If you’ve been following along, and my sources indicate you probably haven’t been, I started the Trainerroad program a few weeks ago as a sign of my commitment to making big gains on the bike this year.
The first order of business on the Trainerroad program is to take an FTP test. I did that, and I scored 252 watts the first time around. That’s decent power, but for a guy my size, not all that impressive. I was coming into the program with a pretty dang good aerobic base, but I’d definitely let my cycling fall off.
I won’t lie–those few extra pounds I was carrying also hindered my bike speed a little. My FTP/kg was at about 2.8.
After following their six week base building program (with a little vacation built in), I took the test again on Tuesday, hoping my dedication to the schedule would give me an FTP of at least 270, maybe even 280.
Well, the number I actually rode missed that mark by quite a bit. I ended up with a new FTP of 305.
305
305!
That’s an increase of 21%. And with a concurrent drop in weight, that puts my FTP/kg at 3.5. That’s an increase of 25%!!!!
I’m not sure how that would factor in time wise, but I’m guessing that means a 40k time trial improvement of a few minutes. Minutes…not seconds. Minutes! I haven’t ridden on the road since starting the program, and honestly, I’m not too keen to get out there for a while because I’m getting unbelievable results on the trainer.
But I’m jumping right into the middle of a 40k time trial program as my cycling training for an Olympic distance race at the end of September. I’ll be flowing straight to a marathon training plan from there, so there’s going to be a focus on the run as well, at least in volume. I think after some big swims this summer I’m ok putting that on auto-pilot for a while. That doesn’t mean no swimming, but I’m not looking for gains.
But here’s the problem…
With that nice, shiny new (and big) FTP, these Trainerroad rides are going to be VERY challenging over the next few weeks. I’m pretty sure that means I’m going to be finishing a little earlier than usual on race day.