an all out effort even though it was not a complete 20 minutes but close?

  3. We have local Crit practices every Tuesday night. Should I skip these races or are they great workouts that can be fit into my schedule?

  4. I have a vacation scheduled in a couple weeks. Can I perform these workouts on an exercise bike there at the resort?

2

For this service you would need to buy a Coaching Subscription and then you will be given instructions

How close to 20 minutes? 18.5 - 19 minutes and yea you can use that data as a substitute for doing essentially the same thing today (in which case do one of the interval workouts instead)

That is more tough to answer because so much depends on fatigue levels and specificity of training. Crits are OK training for XC MTB but not if they mess up your training plan’s race specific intervals. That would be a Coaching Subscription type of ask (where we look at your training plan and revise if it were smart)

Physiologically yes - the training is the same on any bike as long as you are able to follow the zone based plan

Hope that helps and good luck #FtFP’ing!

3

Thank you for the help!

1 Like
4

You bet, happy to help - how close was your effort to 20 minutes?

5

I went back to check my file. Looks like it was only a 15 minute effort. :neutral_face:

6

Yea - there’s a difference, you should do the rest - it’s good for you and your zones will be more accurate

7

Got 'er done today! It hurts worse on the trainer. lol