20 Minutes of Truth

Sometimes the truth hurts and nothing could be truer than the first 20 minute time trial of the season. This is a test I would like to perform every 6-8 weeks to determine my Functional Threshold power (aka, hour of power). However, the mere thought of the test frightens me and in all truth (I see a trend here) prevents me from hitting this test every 6-8 weeks. I've also been hitting a similar test in my swim workouts consisting of a 500yd time trial and on the run I will be incorporating 5k time trials.

The 20 minute time trial on the bike consisted of a good 20min warm up, 5min at my estimated functional threshold or a bit above, a 10 min easy ride, and then the 20 minutes of truth. I knew I performed the test well when during the last 5 minutes I was on the verge of seeing my breakfast for the second time that day. All in all it was a good test putting my avg watts for the 20min period at 328w. I use a fugde factor of 5% to put my Functional Threshold watts at roughly 312w. A little scary as 312w is my best for the test and the season doesn't start until June.