Week 14...Test Week!
Sitting down at breakfast after my third bike test of the OS. I was still feeling sore from a big bike on Friday and long hard run on Saturday, but suffered through it anyhow. FTP is up 5 points to 274. Here are the details:
FTP Test:
Duration: 42:06
Work: 670 kJ
TSS: 72.5 (intensity factor 1.017)
Norm Power: 274
VI: 1.03
Pw:HR: -3.05%
Pa:HR: -12.23%
Distance: 14.48 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 544 265 watts
Heart Rate: 133 226 163 bpm
Cadence: 39 159 85 rpm
Speed: 3.6 26.5 20.6 mph
I tested on my road bike for the first time since I've got the PT on it and have been riding it outside lately (TT bike is setup on the trainer). My power on the roadie has seemed very close to what I'd expect to see on the TT bike so I think this is a good number. I'll get back on the TT bike for testing next go around.
Comments
I aborted my plans to test on Sunday before the work week began due a sore back. Now I need to try and fit it into a tough week of work and travel. Hope to fit it in tonight. I am not looking forward to it.
Good luck everyone!
Great shot Fred, thanks for sharing. Congratulations on your every increasing FTP. I will be testing after work today... ugh!
Contrary to custom I am also testing later today. We wanted to avoid end of the long weekend traffic from the high country to Denver so we drove back early this AM and came straight to work. I'm taking most of the afternoon off of work just to test.....pathetic isn't it?!? Guess there're no secrets about my priorities...will post numbers, be they what they may, later!
Good luck y'all....speaking of y'all, where's Kristen??
I'm here, just busy! The Monday after a major holiday is always hectic in a vet clinic.
Fred, those are great numbers! Way to go!
Like Mark and Pete, I'm not looking forward to testing, either. In fact, I'm dreading it! Doing a super-hard workout on a Monday morning is a recipe for a migraine for me, so my bike test will be tomorrow, and I may not do a VDOT test this time. I feel like I have not improved my run since the last time, so we'll see.
Olivia, I understand taking the afternoon off to test. At our last testing time I went into work a few hours late after the VDOT test.
Enough whining from me. Let's go out there and crush this week!
Pete: Remind me where are you living? I remember you working around the snow and travel for the last few weeks. Get yourself pumped and break it down mentally so you can push throught it tonight. You get another rest day tomorrow as a reward so give it everything tonight.
I just finished testing today on the bike but I don't know where the figures sit. We still have a foot of snow on the side of the roads. I took an early lunch and bundled up like a mummy in multiple layers of spandex, booties, balclava, etc. A sight to behold! Anyway, I'll down load the data from the PT tonight and let you know where I sit. I pushed like the dickens but I don't think my FTP increased from our last test round. I'll let you know.
I hope everyone has some great data this week showing progress!!!
Thanks everyone. I was dreading this test as well and just wanted to get it over with!
Was actually hoping for a slightly bigger bump given that I've been feeling much stronger on the bike lately, but it is what is is. I guess I can't get too greedy! Still 6 weeks to get to that elusive 285 number that CoachP set as the goal! 
I'm impressed by those of you who can find the mojo to train let alone test in the afternoon. I'm exhausted by the end of my day and family responsibilities take over almost immediately (I have to pick-up my daughter from daycare, get dinner ready, etc) after leaving the office, so I'd never fit it in until late at night at which point I'd be completely pooped! Good on ya that do it though!
Looking forward to hearing about everyone else's testing (and the off day tomorrow trying to recover in time for Wednesday's vDot test...ugh)!
Last time my first 20' yielded Pnorm of 211...
Duration: 20:02
Work: 252 kJ
TSS: 34.8 (intensity factor 1.021)
Norm Power: 209
VI: 1
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 6.887 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 162 260 209 watts
Cadence: 69 89 84 rpm
Speed: 16.8 21.4 20.6 mph
Pace 2:48 3:35 2:55 min/mi
Hub Torque: 54 93 67 lb-in
Crank Torque: 169 296 210 lb-in
Last time my second interval yielded Pnorm of 217...
Duration: 20:02
Work: 249 kJ
TSS: 34.2 (intensity factor 1.013)
Norm Power: 208
VI: 1
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 6.929 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 103 276 208 watts
Cadence: 52 88 81 rpm
Speed: 16.3 22.7 20.7 mph
Pace 2:39 3:40 2:54 min/mi
Hub Torque: 36 89 66 lb-in
Crank Torque: 116 291 218 lb-in
Odd, but that's how it goes. It may just boil down to me being a bad tester. Oh well. On we go.....I'm just going to stay at my current FTP of 211. Dropping down to 206 doesn't make much sense.
The rest of you....Don't do what I did!
Great job everyone! I'm still sitting in an airport and won't be home until well after 11:00 so I think I'm doing this in the morning. I'll have to juggle the rest of the week to get my Vdot in which I don't think will be an impressive effort anyway. Good luck to all the other Oct OS peeps....
After my lackluster last FTP test, I decided to not worry so much about this test and just ride my booty off and let the numbers fall where they fall.
And they fell 9 watts higher! I guess riding until I almost pass out is the key to good testing
I logged more miles last time but my trainer resistence was higher this time, I felt like I was climbing up Mt Vesuvious! But maybe that's because I watched last year's Giro during my test. Anyway, here's my data:
FTP Test:
Duration: 42:29
Work: 533 kJ
TSS: 70.7 (intensity factor 0.999)
Norm Power: 212
VI: 1.01
Pw:HR: 6.26%
Pa:HR: 5.24%
Distance: 14.403 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 80 271 209 watts
Heart Rate: 130 178 166 bpm
Cadence: 64 131 83 rpm
Speed: 11.9 23.7 20.3 mph
Pace 2:32 5:02 2:57 min/mi
Crank Torque: 51 306 212 lb-in
Now on to the VDOT test on Wednesday! Keep up the great work Oct OS peeps!
@Stephen: I live in NJ, but have been traveling back and forth to MD for the past 8 weeks. This has made it interesting in keeping up the training levels but "knock on wood", I have managed so far.
I totally bonked on this week's FTP test. I attempted to use Coach P's advice and take the following approach. I set out to hold my current FTP (228w) for the first 20'. This was difficult but I managed to salvage a Pnorm of 225. After the 2' min rest I proceeded to give it all I had for the next 20'. After the first 2' I found myself down to 220w and steadily dropping. I ended up with a final FTP of 215w.
I expected today's results to be a bit lower than the last test due to the inside vs outside factor, but 13 whole points. Does that seem reasonable? I know have to decide how best to move forward. Since the remainder of the OS will probably be inside I am thinking I will take the 215w and just do my best to work at 100%+ as much as possible.
I really need to find a way to refocus on the bike or it is just going to crush me...
Pete,
Just lurking here.
Trying to hold your outside FTP during you indoor test is FT suicide. For me, 15 points between outside and inside is nothing. My spread between in and out is ~ 30 watts.
Have you been able to hold the FT intervals at 228 for any of your indoor workouts? If you're going to be inside, use 215 for the next week. If it feels easy, bump it up. Work is work, just keep plugging away.
Dave
Dave,
Thanks for the input. After the last test we moved directly into the 30/30s so I didn't have much need to try and hold the 228 for a full FT interval. I did struggle holding the extra 80-85% sections but thought it was from overdoing the 30/30s. I evntually dropped that down a bit towards the end of the 6 weeks.
So maybe my test was not so bad after all. That is actually emcouraging. I will work with the 215 number as you recommend and see where it goes from there. I have 6 more weeks of FT intervals to do the work
.
Pete
I'm still stoked for those of you (Fred and Marc) who were able to see some progress from the last test. WAY TO GO GUYS!!!
I get inspriation from all of you peeps, I can't believe I'm using that term.
Good work, everyone, for trying so hard, even if you didn't see a jump (or even saw a drop) in your numbers. I seem to be having an off week. I jumped on the bike this morning ready to test. Whether it was a result of not riding since last Wednesday or too much consumption of yummy holiday foods, I don't know, but I couldn't hold Z4 for 4 minutes, much less think about going all out for 2X20. I'm going to stick to my old numbers and really try to dial it in these next 6 weeks!
I almost don't want to report my FTP results... no change from last test. I've been in a holding pattern for a while. This is my third OS and it is getting harder and harder to make gains. I just keep focusing on the work. I know I am working hard and I know work works. I have had times like this before where nothing seems to be improving and then all of a sudden I get a jump. Wish I could isolate exactly what gives the jump so I could repeat it!. In the mean time, let's remember that progress isn't linear, even though we all want it to be!
I am behind a day. I plan on my ftp test tonight. Saturday I was not smart and went out to a free duathlon (2 m run, 7 m bike, 2 m run). I had a lot of fun. My legs were still shot yesterday. Last night rather then test I just jumped on the bike for an easy 30 minutes with a few 30/30's and then got a good stretch. I should be good to go tonight. Send any extra mojo, prayers, or whatever my way about 8:30 pm tonight.
I think you're spot on Mark. It's not linear and it definitely gets harder and harder to make gains over time. This is my second OS. When I did my first test back in 9/08 my FTP was 240 and I'm definitely starting to see the plateau. This go 'round I sincerely thought (hoped) my FTP would be up more given that I've been nailing all of the workouts and then doing long 3 - 5 hour group rides on Saturday with some hard intervals thrown in for good measure, but it was only up 5 watts...that's only 1.8%! I was tempted to try the power hack to see if it would lift my ceiling, but I honestly feel like I'm doing about as much hard bike work as I can at this point while staying sane and getting in enough recovery to perform my other workouts. And I live in Southern California, so it has to be infinitely more difficult for those of you that live in colder climates!
I think the message is stay positive, nail your workouts, and the results will come. Maybe not this week or the next, but they'll come. And to quote RnP, work works!
I too am at a bit of a plateau. It's tough to accept, but it is what it is. Kind of like racing; not every outing is going to be a PR. I have also pondered my own plataeu with all sorts of questions and thoughts; some positive, some negative. For example, I wonder if the fitness is just taking longer to materialize in my legs at this point given the cumulative load of the training. I also was wondering if I just haven't figured out how to execute the test correctly. Many questions floating around...including the one that i don't want to consider...could this be my limit?? (I'm already above where I was at the end of last year's OS) I'm guessing that this might not be it...
Anyway. I am glad to know that I'm not alone. We can keep on keepin' on with this and celebrate big time when we DO see our next bump!!
Go for it Tom!! I'll send some energetic thoughts to you at the appointed time, adjusted, of course for time zone diffs. Let us know how you go!!
Kristen, Sounds like you made a good call. If it wasn't in the legs it wasn't there. You know for sure that I know that. Been therem done that and hated it. But it did get better. You'll be back. When's your 1/2 marathon? Are you doing bigger run mileage now to prep for that on top of all the hard bike work? That could also been a factor on your test attempt.
Consider this, folks....we're on the downhill side of our OS at this point. Whoa! Crazy!
Olivia, I'm a glass half full person too. I look at my WKO last 28 day power chart to estimate my FTP, and if I go by that my FTP has indeed increased. I think part of my problem is test anxiety. I also noticed my heart rate was a good 5-6 beats higher for yesterday's test versus previous. Probably just due to the job stress from the start of a new year Who knows..... on the bright side I was telling myself that at least I could hold a higher heart rate longer which I think means that my muscular endurance is getting better (if you believe that for most of us muscular endurance is the limiter versus cardio vascular endurance)
We'll just focus on the work and keep doing it. The FTP test is just a data point, not a definitive answer to the "what's my FTP?" question. Looking forward to tomorrow's run test
I don't know what's up. I just had 2 days off and my legs felt dead today, both on the bike and the run. I think I'm still recovering from sore hip flexors gained from attempting intervals on a soggy, slushy track on New Year's Day. It doesn't really matter; I'm ready to hit it out of the park these next 6 weeks. Olivia, my half mary is next Sunday, the 17th. I haven't been doing more runs, but my Sunday runs have been longer lately; over 10 miles. I'm looking forward to having this race over with so I can focus on the rest of the OS.
Let's keep the momentum going!
Good luck everyone on the vdot test, mine will be tomorrow...
Power-Tap #2:
Duration: 20:02
Work: 289 kJ
TSS: 37.1 (intensity factor 1.054)
Norm Power: 240
VI: 1
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 6.427 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 204 288 240 watts
Cadence: 72 107 77 rpm
Speed: 18.5 21.4 19.2 mph
Pace 2:48 3:15 3:07 min/mi
Crank Torque: 196 315 263 lb-in
Power-Tap #3:
Duration: 2:00
Power-Tap #4:
Duration: 20:02
Work: 284 kJ
TSS: 35.8 (intensity factor 1.035)
Norm Power: 236
VI: 1
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 6.322 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 154 296 236 watts
Cadence: 72 87 77 rpm
Speed: 16.4 20.6 18.9 mph
Pace 2:55 3:39 3:11 min/mi
Crank Torque: 160 307 259 lb-in