Recovery Day Musings

At the end of the third week I have achieved: Rides: 3 - all turbo sessions totalling 3 hrs 35 mins (last week 5 hrs 50 mins). This reduction is largely a result of having 3 days off at the start of the week due to other commitments.

Total Bikescore (TSS): 274 (last week 456)

kCals burned (incl warm-ups and cooldowns): 3277 (5391)

I didn't have a planned TSS for this week, but I woke up this morning feeling a little throaty so I feel I have achieved as much as I wanted to in the last 3 days. We have a 'house cold' which I'm trying to avoid so I don't want to overdo things and get ill. I have been looking at the various ways I can compare workouts since I started to lose confidence in TSS/Bikescore as a useful metric. Below is a graph comparing my work done (in kJ), Bikescore and TSS. As you can see, and as I would expect, they are all pretty much the same across the last 4 weeks.

This week's times in various Zones show how easy I've had it compared to my 'big week' last week.

 

Total time in Zone 3: 0:33:37 (last week 57:10)

Total time in Zone 4: 1:32:36 (last week 2:17:34)
Total time in Zone 5: 0:16:50 (last week 0:38:23)
Total time in Zone 6: 0:01:20 (last week 0:03:37)
Total time in Zone 7: 0 (last week 8 seconds)

 

The last 4 weeks' Zones 3-5 durations are shown in the table below:

On every measure I have had an easy week. I have had 2 hard workouts and an easier one but I've  compressed all my work into 3 days and I'm now feeling a bit lethargic as a result and I feel I need a recovery day. I'm due (and dreading) a 20 minute power test soon to see what benefit the preceeding 4 weeks of turbo work has given me. I'll probably aim to do this next weekend so I'm planning turbo sessions on Mon, Tue, Wed, Fri (probably with a hangover after the office Xmas party on Thurs evening) and then the test.

Looking back at the same period last year I was doing a lot more riding on the road and racing CX too so I was getting a lot more time on the bike than this year. This year the Yorkshire roads are terrible to the point of being dangerous, with massive puddles and potholes. It will be interesting to see whether the turbo work has been sufficient to maintain my 20 min power output without the longer road rides I usually do.

Glossary

This is a description of the terms, abbreviations and concepts that I use in the blog. There are better guides on the internet, but this is how I understand them in the context of this blog.

FTP - functional threshold power. This is the maximum power I can output for a 60 minute period. As I have never done a 60 minute test I use a 20 minute maximal test and subtract 5% from the result. For example, I recently completed a 20 minute power test at 322W, so I can calculate an FTP at 322x0.95 = 307W. The highest 60 minute figure I have ever recorded is 291W but I still use the 307W figure for planning workouts.

Bikescore or Training Stress Score (TSS). This is a measurement used to estimate the training stress of a workout. If I did a 1 hour workout at FTP I would record a TSS of 100. 30 mins at FTP is 50, and so on. I don't like this figure very much as I find it very blunt and it hides a multitude of information. For example, a 60 minute FTP ride gets 100. A 3 hour ride at 175W gets 100. The 1 hour ride would kill me and the 3 hour ride would bore me.

Lactate Threshold Heart Rate (LTHR). The exercise intensity at which blood lactate starts to accumulate faster than it can be cleared. The highest average HR I have recorded in a race was 174BPM which is taken as my LTHR (based on training industry norms). Since I got a power meter I use HR less but I always have an eye on where my HR is compared to LTHR. In steady state I start to feel uncomfortable at around 162BPM and I'm hating life at 174BPM. My HR on a turbo is different to my HR on the road or racing so there is difficulty using a race LTHR as a real guide on the turbo. Also, as HR varies from day to day, LTHR is really only a guide.

Interval. Basically an interval is a period of exercise where power output is at a certain level. For example, I may do a pair of 20 minute intervals at FTP or 5x5minutes at 120% FTP. The theory is that doing hard work for short periods allows you to stress your body more effectively. I'm lazy and sometimes mix the term Session with Interval when I really mean Interval.

Traditionally these are written as the 'number of intervals' x 'duration of intervals (usually in minutes)', for example 2x20 or 3x15. There is, by definition, a rest interval (RI) between the work intervals but this is not usually stated.

KiloJoules (kJ). A measure of the work done during an interval, session, ride etc. The greater the number the more work has been completed. It is often used as a proxy for calories (kCals) burned during exercise as there is a conversion rate of roughly 1:1 between them.

Powerzones. There are 7 power zones based around a rider's FTP.



Zone 1 - Active Recovery - 0-55% FTP

Zone 2 - Endurance - 55-75% FTP

Zone 3 - Tempo - 75-90% FTP

Zone 4 - Threshold - 90-105% FTP

Zone 5 - VO2 Max - 105-120% FTP

Zone 6 - Anaerobic - 120-150% FTP

Zone 7 - Neuromuscular - 150% FTP+

Sweetspot. To confuse things, the sweetspot is further defined as 88-94% of FTP. This is generally considered to be the most efficient region to train in if you're looking to improve FTP.

 

The Quits. During hard workouts I often get a dose of the quits or the weakness. It's the point where I pathetically want to give up and do something else. Usually accompanied by whimpering.