Gearing Up for 2020 Season

I have not started my 2020 preseason training yet, though I am still getting up every day to do something.  Since my surgery in November, I decided to take November and December and only do what I feel like and limit any structured training.  I was cleared to start swimming on December 6th so I have started some structured swim workouts just to start regaining some fitness in the pool.   It is amazing how quickly you lose your feel for the water and I will be swimming three days per week until the start of my preseason on January 1st.

However, I did notice that TriDot scheduled an assessment week this week and I figured this was a good time to go ahead and determine where I am fitness wise and establish my zones.  The key to assessments is to treat it like a scientific experiment and repeat the same conditions as much as possible so you can closely compare your current results to prior results.  Additionally, you want to perform the assessments as if you are racing.  Therefore a bike FTP test should be done in race position.  Train like you race, race like you train!

So this morning I gave it a go to see where my fitness is on the bike with a new fit including shorter cranks.  I have basically not done any type of interval or power work on the bike since before my surgery so I was really curious how this would go.  First of all, it was harder than I remember to set a wattage that I thought I could hold and follow through.  Of course I over estimated, thinking I was in as good of shape as last season.  Therefore I suffered!  Second, I really struggled to stay in race position and hold power.  This is probably a combination of not being fully acclimated to the new fit and shorter cranks as well as lack of body conditioning to remain in aero position.  As I write this, I should have expected this and am not discouraged by this.

The final results are reasonable and I am in a good place to build.  I averaged 260W for the 20 min test with an average heart rate of 172 bpm.  At 147 pounds, this is 3.8 W / kg.  Here is the data from TrainingPeaks:



TriDot takes this information and sets up my training zones for the next training block.  Here they are:

Rather than compare to my peak last year, I compare to my results before starting my preseason last year.  As long as I am higher than that point, I know I continue to build in fitness year over year.  My November 2, 2018 test resulted in a 252 W average, so I can infer that my fitness carry over is in pretty good position and can expect a gain in my FTP going into my first race beyond that of last year.  This is a good result and I am happy!  Below is a chart of my 20 min W/kg progress since April 2017.  As long as I see that linear trend line increasing, I know that old man time has not beat me yet!

Cheers to 2020, time to “get after it!”