Testing Times

With my holiday almost upon me I felt it was important to test myself before my short break, to give me a guide to where I am and how my training is progressing. Bear in mind that I am now following the Primal Blueprint (PB) principles of training which means doing plenty of sub 75% of max heart rate (MHR) work, avoiding the 75-90% of MHR zone and doing occasional sprint work to reach above 90% of MHR. For me this is very much experimental and although the author of the PB is convinced and there is plenty of evidence to show that it works, I remain sceptical until I can prove it to myself.

For me, the test is very simple; it's a 40km turbo TT. Get on, warm up, calibrate the turbo, then cover 40km as quickly as possible. For reference purposes, my PB for this was achieved on 21 Aug 09 in a time of 50:33. I started training for the 2010 season at the beginning of January, somewhat later than most but my A race is not till October. My first turbo TT was on 9 Jan 10 and was a tardy 61:34, so clearly there was plenty of work to do. As expected, though, consistent training saw the times tumble quickly and on 31 Jan 10 I recorded 55:42; a significant improvement but still well short of the 48-something I wanted to achieve to prove to myself that a sub-5 hour bike split was achievable at QCB in October. And then I went Primal. A change in diet and a change to my training regime meant that I was not doing the long, hard sessions anymore, and although I was racking up the miles and doing my sprint sessions I never seemed to be in a position to test myself, so I was never quite sure whether I was improving. A couple of sportives convinced me I was in reasonable shape, as I recorded gold standard times at both of them. But how was my absolute speed developing?

There was only one way to tell; get on the turbo and do it. Let's not beat about the bush, the 40km turbo TT is one very painful session. Ideally, you need to be well rested, well fuelled having eaten at least 2 hours before the test (if done properly this test will take you very close to the vomit threshold), and well hydrated. I can't say my physical prep was ideal but mentally I was up for it. I have done this test many times and know what to expect.

So how did it go? The cold hard facts are that I completed the test this evening in 50:48! Just 15 seconds off my PB and yet it's only May, and I haven't done any focussed speed work yet. I am, to put it mildly, completely overjoyed by this result. I can now head off into my Spring break in Italy knowing I am in good shape already and so a week off is not going to harm me too much.

When I get back from my holiday I will continue with the base-orientated work until the 200km Magnificat sportive on 13 June. I will then have a recovery week before starting a block of speed work that will take me up to The Outlaw Long Distance Triathlon Relay on 8 August. After this race I will analyse what part of my cycling needs attention and attempt to address this in the 2 months between The Outlaw and QCB.

For now though, I am off to enjoy the delights of Italy. Take care folks, train smart, race hard and rest easy.