Wow! Congrats everyone, on a job well done! You all rock! As a HR athlete, I didn't 'test' but tested myself on the bike yesterday. Damn, those 2x20's DO SUCK! I ca-rushed the first one! Felt like I was spinning the whole time, even though I was averaging 21 mph and over 200 watts! Well, come the second interval, I had no gas, no umph, no nothin'! I spent it all in my first 2x20! I cut out after 10 minutes in the 2nd one. I've had a sinus infection, and took 3 days of rest prior to this bike workout. I used up all of that pent up energy the first round and left myself for dead, the 2nd go round! However, I am pleased to have registered such a good start to the test. When I joined EN in October, my avg. mph was 16.2! I'm happy! Now for the run test tomorrow....
I was laughing out loud when I saw there was actually a brick run scheduled after the 2x20'. However, I've yet to see anyone say they polished off their FTP test with a quick run. Any true crazies out there?
Well gang the test results are in and I am totally stoked. I had a 29 watt gain!!! (203 to 232) Are you kidding me? I know that the result would be good because I have really worked the bike here in December.
I vividly remember struggling to hold on to 195-200 during the first two weeks of the OS. Then something began to click and I felt stronger each week.
I guess I will owe RnP Sbux already. The 225 FTP is destroyed and the snipe scope is ready to take out the 51.5 Vdot come Thursday.
Thank you for the inspiration team. I love reading about how much effort is given each day. It makes me go even harder. Now for the reality check as I enjoy the next level of suffering with the new zones.
@Dave I was thinking the same thing. I certainly had no intention of trying to hold those paces after that test. My hat is off to anyone who did, but then again that means you probably didn't go hard enough on the test then.
@Dave-- I did attempt beleive it or not. I put the shoes on, sit down to catch my breath, then laid down, and never did get back up for about 20 minutes when I promptly took the shoes back off and called it. Did go ahead a run that night and was still feeling it though which made it tough to hold the so-called "Easy run" paces of MP and HMP.
Woohoo! I just ordered my Powertap setup from Wheelbuilder. I can finally start getting some real numbers to my training. Cant wait for them to get here in 2 weeks. I went with RED (hey, Im the guy who dresses at Elvis occasionally) Kinlin 300s, 24/20, Powertap Pro with the Gamrin 310XT.
@Dave - I'm not really running yet so I was not one of the crazies. I don't think I would have went far as I was dizzy at the end of the test.
@Greg - Excellent. I've been in the Haus for this OS and have 7 weeks with power now. If you need some direction I would suggest buying the power webinar. Otherwise just as question in the power forum. Oh you have great timing with the new 3.0 upgrade in WKO+ you don't have to pay an extra $65.
An advantage of being one of the handful of EN folks that trains in the evening is that there's never a shortage of mojovation if I pop into the forums before a workout/test!
Initial test at start of OS: 203
Last night:
1st: 234
2nd: 226
So a new FTP of 226. This wasn't a huge surprise, since the Power Clinic test last week predicted something pretty close to that. I'm guessing half the gain is from being better at taking the test, and the other half is from improved fitness as a result of the OS.
Well Dave, I only made it for 10 minutes on the brick, after my Tues. bike. As for sticking the run zones, what zones??? LOL! Obviously, I'm not one of the 'crazies' yet...
I was laughing out loud when I saw there was actually a brick run scheduled after the 2x20'. However, I've yet to see anyone say they polished off their FTP test with a quick run. Any true crazies out there?
.........did the run portion of yesterday's brick today while taking my 8 year old boy on the bike with me. FTP went from 3.1 to 3.4 w/kg......will work to hit 3.7 at some point. You 4.0+ non-humans are amazing!!
Posted By Greg Vanichkachorn on 22 Dec 2009 01:43 PM
Woohoo! I just ordered my Powertap setup from Wheelbuilder. I can finally start getting some real numbers to my training. Cant wait for them to get here in 2 weeks. I went with RED (hey, Im the guy who dresses at Elvis occasionally) Kinlin 300s, 24/20, Powertap Pro with the Gamrin 310XT.
Soooo...who can explain this power thing to me?
@Greg, like Gordon I am new to power and the Haus. Training with power has been great. I have picked up 22 watts since week 1. Now some of that is just testing better but my pacing still is terrible so Iam thinking a lot of it is fitness. You will start to get a feel for what it takes to push certain watts. I recall riding outside in week 2 or 3 and thinking I was crushing it until I looked at the watts and realized that at that time I had no idea what I was doing. So it is a good learning curve. I also love that it is a totally objective measurement of your work. No HR where you never know exactly how hard you are going. I have also read lots in the forums. Lots of good info in there. Enjoy!
I was laughing out loud when I saw there was actually a brick run scheduled after the 2x20'. However, I've yet to see anyone say they polished off their FTP test with a quick run. Any true crazies out there?
I felt like I rocked it today as I finished very strong with a total of 7% increase in FTP.
I'm guessing I underestimated my first interval a bit at: 283 watts then 303 watts with the last 5 mins of interval #2 @ 326 watts ramping up to 418 at the end. Oddly, it felt easier the last 5 mins of the 2nd interval than all other moments of the test. What gives? Is it an endorphin release like getting a tatoo? Very cool.
I felt like I rocked it today as I finished very strong with a total of 7% increase in FTP.
I'm guessing I underestimated my first interval a bit at: 283 watts then 303 watts with the last 5 mins of interval #2 @ 326 watts ramping up to 418 at the end. Oddly, it felt easier the last 5 mins of the 2nd interval than all other moments of the test. What gives? Is it an endorphin release like getting a tatoo? Very cool.
Vince
I think that sometimes the last 5 minutes of the second interval are the "easiest" because you can rationalize only a few more minutes until you are done. It is minutes 2-15 in the second that are the "hard" part for me mentally. 326-418 are big numbers. I do not know anything about getting a tatoo but hear that it hurts...
I have a "don't ask-don't tell" policy. JK. Got a big one between my shoulder blades after my first marathon in Maui. At times it hurt really bad to the point of almost "tapping out" but then all of a sudden it felt strangely good, near pleasurable. I can see how people get addicted to them. That's the only tat I plan on getting. Out of sight...out of mind.
Chris...I guess that is what happened to me as I break the intervals up into 5 min sections and tried to hold a high 270's and low 280's, then next 5 mins at high 280's and slightly climb or just hold the number for each 5 min section. I will have to start higher next time but was surprised at the ease of pushing a much tougher gear without losing form or really being in much pain. Even my breathing seemed to be less labored at 170 bpm than at 161-163 bpm.
Got sidetracked by a mtb ride yesterday---it was such a perfect day with decent traction and snowglobe snow blowing everywhere. I just couldn't bear to be inside on a trainer. So I did the test tonight...
NP = 177. (It was 179 for the Power Hack test so pretty darned close) Up from 165...which makes it a 6.8% increase. I reached my all time high FTP last year at 205. I know, I know...can't be livin' in the past, man! But I can see that goal in the horizon.
Awesome job with the testing, Team Holy Crap! What's not expressed in gains of watts will show itself in mental strength on race day!!
Hi Nov OS peeps! You are all incredible athletes! Congrats on your tests, building your mental six packs and doing it in such a positive manner. You are all so motivating to be around. I know some of you had challenges and I feel bad for you. Like the bent PT and broken cables. Nothing is ever easy, huh?
Steve and I are a bit off schedule. He teaches 4 spin classes this week so could not fit in a test.We hope to test in a week or so. We host lots of fun workouts for our team and had the opportunity to do a killer trail run Sunday. It was awesome!! So it left us with sore legs in a good way. We host track Tuesday's and today the track was covered in a thin sheet of ice. We did short fast intervals and it was crazy hard while slipping. Thank goodness I had not planned to do the 5K test this week. I'll do that one in a few weeks.
We will keep at it with our current numbers and test when it fits into our schedules.
I have the next two days off and plan to do 2 group rides outside!!! Yeah!
Happy Holidays!! I am sitting here with a cup of coffee with Eggnog mixed in...YUM!!!
Test? What test?!?! Well, I was surprised after being offline for a bit. I did a pretty hard run Monday morning, then logged into the plan to see what the bike workout was for Tuesday, and WHOOOPS!!!
No worries - I read through all your posts and got the mojo flowing.
I did my test this morning, and I got a pleasant 10w bump! From 231 up to 241. It's not where I should ultimately be, but I'll take it! The other observation is that this was my most 'consistent' test - my avg cadence was spot on at 89, without much variance through the meat of the intervals.
Here are the numbers, which are slightly disappointing and certainly humbling. First FTP test ever. Scary to see where i'm at. Highlights where i need to be.
Some awesome results being posted by the group! Great work everyone.
Not a good test for me but I'm ok with it. I've been nailing the bike workouts and my 28 day chart gives me some good guidance on what I'm capable of. I tried to test on Monday and had to abort. Was exhausted and back was killing me from the shoveling on Sunday. Had trouble sleeping Monday night waking a 3:15am Tuesday morning. Was wiped out most of the day d/t no sleep and a busy day driving to Boston and back. No way I was testing yesteday. Figured with 2 days off completely from working out the mojo would be strong this am and the legs would be energized. Mojo yes. Legs energized...Nope! First 20' felt really good. 2nd' 20' the wheels just suddenly came off, and I mean suddenly without warning. I tried to fight through it for a few minutes before realizing that I was going into survival mode. Convinced myself that I had to do whatever it took to get through the 20' to, at a minimun, make it a good 2x20' workout. 1st 20' @ 269, 2nd 20' held on to 256. Not the numbers I anticipated nor the numbers I know I'm capable of based on recent workouts (2x15's, 2x20's).
It's been a pretty stressfull couple of weeks. Haven't been sleeping well. Many days I just wake up at 3:15a with my mind working full speed regarding stuff that needs to get done for work, changes in my role at work, a job interview I recently had, the prospect of perhaps uprooting and moving to a new city, etc. On top of this I resumed running a couple of weeks ago. I think I really underestimated the effect of adding in running (albeit most days very easy running) on top of week 6 and 7 bike workouts. I'm off from work until January 4th and looking forward to completely recharging mentally and physically simply by eliminating many of the stressors and getting more sleep. Until the next test I'll jut keep working my arse off as there's still a lot of O/S left.
@ Kevin L - Don't worry about the number of your first test. It's a victory just doing one of these tests. You now have your baseline and you will more than likely see some big gains as you both get stronger and learn to test better. Not to mention being under the tutelage of Chris G.
@Aaron - I hear ya man. A 2x20' workout it is and was. No big whoop. Hang in there with all the other stressors you have going on, that's a lot to have on your mind. Enjoy the time off from work and regroup. Go easy on those runs, too.
I have a "don't ask-don't tell" policy. JK. Got a big one between my shoulder blades after my first marathon in Maui. At times it hurt really bad to the point of almost "tapping out" but then all of a sudden it felt strangely good, near pleasurable. I can see how people get addicted to them. That's the only tat I plan on getting. Out of sight...out of mind.
Vince
Yup, I got a m-dot after CDA. A small one at that. It hurt pretty well. Im probably just a wus cuz some heavily inked ladies I know fall asleep during them. But Im still happy with it. It is a bit addicting, Im thinking about getting "Work Works" across my knuckles and R & P on my lower back....
Comments
Just to be "transparent":
Suffering from a chest cold for last 5-6 days...felt ready to test but obviously not fully recovered......
Initial FTT: 248w
Yesterday: 228w (oh well....just a hard workout)
No bigdeal!
Wow! Congrats everyone, on a job well done! You all rock!
As a HR athlete, I didn't 'test' but tested myself on the bike yesterday. Damn, those 2x20's DO SUCK! I ca-rushed the first one! Felt like I was spinning the whole time, even though I was averaging 21 mph and over 200 watts! Well, come the second interval, I had no gas, no umph, no nothin'! I spent it all in my first 2x20! I cut out after 10 minutes in the 2nd one. I've had a sinus infection, and took 3 days of rest prior to this bike workout. I used up all of that pent up energy the first round and left myself for dead, the 2nd go round! 
However, I am pleased to have registered such a good start to the test. When I joined EN in October, my avg. mph was 16.2! I'm happy! 
Now for the run test tomorrow....
I was laughing out loud when I saw there was actually a brick run scheduled after the 2x20'. However, I've yet to see anyone say they polished off their FTP test with a quick run. Any true crazies out there?
Dave
@Tom-- Enjoy the new zones. Now the fun begins
@Dave-- I did attempt beleive it or not. I put the shoes on, sit down to catch my breath, then laid down, and never did get back up for about 20 minutes when I promptly took the shoes back off and called it. Did go ahead a run that night and was still feeling it though which made it tough to hold the so-called "Easy run" paces of MP and HMP.
Woohoo! I just ordered my Powertap setup from Wheelbuilder. I can finally start getting some real numbers to my training. Cant wait for them to get here in 2 weeks. I went with RED (hey, Im the guy who dresses at Elvis occasionally) Kinlin 300s, 24/20, Powertap Pro with the Gamrin 310XT.
Soooo...who can explain this power thing to me?
@Dave - I'm not really running yet so I was not one of the crazies. I don't think I would have went far as I was dizzy at the end of the test.
@Greg - Excellent. I've been in the Haus for this OS and have 7 weeks with power now. If you need some direction I would suggest buying the power webinar. Otherwise just as question in the power forum. Oh you have great timing with the new 3.0 upgrade in WKO+ you don't have to pay an extra $65.
Gordon
An advantage of being one of the handful of EN folks that trains in the evening is that there's never a shortage of mojovation if I pop into the forums before a workout/test!
I ran
Entire workout (154 bpm):
Duration: 30:05 (30:48)
Work: n/a
rTSS: 43.1 (0.889)
NGP: 7:41 (209.3 m/min)
VI: n/a
Pw:HR: n/a
Pa:HR: 9.15%
Distance: 3.831 mi
Elevation Gain: 490 ft
Elevation Loss: 486 ft
Grade: 0.0 % (3 ft)
Min Max Avg
Heart Rate: 52 173 152 bpm
Speed: 5:27 0:00 7:55 min/mi
@Greg, like Gordon I am new to power and the Haus. Training with power has been great. I have picked up 22 watts since week 1. Now some of that is just testing better but my pacing still is terrible so Iam thinking a lot of it is fitness. You will start to get a feel for what it takes to push certain watts. I recall riding outside in week 2 or 3 and thinking I was crushing it until I looked at the watts and realized that at that time I had no idea what I was doing. So it is a good learning curve. I also love that it is a totally objective measurement of your work. No HR where you never know exactly how hard you are going. I have also read lots in the forums. Lots of good info in there. Enjoy!
STUD
I'm guessing I underestimated my first interval a bit at: 283 watts then 303 watts with the last 5 mins of interval #2 @ 326 watts ramping up to 418 at the end. Oddly, it felt easier the last 5 mins of the 2nd interval than all other moments of the test. What gives? Is it an endorphin release like getting a tatoo? Very cool.
Vince
I think that sometimes the last 5 minutes of the second interval are the "easiest" because you can rationalize only a few more minutes until you are done. It is minutes 2-15 in the second that are the "hard" part for me mentally. 326-418 are big numbers. I do not know anything about getting a tatoo but hear that it hurts...
Sounds like a great set up. You will love it.
Nemo will probably send you to a thread to learn the power thing.
V
I have a "don't ask-don't tell" policy. JK. Got a big one between my shoulder blades after my first marathon in Maui. At times it hurt really bad to the point of almost "tapping out" but then all of a sudden it felt strangely good, near pleasurable. I can see how people get addicted to them. That's the only tat I plan on getting. Out of sight...out of mind.
Vince
Chris...I guess that is what happened to me as I break the intervals up into 5 min sections and tried to hold a high 270's and low 280's, then next 5 mins at high 280's and slightly climb or just hold the number for each 5 min section. I will have to start higher next time but was surprised at the ease of pushing a much tougher gear without losing form or really being in much pain. Even my breathing seemed to be less labored at 170 bpm than at 161-163 bpm.
I tried to summon my inner Cancellara (sp?).
V
up to 267 from 252....sweet! Oh man, I am staring down 270's...bring it!
JC
Vince
Got sidetracked by a mtb ride yesterday---it was such a perfect day with decent traction and snowglobe snow blowing everywhere. I just couldn't bear to be inside on a trainer. So I did the test tonight...
NP = 177. (It was 179 for the Power Hack test so pretty darned close) Up from 165...which makes it a 6.8% increase. I reached my all time high FTP last year at 205. I know, I know...can't be livin' in the past, man! But I can see that goal in the horizon.
Awesome job with the testing, Team Holy Crap! What's not expressed in gains of watts will show itself in mental strength on race day!!
Steve and I are a bit off schedule. He teaches 4 spin classes this week so could not fit in a test.We hope to test in a week or so. We host lots of fun workouts for our team and had the opportunity to do a killer trail run Sunday. It was awesome!! So it left us with sore legs in a good way. We host track Tuesday's and today the track was covered in a thin sheet of ice. We did short fast intervals and it was crazy hard while slipping. Thank goodness I had not planned to do the 5K test this week. I'll do that one in a few weeks.
We will keep at it with our current numbers and test when it fits into our schedules.
I have the next two days off and plan to do 2 group rides outside!!! Yeah!
Happy Holidays!! I am sitting here with a cup of coffee with Eggnog mixed in...YUM!!!
CC
Test? What test?!?! Well, I was surprised after being offline for a bit. I did a pretty hard run Monday morning, then logged into the plan to see what the bike workout was for Tuesday, and WHOOOPS!!!
No worries - I read through all your posts and got the mojo flowing.
I did my test this morning, and I got a pleasant 10w bump! From 231 up to 241. It's not where I should ultimately be, but I'll take it! The other observation is that this was my most 'consistent' test - my avg cadence was spot on at 89, without much variance through the meat of the intervals.
Very happy. Thanks for the mojo-injection!
Mike
Here are the numbers, which are slightly disappointing and certainly humbling. First FTP test ever. Scary to see where i'm at. Highlights where i need to be.
Lap 2 (0:20:01.02):
Work: 382 kJ
TSS: 44.9 (intensity factor 1.016)
Norm Power: 264
VI: 1
Lap 4 (0:20:00.41):
Work: 342 kJ
TSS: 36.2 (intensity factor 0.988)
Norm Power: 257
VI: 1
thanks bud!!!
j
Not a good test for me but I'm ok with it. I've been nailing the bike workouts and my 28 day chart gives me some good guidance on what I'm capable of. I tried to test on Monday and had to abort. Was exhausted and back was killing me from the shoveling on Sunday. Had trouble sleeping Monday night waking a 3:15am Tuesday morning. Was wiped out most of the day d/t no sleep and a busy day driving to Boston and back. No way I was testing yesteday. Figured with 2 days off completely from working out the mojo would be strong this am and the legs would be energized. Mojo yes. Legs energized...Nope! First 20' felt really good. 2nd' 20' the wheels just suddenly came off, and I mean suddenly without warning. I tried to fight through it for a few minutes before realizing that I was going into survival mode. Convinced myself that I had to do whatever it took to get through the 20' to, at a minimun, make it a good 2x20' workout. 1st 20' @ 269, 2nd 20' held on to 256. Not the numbers I anticipated nor the numbers I know I'm capable of based on recent workouts (2x15's, 2x20's).
It's been a pretty stressfull couple of weeks. Haven't been sleeping well. Many days I just wake up at 3:15a with my mind working full speed regarding stuff that needs to get done for work, changes in my role at work, a job interview I recently had, the prospect of perhaps uprooting and moving to a new city, etc. On top of this I resumed running a couple of weeks ago. I think I really underestimated the effect of adding in running (albeit most days very easy running) on top of week 6 and 7 bike workouts. I'm off from work until January 4th and looking forward to completely recharging mentally and physically simply by eliminating many of the stressors and getting more sleep. Until the next test I'll jut keep working my arse off as there's still a lot of O/S left.
@ Kevin L - Don't worry about the number of your first test. It's a victory just doing one of these tests. You now have your baseline and you will more than likely see some big gains as you both get stronger and learn to test better. Not to mention being under the tutelage of Chris G.
@Aaron - I hear ya man. A 2x20' workout it is and was. No big whoop. Hang in there with all the other stressors you have going on, that's a lot to have on your mind. Enjoy the time off from work and regroup. Go easy on those runs, too.
Dave