If my power data ramblings do not please you, tough luck. I got home from a relatively easy day at work and after horking down a burrito bowl from Chipotle (nothing but rice, black beans, meat and hot salsa) I noticed my resting h.r. was low- as in about 50 while standing up looking in the mirror. Yesterday I took rest- just a light easy spin on my spinning bike. Last Sunday I thought I might try a field test during my indoor training at Providence Bike, but aborted that idea after the 5 minute "blow-out". (280 watts?!) Meaningless to you, I know.. At any rate, I was feeling up to the task tonight, so I just did it. 20:00 warm up, followed by three 1:00 intervals in zone 5, 1:00 apart. Then 5:00 recovery.. Followed by a zone 4+ 20% interval of 5:00 (300w+ this time), then 10:00 recovery, and finally, 20:00 TT. It was a success. (Note: "success" is indicated relative to
completion- in years past i am guilty of aborting a couple of field tests simply because fatigue caught up to me about 7-8 minutes into the TT. No such failure on this first try) Anyway, I set a realistic target and hit it hard. By starting out conservatively I was able to really control the intensity in the 2nd 10 minutes. I changed gearing and cadence a few times, and it helped.. The last 2 minutes were eye popping. I actually went a little past 20 minutes to average it up to where I wanted, meaning that I did better than the PT indicates. I'll download in the morning and see what's what. Thanks for reading.
Update: Added below is the 20 minute TT chart from last night, and at the bottom left, find the data from a field test from the same time last winter (1/23/09). Last night's data is on the right.
It pleases me to see that the winter program is bearing some fruit. When you consider that I am 5 pounds lighter this time around, it looks even better from a watts/kg standpoint. Thanks.
8 comments:
Did you use a different trainer this time? Because you went slower even though the power is much higher...
Same trainer- but it has an adjustment lever that is often bumped around- or my son messes with it. I tend to keep it centered but sometimes it's a click in the H or L direction.
The tire pressure and the tightness of the tire against the drum make a difference too.
Is this a PT or the ergomo?
This is using the PT, freshly zeroed.
If it was the Ergomo, the TT would have averaged about 280. I never trusted that thing. Sold the head unit to a guy in the Netherlands. Still have the BB with the bolt snapped off.. It's a paperweight.
It is normal for a crank measurement to be higher than a hub measurement, as losses from the chain and your crusty jockey wheels make up the difference. Have you looked at CinQ0?
You should be at 280 anyway. And you should do the test holding steady the entire time. If you can sprint like that at the end, you held back too much.
I am not a skilled time trialist, so I need to play tricks on myself to endure anything over 5 minutes, hence the variation in gear/cadence.. Yeah I held back because my tendency is to go at a 10 minute pace and then fall apart 1/2 way through.. I really wanted to finish this one successfully. I used a HRM and could see that whenever I went over 174-5 bpm, I was getting really cooked. and I would pull back just a touch..
My numbers are not impressive, especially relative to my weight, but it is February 5th after..
The whole point of this exercise is to [periodically] re-set the benchmark in Training Peaks software (and during workouts)so that a proper ATL and CTL is calculated- it's all driven by FT.. I know you have a low opinion of this particular data, but it gives training some structure and makes it more meaningful [to me]. Additionally, I just like knowing where I stand. I can't tell "by feel" how fit or fatigued or rested I am. Between working 50 hours a week, running a home based business, managing and sponsoring a masters team, and training/racing as musch as I possibly can, I really need to "use the tools" and avoid guessing.
On that note, why not get an LT test and find out the HR and power points where lactate starts to accumulate in your blood. It's easy and relatively cheap, and a much better way of setting your zones than doing an uneven test.
I'm good with this method, tough it does interest me to one day find out how gifted/cursed i am genetically..
As for the sprint at the end there.. I'm going to re-post the pictures so that you can enlarge them. What you will find is that the "sprint at the end peaks out at 457 watts- not much of a sprint - just emptying the tank- HR topped out at 188.
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