The forecast is pain…
As part of starting a new training plan, I need to do a field test. A field test is a great way to determine your current level of fitness, and therefore very useful when setting up your training ranges. I haven’t done a field test since 2006, not because it isn’t a useful activity, but because it hurts. A lot.
A field test involves the following:
- Warming up thoroughly
- Riding as hard as you can for 8 minutes
- Recovering for 10 minutes
- Riding as hard as you can for 8 minutes
- Crawling home.
8 minutes is right in the pain sweet-spot; short enough that you have to be working very hard to go all out, and long enough that it goes on forever.
So, anyway, I did the test, and ended up with the following results:
| Date | Description | Duration | Distance | Work | Avg power | Max power | Avg HR | Avg Speed | Avg Cad | 95% HR |
| 5/4/2013 | FT #1 | 8:00 | 2.7 | 122 | 254 | 545 | 155 | 20.6 | 102 | 163 |
| 5/4/2013 | FT #2 | 8:00 | 2.9 | 122 | 255 | 434 | 156 | 21.7 | 102 | 164 |
As test results go, these are pretty good; note that the average power, average heart rate, and average cadence are very close. It was a bit windy, so the speed was different between the two efforts. I’m not terribly excited by the average speed, but I do know at a high cadence – which was deliberate – I’m not as fast. I am disappointed by the 95% heart rate, because the last time I did the test I was able to hit 172, and the decrease is another sign that I’m not getting any younger (Max HR goes down as you age…)
Anyway, that gives me an 8 minute average power of 255 watts, which – applying the usual conversion factors – suggests 243 watts for 20 minutes, and 232 watts for 60 minutes.
After the field test, I took the rest of the day off. I’ve tried riding after a field test in the past, and it’s really not a very good idea.
So, what do you think ?