It is time.  I have been slacking for too long, even if I have been recovering from an Achilles injury.  I need to get back to some serious training and that started today.

With the Achilles injury still not 100% better, I am avoiding running for a few more days. That, together with the imminent closing of the pool where I swim, means my initial focus is going to be on cycling.  I will also kick off a little strength and conditioning work too. 

The problem with getting back to serious training on the bike, is that I have lost cycling fitness.  I haven’t ridden a bike in earnest for almost eight weeks.  This was because I was focussed on SwimRun NC and the Indianapolis marathon.

I therefore decided that I needed to get a rough idea of how much my FTP has dropped in those eight weeks.  To estimate FTP, I have traditionally done the “20 Minute Test”.  I have also tried Wahoo’s 4DP test.  Today, I did my first attempt at a “Ramp Test”.

The “Ramp Test” is a test to failure, where you try riding one minute intervals, where the power keeps increasing.  You can get an idea of what it looks like from the photo above. I did this test on TrainerRoad.

The test confirmed my suspicion. My FTP has indeed dropped and it has dropped by quite a bit.  That is OK however, because now I can get back to work, and see if I can get it back to where it was. A solid, six week block of work, is ahead of me to get that done.