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HIM IF and TSS

Eric DePotoEric DePoto
in General Training Discussions

Hey Rich, I was just catching this weeks webcast and was pleased at WHY we don't do the volume and subscribe to quality over quantity.  I also heard what you said about TSS and IF.  Now back in the beginning of May I did the Carolina 1/2IM and did a bike split of 2'53".  I had a TSS of 211, and a IF of .85.  Now my nutrition was really off but do those numbers also tell a tale of me over doing it on the bike?

 Thanks,

Eric DePoto

Comments

  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    Posted By Eric DePoto on 05 Jun 2014 02:15 PM

    Hey Rich, I was just catching this weeks webcast and was pleased at WHY we don't do the volume and subscribe to quality over quantity.  I also heard what you said about TSS and IF.  Now back in the beginning of May I did the Carolina 1/2IM and did a bike split of 2'53".  I had a TSS of 211, and a IF of .85.  Now my nutrition was really off but do those numbers also tell a tale of me over doing it on the bike?

     Thanks,

    Eric DePoto

    First things I always ask are:

    • Did you have/know your accurate FTP when you raced?
    • What ^that^ FTP inputted corrected in whatever you're using to give me those numbers in your post?
    • Did you follow the admin/calibration procedures for your PM, to ensure your watts were accurate on race day?

    In other words, confirm that you did all of the admin stuff correct first, so that we know your IF and TSS numbers above are correct. Assuming yes:

    • A well-paced HIM bike is generally done at ~.85-.80 for splits from 2:30-3hrs. So a 2:30 cyclist will ride at about .85, 3hr cyclist at about .80, etc. 
    • This generally yields a TSS of ~180-200 points. However, TSS doesn't tell the complete story, for a number of reasons, but it's good enough. 
    • I would want to know how well you ran off the bike. 

    In my experience, as a guy who's done a lot of hard rides of many, many different lengths, riding 2:53 at .85 and putting up 211 TSS...would make for a challenging run. Not a death march, but I certainly wouldn't have set myself up to run well off the bike. 

    I'm going to move your post to the Power Forum, where more people will see it and can learn from it. 

  • Eric DePotoEric DePoto
    Hey Rich, good morning to you. Hope Cali is nice today. To answer your questions, yes, I did know my FTP (240 at the time), and was in the upper portion of my zone for the race. And yes, I did follow the right procedures to calibrate it before the race. Now my avg pwr was 175, and my NP was 205. I did not know much about the TSS or IF until after the race. My NP was over the Z3 but the avg pwr was in the box. Now on the run, I went into it low on nutrition because I had just changed up everything and was just getting use to that. So my run sucked. Now looking at the nutrition AND the numbers we discussed, I can see why I had a crappy run.

    I just redid my FTP test and had some questions. First, on my Garmin 500, it states that I was at avg. pwr of 254, a "Max Avg Pwr (20 min)" of 293 and a NP of 268. Which numbers do I figure my FTP off of?

    Thanks ahead for the insight.
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