Joe's Final RR for LP

jpriore

Team,

Would appreciate any input on my final RR (may have been a little conservative but actually only ran a couple of miles because my knee started to hurt, more because of fatigue from last long run).  I was on a pretty flat course - here's my overall data:

Entire workout (153 watts):
Duration: 5:44:39

Work: 3148 kJ

TSS: 237.2 (intensity factor 0.644)

Norm Power: 169

VI: 1.11

Pw:HR: 11.01%

Pa:HR: 12.01%

Distance: 111.971 mi

Elevation Gain: 1777 ft

Elevation Loss: 1913 ft

Grade: -0.0 % (-138 ft)

Min Max Avg

Power: 0 559 153 watts

Heart Rate: 81 165 128 bpm

Cadence: 29 166 80 rpm

Speed: 0 37.1 19.4 mph

Pace 1:37 0:00 3:06 min/mi

Altitude: 253 739 471 ft

Crank Torque: 0 791 167 lb-in

Nemo Brauch

Joe- it's a little hard to judge your Race Rehearsal with just a data dump from WKO. Can you give us some context to wrap those numbers around? What was the weather like, what targets did you plan to hit, how did you feel, how was your nutrition, etc.

At first glance, my gut says that your VI of 1.11 is awfully high especially if it was a flat course. But it would help to have more insight into what other stuff was going on during that ride.

jpriore

Nemo,
Thanks for the feedback - the weather was warm (mid 80s at the end, nutrition was good - used 5 20oz. infinit water bottles, 2 gels - probably could have used a Clif bar, felt ok but the last 20-30mi. were mostly into a pretty strong headwind) - thought my wattage was low and I guess my IF was as well, thinking for LP that my power would be around 200 watts and that would yield an IF of .7 or so

Nemo Brauch

Joe- what Power Gears are you going to ride to (First hour of the ride vs rest of the ride, hills, etc)? In general .7IF seems appropriate given the time you are going to be out there- but there's more to the Guidance than just that.

Do you have any thoughts on why your VI was so high on a flat course?

Chris G

I agree with Nemo, VI is scary high especially for a flat course.  LP which is not, can be ridden in the 1.04 range.  I would only expect to see a VI that high on a flat course if you were drafting off of someone and taking turns pulling.

jpriore

Chris and Nemo,

Thanks again for your input - I'm not really sure of the significance of VI (in fact, I just got WKO+ this weekend), I know the calculation is NP/AP but other than that I don't know if I fully understand it - I think the windy conditions might simulate drafting (obviously tailwind time) and then pulling (into headwind) -- I have a compact crank and I was in the small chain for probably the 1st 45 minutes or so, then into big ring but never really into a high gear, probably same as with LP in terms of gearing (although more small chain time due to hilly terrain)

Coach Patrick

Joe - Hit the wiki for power info, but basically the VI number tells you the amt of your watts that didn't go into the road. Road racing aside, a low VI is the goal on IM race day. To achieve a low VI, you must ride steadily and within your power zones...sounds like you had some solid spikes/valleys despite the fact it was a flat course. On a hilly day that could prove pretty costly!

P

jpriore

Thanks Coach P - I did check out the 411 in Wiki - my best guess as to the high VI would be the windy conditions (I'll monitor the other longer rides until LP to see the differences, particularly on a hilly training ride) - I was definitely in my zones overall, in fact I think it was pretty low, NP @ 169 and my FTP @ 263)

Coach Patrick

@Joe the IF is low for sure, so you went easy, but the VI tells me that you left a lot out there. Either you coasted a lot (instead of pedaling downhill) or you crushed some of the ups....please keep us posted!

P

jpriore

Thanks Coach P for the feedback - I did coast on the downhills, probably 7-8 of them (most lead right into a stop sign, fast rural road intersection) so maybe that altered the VI - this weekend, I'll see what my VI is on a hily terrain and Sunday on a similar course, although for a shorter duration

Nemo Brauch

Joe- just a small suggestion. Riding steady (getting a low VI) is a little bit of a skill. Especially if you are a new to using Power. So I think your plan to practice that skill this weekend is a good idea. But don't just see what the outcome is after your ride this weekend- go into the ride with the intention of riding steady- observe what is going on. You'll learn a lot more if you approach it from that point of view.

Coach Rich

Good advice from everyone else. To be clear on VI, it's Normalized Power divided by Average Power:

• Average power is the physics of you moving your bike around the course, the actual work you actually did. Average yeilds speed and speed yields a bike split.
• Think of normalized power as how tired you made yourself while producing those watts and is largely a function of your style of riding:

You and I both the weigh the same, have identical bike setups, tires, etc.

1. I average 250w and 260w normalized
2. You average 250w and 280w normalized.

We have the same avg power, the same bike split, but you produced those watts in a manner that made  you more tired: surging on the hills and then coming off the gas at the top, working too hard into headwinds and coming off the gas in the tailwind, etc.

So a low VI ride means that you made yourself as little tired as possible while doing the work that you did.

jpriore

Rich,

Thanks for the clarification - I know I'm just starting to use a powermeter outside and I have had a tough time maintaining watts on the downhill and preventing spikes on a climb (probably just have to play w/ the gears as I'm getting used to the compact crank as well). For LP, should I try and maintain a consistent wattage on the Keene descent ,for example, or utilize the rest (thinking even in the biggest gear on the compact that my power would be way low)?

Coach Rich

Joe, when speed is > than 33-34mph, just get very, very aero and coast.

jpriore

Rich,
Thanks - will do