Testing

This week in addition to the Indoor Time Trial last Sunday my coach had on my schedule some power profile tests yesterday and field tests tomorrow.The power profile test consisted of two 10 second efforts to test maximum power and then one 60 second all out effort and a 5 minute all out effort to test sustained power. While we're not really concerned with my 10 second sprinting power since I don't need that skill it is interesting to compare it to the chart that shows what a typical cat 1-5 and professional level riders would hold. The one minute and five minute effortss along with the field test (2 x 8 minutes)are beneficial to my training. We'll do these three to four times per year to measure progress in terms of average power along cadence and heart rate averages and maximums. We'll make adjustments to my training zones as needed. For those interested in power on the bike and looking for some comparison my 10 second efforts averaged in the mid 600's and hit about 800 at their peak. A really great sprinter is going to be around 1500 or higher. My one minute was 560 and my five minute was 390. My field tests are usually around 360-380.

The Indoor Time trial is another great way to test your fitness on the bike. We use the same course every month and since we're riding inside the conditions don't change. Compared to November's effort my watts were down just 1 watt to 382 from 383 and my time just a few seconds slower to 14:57. Given the difficult training of the last several weeks (lots of power intervals) I wasn't too surprised not to see improvement. My fastest effort last year was in February.

My advice for those not using a coach would be to have something in your training that you can use test your fitness. If you ride, maybe you use the same hill to test your time to the top or a mile stretch of road that you can use to time yourself. If you run, you could every so often do a mile on the indoor track at the club (a controlled environment, great for testing) or a mile course outside. For those just concerned with basic fitness you could use your vertical jump height as a measure of power in your lower body, number of pushups (or dips or chinups) for upper body strength. Having some way(s) to test your progress can make your training have more purpose and keep you motivated.