40km Turbo TT

I know when training is going well and I'm feeling good about myself because my mind starts telling me that I need to do some 40km turbo TTs. And so it was this week, that little voice in the back of my head saying "Go on, you know you want to" when my body was saying "Don't do it, they hurt like hell".

As always, it was a case of mind over matter, and after a very pleasant walk along the beach this morning I was into the garage just after 7am for the first really hard turbo session of the year. Yes, I've done some of the 6 x 6 sessions but they are not as tough as this. After a good warm up and calibrating the turbo, I was away. As Sags had done in his recent TT success the plan was to start a little below maximal effort and build into it. To cut what could be a very long and boring story short I finished in 55:18 at an average power of 299 watts. So what does this mean? Well on 9 May when I did my last power test my FTP was 283 watts, so without doing any specific power/interval training, just riding my bike for an average of 6 - 7 hours per week, I have seen an increase in my FTP of 16 watts, or a little over 5%. With 3 months to go to Quelle Challenge Barcelona I reckon I need to raise my FTP by another 30 watts to be in with a realistic chance of a sub 5 hour ride but today's test has demonstrated to me that this is entirely achievable with a structured training programme; I can't wait until the interval work starts at the beginning of August and I start using larger power figures - I reckon my FTP figure will increase rapidly from that point.

As expected my legs are very tired now but I'm feeling really good. We're off to see Ice Age 3 in 3D this afternoon so a chance to relax; I have been known to fall asleep in cinemas and I expect there is a very good chance I will do so again this afternoon.

Anyway folks, take care and train smart. Except those of you who are racing this weekend, in particular those at IM Austria, in which case best of luck to you all and race well.