During “test week”, I am doing 3 x 20′ steady state on the off days.  I’m trying to home in on the right training power and also do something that I think will be easy to keep up with in future test weeks.

Today, it was chilly outside, so with open windows, it was quite cool, maybe mid-50s, and it was quite breezy, so I had a lot of air flow.  I’ve noticed a very strong correlation between HR and temperature, so I expected my HR to stay low and it did.  It also felt incredibly easy.  I had intended to back off from 193W to 190W for todays session, but it just felt so incredibly easy, I couldn’t do it.  I stuck with 193W.

As usual, I did the slow start.  I’m more convinced every day that this makes a big difference

Workout Summary – Nov 14, 2015
–_|_Total_|_-Total-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg-_|_Avg-_|_-Avg-_|_–Avg–_|_-Avg_|_-Avg
–_|_Dist-_|_-Time–_|_-Pace–_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_-HR–_|_-%HRR–_|_-DPS_|_-SPI
–_|_14589_|_60:00.0_|_02:03.4_|_186.3_|_18.9_|_130.6_|_ 61.4% _|_12.9_|_09.9
Workout Details
#-_|_SDist_|_-Split-_|_-SPace-_|_Watts_|_SPM-_|_AvgHR_|_Avg%HRR_|_DPS-_|_-SPI

01_|_04745_|_20:00.0_|_02:06.4_|_173.1_|_17.9_|_122.7_|_ 55.8% _|_13.3_|_09.7
02_|_04919_|_20:00.0_|_02:02.0_|_192.9_|_19.4_|_132.8_|_ 63.0% _|_12.7_|_09.9
03_|_04924_|_20:00.0_|_02:01.8_|_193.5_|_19.4_|_135.7_|_ 65.0% _|_12.7_|_10.0

But lactates don’t lie.  When I used this power on Thursday, I tested at 3.0mmol/l.  Today, with my HR so low and a low RPE to match, I expected to test out well below 2.0, but that is not what happened.  I tested out at 2.5mmol/l.

That’s a bit better than Thursday’s reading, but still above target.  It just goes to show you how variable HR is as a guide for steady state training.  If I was using HR as a guide, I would have pushed the pace much harder and my lactates would have probably been above 5.0 by the end.

There is a little nagging doubt in the back of mind that maybe this test was wrong.  Maybe I contaminated it with a bit of sweat.  But I’m pretty careful, and it isn’t that far off.  I only have to be a little bit above target to start to accumulate lactate and over 60 minutes, the difference between 2.0 and 2.5 is very small.

So, I have to earn the right to train at 193W.  I have to back off and get 3 tests below 2.0 before I push the pace up.

Here are my 60′ lactates

Later today I’ll be doing my 6K test.  Target is sub 1:50 pace.  SB last year was 1:49 pace.  PB is 1:47.6 pace.  I think a PB is out of reach, but if today is a good day, I might be able to match last season.  I need to remember that this is just a marker for the beginning of winter training.