Possible use of TTE and Stamina metrics in WKO4 to improve long course triathlons
Introduction
Threads about WKO4 that I am aware of are:
https://endurancenation.vanillacommunities.com/discussion/23738/stanbaughs-11-weeks-to-imlc#latest; and
Before
I start, I would like to quote from Rich Stanbaugh's post, as I
consider myself in the same category.
“But
first, the government health warning: I didn’t invent these terms…
Andy Coggin did. I don’t want to take credit for any of his
thinking… I am just trying to relate how I understand the points
that he, others on the WKO4 team as well as other WKO4 users are
making. They are focused on the science and I really am focused on
how to apply it to triathlon. I may get it wrong.”
This
thread is about using WKO4 metrics Time To Exhaustion (TTE) and
Stamina to try improve my long course triathlon performance.
I
have used the Webinars about WKO4 conducted by Tim Cusick for the
training suggestions and the usual ranges for TTE and Stamina.
First,
some definitions from Training Peaks.
Stamina
A measure of resistance to fatigue during prolonged-duration, moderate-intensity exercise. The Stamina metric gives excellent insight into an athlete’s ability to resist fatigue over longer-duration performance at sub-threshold effort. Stamina is very trainable and usually in the range 70 – 85%.
Time
to Exhaustion (TTE)
The maximum duration for which power equal to mFTP can be maintained. This metric gives insight into an athlete’s resistance to fatigue in threshold-level performance while providing additional insights to better demonstrate Functional Threshold Power. TTE is also quite trainable and is often in the 40 – 50 minute range.
How
to improve Stamina and TTE
4 ways to improve your Stamina:
Build mFTP;
Extended tempo wkos;
Extensive wkos; and (obviously)
Go long.
I
will skip “Build mFTP” and “Go long” as we already have a
good idea about them.
Extended
tempo wkos are MS1 – 30 minutes @ Zone 2, and MS2 – 110 – 125%
of TTE divided into 2 or 3 intervals @ IF of 89 – 93% (sweet spot
intervals).
Extensive wkos are MS1 – 30 minutes @ Zone 2, MS2 – 1.5 to 2.0 TTE @ IF=0.85.
Improve
TTE by using Optimised Interval “FTP Extensive Aerobic” interval
for 105% of TTE.
Possible
Implementation within EN Half Iron Plan
The basic EN Half Iron plan has a mid-week FTP interval wko, a Saturday long bike including FTP wko, and a Sunday APB wko.
The
mid-week wko could be either an Extended tempo wko as these tend to
push up FTP from below; or from the Optimised Intervals “FTP/FRC
Intensive Aerobic (FTP).
The
Saturday long bike could include (after a wu), 105% of TTE @ “FTP
Extensive Aerobic” from the Optimised Interval tab, then 10 minutes
easy, then 1.5 x TTE @ IF = 0.85, then finish the wko Zone 1 or 2.
Over time, increase the interval time by 5 minutes a week.
The
Sunday APB could be an Extensive wko, building up from 2 x TTE by
adding 5 minutes per week.
The
WKO4 graphs “Stamina Basic” and “TTE History” should be used
to make sure TTE and Stamina are improving.
What
I actually did
In my build to the World Championship 70.3 at Chattanooga, my mid-week wko was from the Optimised Intervals “FTP/FRC Intensive Aerobic (FTP), and the Saturday and Sunday prescriptions listed. Saturday's bike ended up with me managing 2.2 x TTE @ IF = 0.85, after the TTE interval. Sunday's ended up @ 3.4 x TTE @ IF = 0.85.
As
a consequence of these wkos, I managed to push my Stamina up to 86%,
and I am sure that allowed me to have a bike TSS of 200, and I was
still able to run up to my usual run on a much more difficult bike
and run courses.
Of
course, ymmv.
Comments
Also, as I wrote above, long intervals @ IF=0.85 for multiple times TTE certainly pushed my stamina from 81% up to 86% (my APB Sunday's ride).
Unfortunately its not just a division - probably some log or exponential transformation.
The first rise was three days after the Oly race; the high point was two days after the ITU race. Ten days later, it fell down the first cliff, and ten more days, back to the 30:45 range. (The chart is from WKO 4, "TTE History")
My conclusion: I won't worry about those metrics as much as I will about the quality of my training, and how it translates on race day. so I think the attention to prolonged sweet spot intervals is the way to go for long course training. EG, 2 hours @ 0.85 for HIM, 4 hours @ 0.75-8 for IM. You may not see a rise in the metrics unless and until you do an actual "test" or race, though.
- The model needs "maximal" efforts in order for it to start making reasonable estimations of your performance. A mean-maximal effort happens when you have data that is recording the highest average power for a given time. So your 0.93 IF Oly probably qualified as a maximal effort.
- Any effort that changes your mFTP will also change your TTE. As mFTP goes up, TTE decreases.
- A long, steady, sub-maximal effort when you do not have any maximal efforts < 10 minutes (i.e., you have a very low FRC) may cause your mFTP to become lower and your TTE to become longer. This doesn't mean your physiology has changed, it means that WKO4 is trying to fit a curve to a data set that does not have enough maximal efforts to make a good fit.
In the end, I think the model can do a really good job at helping one 'prescribe' intervals for oneself. But only if the model is fed with valid maximal data. There are lots of other time proven models for developing fitness.One of the biggest things the model does for me is provide me with motivation. I love seeing a place that I can improve, getting on my bike and then watching the line move. Or comparing my maximal efforts from last year to this year... I really don't want them to be less, and that drives me to suffer more in training. Or seeing the power that I have held for one hour to get the confidence to believe I can hold it for 90 minutes.
My mentality: I'm not one who chases numbers in training. I do the work, but I need the crucible of competition to verify that the work has worked. This lesson tells me I can use TTE to determine just how well I have raced relative to my training: the closer I get that TTE to one hour after a race of any length, the better I have honored my training by extracting everything from the bank account.