JOS Bike Week 1- Test week!
Welcome to the first January OS bike week thread! This is your Bike captain speaking. 
This is my 4th OS w EN so hopefully I've learned some stuff along the way. But still more to learn. For newbies and veterans alike, check this out before doing your test:
http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/91/Default.aspx?topic=OutSeason+Best+Practices+Doc
I did my test a little early as I have this week off from work and I do better testing in the am vs after work. VERY happy with the results. Only down 4 watts since Oct peak, and up 15watts vs start of NOS last year. Mission "Maintain Watts During Off Season" accomplished!
Here are the comparisons:
Date VO2 VO2 Avg HR FTP FTP Avg HR
10/29/2013 188 162 154 165
10/10/2014 210 171 173 172
12/31/2014 199 164 169 167
A few things to note: Oct 2014 test was done outdoors on the road bike, so I may not have actually lost any watts since folks usually test higher outdoors. (My avg HR for that test was also higher)
This time I used the Sufferfest Rubber Glove video, which included a longer warm-up than I would normally do. I have seen on rides that I usually feel stronger later in the ride so I thought a good warm-up might help. Yup, I think it did! In the past, I've just jumped right in with little w/u.
I probably had a few more watts to give on the VO2 part of the test because I based my target on my expected FTP. I also did both tests fairly smooth in terms of power and paced it really well, except for the last 5 mins of the FTP where I was a little more up and down trying to push every last watt out. Here's the data :
http://www.strava.com/activities/235316290
Good luck team! Can't wait to see how everyone does!
PS don't forget to enter your results here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...edit?pli=1
This is my 4th OS w EN so hopefully I've learned some stuff along the way. But still more to learn. For newbies and veterans alike, check this out before doing your test:
http://members.endurancenation.us/Resources/Wiki/tabid/91/Default.aspx?topic=OutSeason+Best+Practices+Doc
I did my test a little early as I have this week off from work and I do better testing in the am vs after work. VERY happy with the results. Only down 4 watts since Oct peak, and up 15watts vs start of NOS last year. Mission "Maintain Watts During Off Season" accomplished!
Here are the comparisons:
Date VO2 VO2 Avg HR FTP FTP Avg HR
10/29/2013 188 162 154 165
10/10/2014 210 171 173 172
12/31/2014 199 164 169 167
A few things to note: Oct 2014 test was done outdoors on the road bike, so I may not have actually lost any watts since folks usually test higher outdoors. (My avg HR for that test was also higher)
This time I used the Sufferfest Rubber Glove video, which included a longer warm-up than I would normally do. I have seen on rides that I usually feel stronger later in the ride so I thought a good warm-up might help. Yup, I think it did! In the past, I've just jumped right in with little w/u.
I probably had a few more watts to give on the VO2 part of the test because I based my target on my expected FTP. I also did both tests fairly smooth in terms of power and paced it really well, except for the last 5 mins of the FTP where I was a little more up and down trying to push every last watt out. Here's the data :
http://www.strava.com/activities/235316290
Good luck team! Can't wait to see how everyone does!
PS don't forget to enter your results here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...edit?pli=1
0
Comments
Stark
P.S. Good work, Kim!
Seriously though Kim, maintaining those watts on the OS is a serious accomplishment. Nice work!
No formal test this week.... did the CTS 3x8' with miserable results a couple weeks ago after many weeks of no riding.
I have a Newton PM and did a re-calc (on road) and it showed much smaller numbers ....likely more accurate than what I was training off of last year. Indoor #s are similar to the Computrainer so I think this is a good re-cal,
Got used to seeing huge watts out on the road.... I know its illusionary but its hard to suffer around 200w for Z4 when I was holding 260-280w my last OLY race with plenty reserve for great run. (outdoor was reading 40+ w more at same RPE/Speed vs computrainer)
Playing with the HR/RPE/PWR numbers (running also) will do formal test ....next week(?) which is a condensed week due to 3 days out of town) Seems like most lost fitness in VO2 level endurance. Good initial power but falls off quickly with multi sets. Hoping these early rides will get my re-start kinks out and Ill get a good test soon.
The test was a fail although not because I blew up (more one that below).
As a result, I will need to ballpark my FTP for training purposes and hence the "long version" below to see if any of my esteemed EN teammates have thoughts on the appropriate training FTP for me to use.
I have been riding 2x/week pretty consistently since August, all 60-75' rides, all on my road bike and all on the trainer. Usually one of those rides was an ABP but with the work at 90% not 85%. The second ride was either an FTP ride with MS of 3x8'(2') @ FTP or a coach P-style low VO2 ride with MS of 5x3'(2') or 4x4'(4') @110%.
The above rides were targeting numbers based on my old tri-bike FTP of 255, which I figured was more or less appropriate given that even if my FTP was a bit lower the fact I was on a roadie was worth a few watts and targeting higher numbers would give me a better workout and FTP maintenance.
On the FTP rides with MS 3x8'(2') I'm typically hitting ~260 watts on the intervals. On a "low-VO2" ride with 5x3'(2') or 4x4'(4') I'm hitting the 280 target for the early intervals and 287-290 on the later intervals.
One more bit of context is that today's ride was only the second on my tri bike since August (the first ride since August was on Thursday). The first ride since August was on Thursday and I did a 5x3'(2') hitting 280 for the first interval and building to 290 for the 4th and 296 for the last one.
In light of all of the above I decided to target ~263 for the 20' interval which would give me an FTP of 250. I did a 22' warmup then the 5' hard effort where I clocked in at 290 watts…admittedly an underclubbing as you will doubtless say if you read the above, and I'll concede that I probably could have hit 300-305 but wanted to stop a bit short of "all out" (although I was certainly working very hard!).
Then I started the 20' FTP segment. I was testing with my dad and we were watching the Arizona / Carolina game. I started at 260 as planned and it was feeling tough but do-able. By 5 minutes in my lap AP was locked in at 262 although I felt my 3-second average was skewing a bit more like 258 then I would see that number and go a bit harder to see 265-267 or so.
Then after just over 5 minutes my dad had some technical issues and we had to stop. It didn't take too long to resolve what was going on but by then the test was shot and I wasn't going to re-do it. So I finished the hour-long ride with 13' at NP 237 and that was that.
So I'm not exactly sure where that leaves me. I am highly inclined just to call my training FTP 250 watts and go from there, but if you all have other ideas I'm eager to hear them. For sure once the OS has worked us up to 2x20' workouts then I'll just truncate one of the recoveries from 4' to 2' and use the workout as a test. So for the time being I see no issue with 250.
http://connect.garmin.com/activity/664361870
Pretty good test #1.
Good night's rest, cup of coffee, slice of toast with almond butter and agave nectar 1 hr out, cup of water with apple cider vinegar 20' out.
Blew up in the last minute of the 5' VO2 set. This doesn't upset me since the whole purpose of the 5' is to load the legs up, not setting a VO2 PR.
And, struggled a good bit over the last 4' of the 20'. Needed to soft pedal for a few seconds a couple of times to get my HR down. So, a little erratic, stochastic, for the end. Again, that tells me that I went hard enough.
I'm happy with the results.
It's a slight bump over the last 10 weeks where I was doing only 2 rides a week using a HITT protocol, during the Run Durability plans.
Because of that ^^^, I don't think that I'll be seeing any big gains over the OS. That's OK. I'm in the mindset of setting the bar -> work hard -> set the bar a little higher -> repeat.
Let the science begin!
VO2=281
FTP = 229 (virtual power, which seems too high relative to previous work)
I've been recovering from toe injuries the past 8 weeks, so this OS is going to be a major shock to my system.
Good luck to everyone with their tests this week.
VO2 269, FTP 227, LTHR 154.
Some of us tested already but most of this crew will be testing today. It IS going to be hard, it HAS to be hard. Do it right. We don't have to do this again for 8 weeks!
Go get 'em!
That reminded me of just how much I "love" these tests. (and why one of our Coaches has never done one....). But, knowing others were doing the exact same thing I was, helped get me on the trainer this morning.
It was a solid test....not quite where I was hoping it would be, but very close to where I was expecting it to be. The numbers are
- Section NP AP VI HR
- 5': 299 304 .99 160
- 20' 258 260 .99 162
- 0-5min 255
- 5-10min 257
- 10-15 253
- 15-20 267
So, I will target 300 for VO2 and 247 (258 x .95) for FTP work. I find the HR data interesting, but not too worrisome. During the 5' test, it was 150 for 1st half and 170 for 2nd half. The 20' section broke out 154/163/164/168 for each five min 'interval.'As soon as the data uploads into Garmin Connect, I will post the link.
HAPPY TESTING EVRYONE!!!
Worst Bike test of my triathlon career. Not really how I planned to start the season, but it is what it is, and it's DONE.
Bike test 1- Trish 0
Hope everyone else has a better go of it!
In hindsight, I should have targeted the trainer to a static load, say 175 watts. While the above is interesting, it doesn't offer any excuse from getting the test done. Just some background on where thing became distracting.
Test VO2/FTP HR
1/4/15 - 5'/20' 275/210 161/153 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/665503299#
8/4/14 - 5'/20' 281/223 161/155 (tested at start of HIM taper, quite fatigued)
The VO2 effort felt right on, with not much left to give. Being off of the bike for three months, I guessed on pacing a 220NP/210FTP. I was able to pace that on the nose. The problem is that I definitely had way too much left in the tank. I am going to start the JOS with last years 223 FTP. If this isn't working in the first week, I will bump down to 210, but I doubt that be the case.
The surprising news is that my bike fitness hasn't declined as much as I had feared.
Ok, I will be the example of what NOT to do on a test and I am looking for some guidance from you folks. Here is the background:
With that said:
5' NP = 255
20' NP = 223
So, I am thinking my numbers to start should be:
vo2 = 250
FT = 220 (~232 x .95)
I bumped up the FT a bit as the initial intervals won't be long starting next week and want to stretch myself a bit.
Smart? Dumb? Any and all feedback would be appreciated.
Stark
Got my bike test done.
After realizing that my brake is going on and off with the trainer software, I decided to recalibrate, which costed me at least 30 minutes...
Finally gave up and did the test not linked to the computer.
I got the numbers out of the bike computer, and as it seems I am pretty consistant comparing to last year.
VO2 @ 255 (5')
FTP @ 229 (20', 241 avg)
Dumb:
Better to start easy and get good work in than start digging a big pit to bury yourself in. You know all this already, but I feel obligated to remind you: your FTP is 210.
Well, after being a NOS dropout (just couldnt get in a rhythm), I made the stupid mistake of choosing an FTP test as my 1st real ride since the middle of november. Did my 5', but tapped out 3' into the 20, will likely retest on either thursday or saturday, but may just run with my test results from november....
I know there are some that love testing, and you to you, seek professional help.
Looked over my bike volume in the last quarter of 2014 vs three prior years and while I had late season races in 2012 and 13 with lots more volume obviously, I was very naughty and didn't ride much last year post IMMT. So, you reap what you sow!
Turby and I decided not to test this week. We've both been under the weather and still coughing/etc. The good news is that we've been doing some interval work with our previous best FTP and seem to be able to hold on. So we'll go with that for a while and test the next time around...
Looks like some really (mostly) good numbers out there! WooHoo JOS peeps.
I agree with Al's point about not being too aggressive on the FTP if you aren't sure. Hit the workouts at your "real" FTP and go from there.
Keep em comin!
Well, after a 12h day at work it was tough getting on the bike to do the test. I've been hitting the bike trainer consistently for the last few months, but hadn't tested in a while so wasn't sure what to expect. Started tentatively on the VO2 portion and the legs felt sluggish... figured I should push through and get it done. As a result, not sure how valid the results are in terms of FTP, but I'll take it as a starting point until the next test.
@Culberson - Thanks for the feedback. This isn't my first EN rodeo and not my first failed test. :-) Ya, best to not dig myself into a hole. Funny how we forget these things.
@Al - Thanks. I will go with 210. Like Trish, my ego got in the way. Thanks for setting me straight, yet again.
To all the NEW FOLKS: As you can see by my willingness to get feedback, EN is a supportive and fun group. Post everything you do and look for great feedback. You will NOT hear "HTFU" or "don't be a pussy" (sorry to be harsh) or any other "look at my big cojones" comments like you hear in other online groups. You will get good, positive feedback. We are a TEAM! And some of the best feedback comes when you have epic fails! So GO FOR IT! Let's hear from you! Good and bad.
Stark
P.S. Separately, I must say . . . based on Dusty's FT number below he truly does have some big, uh hum, cojones.
So, got my test done this am.
Last year after IMAZ, I didn't touch my bike once until this test. I was so disappointed to have lost a full 10% on my FTP. So the goal this year was to maintain (ha!). My pre IMAZ test indicated that I was already about 5% down from my high .
After my two weeks down time I started run durability for the last 5 weeks and rode 1 x per week. I was realizing this trainer ride at 80% was kinda hard. Then I got sick christmas day-3 mi run was painful and went downhill from there-5 days of fever, aches, anorexia then 3 days of severe diarrhea. Blew the run challenge, had to stand down. When I finally got back up last week I knew from my trainer ride that it was bad, so I just accepted it today. Down 20% and I really couldn't push much harder than I did. Only plus for the test was that I paced it well, since my expectations were low, and did have a good push in the last 5 min.
Ready for the hard work to get that FTP back up!! (expectations are low for the run test too-a few days ago I could barely hit z3 on the 1 mile sprints)
From that standpoint, it's not a fail but my VO2 is the same as my FTP right now (which shows my fear of blowing up the 5 minute to hit an unrealistic number that would bugger my 20 minute test). I'm going to focus on getting the workouts done, really hitting the numbers, based on what my test showed and plan on re-testing in a few weeks.
I'm currently training with HR on the bike.
Both tests are 40 minutes, after a warmup.
11/13 13.11 miles at 19.6mph, 125 aveHR and 87 rpm
1/5 13.26 miles at 19.8mph, 135 aveHR and 84 rpm
Maybe I've lost some fitness, but I'm learning how to get work done on the bike. For a biking newbie, I'm okay with that.
Take the miles and speed with a grain of salt, I have zero idea how my trainer equates to real world. My Garmin "should" be calibrated but I can't say for certain... seems like it's measuring too fast, to me. At this point, I'm keeping the measurement consistent.
I prefer the 2x20'(2') test, so did that one....on the trainer. I hate the trainer so much. But, I have to just accept that my outdoor FTP is always 10-15W higher than on the drainer. This was by far the best "execution" of an FTP test on the trainer for me. I didn't start out too hard and was able to maintain both 20' pretty well. I might could've gone a little harder (based on HR), but not much harder. Since I hate the trainer (legs just kill me much more noticeably than outdoors for equal efforts), I'm happy with this result, and know I can hold myself accountable to getting the darn intervals done going forward. Key for me is to get enough sleep, honestly. My FTP has not budged much in the past 2 years, but is slowly creeping up.
2x20'(2') NP = 212, Avg HR 147
Most recent outdoor FTP was 220 prior to Austin 70.3.
Now for the 5K run later this week...