Cyclocross No Show & Fitness Testing

So after my last blog I had every intention of racing the first Yorkshire Points Cyclocorss race at Skipton, given my reasonable current form I was hoping for a good result, however on Sunday morning I was struck down with an ear infection from overuse of earplugs (I thank my new born for her refusal to sleep at night!!), had it just been the ear infection I would have probably still raced but the effects were significant, I was dizzy, very dizzy... imagine if you can that feeling you get after a night on the booze and the bed is spinning, that is where I found myself on Sunday morning, needless to say this was followed by nausea, the end result?  The only racing I did was between my sofa and the toilet.

This sidelined me for Monday as well, luckily I am on an easy week training wise so I didn't mind much.

So yesterday (Wednesday) was testing day, i was nervous that the illness might have taken the edge off my figures... I have changed coaches recently and moved the Robert Stanley, the performance coach at York Cycleworks.  These guys have been very good to me over the years and supported me one way or another and as a store ambassador I have an opportunity work even more closely with them for the rest of 2015 and into 2016.

The testing would cover a number of areas

• Lactate threshold ramp test
• Max Power Sprints
• 1 minute effort
• Physiology analysis (bode fat percentage, skin folds measurements etc)

The physiology test told me nothing new, I am carrying some extra timber...  Weighing in at 84.4kgs and 182cm tall my bodyfat % came out at about 17%, something I need to work on over winter when I can more easily manage a calorie deficit without worrying about performance.

Next up was the Lactate threshold test, this basically a ramp test, you start at a given figure, something easy, and every 2 mins the power figure is increased by 20watts, during this time your lactate is measured, when it "spikes" it gives you the cross over between anaerobic and aerobic threshold.

With only a short warm up I felt pretty bad at first, my HR jumped up and I was concerned it could be a bad test, however after about 10mins I settled down and was able to put it a solid test, the results show (4.64w/kg) that I am in good form but there is potential to improve, 

The Max power sprints are a short 7-8 second effort that measure you max power output they are harder than they seem, again not bad results (756w) for someone who has been focusing on time trialing and not max power efforts.

The 1 minute effort sounds easy, basically a power is selected that you scan maintain for only 1 minute, then you spin up and try and power through, at the start its the easiest thing in the world, but soon it starts to become more difficult and after 20-30secs its really hard work, by the end the pedals are barely moving and your HR is through the roof with a 618w average i was pretty happy.

So now we take the results and see how to make them better, looking forward to getting stuck into a training plan.

If you want to see where your fitness is get in touch with Rob@yorkcycleworks.com and get booked in, if nothing else you can see where you need to improve and renewed focus, otherwise take a look at www.yorkcycleworks.com to see what else they offer!

So what next?  With any luck Yorkshire Points Cyclocross round 2 at Northallerton.... Fingers crossed i make it this time!!