Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
I still need some help. I thought my saddle sore was good enough to go out and get some data. I was wrong, but got the data anyway. I did the CTS 8' hard-as-you-can-go FTP test. Couldn't do 2 X 20 because of the sore, don't think the result would have been different. CTS says that their long experience with this test shows that 90% of those watts is about your FTP. Well warmed up, I tried to hold 180 watts on a flat road, averaged 181. My HR was 5 beats over LTHR and I was panting hard the last 90", so I think that was about it. Maybe I could have gone a couple watts harder, but only maybe. Close to blowing up. 90% of that is 163 watts, which is 3 watts more than I was able to do indoors. That's not enough to make much difference in TP's TSS.
This is definitely weird. I agree with Rubiksoval that an IF of 1.01 for 3 hours is, pretty much by definition, incorrect.
However, given what you describe about your anaerobic power, the 2x8' all-out efforts should actually overstate your FTP a bit as you will be helped in each interval by your anaerobic engine. That would, in effect, actually make the corrected IF of your rides even higher.
The only thing i can think of is that the FTP test is somehow flawed - how or why, i cant say. Were you holding more or less constant watts throughout the effort or did your wattage drop over the course of the 8'? Alternatively, could you be spinning too much (which elevates your HR more, but may not always the optimal power output)?