Big Bike Week Total TSS
What total TSS should folks shoot for in a big bike week? Is there a number that you reach personally before you know you have to shut it down before you implode?
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What total TSS should folks shoot for in a big bike week? Is there a number that you reach personally before you know you have to shut it down before you implode?
Comments
I love questions like this, as they give me an excuse to go back into my WKO files and do a little analysis; I learn something every time.
Before sharing my numbers, it's important to note that there is no right answer to this question. Everyone will go into a specific Big Week with a specific level of fitness and quality/quantity of training, both recent (current season) and long-term (career). The idea of a Big Week is, as you note, to improve from where you are, not to implode or to hit a designated TSS number.
My two recent "Big Weeks" in 2010 were actually 18 days, and the second 12 days, and both were placed at weeks 4 and 3 before an IM, culminating in my second Race Rehearsal. So I was very fit going into each of them. My daily TSS, running and biking, averaged 125 for the longer one, and 137 for the second. More important, I think, was to follow my TSB, ATL, and CTL.
In that first block, averaging 122 TSS/day, I ended up getting a higher ATL and lower Training Stress Balance then the "harder" (137/day) second block. In the first block, I really totally exhausted myself, and needed several days to recuperate before launching back into IM training. With the second block, I balanced the work a bit better, with fewer really long days, and more "shorter" days on the bike (e.g, 3 hours instead of 4-6 hours). My ATL was lower, and my TSB was less negative, and my overall CTL was higher, and I felt more fit than the first time around.
I think the wiki advice written by Rich should really be heeded more so than blindly trying to hit specific numbers of any sort. Strict attention to layering in rest and recovery during a push like this is critical. And paying attention to the depths of TSB is important - when I see it going lower than any previous point in the season (and/or the ATL reaching a new peak), I know I should take a rest/swim day ASAP.
Bottomline is you need to decide if the week is about racking up TSS or still doing some get faster training. Above TSS of "x," you just can't also do the get faster stuff, not unless you can spend the rest of your days off your feet, sleep 9hrs+ every night, stuff like that. More importantly, if you try to hang onto the get faster stuff early in the week while putting up big volume, you'll feel it BIG TIME by the 3rd day and it will make for a very shitty remaining week.
Lastly...don't underestimate the importance of ass maintenance for stuff like this: good shorts, good saddle, ass cream and good post ride practices :-)