Computrainer Critical Power Test Week 15

It's that time again in the training plan, another critical power test to see how I'm improving. As you may recall, the critical power test in week 10 was a flop. Maybe I didn't improve, maybe I didn't get enough rest, who knows.

Going into this morning's test, the plan was to average 240 watts for the first ten minutes, then raise the average five watts over each of the next ten minutes for a target average watts of 250.

I started out and tried to keep the pace even, trying for a hard even pace. I went through the first five minutes averaging 243 watts which was a little high but it felt pretty good. At this point I decided to hold this pace and see how I felt at ten minutes.

The ten minute average was up three watts to 246 and I still felt pretty good. Trying to relax and control your breathing while pushing 246 watts isn't easy for me but that's what I was trying to do.

At fifteen minutes I was averaging 249 watts which was my target for thirty minutes. Now all I had to do is not explode and I should make my goal. Relax, take a drink from the water bottle and try not to lose focus.

With twenty minutes completed and only ten to go, I was averaging 252 watts which is new territory for me with a duration of twenty. If I didn't explode, I would meet my goal and probably beat it by a little.

Increasing by three watts every five minutes was also looking great. Trying to do math while working this hard, I think it meant that I would finish around 258.

Things started to get tough between minutes 20 and 25. My wattage increased to 253 so I was still improving but the three watt gains had stopped. Time to refocus and finish the test.

The last five minutes were tough. I wanted to get to 255 but that would require a solid effort over the last five minutes, especially considering minutes 20 through 25. The new plan was to hold 253 until twenty-eight minutes and then try to lift the wattage one watt per minute. I jumped up on the pedals at twenty-eight for a short sprint and raised the wattage to 254 and then at twenty-nine, I just buried it, getting to 255 before time ran out.

Now the question is, what's the next set of workouts going to be like since I increased my watts by fifteen? I hope I can make it through the next four weeks.