Challenge Wanaka and FTP Increases

The Ironman season is soon upon us.  Challenge Wanaka is set for this weekend.  This is a non M-dot race.  Meaning, there are no qualifying spots for Ironman Hawaii.  Challenge Wanaka though is run by the same organization that runs Challenge Roth.  And Roth, is a must-do Ironman distance race because of the droves of fans that go out to watch.  That is, if you can make it to Germany.

Wanaka,  http://www.challenge-wanaka.com/, on the other hand is held in a very serene part of New Zealand.  There are very few fans that make it out there since New Zealand just is not that populated and that part of New Zealand is even less so.  However, when Sarah and I travelled through Wanaka last year, we loved it.  We ended up staying for about 4 days.  The mountain scenary, big lake and charming town make it one of my favourite places that I have seen so far.  Hence, not only is Challenge Roth on my list for places to race, so is Wanaka.  I just need some more air miles!

Chris, http://bigring-chris.blogspot.com/ is lined up for the big race and the entire field has doubled compared to last year.  He has some competition in the likes of Petr Vabrousek (CZE) and Luke Dragstra (CAN).  Looks like Marilyn, http://marilynmacdonald.blogspot.com/,  is racing as well.  Gina Ferguson and Hilary Biscay are definite competition.  I am not sure about the two German racers.

 Since it is in a far and away place, I am a little worried the race won’t make it.  I am keeping my fingers crossed that it gets a following.

By the way, the first Ironman race is the cooker IM Malaysia slated for Feb 23^rd.

Back at home, Sarah and I finally got our first skate ski in this winter.  The conditions were fantastic!  We went to Sovereign lakes up by Silverstar (near Vernon, BC).  We got in 2.5 hours of skiing and I was shelled the next day (oops, went a little too hard on the hills).  I am looking forward to some more skate skiing.  It is a great way to get outside in the winter and workout.

I did some TT’s last week on the bike.  One day, I did a 5min TT which gives me a good look at my maxVO2 power, as well as, 3*30s in the same workout.  I will be using these numbers to set my upcoming 4min and 30s intervals.  I also did a 30min TT.  I love and hate that one!  Numbers are up from 5 weeks ago.  I had a 15W (6%) increase and that is with very little TT training or hard intervals.  So, I am heading in the right direction.   I am not stating these numbers to brag.  However, when I see s&*t like this advertised by some coaches:

“Athletes using the power version of this plan have made 10-15% gains in Functional Threshold wattage over only 3 months.”

I would just like to show a real world example that I sure as hell hope you get a 10-15% in 3months!  (also, remember that in a race, it is the first one to the line that wins, not the one with the highest FTP, there is more to it than that.)

Peace,

Scott