With that in mind here we go again... Last week I was back at York Cycleworks to see Coach Rob (New official name), after a poor test in December we were keen to get another one in to see if it was a one off, or if indeed I had gone backwards from the first.
There is a funny thing about fitness / power testing, and that is that no matter how strong you are it is still horrendous, it starts easy enough but with every 2 mins comes 20watts more resistance and soon the legs are full of lactic and you are trying to suck in air through every orifice, that said there is a love / hate relationship it gives you quite a buzz.
This time though the results were more positive the loading work that I had been doing late in 2015 seems to have worked, overall power is up, although we have lost some efficiency and fitness, which was expected.
So what has caused this to change so much since last time, well one big factor is weight, I was nearly 89kgs at the last test, this time I was closer 84kgs, I had over indulged in December, I am thinking of starting a blog "things coaches shouldn't say to me", as being told not to worry about your weight and ensure you have the energy resources to do the sessions is translated by my brain as eat everything in sight and use carb loading as an excuse!!
Still back on the trail of a strong start to 2016, we have 4 weeks until the first race, I am hoping by then to be at about 83kgs which will give me a watts per kg of 4.64, assuming my power stays the same, which is about where I ended the 2015 season.
One of my sessions was also my first outing on the TT bike, after riding the winter bike the position is a bit of a shock, from relaxed relatively upright to bent over double and looking out of the top of my head, it is an awkward position but one I soon got used to. The biggest issue was my gears, I set off assuming all would be well but after the first 5mins I was just about ready to throw the thing in a field, the gears were not working, the rear mech was simply not moving, I am assuming due to lack of use, but its frustrating none the less. I stopped, gave it a firm "wiggling" and managed to get it to a point where I had the use of some gears, so set off again. This is why its crucial to ride all your bikes before you race then, you just cannot be sure what has happened in the garage over a long winter hanging about.
The session was a 60min TT effort, which after a tough day in the hills was a hard session, trying to maintain FTP for 60mins is brutal and it takes time to remember the hurt, needless to say I didn't manage it, something I am blaming on my bike, obviously!
The session was a 60min TT effort, which after a tough day in the hills was a hard session, trying to maintain FTP for 60mins is brutal and it takes time to remember the hurt, needless to say I didn't manage it, something I am blaming on my bike, obviously!
I managed to average 24mph, and my HR was around zone 3 for the ride, so that does mean that on fresher legs I should be in reasonable shape, I also decided that I need to see the speed I am going as that is a real motivator for me, and I tend to target a specific speed which makes me work harder, so next time I will be looking at speed alongside power.
I have also ordered a thing 20mm rear tyre, my TT bike wont take a wider one for some reason, so I had to run my disc for the above ride and you do feel a bit of a div on a training ride with that on, at least I refrained from wearing the skinsuit.... one to save for racing only!!
Looking to the future, consistent training may become more difficult, my daughter is due to start nursery in May and my wife to go back to work, she is also training again so I can foresee a time where there are some early starts on the turbo to make sure I can do the nursery run, and the rides to work which have been working for me so far may have to be dropped off for a while.
I certainly don't begrudge it, but I am mindful of what it might mean and I am giving some thought to how best to manage that transition.
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