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Written by Vince
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Friday, 22 May 2009 14:52 |
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I feel like I'm just scratching the surface of training with power and at the same time I feel like I'm adding new knowledge to my small brain at an exponential rate.
Until Wildflower, my focus was to determine the correct wattage for a half Ironman distance race. With two successful races (Oceanside 70.3 and Wildflower Long Course), I am certain that I've got the HIM wattage pegged. The next obstacle was to take that information and to determine Ironman pacing for Lake Placid.
The successful century last weekend confirms that I've got the wattage for Lake Placid fairly close to being dialed in but left one question in the back of my mind unanswered. Before I get to the question, we have to go back to how I rode before I owned a powermeter.
A typical ride would consist of me riding along in the flats somewhere in the middle of the pack but leading the charge up the hills like I was defending the polka dot jersey (tour lingo). When I first added the powermeter, I didn't do anything other than watch the numbers and just get used to switching around in the display. What I found in this trial period was when I was being chased uphill, I could push above 300 watts and drop nearly everyone and the only people who were close were just hanging on. 300 watts was and is the magic number for taking everyone down at least in my circles.
When I decided to start using the powermeter, I performed a threshold test which set parameters around my training and the ceiling for my rides, with the exception of some of the shorter and more difficult intervals, was 266 watts. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that 266 is less than 300. And not only that, 300 was just the number where I could spread out the pack -- I got chased down one day and pushed over 400 watts to keep from getting punked.
So now we come full circle to the question which is... How can I push over this ceiling of 266 watts and not totally fall apart for the rest of the ride. This is where I introduce the term "burning matches" or "burning a match" which basically refers to going over your desired wattage ceiling. And a question that goes along with this term is... How many matches do I have to burn? But that's just a metaphor for the real question... How much time can I spend above this defined ceiling? That question doesn't necessarily get answered definitively but through successful rides, you can start to get a more accurate idea.
This is all about fine tuning. We know what the general range is and now we're trying to determine how much time I can spend out of that range -- possibly to take down some competitors on some hills which by the way is the best place to move up in the standings. Now I'm faced with my power file dilemma which is how do I determine actual time above my ceiling from false spikes.
[Histogram showing entire workout]
I've switched over to WKO+ which is a pay-for product that allows for better analysis of power data. When looking at the histogram, I can't tell the difference between a momentary spike say from stopping and starting or from an actual spike from climbing a steep hill. WKO+ has a function titled "Fast Find" which allows you to set parameters to eliminate the unwanted data.
If you're a WKO+ user, you might want to know how to perform this task so here are the instructions:
- Select View
- Choose "Stacked Graph"
- Under the section "Ranges" select "Entire Workout"
- Select Edit
- Choose "Fast Find"
- For "Range of Interest" Select "Entire Workout"
- Enter your top wattage number in "Leading Edge" watts
- Enter your bottom wattage number in "Trailing Edge" watts
- Set "Minimum Duration" to one minute
- Set "Maximum Duration" to 5 minutes
[WKO+ Fast Find Dialog Box]
When I performed this search on my ride from last Saturday, I found that I had 4 separate instances where I went over the ceiling by about 40 watts for a total of 7 minutes. While this gives me a place to start, I'm not sure whether 7 minutes is too much or whether I have a few more matches in my book.
[Refined Power File Data]
The point is to figure out how long I can go over without compromising my run but since it was 104F degrees when I started running, it's hard to tell whether or not I could've run a marathon off the bike that day. Probably not.
I will continue to fine tune this over the next couple of months to adjust that number accordingly but I think for now I'll stay cautious and use 5 minutes as my maximum burn time. Geeky stuff but cool nonetheless.
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