Underway - Test # 1

So, my winter training program is officially underway. It sort of got underway last week as I had a pretty full training week but officially this week is the start of the program. Today I did some tests on the trainer to determine my power profile. Here is the result:

Weight (kg)	Power Profile
75.5	Duration	Watts	W/Kg	Rank
	5 sec	654	8.66	Untrained
W/Kg	1 min	396	5.25	Untrained
3.38	5 min	309	4.09	moderate (Cat 4)
	FTP (.95*20')	255	3.38	moderate (Cat 4)

The important numbers from the above table are my Functional Threshold (based on a 20' test) and my current weight in kg. My estimated FTP is 255 watts which is a little bit discouraging as my best 20' interval from just over a month ago yielded an estimated FTP of 276 watts. On the other hand, today's test was done on the trainer and it's not atypical to under-perform on the trainer as compared to outdoors. The important thing is that I now have a benchmark from which to determine my training zones for the next 6 weeks.

My current weight of 75.5 kg tells me I have 5.5 kg to lose in 18 weeks and that's certainly doable. My FTP goal is to reach 300 watts in 18 weeks which, at a current FTP of 255, would suggest I'd need to raise my FTP by 45 watts, a tall order at best. I'd be happy with a 30 watt increase on the trainer which I think would translate to pretty close to 300 watts on an outside test.

Something I've been paying a lot of attention to lately is my position on the bike, for two reasons. One reason is that I've been experiencing chronic pain along my left ITB following long and/or hard rides and I think that a lot of that has to do with my position on the bike. The second reason is similar; during a long and/or hard ride, I experience lower back soreness. Again, I think that this has something to do with bike fit. 

What I discovered today is that the trainer is perfect for making adjustments to bike fit. During my 15 minute warmup, I took the time to focus on areas of tightness or discomfort as I was pedaling. I found that lowering the seat about 10 mm and moving it forward about 20 mm all but eliminated the discomfort and made pedaling seem more natural. Consequently, I was able to complete the 2 hour ride, with some very hard intervals, without any lower back pain. Even better, I experienced no pain along my ITB whatsoever from the session. This is very encouraging. In future, I'll be tweaking the fit on all my bikes using the trainer.