3 (hundred) is the magic number

After 13 weeks of lockdown, I’ve reached my goal.  Last night I did my latest TrainerRoad ramp test, and for the first time ever, I got over the 300 watt barrier for my ftp; the first time in nearly 5 years. It’s no surprise that the two key elements to achieving this was consistency and rest. Really, quite simple. 

I am extremely pleased but now the proof of the pudding will be to actually pin a number on and race. Hopefully soon. 

The results are in

Nom nom nom.

No running again this week, with a beautifully formed bruise on the top of my foot where it looks like I've strained a tendon or some such. I've progressed from hobbling in pain to being able to walk normally, which I suppose is an improvement, but I'm still waitnig to hear back from a physio to see if there is anything else I can do, although I think some carefully placed plasazote under the balls of my feet will be in order to get my foot in the correct shape.

While that's been going on I have used this week to do an ftp test on Trainerroad and a critical swim speed test in the pool. Both results were really encouraging. On the turbo I was able to push out 275W ftp, which is a power pb, just. Bearing in mind that I had been ill the proceeding 2 weeks and that I had not done any focussed and consistent turbo work this was pretty good. I was expecting a 10-15watt loss, so this bodes well for the rest of the winter. In the pool I absolutely rinsed myself over the 400 and 200 metre tts. I completed the 400 in 7:09 and the 200 was in 3:31, which gives a CSS value of 1:49/100m. This might be a little low as I was holding 1:45s in my 100 repeat sets last week, and probably indicates that I need more endurance as I progress over the next few months.

Other than that it was 3 turbo sessions, finishing off with an hour yesterday afternoon. All good, except it left me in pieces for today's ride out with Simon; 3 hours of barely being able to turn the cranks whenever the road even slightly went uphill. It was pretty rugged, but the rain held off and there was the best cheese on toast in the world, so it wasn't all bad. The next couple of weeks are going to be really hard to fit sessions in, as work and home is particularly busy this month, but hey, no one said it would be easy.

Training works

For the last two weeks or so I had felt that the Trainer road sessions were feeling a little easier as I got a little fitter, so it seemed like a good time to do my third functional threshold power test. In November my first test had been 205 watts, with a slight improvement in December at 212 watts, so I was expecting another modest improvement.  So I started the session thinking that I would be looking at a few more watts and maybe I could squeak over 220; imagine my surprise when I was able to bash out 230 watts. In a word; Boom. I suppose I do also have to factor in it being my third go at this session I am obviously becoming more practiced at pacing. but there's no doubt that I am starting to make some really good improvements and with a 25 watt increase in 10 weeks, I have to be pleased.

This now means that my sessions are that little bit harder as I have to adapt to a higher percentage of power across all the sessions and I think the next few weeks are going to be pretty tough. As Greg Lemond once said 'It doesn't get easier, you just get faster.'

The wrong side of 3w/kg

#StormFrank on the Isle of Wight

It's been a bit of a rest week due to a small family break over the New Year. The great thing about making the conscious decision to not do any running for the foreseable future is that I had no compunction about leaving my trainers at home and not worrying about trying to fit a session in. Just lots of very windy (courtesy of Storm Frank) and wet pub walks, fish and chips and quite a few beers. All good. We came back late Friday night so I was able to get up early on Saturday and Sunday and fit in another three hours on the turbo, including my longest ever turbo session at 2hrs 15 minutes. I think that's the really good thing about Trainerroad as it breaks it all up into manageable chunks, so that and with the aid of a couple of Kermode and Mayo film podcasts made the time while away quite quickly. I must be getting soft in my old age as I so glad not to be out in the horrible grey and turbulent weather that we have had recently. It could have been even worse; I could be on the water DW training. (Very pleased that I am not)

Not that I have tested it recently, but my ftp seems to still be gradually creeping up, as some of the sessions from earlier in the plan have been repeated and my normalised power for the sessions is a few watts higher every time and some of the threshold sessions which left me a dribbling mess a couple of weeks ago are not quite as intense now. A sign, I guess, that it is time to test my ftp again soon.

The big thing I need to get under control is my diet, as like most people I have hit the calories a bit hard over the last two weeks and my weight has crept up somewhat, but thankfully, nowhere near as bad as it could be. Anyway, there's little point working on improving my power output if my weight is going up too so it is time to 'reset' and get some good eating habits going again. My current power/weight ratio is 2.92 w/kg (in his heyday, if you can call it that, Lance was over 7!). So a first aim is to get that number over 3w/kg. A modest but achievable target.

Small wins and all that.