"Little Peeps" and power permutations

cfpete

 I was just listening to a Coaches Call entitled "Long Course Bike Execution" as I get ready for IMAZ. Toward the end there was a slide that identified "permutations" on "wattage gear detail" for "little peeps."  However - there was no real discussion about this. So as a "little peep" (who is also old) I just wondered if somebody would add a little here. I have only had Power for three or four weeks and mostly have been watching to see what I generate. FPT tests showed I am really old and powerless - but still - I wonder about any general guidance or experience here. I plan to ride the numbers for me - FTP at about 178, so my Z 1 number is 125 - but by experience I am almost always above that number. I also still have a tough time getting steady power results.  Any help here appreciated. I expect my bike split to be more than 6 hrs, likely 6:30.

William Jenks

The basic point they make (if I understand your question correctly) is that if you're going over 6-6.5 hours and you're riding at .XX, the table will tell you that you're accumulating too many TSB points to have a good run, but their actual experience is that when you are in that low intensity range (120-125 W for you is in that .68-.70 range), it typically doesn't kill you as bad as the high TSS numbers accumulated by people that are in a IF. I think their words of caution would be to start out on the low end for sure - if you try to do something like .72-.73 and still take near 6.5 hours, you may find yourself in trouble.

The bottom line is that TSS isn't a perfect, measure of work, and at low enough intensity, you can go at it longer than the charts would indicate numerically.

Interestingly enough, there is another forum post out now that talks about why TSS isn't that relevant for the outseason...for the reasons on the opposite side... you don't accumulate all that many "points" doing short/hard stuff and it looks like you're not doing enough work. :-)

Nemo Brauch

That's basically the gist. Use the wattage calculator to determine your "gears" for race day. However, if you are estimating a 6+ hour IM bike split, keep your Gear 2 target at .68-.70 and don't worry about the fact that TSS is going to creep up over 300.

Coach Rich

Good advice from WJ and Nemo:

• Ride at .68-7 of your FTP
• Let TSS sort itself out. Our experience with the team since we created original guidance is that you'll be fine.
• AZ is a very flat course so relatively easy to ride steady and within prescribed wattages. You just need to be careful going out on Beeline, especially on laps 2 and 3 into a headwind. Ignore everyone around on lap 1 and 2, they are working too hard.

Norton

Chuck,

At .68-.70 of your FTP it will seem too easy, especially the first couple of hours. BUT it's the biggest mistake IM racers commit, going too hard at the beginning of the bike. Let 'em pull away; you'll see them later on; you'll be running, they'll be walking. Guaranteed.

cfpete

Thanks all - will do. Two weeks and change to go.