The time trial is a 2.5-mile uphill course in Devil’s Den State Park with an average grade of 6.8%. I’ve done this as a master 40-49 in 2004 in 10:11 after a 50 mi road race. In 2005 I did the Pro, 1,2 when there was a road race on Friday and Saturday was a road race and TT. My TT time was 11:59. In 2007, as a master, my TT time was 11:01 after the road race the same day. In 2008, as a master again, my TT time was 10:42 after the road race again. In 2010, first event in the 1,2′s, in 11:15. In 2011, first event for 1,2′s, I posted a time of 10:25 and 1:43 down.
As you can see, I ran the gamut of variability in times and in circumstances for when the time trial was performed. There really isn’t much of a pattern other than I struggle to get below 10 minutes.
This year I did produced the best 10 minute wattage I’ve ever seen. That’s what racing does. It brings out the best. I’m still working on developing the musculature in the left leg, though. It’s really only recently that I’ve tried any maximum sprints. The leg is not producing the best power. The leg still feels like I’m contracting the muscles differently. Today’s TT compared to last year, when I still had the wire holding the kneecap together, felt like a world of difference. What the leg needs a little more time now in the higher wattage range. I’ll also start going to the gym to develop the leg, lifting weights, now that I have a larger and more comfortable range of motion.
The course actually starts off going slightly downhill in the first .5 mile as you can see from the file below and averaging 395 watts at 23.1 mph, 99 rpm’s. For the next mile and 4:21 minutes of loneliness, I tried to settle in 372 watts at 13.1 mph, 83 rpm’s. The next section, before being caught, I lost some focus. For the next .8 mile and 3:50 minutes my watts dropped to 339, speed 12.6 mph, and rpm’s 82. This is fairly typical, drop in power in the middle part of a TT, and not very good pacing. The next .3 miles and 1:03 minutes I was caught by another rider and passed. Trying to keep him within sight and knowing the finish was close, my watts went back up to 406 in 1:03 minutes, speed 13.7 mph and rpm’s 88. Definitely not the best way to pace a time trial where you you want to have a more steady effort in the middle part.
Devil's Den Time Trial; 2.5 miles in 10:25 minutes
All in all, the progression is coming along fine. My big goal for the year is masters nationals over labor day weekend. It’s nice for me that it’s a little later in the year since I’m still building the left leg. I tell everyone, don’t ever break your kneecap, it’s one of the worst injuries an active person can have. I believe Robbie McEwen broke his and he hasn’t been the same. There was a reason why those mafia guys broke peoples kneecaps.
During the extensive endurance phase of training I like to use a test, called aerobic threshhold testing by Joe Friel, to test the conditioning of the athletes I train. Below is an email discussion that I’m having, with an athlete of mine, about this persons test. This person did very well, with 4.1%, and I believe he is ready for the next phase of conditioning.
Hi ( insert superhero/heroine name here),
Looking good on the test. What we’re looking for is called decoupling. It’s when your power to heart rate ratio is above 5%. When it’s below 5%, over the time period I prescribed, I have a good idea that your aerobic endurance still needs worked on. Over the 2 hrs you did this test you did 4.1%. This shows that your fitness is doing great.
Actually, I think the percentage might be closer to 3%. Your avg heart rate of 130 was a little high. I would of liked to of seen it around 125-128. This is 20 beats below zone 5a that we have set up in training peaks. This would of probably brought your power down into the endurance range . That’s ok, though. Even at this slightly higher heart rate your aerobic endurance is great. I have another tests set up in two weeks and we’ll check again.
Here is a link to what we are trying to do. There isn’t much scientific basis behind it but in my experience this test works.
Again, great job. Your aerobic fitness is coming along just fine.
Marc
Below is the analysis that I pulled out of Training Peaks WKO+ 3.0
I’ve been doing a little of my own personal analysis of how my training has been progressing. In question was, how have I lost 1 pound of weight over the last 18 days? When your already at a a low weight for your height, 6’0″ and 152, having data and a graphs to chart these details is indispensable. As you can see, I don’t track my food intake (macronutrients). Doing this would give me a more accurate idea of what is going on. Just looking at the daily(~3500-4000) Calories for a week (25,000) and knowing 1 lb = 3500 Calories I’ll take a guess that I’m lacking ~250 Calories/day. I eat the same things pretty much everyday so my calculations do put this at ~250 Calories/day that I’m lacking. I’m not a very “big” eater. I can’t eat larger meals without getting gastrointestinal problems. Solution: it looks like a bit more eating between meals is on the agenda.
Another handy feature is to be able to compare last season at this phase of training. Last year I was just starting back on my bike from a broken knee cap. That wouldn’t be a good comparison. In the future, if this happens again, I will have this data for comparisons.
Having your data in one convenient location can be very handy. Looking at the graph of fitness summary and knowing that the training hours are increasing can give you a good idea of how your training is going, both good and bad.
(On a side note, this is the free version of training peaks. The version I use with my athletes is the premium version with much more graphical analysis possible to explore what really is happening. Even with this free version I can get a good approximation and if I want an expert such as a nutritionist or coach look at it then it’s available.)
Today’s file is an example of a type of interval that is crucial for time trials, that is, pacing up rolling hills at 5-10% over your functional threshold power. Try doing these intervals without looking at the power tap too often, for those of you who don’t time trial with power, to get a good perceived level of exertion up the hills.
The power file below is a workout that is good for developing fast twitch fibers. The workout entails 4 sets of 10 reps at 15 – 20 seconds on/ 40 seconds off with 10 minutes of recovery between sets. Criteriums, mountain bike races and cyclocross races are run very similar to the on/off periods. Lots of repeated efforts, or jumps out of corners, getting back up to speed. Each interval is started out of the saddle for 8-10 seconds and then the remainder of the time is done in the saddle.
Doing 15 second intense bursts over and over such as these gives your muscles time to recover while keeping your heart rate up. A benefit to both systems.
Sydney Brown, one of the athletes I coach, is shooting for some good results this cross season. Her priority races are Jingle Cross and Master Cross Nationals. At Jingle Cross her goal is to podium while at Masters Cross Nationals, 35-39, she wants to better her 2nd place in 2007.
Working with Sydney, prior to starting her training for cross season, we developed a plan for her to peak for these events. I used Training Peaks WKO+ Performance Manager Chart to plan her form. Her workouts are set for every day through out cross season. She can look ahead for the coming weeks and if a conflict in her schedule interferes with a workout it can be easily adjusted to keep her on the right course. This is a definite advantage working with a power meter. All data is can be scheduled, downloaded, and compared to the plan.
The below chart is Syd’s planner chart for what should be happening to her fitness, form and fatigue. As you can see her form (TSB yellow line) should be just below zero. A positive number, and the number depends on the athlete, is an indicator of a good performance. This weekend she is racing a UCI event in Wisconsin called Planet Bike Cup. It’s an early season race and results are not all that important but it sure doesn’t hurt the confidence to do well. She needs to lay down the foundation of the program (drills, skills, training, technique) and where else to do that put at a quality bike event. You’ll also notice that her form will be very positive on the weekend of 10/4. This is a race in Omaha, Ne. Again, she is still building a foundation but expects some good results because she now has some quality in her legs.
The next chart is Syd’s actual data from her power meter since 9/14/08. As you can see she’s right on course. All pun’s intended. Again, one of the advantages of working with a power meter and some excellent software from Taining Peaks WKO+.
Power and prediction are just a few aspects of racing a bike. Racing isn’t just about the data, though. There are many factors to doing well. Look for Sydney to overcome these factors on her way to having a great cyclocross season. Also, stay tuned as I’ll be giving more updates on her progress as the season progresses.
Sydney Brown, one of the athletes that I coach, recently attended the Sunny King Criterium in Anniston, Alabama an NRC event and part of speedweek. Above is the power file of her race in the Pro 1/2 women’s field. These women were truly flying on this .7 mile 4 corner course. The race followed a counter-clockwise direction. The final straight is a slight uphill as can be see on every lap where attacks took place. This can be seen on lap 5 where Sydney reached her highest peak watts for the race of 922. Every lap on that hill ranged in the 600-800 watt output. Yes indeed, putting some real torque to her team Revolution Madonesponsored by Trek bicycles
Talking with Sydney gave me a real good clue as to why they wanted to attack this hill. The finish line was at the top with lots of preemes on the line. After this hill you can see a decrease in power as she recovered with a slight downhill into turn 1 and into turn 2 also. Then the gas was applied again as she powered out of turn 2. Between turns 2-3 was a downhill as can be seen by the decrease in power but an increase in speed. After turn 3 a power increase spike then turn 4 and power up the hill for that preeme. Look for those yellow spikes and you’ll see a distinct pattern of 4. One for each acceleration out of a corner.
Most of the time she raced top 1/3 and tried a few attacks and covered a few. From her description of how she raced and the graph I will be able to get her efforts between corners, for each lap and her attacks to apply these to her crit training. Since crits have a certain power file pattern such as this one, for the rest of the season we’ll be able to apply this data. What is really beneficial is when this race comes up next year. We’ve got a way to train for this in the spring.
I’ll be posting day 2 Nalley Historic Roswell Criterium power analysis soon!
Marc
Posted by Marc Walter as power file at 1:19 PM MST
