I rarely "test". I've often thought about it as maybe I should, but then I'd rather not waste a session on testing when I could be using that to target improvement instead.

Instead of a formal test, what I do have is a mental database of certain efforts in training, for me it's usually a fast 200 at the end of a set. We do 200's fairly regularly in training, not every day but usually at least every couple of weeks I'll have a set of 4-5 200's. in January when I was coming back into the pool after some time off, that type of 200 would have been in the 2:40 range. On Monday we were given a set of 200's (5x200, some of which were broken into 50's, some were pull, etc, but the last one was a fast 200). On Monday I went a 2:23, so a nice improvement over January.

But, at the same time, I don't like to get too hung up on the specifics. Some days could be awesome and I can go really well, but then that's kind of overestimating what I can "truly" do in practice day-in-day out. and then some days are terrible and aren't a reflection of the progress either. So I keep a sort of mental rough average of where I am now, and where I was, and see if there's a trend towards getting faster or slower.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

As primarily a runner, running is the only one I feel like I have a good handle on! Open races are my main way of gauging progress; I like to use https://runsmartproject.com/calculator/ which lets you compare across race distances (some caveats of course apply). Last winter-spring I raced a mile, 3k, and half marathon, and they were all very close in their "VDOT" ratings.

Next best option in my mind is a regular tempo-effort run on a track or other closed loop (no stops) with reliable surface conditions. Obviously if you are not racing then you need to control for effort; shooting for a route that takes about 20 minutes and running it at the pace you can hold for an hour is a good indicator of threshold speed/fitness (this 20-minute tempo run is a workout too). An indoor track would be ideal for factoring out temperature and wind, but can get pretty damn boring for long efforts. If you feel very different on different days you can try to standardize by always running at the same time of day / same day of week relative to workouts, using same shoes, same food beforehand, etc. You can also opt to only run a loop when conditions are relatively good.

You can do the same with longer interval workouts on a track if you are a sprint athlete or care more about top-end aerobic speed than threshold speed, e.g., 3xMile at 5k effort with 4' jogged rest, 5x1000m at 5k effort with 3' jogged rest. Do a repeatable workout on a track every few weeks and see how your times trend, holding rest fixed.

You can also do easier-paced work and monitor your heart rate if you care about endurance. E.g., run a few-mile loop at 30"/mile slower than marathon pace and see how your heart rate on this segment trends over time (or you can run at fixed heart rate and track your pace over time). Tying to heart rate makes you dependent on weather and other factors like stress, sleep, etc, but is lower-impact than a race or tempo or interval workout.

Run: I have 5km gravel path circuit that I use. Sure, conditions matter, but I'm just checking improvement so I don't care if the attempt has perfect conditions or not
Ride: FTP test, as you stated, but I also do a 5 minute test as well (I do XTERRA racing, so this is pretty important for mountain biking)
Swim: 3x300 and average the times to get a CSS

Cycling: 50mi on the track

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https://www.strava.com/...tes/zachary_mckinney

Outside the bike norm tests, I like to know my other power PRs. 1min, 2min, 5min, 8. Usually done on segments instead of indoors. Or during hammer rides trying to drop folks or get away for good. You know how you feel and what it may take to pull it off.

I’m right at where I’d ever want to be for a minute. Well, 45sec right at 700. Segment too short.

Work to do on the 2 thru 8 min range. Goals there are 450+ for 2, 380 for 5, and 350 for 8. I’m within 25w on all.

But, huge grain of salt. Ability to do stuff once ain’t shit. It’s about the size of the match box or bandolier.

So, it matters more to me that I can do something 3x in an event or hammer fest.