Today was the fourth, and last, bike functional threshold test I will do as part of my Endurance Nation off-season training. I felt great this morning! It was the same kind of feeling I had at the end of my 10K run time trial on Sunday. By the end I wanted to push harder and harder and keep going! It was a high.
The test is structured so that you ride 2 x 20' with a 2' rest interval. In those 20' you try to see how high you can push your functional threshold. I do the test on my Computrainer, then download the results into Cycling Peaks. It does the calculations and gives me my functional threshold number. All of my bike workouts are structured around that number with eye toward lifting it higher and higher. It's the only way to get stronger and faster.
The "using-good-energy-vibes" exercise was put to good use again today, as it was in the 10K TT. I got my mental state in a good place, envisioned doing the test to my best effort, and opened the positive flow valve. By the end, I was having the time of my life! I felt so good, in control, and working to my best effort. I was able to squeeze out a few extra watts from the last test we did only three weeks ago. So in the end analysis, my FTP went up 13 watts in 16 weeks, for an almost 10% increase in speed and power at threshold. I'm thrilled.
Thanks to my coaches Rich Strauss and Patrick McCrann. I am so grateful to them for the results I'm experiencing and the fun I'm having!
