Training power meter file

I’m sure I’ll get bored of my new power meter toy soon. But, until I do, here is a training file from a recent ride. I uploaded to Golden Cheeter and got a headache looking at all the graphs and variables which didn’t really mean too much. In the post-ride slump, examining figures on your computer is not a good idea. Perhaps one day I will learn what Daniels EqP means, but not when I’m on the verge of falling asleep digesting a large meal after a 3 hour ride.

This was a pyramid interval session, loosely based on Gordon Wright’s inverse pyramids. It’s probably about 60% of the length of a full workout, but it will do for me. The intensity is more important than duration.

First up is 25-20 second sprint intervals. Spinning a high cadence. The maximum power I got was 850 watts. When you consider Mark Cavendish manages 1,500 watts for the sprint at the end of a 250km tour stage, you will understand why I will never be a sprinter.

Then there are 1 minute intervals up a small hill. These one minute intervals are good, because you can go full out, but you don’t get too exhausted (relatively). If you leave a good rest in between them, you can maintain a fairly high intensity. The average power was around 500 watts, with a steady tail off as the intervals went on.

Then I went over to A40 climb to Stokenchurch. The first interval was good; it was reasonably fast and I managed 385 watts (compared to max of 435 when fully fresh). But, these 5 minute intervals on top of previous efforts, saw a big tail off in output. The second was at 350, and the third at 335 watts. It’s a funny feeling trying to do an interval when your legs are already tired. Starting the third interval felt like some kind of purgatory. I knew straight away this was going to be hard work. After the third interval I decided to head home. The legs were shattered and it wasn’t possible to train in the highest intensity any more. The ride took 3 hours and was 100 km.

power-training-file

click to enlarge

There’s an old phrase – I went to Blackpool and all I came back with was this lousy T-Shirt. We could change this to I went on a 100km bike ride and all I came back with was a lousy power meter file.

autumn

When I wasn’t looking at a power meter, it was a beautiful autumn day. Probably one of the best times of the year to be out riding.



One Response to Training power meter file

  1. Bhima Bowden September 7, 2013 at 10:04 am #

    This is the great thing about power – it is not only a good way to see improvements and how good your fitness currently is, but it is completely and ruthlessly honest with you when you’re having a bad day. You can see how much you suck!

    While I find this measurement of limitation good, when trying to go out and hit a specific target and stimulate specific adaptations, sometimes it is important to ignore it, just finish the session anyway, and not let the numbers control you.

    When I first started training with power, the constant desire to always hit high numbers began to limit me and nowadays I simply do my planned workout, THEN look at the numbers and use them to calibrate my understanding of how I fatigue.

    Have you joined the Google wattage group? Lots of knowledge and experts on there to answer all your questions.

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