My friend Dr. Rodney Roof, a foot surgeon/ortho and Ironman triathlete from Ohio, told me last week I could probably go out and give some 5 minute intervals @ full gas a try. The goal here is to be able to baseline or at least get a sense of where my Functional Threshold Power is. From that number I can begin to do some focused training on the bike to build fitness.
So...this morning I rode up to Wasatch on my Cannondale. Did a few 1 minute warm-up intervals to test the legs and more importantly, test the foot. No issues. Did 3 X 5' @ full gas which turned out to be 272, 271 and 271 normalized average power. Not too shabby. Zero foot pain...maybe a little stiffness but no pain or nothing telling me to back off. Heart Rate was sky high - a whopping 182 bpm. My HR hasn't been that high in years. A true sign that fitness needs to be rebuilt.
Based on this information I would SWAG my current FTP @ ~240 - I'd say that's conservative. If that's the real number then I'm pretty happy. I'm confident that in about 5-6 weeks of focused work I could build that back to 270+.
But before I begin working on rebuilding my FTP I need to be able to handle a full 2 X 20' test. The 2 X 20' is a very taxing workout (even for someone who's not returning from injury) and so I will wait until I see Dr. Van Boerum on Sept 26th before I attempt it. Need to see solid signs of radiographic healing before going full gas for a total of 40 minutes.
Total ride this morning was 83 minutes with 207 average normalized power. I haven't been at that level on a ride in more than 3 months. Legs hurt.
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