System Check

Today's ride is a system checkup. It looks like this: 8 minute block alternating 15sec at 150%FTP then 15sec recovery. Recover fully for 10min, then 10min right at FTP with a 10sec maximal out of saddle burst every minute.

The point of this workout is to tax the lungs; it does so very effectively. After weeks of doing base work, today's program is simply to check on VO2 system. It's way too early in my training to try and carve out gains on the "high end". But I do want to know where I stand... just 'cause.

The workout starts out feeling way easy. But it always. The first couple of minutes feel like a breeze, but by the end I'm usually seeing spots and getting faint tastes of my previous meal. Thus, I stick to the plan. But it never quite gets to that intensity. I'm still feeling strong at the end. Darn, should have gone harder.

Looking over the power/HR traces after the ride show better than expected. Am I ahead of were I thought fitness wise?
Maybe... I'm slowly becoming a believer in base training. Endurance athletes know that sub-threshold training holds benefeits across the physiologic ranges. I'm becoming warm to the idea that endurance work holds benefits for non-endurance focused riders.

I'm very curious to see where I'm going to be when I performance test in a few weeks. Two weeks remain on this bloc, followed by another 4-week base building bloc. Then the heavy work begins as I try to put on strength, power, and speed in preparation for fall.