Ready to be pummeled for this.
Another storm of the century coming to Va, I've hit the training doldrums and the usuckometer is running high. So I thought I'd mix things up a bit. Figure why not, pile it on. Pretend you're on ST.
I was hooked up with a slightly used SRM last year by a cycling coach/buddy. Even at about half price, it was expensive, but it has been bomb proof and I'm happy to have it. The one thing they recommend is sending it back each year for battery change and recalibration. So typically, I kept running mine, hoping it will hold out but the battery gave up the ghost last week and I pulled it off and shipped it. Said buddy hooked me up with a loaner because I wanted to get the test done this week and mine wouldn't be back for 10 days. So I adjusted the slope and tested with the loaner. Anyone know where this is going???
The test and this morning's wko seem to be coming in a good 10 points lower than my pm. So it's not ME, it couldn't be ME, its HAS to be the pm. (ducking now) My numbers going into the test suggested results that could be carrot worthy; I was expecting a 5-10 point jump.
What do I really think? Mostly, that I'm rundown but in searching for reasons/excuses I came across this one. It felt right.
Fire away. 
Comments
Meow!
Seriously, I think it's the PM. While I don't have any experience with SRM, I do have a PT, Ergomo, Quarq, and Computrainer in the house (and not much else as all of our cash is apparently sunk into gear). The variability of readings between them really depends on how they're calibrated. I'd say until you get your SRM back, use the zones that you tested for the current SRM.
HTFU you big wuss! I want to draft off of you all day on the flats at TOC so you better get back on track!
Acceptance is the key. We're never as weak as we feel when we're down and out in the fatigue and overtrained duldrums. I've found that sometimes gains come after a down period. Isn't that how gains are made through the absorption of all this stuff, but sometimes in order to absorb, we have to downshift when our bodies and minds tell us.
If you feel beat, you're probably beat. If you feel good and the number aren't there, then it's a PT issue. Regardless, don't get down. Like I wrote after you posted your test results, you'll be out of the hurt barn soon tearing it up on skyline drive!
Dave
How I would handle it is this is to calibrate the loaner Stevie style. Basically you take the unit out, lay it flat the repeatadly strike it with hammer while screaming. Now the ranting is really where you let your frustrations out, curse the coaches the weather and anything else you feel needs to be cursed, just make sure you have the other people in your house leave before you attempt this recalibration.
Or you can just wait till you get your unit back and retest.
That's Office Space-style. I LOVE it!
Hard to say if it is the PM or not. Figure 10 watts out of 400 [inflated for STness] is less than 3%. Being a little tired, letting your mind wander for 4 minutes or even just not feeling great on any day can mean the difference of 10 watts. Throwing a different PM in the mix is a huge variable. Kinda silly to test on a borrowed PM expecially since you are going to have to test on yours as soon as you get it back as who knows how it is going to match up with the borrowed one or even yours when you sent it away.
As has been said many times, it is of little value to compare numbers. While throwing the numbers around on the forum is kinda fun, they really do not mean that much. I mean if I were to buy an ergomo and test at 350 watts would that really make me any faster when it counts?
I'll have to go with Chris G on this one, borrowing the PM and testing was probalby not a good idea. Not to mention you have gone beyond the 1 year period and who know's how your PM is actually measuring watts.
As for being down and fatigued take a couple days off, recharge and come back even stronger.
Gordon
As for the pm, I considered the possibility of a "different" reading (who's to say which is accurate, as Chris points out an Ergomo could have read 430 if it decided to read at all). But I did check it during warm up in gearing and cadences that I knew would produce certain numbers and it seemed to spit out the same numbers, or close enough. However, those were 30 second bursts so it's hard to say what would have held. Bottom line, I'm in a trench. No biggie. Happy to be doing the work.
About said trench, it is mostly mental, lead by the physical surely. "Fatigue makes cowards of us all." (Lombardi) When one is in the midst of a 5k test or an ft test and the focus is, "just get the effing thing over with" that's not necessarily the positive, aggressive, do or die mentality that garners big new numbers. Look at Dave H's last 5 minutes. That's wanting it.
It'll come back. If it doesn't, I'll hunt it down and kill it.