Tom: n00b question: is that the output viewed through WKO or something else? I am setting up my CT for the first time for testing next week and hoping to have meaningful power data.
Well my test will have to be redone, got done with it and notice my Avg Heartrate seemed a little low turns out I had a semiflat tire on the back. It is changed out now, I am thinking of later on tonight for a rematch or early tomorrow morning.
@Paul that is output from WKO+. I'm using a PowerTap for my power meter. I have been very happy with WKO+. The nice thing is it has all the common language you'll hear people talking about for training with power. I'm not as familiar with the CT and what it has for included software for analysis.
For racing and training the most important numbers that I look at are the TSS and NP values. The NP is what will help you determine your FTP. The TSS has been a post-ride analysis number and gives me an idea of both how much load I've been putting on my legs and in the case of my last IM event it was a fun to compare my efforts to the Power Webinar TSS data sheets and compare how I performed on the run.
@Zach bummer on the test! If you went all the way through the 2x20 test I would give yourself at least until tomorrow morning to let the legs recover a bit.
Testing is done, I am a heart rate athlete so here are my numbers. They can only go up from here right? 4omin time trial on the trainer, Avg speed 14.9, avg cadence 81, BLTHR was 159. Now its time to rest up for the run test tomorrow.
@Brian, I'm sure you'll be fine. Having been plagued with injuries most of 2010 I'm happy doing my first test in 8 months and only being down 2 watts from the beginning of last year's OS!
It is Fookin' cold here in Iowa! I'll be doing my Run test on the treadmill in the morning. Not having run much I'll have to make some good guesses on pace.
I know our group is small, but I'm pushing back my OS start to January. After a little nudge from the coaches I'm going to go into an OS prep cycle for December to make sure my running is up to speed. I've been battling some injuries this year and I don't want to make it worse by jumping in too quickly.
I'll keep monitoring the Dec OS and see how everyone is doing!
Sorry to here that Tom, you and me are the only ones that have been posting so far, I understand though. I would do the Jan OS but I would not have enough time to prepare for a race in September. Hopefully some more people will start posting.
It was cold out there 28 degrees without the windchill but i got the run test done. My time was 24:04 avg 7:46 miles with a Vdot score of 40 my LTHR was 167. Starting out I had a cold headwind which is good because I was really pushing it on the way back.
Great job everyone! Super impressed...be sure to head over the heads/tails thread to drop in your data for RnI to edit. How was the rest of your week???
Finally getting the EN thing figured out. Just started in on the Dec OS and will have to catch up on the bike testing next week. Am planning on the run test in the morning. I know coaches recommend doing the run test on a track or repeatable course, but why not a treadmill? Seems to be the most reproducible test.
@Luke I know I plan on doing most of my runs outside. If you are going to do most of the runs on the treadmill that I would go for it. I know there quite a few that do all their runs on the treadmill.
@Patrick my week has been good I am little sore. I started the Nov OS but restarted because I thought I could use a extra month to build even more. Since my A race is not till September. I did improve on the run by one point already.
Just finished the run test a little while ago. I warmed up outside and then did the test on the treadmill. I couldn't get to a course that would work...flat and dry wasn't happening in my neck of the woods today. Anyway, came up with a value of 165. My test monday was my first indoor ride with power and second overall. Ended up with a norm power of 189. I don't think either test was paced all that well, but it gives me some values to work with at least.
@Nicholas good job man on the first bike test, you will get better at testing from what I have been told its something that you will get better at just like everything else.
Hey guys First test on the bike done on the Computrainer. Long way to go. Been working on the run in September - November post Ironman Louisville. VDOT is up to 46 from 43.
The Computrainer power output is pretty good. Make sure rolling resistance is around 3, not less.
@Nicholas it is a 10'easy followed by 3'x3' (1'). Like Scott said though if you are doing a brick workout only do the bike warmup then just transition right into the run workout. I find the Bike Wu a must because me being a heartrate athlete the 10min gets my legs going then the 3x3 gets the heart rate up, if I don't the half of the first interval I am trying to get in the right zone.
Remember though, those are just guidelines the most important part of the whole workout is getting that main set done.
Thanks Zach! I need that long to get going so it was nice to see a realistic amount of time written in...most plans are 5-10 minutes. Here's my next question...are the plan minutes exclusive of the warm-up? Today said 60 minutes, but adding the main set to the warm-up would put it at something like 72 minutes. I overthink things if you guys couldn't tell
@Nicholas I overthink too, I like things to be very structed but from the vibe from the team and what I have read so far that 60 minutes is just a guideline. I include the warm up with my 60 minutes but thats just me. It really depends on how you feel, how much time you have. Thats why the plans are written with the main set then its says the rest of the time do X. The bigest thing is to do the main set, thats whats going to make you faster, the rest is just icing on the cake.
So the computrainer rolling resistance should be at 3? I am still in the learning stages with my computrainer and when I do the calibration (where you speed up to 25 mile per hour, etc.) I get a number around 2. Is this the number you are referring to? If so, what sort of effect would a lower number than 3 have on the power reading?
me again. so do i need wko+ software in order to get all the power info? i have just been using trainingpeaks to look at average watts, and gamin connect. not sure if i can get all the necessary info from these two programs. i have a computrainer, but also a quarq and usually just use my quarq numbers. thanks for the help! i'm sure the answer to my question is somewhere on the site, but i'm still trying to take it all in. i'm hoping to test this week.
Computrainer calibration uses a default of 2.0. This is the minium necessary, and if you are doing intervals you will get some slippage of the rear wheel. The power control will allow you to crank the "press-on force" value all the way up to 5.0. That wears your tire and eliminates ALL rolling resistance so you feel like you are on a VERY steep hill. There are some values in the manual. If you are pushing more than 300w or simulating greater than 2.5% grade, you need to be above 2.5. Since i don't typically do that... I typically use somethong between 2.5 and 3.0. I would not recommend higher unless you are simulating hills or doing intervals where you will generate power numbers over 400w. Racemate makes a tire that is especilly resistant to the conditions generated by the trainer. Road tires do wear out. I always reduce all "press-on force" at the end of my session so as not to damage the tire.
No, you definately don't need all the bells and whistles of WKO. I waste a lot of time obcessing over numbers. There is a great WIKI post about focusing on the wrong things during the OS. I know that I will best be served by getting on my trainer and hitting the real time power outputs and/or heartrates prescribed by the workout, and getting off the bike and recover.. The analysis provided by WKO does help during race simulations, but I usually know that I've bonked, and at the end-of--the-day, the Avg Power that I can maintain for 6 hours and run well is the only number I need on race day!
Comments
A little ugly for my first test. The 2nd 20 felt better. Looking forward to going up from here...
FTP Test:
Duration: 42:29
Work: 561 kJ
TSS: 75.8 (intensity factor 1.034)
Norm Power: 222
VI: 1.01
Pw:HR: 2.56%
Pa:HR: 3.34%
Distance: 14.174 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 280 220 watts
Heart Rate: 126 191 181 bpm
Cadence: 55 96 82 rpm
Speed: 9.3 21.3 20.0 mph
Pace 2:49 6:29 3:00 min/mi
Crank Torque: 0 299 226 lb-in
Zach
Well my test will have to be redone, got done with it and notice my Avg Heartrate seemed a little low turns out I had a semiflat tire on the back. It is changed out now, I am thinking of later on tonight for a rematch or early tomorrow morning.
For racing and training the most important numbers that I look at are the TSS and NP values. The NP is what will help you determine your FTP. The TSS has been a post-ride analysis number and gives me an idea of both how much load I've been putting on my legs and in the case of my last IM event it was a fun to compare my efforts to the Power Webinar TSS data sheets and compare how I performed on the run.
4omin time trial on the trainer, Avg speed 14.9, avg cadence 81, BLTHR was 159. Now its time to rest up for the run test tomorrow.
I'm not starting wk 1 til next week, so I'll post then
@Tom: Nice job. I am doing my FTP test on the CT next Monday. I have not tested in three months, should be interesting.
@Brian, I'm sure you'll be fine. Having been plagued with injuries most of 2010 I'm happy doing my first test in 8 months and only being down 2 watts from the beginning of last year's OS!
It is Fookin' cold here in Iowa! I'll be doing my Run test on the treadmill in the morning. Not having run much I'll have to make some good guesses on pace.
I'll keep monitoring the Dec OS and see how everyone is doing!
Good luck with everyone's testing!
Hi all,
Finally getting the EN thing figured out. Just started in on the Dec OS and will have to catch up on the bike testing next week. Am planning on the run test in the morning. I know coaches recommend doing the run test on a track or repeatable course, but why not a treadmill? Seems to be the most reproducible test.
Just finished the run test a little while ago. I warmed up outside and then did the test on the treadmill. I couldn't get to a course that would work...flat and dry wasn't happening in my neck of the woods today. Anyway, came up with a value of 165. My test monday was my first indoor ride with power and second overall. Ended up with a norm power of 189. I don't think either test was paced all that well, but it gives me some values to work with at least.
First test on the bike done on the Computrainer. Long way to go.
Been working on the run in September - November post Ironman Louisville. VDOT is up to 46 from 43.
The Computrainer power output is pretty good. Make sure rolling resistance is around 3, not less.
Set 1:
Duration: 20:01
Work: 232 kJ
TSS: 35.1 (intensity factor 1.026)
Norm Power: 195
VI: 1.01
Pw:HR: 6.09%
Pa:HR: 2.57%
Distance: 6.684 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 143 238 194 watts
Heart Rate: 147 163 156 bpm
Cadence: 78 92 86 rpm
Speed: 18.4 21.6 20.0 mph
Pace 2:47 3:16 2:60 min/mi
Crank Torque: 152 228 191 lb-in
FTP Test Total:
Duration: 42:01
Work: 472 kJ
TSS: 69.8 (intensity factor 0.998)
Norm Power: 190
VI: 1.01
Pw:HR: 4.66%
Pa:HR: 3.15%
Distance: 13.802 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 96 274 188 watts
Heart Rate: 145 168 158 bpm
Cadence: 61 101 87 rpm
Speed: 13.7 21.6 19.7 mph
Pace 2:47 4:22 3:03 min/mi
Crank Torque: 105 266 183 lb-in
Set 2:
Duration: 20:00
Work: 224 kJ
TSS: 32.4 (intensity factor 0.986)
Norm Power: 187
VI: 1
Pw:HR: 2.83%
Pa:HR: 3%
Distance: 6.57 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 119 274 187 watts
Heart Rate: 145 168 159 bpm
Cadence: 75 101 88 rpm
Speed: 18 21.3 19.7 mph
Pace 2:49 3:20 3:03 min/mi
Crank Torque: 114 266 180 lb-in
I have a dumb question about the warm-up listed in our plan...are we supposed to do both or pick one?
Bike
10’ Easy, 3 x 3’ (1’) @ 80-85%/Z3/Mod-Hard.
Nicholas -- for bike and brick work out, just the bike. For run, the run. Not both!
Thanks Scott. I phrased my question pretty poorly. Looking just at the bike warm-up, do we ride 10' easy then do the 3x3', or one or the other?
Remember though, those are just guidelines the most important part of the whole workout is getting that main set done.
Zach
Thanks Zach! I need that long to get going so it was nice to see a realistic amount of time written in...most plans are 5-10 minutes. Here's my next question...are the plan minutes exclusive of the warm-up? Today said 60 minutes, but adding the main set to the warm-up would put it at something like 72 minutes. I overthink things if you guys couldn't tell
So the computrainer rolling resistance should be at 3? I am still in the learning stages with my computrainer and when I do the calibration (where you speed up to 25 mile per hour, etc.) I get a number around 2. Is this the number you are referring to? If so, what sort of effect would a lower number than 3 have on the power reading?
Thanks
Melissa
Scott-
Computrainer calibration uses a default of 2.0. This is the minium necessary, and if you are doing intervals you will get some slippage of the rear wheel. The power control will allow you to crank the "press-on force" value all the way up to 5.0. That wears your tire and eliminates ALL rolling resistance so you feel like you are on a VERY steep hill. There are some values in the manual. If you are pushing more than 300w or simulating greater than 2.5% grade, you need to be above 2.5. Since i don't typically do that... I typically use somethong between 2.5 and 3.0. I would not recommend higher unless you are simulating hills or doing intervals where you will generate power numbers over 400w. Racemate makes a tire that is especilly resistant to the conditions generated by the trainer. Road tires do wear out. I always reduce all "press-on force" at the end of my session so as not to damage the tire.
http://www.computrainer.com/html/manuals/CTSA2009.pdf
Melissa-
No, you definately don't need all the bells and whistles of WKO. I waste a lot of time obcessing over numbers. There is a great WIKI post about focusing on the wrong things during the OS. I know that I will best be served by getting on my trainer and hitting the real time power outputs and/or heartrates prescribed by the workout, and getting off the bike and recover.. The analysis provided by WKO does help during race simulations, but I usually know that I've bonked, and at the end-of--the-day, the Avg Power that I can maintain for 6 hours and run well is the only number I need on race day!