2015 NOS Week 8 Bike – The 2nd Test
It is here, our 2nd test of the OS! You’ve been drilling your legs into submission over the last 7 weeks, now it’s time to see what you’re made of. Hopefully over the last couple weeks you’ve gotten an idea of how hard you can push yourself. Go after it and prove that you can do it. Get yourself in the right frame of mind to suffer. The deeper you get into the test the more uncomfortable you’re going to be, but you owe it to yourself and all the work you’ve done so far to fight through the discomfort and finish strong. Now get in the cage and fight or battle with your gorilla or do whatever you do on your bike. Leave it all out there.
Once you’ve finished, come back here and let us know how it went. I expect to hear a lot of BOOM’s but, good, bad, ugly, we want to hear about it. Tell us what you did right, wrong, what you’ll do different next time. I hope you all are as pumped as I am to hear all the results.0
Comments
As for the test, I think I go too hard in the 5 min. VO2 part before the 20 min. test that really effects my effort in the beginning but they say its supposed to be done. I think I personally do better at the old 2X20' FTP test but also hate that test worse. Anyway I tried to hold a steady pace and started feeling it at the 10 minute mark , did a spin down calibration, then slowly tried to build the effort but couldn't get the legs to cooperate and kinda drifted mentally. As I focused again i noticed my watts had drifted down 10 watts in effort which gave me motivation to pick it up. Pushed hard from 15 to 18 minutes and then everything I had the last 2 minutes. Pushed around 280 to 300 over the last 2 minutes which tells me I had a little too much left but I'll take it and move on to the workouts with the new numbers.
Good Luck everyone and enjoy the pain!!
Bike Test done ! The WU and VO2 test felt brutal.
Old FTP was 245 X .95 = 233W
Today: VO2 test 270W FTP 252 X .95 = 239.4W
Hoped for a little more, but we'll take it.
***Whack***
That sound you hear is the gorilla getting a beating.
In hindsight, went out on the conservative side.
Came in at 278, targeted 305 for first 5', then 310 for next 10', then "hold on".
All went to plan, kept holding back until that final 5' and let er rip.
New FTP = 300 (95% of 316 NP).
Up 7.9% from 278 - 8 weeks ago.
@ 170lbs = 3.9w/kg
TrainerRoad lit up like a Christmas tree!
http://www.strava.com/activities/229633019http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/rides/1350340-2014-Test-Power-5-min-20-min
For those looking for pacing guidance, I averaged my target FTP watts for the first 5 min, then tried to increase by 1 watt per minute to make up for the 5% reduction. Emptied the tank for the final 2 minutes and felt like I had a well-paced test. If you can hold on to the increases, you should end up a bit above you target FTP after multiplying by 0.95.
Good luck all!
It sets your 20' interval AT your FTP. But doesn't take into account the 5% fudge factor that comes off.
So really to maintain your previous effort, really need to aim at 105-106% or up.
@Mark, a 3% bump is significant. Keep pushing. If you get another 3 or 4% by the end of OS that's a great OS. Nice work!
@Mike, after missing 4 weeks of OS I would feel good for just being near my old numbers. Way to get it done!
@David, 278 to 300? That's huge, very nice!
Lurking here....
Some bad ass peeps getting it done and banging out some HUGE test numbers!
Amazing things are accomplished with the right leadership in place.
Congrats and hats off to all!
SS
Glad the test is done.
First of November ftp 209 after a year off with leg issue, New ftp is 222. Last year at this time ftp was 238. the come back trail takes a long time but it feels good
Well my test was a mess today ... not sure why ... could be bad pre-fueling but I'm just not hungry and my tooth is still not 100%. Could be that a cold is oncoming as I had a sore throat for the last 4-5 days (and even took 500mg Paracetamol yesterday before going to bed). Had to take 2-3 breaks for a few seconds in the second half of the 20' segment to get my HR down a bit...
In the end it's just a test - nothing to worry about
Here are today's numbers:
5' Vo2max: NP 395 (+3W to last test)
20' TT: NP 328 (+4W to last test)
Weight is down almost 1kg from fist test so W/kg is up to 4,12 from 4,02!
http://tpks.ws/hIl0
Just retested.
I was at 233 now 250. V02 now 290.
For me, the 5 min test is harder to do than the 20. I feel like I always push too hard. I am happy to be moving upwards and love seeing the great improvements on the team at all levels. Now onto the run.
I need to remember how to change my signature to flash my new pain levels.
TG
FTP up 10 watts today - 196
VO2 Max stayed about the same
If everyone's results keep improving this way, I think EN may win a few more of those '1st place' team trophies next year
Week 1 test: VO2@217W, FTP@186W, 2.8W/Kg
Week 8 test: VO2@280W, FTP@219W, 3.36W/Kg
First time training on the bike and I couldn't be happier!
YAY!!!
Was at 145 FTP after today I am at 152 FTP. No idea what my Vo2 Max number is!!
So happy to be injury free and not in need of any major surgeries this year!!
Reading all the posts before getting the test done was great motivation!
Great job everyone!!!
Mandy
This this test reflects all the hard work you did the last weeks so be proud of any single watt you gained!!
If you blew up (like I did) don't be disappointed as this is just a one "minute" picture of what you can do ... stick to your previous tested FTP and keep going!
Thanks Stefan! 4.12 W/Kg from 4.02 is huge. Keep up the good work.
Great work everyone!
FTP up from 195 to 206. This is a new high, which gives me a 3.98 w/kg. Oh so close. Another 6 more weeks to find a few more watts.
Went to my cave and turned the cranks. I can't say the results were what I expected, but they were also not unexpected. I am working nights and I did the power test on four hours of sleep. I tried everything I could think of to get my body moving. I put pictures of my children out in front of me. Kept thinking happy thoughts but I can't beat the sleep monster. So, in the end I had a really great workout. I averaged 256 watts (NP) for 42 minutes. On December 2nd I did the same test and averaged 257 watts (NP). So, I will record this and keep working. With any luck, the next power test will not come during a week of nights.
Wow, glad that's behind me. Can't wait to do it again in 6 weeks. Showed some improvement. Went from 268 to 273 on the Vo2 test. And went from 219 to 225 on the 20' test, a 3% increase with a new FTP of 214.
In April I tested out at 241 (FTP of 228) but didn't use the 5'/20' protocol. I think that 5' Vo2 session really makes a difference. But if you don't do the 5' Vo2 I guess you should be doing 2x20 to get a true reflection of your FTP.
The bike test is done and I believe I had good results. However, I am still learning proper pacing so I think I may have left a watt or two on the table. Here are my numbers:
WK1 206w FTP vs. WK8 219w FTP
WK1 249w VO2 Max vs.WK8 270w VO2 Max
I started the OS late and tested on November 11th and again on December 8th. I thought my progress looked a little flat but after more careful consideration, I feel there was an improvement.
Test on Dec. 8 results (I don't use power): Distance 10.53 mi, Ave speed 15.8 mph; Max HR 172; Ave HR 163; Ave cadence 92
Test on Nov 11: Distance 10.09 mi; ave speed 15.1; max HR 175; ave HR 165; ave cadence 82
I am particularly happy with my improvement in distance and average cadence.
Some really great test results today. Congrats if you got an improvement and keep trucking' if you didn't. I was a bit tired leading into this and had fairly low expectations, but in the end it was not too bad. I did the exact same route as on Oct. 27th. It is probably not an ideal route, but I dovetail it with some Strava segments to make it a bit more fun and help with the motivation.
WK1 207w FTP vs. WK8 211w FTP
WK1 251w VO2 Max vs.WK8 264w VO2 Max
So, I got small bump (2%) in FTP and a better bump (5%) in VO2 Max. My FTP is 20% higher than this time last year. I did PR the big hill on the route that is one of my regular routes. I almost got to the top before the 20 minutes was up, so I may need to get a longer course soon :-)
My HR was quite a bit higher 151bpm v 141bpm on the 5' VO2 effort and 154 v 145 on the 20'FTP effort. Not sure what to make of that, but historically I have trouble getting my HR up cycling. My theory is my legs give out before my cardio system.
http://www.strava.com/activities/229807987/laps
Just finished Week 8 Bike Test.
-VO2max went from 283W in W1 to 287W in W8 (did not really push this to death..
now...
-FTP went from 232W in W1 to 254W in W8 !
Very happy to have crossed the 250W barrier for the first time (W14 of the last Outseason was 244W)
W/Kg crossed the 3.0 barrier going from 2.90 to 3.21
Now...my ratio of VO2max to FTP is a little low at 1.13... opinions?
I am already afraid of the FTP intervals for the next few weeks at the new value!!!
Great job everyone , was thinking on all the great efforts you put in today in these tests while pushing to keep my legs pumping !
link---> http://connect.garmin.com/activity/651687156
Awesome work everyone! There's been some serious work taking place the last 8 weeks and the results and very impressive. Because of work i'll most likely test on Wednesday, but all these posts have me anxious to get started!