Catch up: May

Weight: 12-9.2. (Target 12-4). Loss: 3.6 lbs.
May Training: Hours: 48:17 (Target 44:00). Bike: 1,047km. TSS: 993/wk.

Training...
May was always going to be the month where, all being well, everything starts to come together.  Increased fitness from prior months training and increased urgency (!) means that this should be the peak month for training.  For me, the key to solid training is consistency, an hour every evening on the turbo, one rest day per week, and two solid rides at the weekend.  And that is what I did for May - averaging 12hrs/wk (4.5 hrs Mon-Fri and 7.5 Sat-Sun) - which makes it one of my biggest months of training.

FTP...
It had been a few weeks since I last tested my FTP.  Sure I had been monitoring my power files in Golden Cheetah, and had even raised my FTP in mid-April based upon improved output.  But the there is no substitute for a proper test.  So, with no excuses  left, I started my Saturday ride with a short warm up and then set off on my TT / FTP test route (Ripley-Green Dene).  I targeted 290-300w for the first 15 minutes and increased to 300-350w up Green Dene. The score on the doors was 301w for 24mins which I 'converted' to 288w FTP. An increase of 18w (7%) over 6 weeks. Still 12w (4%) to go over the next four weeks in the run up to the Transalp if I am going to hit the magic 300!


Weight...
Down 3.6 lbs.  Hmmm.  Firstly the positive >>  the weight is still going down.  However, a little too slowly as just 0.8 lbs/week.  I should be capable of losing 1.5 lbs/week.  I think that I have taken my eye off the ball with regard to diet - clearly as per above there is plenty of training - so whilst the Calories Out are great, the Calories In have crept up. I had hoped to hit 77kg (12st 2) for the Transalp. That is now looking beyond me and 79.5 (12st 7) looks more likely to be my fighting weight.