If it's useful at all, here's a table that shows my progress from barely-been-on-a-road-bike up to today:

12/15/13 - 192
3/18/14 - 215
5/11/14 - 225
7/10/14 - 239
7/29/14 - 253

Progress has been steady - all 2014 tests have been on my tri bike, in the aerobars exclusively, on my trainer, with zero tapering of any kind. Learning how to get a feel for suffering-but-not-overdoing-it has been important, but I can also feel myself getting stronger. I really like going back and doing one of the workouts that was previously challenging, at my current fitness - it's all the positive reinforcement I need to keep hammering, recovering, and improving. Goal is to get to 300 by the end of the year, which looks like it's a stretch at this point, but we'll see.

Oh, if you're wondering about the gain from 5/11 to 7/29, I felt like I learned a ton about fatigue and effort management at IM CdA, as well as getting stronger in general, so I think that and the recovery in the following weeks explains much of the gain up to last night's test.

Physical details:
6'1"
165 lbs (trying to get down to 160)

Cheers,

-- Jake