The idea is that over those 6 weeks, you base your workouts on your tested threshold. As you work out, you occasionally push yourself beyond that threshold, increasing it. When you do the test again, you show an improved threshold, and the cycle begins again. At least, that's the plan.
Today, my threshold results showed 4 watts lower than my previous threshold. That's not supposed to happen. Maybe I was just having a bad day. I will continue to base my threshold on my previous results, instead of today's test. My one consolation is that I am not measuring direct power, but instead measuring "virtual power" using the TrainerRoad software. Instead of measuring true power being transferred to the bike through a power meter, it calculates a power number based on measured speed and cadence along with a known "power curve" for my specific model of trainer. Because it takes all these factors into account, the numbers can be thrown off by a number of things, including the air pressure in my tires, and how much I have tightened down the trainer.
So, I don't really trust the numbers. That's not good, but oh well. I'll continue to use my numbers from last time. And either way, I got in a nice hard workout, which was my real plan for today.
Food:
- Breakfast: Fruit / protein smoothie, as usual
- Lunch: I broke down and got a cheesesteak. So sue me. It was delicious. I justified it by knowing I was going to have a salad for dinner.
- Dinner: Sausage with peppers and onions. I thought my wife was going to the gym, leaving me and the kids on our own for dinner. But her workout got moved to later in the week, so we had to whip up a family dinner. So, instead of my salad, we had some sausage we were saving for later. Oops.
Exercise:
- 45 minutes on the elliptical when I woke up. 4.7 miles.
- 20-minute threshold test on the trainer. Came up with an FTP of 211 watts. Previous result was 215 watts. I'm going to continue to train based on 215 watts.
Today's weigh-in: 189.4
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