Today was the first off season test to illustrate the real outcome of the training so far. I was hoping for an additional 5-8 watts to my FTP, and in my mind I was a bit worried about the big break in December. I also had increased the amount of training lately and had slightly sore legs before the training. 

In the first couple of minutes I felt pretty uncomfortable and it took me a while to find the right position on the bike. A couple of heavy but short intervals made the heart beat quite hard and I felt the legs weren't fresh. But as the first of the 8 minute intervals began I felt pretty strong, and in a couple of minutes I gained a lot of self confidence, all of a sudden it felt pretty good. And that feeling kept going all the way trough the workout.

And it all ended with an FTP that was actually 15 watts above the previous. So in a month my training, both gym and riding the bike had increased my Watt/Kg by 0,36. Yes, I am pleased, and this is the part of training that will keep you motivated to train even harder.

This again proves the huge gains about actually tracking what you do and having a training plan. There are few things in life that compares with that feeling when you realize you actually are much better than just a couple of weeks ago, or you achieve a goal that you tried to reach for a long time. I warmly recommend all of you, even if you're "just running on your spare time" to track your running, use a heart rate device and you'll understand what I'm talking about. 

I also spoke with Kjell Carlström today, Team IAM Cycling directeur sportif and ex professional pro tour cyclist. Really interesting stuff with building up a new team. That team sure has a lot of potential, will be really interesting to follow them! Unfortunately their webpages are in French only, but they should be updating them soon. And you'll find Team IAM Cycling on Facebook as well: https://www.facebook.com/IAMcycling

Tomorrow new week, new possibilities, take them and enjoy them!