A New Gear

I am now finishing up my second build phase and beginning the taper to my first seasonal peak. Something is fundamentally different with my engine. My power is up dramatically and no I am not doping. During my recent race simulations I sustained FTP for nearly two hours. Well, that means it is time for testing but I haven't found a convenient moment yet for this.

While racing Saturday with the team, I watched James, Steven and Brad ride away from me on Usery Pass. At this point in the race I had been doing more work than these guys but, still, when I hit the pass I could see that they were going too fast for me. To hang with them I would have to sustain something over 320 watts and hold it for almost fifteen minutes. Instead, I let them go, dialed in 300 watts and just held hit gambling that I could catch them on the downhill. The finish of that race is another story but it made me wonder if it isn't time to increase my FTP.

Yesterday I went out to that same 3.5 mile climb resolving to do three twelve minute repeats at 310 watts, (my former FTP was 292). Hitting the first effort I felt comfortable with my power fluctuating between 310 and 340 watts. My HR averaged right around 170 bpm and I felt pretty comfortable. When I got home I was pleased to see an average power of 323 watts for that effort. The second time up I managed 310 and finally 307.

While my endurance is still dubious with the cramping issues the elevated LT should lessen the impact. This increase in power means I have a bigger engine than I have ever had before which is making me contemplate the question, "how"? What is different this year?

One thing is the ability I have had to train outdoors. Overload is much easier for me if I feel the wind and have the distraction of moving scenery. I think another is the heavy emphasis on VO2max specifically 4 minute and Tmax intervals. My philosophy has changed from the past in that I no longer assign myself a number of intervals to complete. Instead, I assign myself a power to maintain and continue the efforts until I can no longer sustain the power. In some cases that has meant doing way more reps than I otherwise would have done. Specifying the number of reps may have done some psychological damage in that I shut down once reaching the required number of intervals. Lastly, just going out and riding as hard as I can for as long as I can has had some impact I believe. Setting out a course then riding it TT style aiming to hold 290 watts.