Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Countdown to Ironman, Week 21: Testing, Testing... 1...2..3.. Testing...

Yesterday I did an "FTP" test on the bike. Technically, that stands for Functional Power Threshold. But in reality it's more like Fallingdown Tired and Puking, which is how you feel when it's done. Basically, 40 minutes of hell on a bike trainer.

But the good news is that on October 31, my average power output for the test was 178 watts, and yesterday it was 208 watts, which means I'm pushing more power on the bike, and hopefully getting ready to kick some ass on the hills of Coeur d'Alene come June.

Tomorrow I'll hit the running track for the equally un-fun 5k running test and we will see what that holds. My start of the season test was 27:12, and in December I did 25:59, so I'm hoping that trend will continue downwards as well.

I also did my first 1000 yard swim test since breaking my arm, clocking in at 13:54, for a 1:23/100 yard average pace. Not as fast as before the injury last summer, but not as slow as I feared either.

All things considered, as I head into the last 20 weeks of training, things look pretty good. I've never been someone who has looked too much at numbers - heart rate, pace, watts, etc. but now I kind of wish I had some numbers from previous years to see where I'm at. Mostly because with my injuries in the last few years, I have no idea if I'm just barely getting back to previous levels of fitness, or if I'm truly in good form. Just going by feel, it seems pretty good. I guess the proof will be in the pudding.

1 comment:

Miles of the Journey said...

I am happy that the numbers are telling a good tale. You have done well.