Testing

Today was a strange day. I woke up early so I could get to my Dentist appointment and have three cavities filled that were so small they had a higher cost-per-size ratio than diamonds. Since that took all of 45 minutes, I was back home before Allison had left for work.

It’s my first day off of work for the Christmas holiday break, and now I had the entire remainder of the day in front of me. So naturally I went back to bed. Hey, like I said, I’m on break.

Around noon I woke up, made some oatmeal with almond butter (Allison thinks this sounds gross, but it’s actually one of the greatest breakfast foods known to mankind) and sat around watching the great nothing that is TV in the daytime.

Since it was 25 degrees when I went to the dentist, I figured any activity I would get in would be on the rollers, and I couldn’t get motivated to jump on the hamster wheel. Surprisingly, when I checked the weather the temperature had risen to 48 degrees. With my excuses dwindling almost as fast as the remaining hours of daylight, I kitted up and rolled out for an hour of steady endurance paced riding.

I took it easy for the first half of the ride, keeping heart rate and power within zone 2. I chased a minivan for the Nolensville town line sprint, which the minivan won (riding alone doesn’t present itself with very many competitive opportunities), I decided to do a testing interval the rest of the way home.

I don’t like doing power tests. I’m almost always disappointed with the results. I can ride within a group and decide when to sit back and when to put down some power and generally hold my own. When it’s just me and the road, I have trouble working as hard and usually put down lesser efforts.

Today I wasn’t expecting any different, and for the most part I got what I expected. My Powertap showed 228 watts for the 18 minute return leg of the ride, mostly steady output. Enough to up my lactate threshold and training zones from the 219 I have had them at for the last couple of months, but not a spectacular rise. It wasn’t a true 30 minute LT test as prescribed in Friel’s Training Bible for Cyclists, but it’s close enough for now.

Once we start increasing the pace of our long weekend rides, and I really firm up my training plan, I think I will get more focused about testing and training within zones. This time of year is all about building a solid base though, and I feel like I’m doing that.