Best Bike Split

On the Trainerroad blog's they have spoken about 'bestbikesplit.com'. A cleaver piece of software that is able to provide you with the optimum power profile based on the course elevation, wind speeds & direction along with your bike and personal details.

Next weekend is my first race of the season. The Chippenham & District Wheelers U83 24mile hilly Time Trail.

This morning I rode out and did a course recce for two reasons... 1 - to ride the course before hand so I know what the terrain and route is like and 2 - to generate an accurate .gpx file to produce the bestbikesplit race power plan.

After setting up as a free user and filling in my personal details, the details about my TT bike and loading in the gpx file of the course, I was able to generate the 'power plan'.

They ask you specific information about the weather on race day. They also ask for specific power information. What our average/NP will be and how much you want to deviate from this power (for hills/headwinds etc) and hey presto - there is your plan... simples.

Its quite fascinating actually... not only does provide you with a power profile for race day, it predicts your average speed, time and allows you to export the data to various different devices. Those that interest me are:

Trainerroad - I can import the data to Trainerraod to produce a training session with the identical power profile for race day... in effect, I could train for the exact power requirements on the day of the race! You can't exactly be more prepared than that!

Garmin Power Course - I've not used this before, but it will basically produce a 'training profile' on your Garmin display (providing you have the compatible Garmin). Similar to how Trainerroad works, you just follow that profile for the perfect race. No guess work... just hit the numbers!

I'm not entirely sure if I should use the export function to the Garmin as its not something I am familiar with... 1st race of the season + using new tech might result in an epic failure.

Maybe if I get an opportunity to use it before hand, I might give it a go on race day... its not a A priority race anyway so might as well experiment right?

I am interested to see how accurate their predictions are though... Sub 1 hour in the course could result in a top 10 on race day!

A Pleasant Surprise

I had a threshold interval planned for today consisting of 3 x 20min efforts with each one increasing in power from 95-98% of FTP and 4 mins recovery between intervals.

The description of the workout states "the goal is quite simply to improve your ability to tolerate that output for extended periods of time". 

When you do and FTP test and you estimate the power you can sustain for a whole hour, it's not exactly a true representation of what you can really sustain for a full hour. You might have a high VO2 Max for example and be able to hold a relatively high power for 8 mins, in which case your FTP estimate will also be high. Sustaining that for a full hour is another matter.

The ability to tolerate the pain for a whole hour is not only physiological but massively physiological as well. Your muscles may well be able to generate that much power. They may also be able to tolerate the lactic acid build up too... but can your mind stay focused... will your inner Couchlandrian give up before you reach the end. Sustained power like this is often a case of what will give up first... your legs... or you head. 9 times out of 10 its your head. 

These prolonged intervals at/near to FTP are a great way to condition your mind for this level of abuse.

Given that I am only 5 days over the cold and not really feeling on full form I didn't know what to expect. So when I started off and felt comfortable I was quite surprised. I was 10 mins into my first interval and my power was starting to rise over my FTP... it was almost a struggle to hold back. As I was coming to the end I had a wave of insanity cross my mind... I decided to go for a full 1 hour Time Trial/FTP test.

As I have a race next week it would certainly be good to know where my limits are... so what better way to find out...

My pacing wasn't exactly great... but given I wasn't exactly planning on doing this and not really knowing what to expect, I am more than happy with the outcome.

The 10 min splits are as follows:
0-10 - 278W
11-20 - 301W
21-30 - 302W
31-40 - 291W
41-50 - 282W
51-60 - 280W

Actual FTP was 289W

My last FTP test was 290W... I know I could do better over 20mins but considering the full 1 hour test is the same I am well chuffed!

Also gives me something to aim for next Sunday :)

2 Steps Forward... 1 Step Back

Gutted is an understatement…

A couple of days after completing the Tour of Sufferlandria (ToS) I managed to pick up a cold (see post). I was hopeful it would only last a couple of days and I would be back up and running by the weekend. Well I was wrong.

So 6 days after the start of the cold I finally felt like I could get back on the bike. I have missed all high intensity training for a week and missed 4 days of cycling all together… the impact this has had on my training and fitness is soul destroying. As a result of the illness my CTL has dropped from 95.5 to 83… only 3 higher than the start of the tour… basically making the last two weeks completely useless.

I returned to low intensity workouts yesterday with the view of returning to plan tomorrow. If I can hit 100% power then I know I will be good to go. If not, I know I’m going to have to back off a bit.

It’s a massive kick in the balls as I was feeling so strong at the end of the ToS. I was going to complete a FTP test last weekend as I thought I could break the 300W barrier. Instead I’m just going to concentrate on getting back to fitness and preparing for the first race on the 6^th March. A 24m hilly time trial.

I need to reflect on this as I can use this to prevent illness in the future. At the end of the ToS I had a TSB of -38.8. It’s not the lowest I have ever gone so it is not a ‘no go zone’, but it obviously puts me at a higher risk of catching an illness. If I find myself in this zone in the future, I should be very selective who I come in contact with.

I have started to utilise the ‘metrics’ function on Training Peaks also… It is going to be most useful for understanding recovery and well being… as well as providing additional trending of weight related measurements.

Illness

Illness

I haven’t been ill for a long time… so long in fact, I I had forgotten what it was like.

We all feel aches and pains from exercise… I actually like to feel fatigued and sore. You know you have done a good workout and reaping benefits as a result.

Aches & pains as a result of illness is just depressing. Knowing that your body is wasting precious energy and time trying to fix something that shouldn’t be there in the first place.

I knew I was going to be at risk of picking something up… after just finishing the Tour of Sufferlandria my Training Stress Balance (TSB) was at an all-time low of -37.6. If that wasn’t enough on its own, eating round at the in laws with a table full of colds just before the last stage was going to guarantee it.

Monday night was rough. I was a little bit late going to sleep anyway but woke at 1am with a feeling of D&V. It was hard to tell if it was related to my Crohn’s Disease though as I can’t remember the last time my bowels felt ‘normal’. Falling behind on my medication recently hasn’t helped that either.

I was on/off then throughout the rest of the night… I’m not one to shy away from taking medication to relieve symptoms… heartburn relief, anti-sickness & Paracetamol meant I managed to get a few additional hours sleep before the alarm went off at 3:45am. I turned it off, set it for 5:30 and went back to sleep. This morning is no day for a workout. The Mrs was all too kind to allow me to take her car to work as well so I could take a full day off the bike.

Reading up on ‘managing illness’ there is an informative blog on Training Peaks:

If your symptoms are above the neck – revert to Zone 1/recovery rides until symptoms have disappeared for longer than 1 day.

If your symptoms are below the neck, stop all exercise until symptoms disappear + 1 additional day off. Return to training at Zone 1/recovery until above the neck symptoms have gone.

If your symptoms last 3 days or less, return to training after your off day and recovery day(s).

If you symptoms last 4 days or more, return to training after you off day + 2 recovery days. Gradually return to plan, building duration instead of intensity over the course of 4-7 days.

Given that I have no above the neck symptoms but was suffering with the feeling of D&V with body aches, I’m going to take today off completely.

As I am sat here typing this… 18 hours after the symptoms began… I seem to be suffering with little more than a headache and some muscle/joint ache. Are the symptoms masked by the Paracetamol? Are the aches & pains a result of the recent tour? I’m not entirely sure.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed for a good night’s sleep tonight, no further symptoms tomorrow and I can jump into my Zone 1/recovery commutes for a couple of days. I will then be able to return to plan on Thursday/Friday without missing much.

I’ve got a 60+ mile ride planned on Sunday (weather permitting) with the lads. I want to make sure I’m both fully recovered and in good shape so I can put in a solid effort in on the three 15-20 min climbs.

I was kind of anticipating a short period of rest following the tour anyway to raise my TSB from -37.7 to approx. -10 to -20. Although this time off will take it to zero instead, I can’t help wonder if that is true. I would have thought an illness would add a daily TSS due to the body recovering… might do some more research…

Training Peaks... PMC, TSB, CTL, ATL... WTF!

Ever since I had read Joe Friels Training Bible, I have had an interest in the Performance Management and recovery but the literature does not link with Strava. The numbers are different as well as the terminology.

After a fairly lengthy conversation with a fellow time trialist I basically had my arm twisted and ended up signing up... I say lengthy and twisted arm... It took two screen shots and I was sold.

So that was my weekend gone... I was busy adding all my training plans for the whole seasons training.

This is the comparison against Strava:

As you can see... the profiles are actually identical. The values however are slightly different. This meant I was unable to refer to Joe Friels literature.

Now the best thing about Training Peaks 'Performance Management Chat' (PMC) is that you can include future workouts. All you need to do is add the TSS of the workout and it will calculate your Chronic Training Load (CTL - the blue line) and your Training Stress Balance (TSB - orange line). 

Still learning about all the specifics so I'm not going to embarrass myself just yet.

The next few months though is rather exciting...

The decrease in TSB is representative of and increase in training load throughout a 3 week training block. The increase represents the recovery week. Joe Friel advises you should hold your TSB between -10 to -30 during training periods. Increasing to between +15 and +25.

Your CTL is dependent on the level of TSS your body can handle. More doesn't necessarily mean better. It can result in over training and have massive negative impacts.

I'm rather worried that my original plan of...

Sustained Power Build - 8 weeks

40K TT Specialty Plan - 8 Weeks 

Sweet Spot Base - 12 Weeks

Short Power Build - 8 Weeks

Gravity Specialty Plan - 8 Weeks

... is going to be a massive case of over training and believe I may reach burnout before I reach my peak in October.

I might play around with the plan a little. I think I should give myself a week off between the 40K TT and Sweet Spot Base... moving 7 months of plans down is going to be rather time consuming though... 

There goes another weekend! :D 

Interesting though... Averaging over 100TSS is more than I was expecting... I'm either able to sustain a large amount of training stress or I'm seriously overtraining. I suppose there is only one way to find out.

Virtual Power vs Actual Power

I was first introduced to the world of training by power in March 2015. Not being able to afford/justify an actual power meter I signed up to Trainerroad and utilised their 'virtual power'.

The clever guys at Trainerroad have taken a large amount of indoor trainers and mapped the power curve against speed. Anyone with a speed sensor and a turbo trainer now has the ability to train indoors using 'power'. The accuracy of the power reading is not entirely perfect however, providing you ensure you use the same equipment and have tire pressures and resistance the same every time, they consider it to be highly repeatable (much the same as an actual power meter). The only limitation is being unable to provide power feedback outdoors and during races.

Since getting a power meter at the end of last year, I have wondered how my virtual power recorded in March 2015 compared to actual power... Well today I finally found out.

Sticking the speed sensor back on the bike I rode at the same speed I completed my first FTP test (19.3mph). The power required at this speed is 265W. As this was an 8 min FTP test, you multiply that by .9 to get your FTP. This works out to be 238.5W.

The virtual power measured this at 218W.  

Unfortunately this doesn't work in my favour! Had the actual power been lower than the virtual power it would have meant greater gains since last year.

Saying that, it's not a million miles away from the actual power with an acuracy of 91%. Given that you can get 5% differences between power meter manufacturers this is pretty dam good!

Obviously this only applies to the acuracy of the power curve for my trainer (Cycleops fluid 2). Other trainers may not be as accurate, especially if they haven't mapped the power curve and you're just using a basic map.

The results do confirm my progression in the last 12 months though...

238W (70kg = 3.4W/kg) - 04 March 2015

257W (69kg = 3.72W/kg) - 27 November 2015

287W (66.7kg = 4.3W/kg) - 30 December 2015

In less that 12 months I have managed to increase my FTP by 49W and added nearly 1W/kg to my power to weight ratio. I'm well chuffed with that!

I'm thinking of substituting a workout with another FTP test sometime in the next few weeks. I have a feeling I can break the 300W barrier. 

Maybe once I have recovered from the Tour of Sufferlandria!

Tour of Sufferlandria 2016

I've decided to interrupt Trainerroads 40kTT specialty plan with the Tour of Sufferlandria.

It's not going to be the optimum training for the Spring and Summer time trials however, it does add a bit of fun to the relentless and repetitive schedule of a standard training plan.

So the tour consists of 9 'stages' that utilise the Sufferfest training/workout videos. Just to make things more painful, on the four weekend days they have scheduled in two workouts per day.

Stage 1: Sat, 6 Feb: ISLAGIATT 
Duration: 1hr 50mins
TSS: 160
Stage 2: Sun, 7 Feb: Revolver + Revolver 
Duration: 1hr 40mins
TSS: 188
Stage 3: Mon, 8 Feb: The Best Thing in the World 
Duration: 48mins 
TSS: 69
Stage 4: Tue, 9 Feb: To Get to the Other Side 
Duration: 1hr 30mins 
TSS: 81
Stage 5: Wed, 10 Feb: The Rookie 
Duration: 1hr 
TSS: 75
Stage 6: Thu, 11 Feb: The Wretched 
Duration: 48mins 
TSS: 71
Stage 7: Fri, 12 Feb: Do As You're Told 
Duration: 47mins 
TSS: 64
Stage 8: Sat, 31 Jan: A Very Dark Place + Nine Hammers 
Duration: 2hrs 
TSS: 165
Stage 9: Sun, 1 Feb: Power Station* + Violator 
Duration: 2hrs
TSS: 187

"There's no such thing as over training, just under recovery"

The tour itself has a total TSS of 1060... alongside a weeks commuting of about 150 I should hit a total of about 1200. To put that in perspective, my current training plans are about 600-800 TSS. This is basically going simulate a training camp. If I was to go straight from my current plan, into this and then back to plan again it would turn into a serious case of over training. However, with careful management of my recovery this will actually be a highly productive training principle of 'overreaching'. This is where you put your body under a high level of training load for a period of time whilst providing an appropriate duration of recovery. I read an interesting quote somewhere whilst researching various training theories... "There is no such thing as over training, just under recovery". 

Using the Strava 'Fitness & Freshness' graph, I have completed a period of 'tapering'. Tapering is a term used for recovery before a big event. You reduce your training load to improve 'form'/'freshness' whilst minimising loss of 'fitness'. 

As you can see, prior to the start of the tour I have increased my 'form' from -32 to 9 whilst only dropping from 60 to 54 on my fitness. Its was surprising how quickly the form increased... I probably over estimated how long this would have taken. Looking back, I could have got away with a 1 week taper. Unfortunately, the build plan finished 2 weeks ago, this incorporated a 'rest week', I had 1 week of the next plan and then took another weeks rest. Something I can learn from in the future :)

Race Diary (I will keep updating this as the tour unfolds)

So Stage 1 kicked off with ISLAGAITT
This was also my introduction to Sufferfest... seems like I broke my cherry on one of the hardest workouts. 
150 mins of pain. There are 5 'climbs' in the video that hold you at various levels of your threshold with multiple 'attacks' that put you way over. I can't say I managed to hit all the power readings but I wasn't a million miles away. The constant change in pace isn't something I'm used to. Most of my training over the last few years has been steady state/sustained power for time trialing. This was more suited for circuit racers.

Stage 2 - Revolver + Revolver
I'm not entirely sure who came up with this ridiculous idea. Doing one on its own is bad enough let alone one after the other!
Holding the target power for a full 1 min was difficult right from the start... but it didn't stop me from trying. The second round was slightly lower in power but I was happy just to make it through alive... I was surprised I managed to hit the power (even if it wasn't for the full 1 min) right to the end. There was a moment after the 3rd interval on the first round when I started to doubt my own sanity. 

There is a part of me that is anticipating an easier day tomorrow as its only 50mins long and about half the TSS of those already completed... I have a feeling my optimism isn't going to prevail.  

Stage 3 - The Best Thing In The World

I could have done with a long warm up this morning. The legs were tight and sore. Doing stage 3 in the evening may have been a better idea... but that was too late. I was already on the bike trying to spin out the stiffness.

TBTITW is one of Sufferfests new videos... new footage with high quality rider cam recordings made it quite interesting... it nearly took the edge off the pain... nearly, but didn't... in fact, it was no where near.

This workout is split into two 'races'. Repeated change in pace and cadence... in the saddle, out the saddle... attack after attack. Again, I tried to hang in there but my inner Couchlandrian made a few appearances as I had to hold back the power.

The end was excellent. You're in the leading break... You're holding off the peloton and you're in a great position for a win when bang! You get a mechanical... You get a short recovery and then you realise whats coming. You have to chase them back down... at 115-120% of FTP its a real leg burner! But boy does it make you work hard.

Surprisingly the commute wasn't too bad. The weather was shocking but my legs felt surprisingly good... both in and back home. All in all... considering the abuse over the weekend, I feel surprisingly optimistic about the rest of the tour.

Bring on Stage 4 :)

Stage 4 - To Get To The Other Side

This is technically a rest day... more focus on skills and riding efficiency with lower intensity and longer duration. The video certainly broke up the 90min ride quite well although I did need to cut is short so missed the sprints at the end.

Even though it was a 'rest' day I wouldn't say it was easy... the legs were full of lactic. I felt quite good the day before so put in too much effort during the commute as well i think. I will take the next few days easy on the commuting or i'm going to be suffering badly by the weekend...

Stage 5 - The Wretched 

I was expecting today to be easier than what it was. The Wretched is under an hour and most of it is under FTP. God was I wrong! I struggled massively. In the latter 3rd I had to do some back peddling and even when I did put the effort in there was just no power there. Not sure if it was mind or body giving up first but something just wasn't right. I'm going to shrug this off as a bad day.

Stage 6 - The Rookie

Nailed it! Really odd... still only a 50 odd minute workout with plenty above FTP. Plenty of over/under surges too. For what ever reason I manage to hit the power most of the time... probably one of the closest workouts i've done this tour. Just goes to show you have good and bad days... sometimes you've just got to keep with it with the faith you're doing things right.

Stage 7 - Do As You're Told
Fair play... this one looked brutal. 21 intervals between 150-200% FTP with various duration's and recovery's. It was making me sick just thinking about it. If it's one thing I have learnt this tour, short bursts, short recovery & repeated change in pace is not what I do best at. This was not going to end well.

Little did I know, my HTFU prescription was going to arrive early...

 Removing the inner Couchlandrian stopped me from crying like a little bitch and I was able to smash my way through each of the intervals at or above target power. 

Looking at what is in store for me at the weekend though, I may find myself running out of tablets pretty dam quickly.

Stage 8 - A Very Dark Place & Nine Hammers
I wake up early every day. My alarm goes off at 4:00am and i'm normally on the bike by 4:30am doing my prescribed interval session. Finished by 5:30am and back on the bike by 6:00am to cycle to work. As a result of this I tend to go to bed about 8pm... naturally wake up on the weekend pretty early too. 

Not this morning. Even once i have finally dragged my ass out of bed I procrastinated for as long as possible knowing the level of suffering that awaits me on the other room. It was only delaying the inevitable. 

I was looking at the profiles of the pending stages and it was obvious this was going to hurt like nothing i've felt before. Nearly 170TSS with a total of 14 intervals at or above FTP. This was going to be a very dark place indeed.

Despite my fear and procrastination, I actually managed a really great performance. If anything, I would say I felt better today during these two workouts than I had all week. I managed to hit all the right power levels with the target still set at 100%. I was on fire.

Stage 9 - Power Station & Violator

Even after my great performance yesterday, I didn't wake up feeling hopeful. In fact it was pretty much a repeat of yesterday. 

Looking at the profiles of the next two stages though, I wasn't expecting the level of pain to match that of yesterday. Power Station certainly looks tough but there is a fair bit at or below FTP so I knew it would be sustainable. Violator on the other hand looks like it will do exactly that! 64 sprints @ nearly 200% FTP. 

Much as a repeat of yesterday, I flew though the first stage. I actually felt quite fresh afterward. Hitting all the power levels (and in some cases going over).

Violator was a strange one. To begin with it was easy. Hitting the power wasn't a problem and the rests in between it allowed more than enough time to replenish your glucose levels. The end of the stage however was a completely different story. The final sprints at the end felt like my legs had turned into rope... like I was pushing down and there was nothing there. I was basically using my body weight to throw the pedals around. Style and finesse was out the window... but it was over... my first Tour of Sufferlandria complete... and completed at 100% FTP. 

Given how much stronger I felt at the end of the tour, I can help wonder how much my FTP has increased. It was 290W before... I'm hopeful I can break the 300W barrier! 

My fitness/freshness graph has been interesting to watch. The intense training load has rapidly increased my fitness and absolutely ruined my form with an all time low on my fatigue level.

Not quite as low as I had expected. It was a good job I was fully recovered before the start of the tour as I think I would have been at breaking point!

All in all, it was been a great start to the season. Mixing the mundane, repetitive training regime with the ToS has really helped psychologically. I'm raring to get back into the swing of things... so much I have even signed up to Training Peaks. For endless performance management and training planning. Its like I have gone to heaven. 

More on that shortly :)