Help me interpret this performance manager graph
So it's been a few months now that I've been logging power info into Golden Cheetah, and it's resulted in the following performance manager graph:
What does this all mean?
BTW - the beginning (August-Sept) was the 8 week get faster program, followed by October being the 4 week transition plan, and the NOS obviously starting on October 31.
From what I can gather, based on a youtube video, the green line is a relative measure of fitness. The volume and time @ intensity was a lot more during the get faster plan (with multi-hour weekend rides), so the green line rate of increase was higher. Then it kinda levelled off for a bit as I focused on the run, and with the start of the OS, it's been on a slow but steady increase (with a slight break when I was travelling).
What about the blue and black lines, other than what is listed as their definition - do they mean anything? Do the numbers mean anything, or is it all just relative?
I'd think that with the black line (stress balance) holding relatively steady, that means that I'm not digging myself into a hole. However, this doesn't account for run stress, so thats another factor.
The blue line is creeping up ever so slightly, following along the green (which makes sense if TSB is relatively level, that if green is increasing, then blue would be as well). Is there a trend with that line to watch out for, and if so, what does it mean?
Or is this all just fancy schmancy stuff that really means nothing until you go over the edge and then look back and identify your own individual patterns? I know that others have posted not to worry about this kind of stuff in the OS, but I'm kind of a data geek and am curious by nature about this kind of thing.
Comments
The black line is how "fresh" you are; the blue line is the toll of the work you did. Periodization brings you way negative as you base and build, and then you "pop" back closer to positive territory in the taper. (This doesn't seem to apply as directly to the OS b/c your TSS/day is lower due to intensity; you build the bigger loads later). The more and higher the blue peaks, the bigger the black hole. I've found when my deficit (I forgot the term of art) gets up to around 40-50, I get pretty cranky. The size of the hole you've maintained can also tell you, for example, if your FTP is too high or too low. (If you've been carrying a negative balance of 180 for a month, odds are your benchmark is too low.)
That said, from what I understand everyone's different so some people can tolerate bigger loads for longer times than others before they either get sick, overtrained or so cranky that their SOs want to ship them off to Siberia. I've found it useful as a tool to guide me to a goal, but not that useful as an end in itself.
PS-how do you get the screenshot in the post?
Go to 'Add Reply', and then below the 'Submit', 'Cancel' and 'Preview' buttons, there is a bar with 'Attachments'. Open that up, choose file and upload. Once it's uploaded, it gets put into your stash of files, which you can then select the option to add it to the post.
BTW thanks for the quick interpretation. This was one of those things that when I first started with power, I knew I didn't know anything about it, but that I'd track the data anyway because eventually it would start to make sense with patterns and what-not. I just didn't know if I had reached a point yet to recognize anything useful about patterns - I might have to wait a whole training cycle because, as you point out, the OS is a little wierd in its effect due to the high intensity but low volume.