I did a "power test" this weekend. 40 minutes, full on, on the computrainer alongside 18 teammates. I've never done one before, so I wasn't sure how it was going to go. After we calibrated our stations, the guy running the test came around and asked each of us if we'd had a power test before and if so, what our average power was. I hadn't, so he guessed. He guessed 145. Which I questioned -- that's endurance pace for me. But as I didn't really know what was supposed to happen, I let it go. But during the warmup, I see the guys on either side of me really working while I'm spinning away in active recovery. Finally when I can see on the screen that I'm supposed to be on the hardest level, I tell the guy that mine isn't getting harder. He assures me it isn't broken.

Then the test. 40 minutes, just you going as hard as you can up and down hills. You can watch your progress on the screen in relation to everyone else's. You can see your power and your average power. I know where I can hold my heart rate in the Fitness Check time trials that last 25-30 minutes, so I aim for slightly lower than that, and just hold it. Its hard, but doable. After 30 minutes, I ramp it up slightly and for the last two minutes, I just crank it out as hard as possible. I almost throw up.

But my average for 40 minutes is 201! And my power to weight ratio for 40 minutes was 3.3. On the 20 minute test charts (I haven't found a 40 minute chart yet), this puts me solidly in cat 3 territory. In February. On the wrong chart. Lots of room for improvement, but I'm satisfied.

I rode an endorphin wave home.

Sunday, the Women's Development Program had a potluck get together to talk about the team target races, our individual goals and our goals as a team. It was really cool to hear what all the different people are thinking about. New women and longtime teammates alike. I think its going to be a good season.