Help! Mojo crisis!
Hey, team--
My mojo really sufferred a hit this past week and I need your collective wisdom to get myself back on track. Apologies in advance if this rambles on a bit.
I'm on the November OS plan and haven't missed a single bike workout. I was coming off my best season yet and I tested at 295 at the start of the OS plan (which was very exciting for me since I started EN last March at an FTP of 261). Throughout the first 8 weeks of the OS I felt like I was working hard and the data said I was hitting and/or beating all my targets on almost every workout. My legs felt like they were geting stronger every week. The elusive goal of a 300 FTP seemed to be in sight as I headed toward the Week 8 FTT.
Last Tuesday I tested and achieved what I thought was a 306 FTP. I was thrilled. A new personal best! I wasn't sure I'd ever get to 300 but now all that hard work was paying off. 
My confidence was soaring. The only thing that was bugging me was that for the past several weeks my Powertap was regularly showing lower speeds (e.g. 17-19mph) even when I was doing hard intervals over 300 watts -- like I was always going up a slight hill. So on Wednesday I zeroed the torque on the PT and then went through the set-up process again to make sure the wheel circumference was correct (assuming that might be the source of my speed issue). Also I hadn't zeroed the torque since the beginning of the OS and somebody recently mentioned to me that you're supposed to do it every week or two.
Well, when I jumped on the bike for my Thursday morning workout I instanly noticed my watts were signicantly lower than they usually are during my warm-up spin. They're normally in the 170-200 range for the first 10 minutes and now they were only in the 60-80 range. When I started the first of my 2x20 Z4-5 reps I could only get my watts up to the 220-240 range -- around 70-80 watts lower than I had been holding regularly for that kind of rep in previous weeks. The rest of that workout I came nowhwere near my old numbers. Now, I know you're thinking "Your legs were still dead from the Tuesday FTP test." But they weren't. They felt fine. I went for an easy 30-minute jog on Wednesday did lots of stretching and they felt very fresh. And even if they were a bit tired I still should not have been seeing such a huge watts drop. I mean the numbers just felt totally wrong. So I went ahead with the workout and just assumed I had messed up the calibration on my PT somehow.
Later that day I zeroed the torque on the PT again and quickly jumped back on the bike for a couple of minutes for a quick spin-up to see if the watts felt more accurate (Note: for those of you with power meters you know that you have a pretty intuitive sense of your perceived effort and where the watts normally should be) and once again they read really low -- below 100 even when I spun up to 95-100rpm. So I zeroed the torque again. Then Xmas arrived and I didn't get back on the bike until this morning for my prescribed Saturday workout.
Once again, as soon as I started pedaling, the watts reading on the PT felt really low again. Not wanting to try to mess with my PT any further I determined to go through the workout and try to achieve the zones that the workout called for based on my pre-test FTP of 295 (2x15 @ Z4-5, 1x5 @ Z5, 2x15 @ Z3). Well, I almost killed myself trying to get my watts back up where they were prior to my re-calibration last Wednesday. First rep I could only manage 87%. Second rep I got angry and was able to hold 93% but only with a supreme effort. The Z5 rep I was able to manage 105% but that was like an all out effort that left me completely gasping. The last two Z3 reps I barely managed 82% and 83% and that took a ton of focus where in the past I could hit 85-90% for those fairly easily. When I got off the bike I felt more beat than after last week's FTP test.
So here's the big question...was my PT reading wrong the entire first 8 weeks of the OS leading me to believe my FTP was much higher than it really was? Given that I was able to get my watts during today's workout fairly close to where they were before the re-calibration -- but only with me working MUCH harder than in previous OS workouts -- makes me think that maybe I wasn't working as hard as I thought I was. Looking back on last week's FTT, I must admit I didn't feel like I "suffered" as much as on previous tests (but I chalked that up to improved fitness). I've gone back and re-read the Powertap user's manual and it appears like I did everything right on zeroing the torque and going through the set-up process again. I changed the batteries on the hub and the head unit just over a month ago so I feel like that can't be the problem. However, I did notice that my speed was still only 18-19mph even on my Z5 rep today so that still seems to be an issue but I chalk that up to having a roller on my trainer that just doesn't spin very easily.
Bottom line, is my confidence has taken a major blow. 
I thought I was strong and getting stronger and now I don't know if I was looking at "false" watts and just thinking I was working hard. My whole perception of my own effort, hard work and intensity is completely in question. Maybe I just thought I was working hard but was really only "kind of" working hard. Maybe I need to push myself to the point where I can barely get off the bike after every workout. No matter what my mojo is on thin ice and unless I suddenly realize that I've done something stupid to mess up my Powertap calibration I've got to find a way to regroup mentally and push on knowing that I'm not where I thought I was.
Thanks for reading this far. Any thoughts or ideas would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
-Chris
Comments
I'm not a powertap expert, but I'm willing to bet the answer lies between the new numbers and old numbers. Even if you thought your FTP was 300 sounds like you've been around power enough to know that those 80 watts probably aren't accurate either. I'm a smaller guy and find it difficult to push under 100 watts, that is barely spinning.
I would change the batteries in the hub?
I wouldn't freak out just yet.....
the solution is out there
Chris,
I am new to power, but from what I have read you might want to zero your PT before every ride. Just get in the habit of doing it. I really don't know how far out it can get after 1 or 2 weeks so I don't really know if there are underlying issues with your PT or this is just a case of needing to lower your FT.
This was a difficult week for training. Hitting 93% on the second interval is close to the 95-100 for the workout. Perhaps you will have to scale back a few watts but in a couple weeks you should see some more gains.
There is lots of time in the OS to see the 300 watt mark and beyond. Don't let this get you off track. Keep the consistency that you have had in the first 8 weeks and hammer on.
Gordon
Just because your monitor shows some whack numbers doesn't mean you aren't fitter from 8 weeks of work. It just means you can't measure how fit you have gotten. Remember, you didn't zero the PT between tests 1 and 2, so the data you have is relatively consistent (in a messed up sort of way). Your fitness is there, you just need to "recalibrate" if you nailed the other 2x20 this week, can you use those numbers as a new estimated FTP to ride to?
P
Thanks for the feedback, folks. All good points. I guess it is true that even if I don't really know what my "true" watts are I do know that I have made some gains from week 1 to week 8. Just bums me out thinking I was at a level that I may not have been.
Coach P, I was so distracted and annoyed with the new whacky numbers during the 2x20 Thursday workout that my head really wasn't in it and really didn't push myself that hard -- so those probably wouldn't work as my new FT numbers. I think I may replace one of the 30/30 workouts this coming week with another FT test just so I can get some kind of "real" number to base my zones on.
Hayes, I am going to replace the batteries on the head unit and the hub today in one last attempt to "fix" things. Fingers crossed on that. I'll keep y'all posted.
Thanks, again!
-Chris
Chris,
I had a very similar issue last year with my PM and, subsequently, my fragile ego. Around this time of year my SRM started producing some whacked out data. My numbers dropped. I let it play with my mind.
I eventually sent it back to the factory for recalibration and they replaced a bad circuit board. End of technical glitch.
Unfortunately I let the issue interrupt the consistency of my training. I came out of the OS with lower numbers than the previous year & there was no bringing them back as I changed focus to my race-specific plan. I missed my opportunity to get fast.
As you try to figure out what's up with the PM, keep training on perceived exertion, HR, etc. if that's what you have to do. There's no substitute for the consistent hard work of the OS. That work will make you faster regardless of what your actual vs expected numbers really are.
Dan
Thanks for sharing that story, Dan. You're right, I can't let this mess with my head and ruin the OS.
I'm going to contact Saris today to see if there might be some calibration issues with the hub and/or head unit but if it turns out that there's nothing wrong with the hardware I think I may just have to "get angry"
and try to hit my old higher "false" numbers during my upcoming workouts anyway. Maybe I can turn this experience into fuel for more positive gains than I would've made cruising along only working "kind of" hard with my old numbers.
I appreciate the support from the team and will provide upates as I work through this little glitch!
-Chris
OTOH- don't let the number 300 become some sort of magic idol that makes or breaks your spirit. Just like trying to reach a certain weight, while it's great to have those goals, you have to remember that in the end, these tools are commercial grade- one PT might say 290 and another will say 300. The important thing is that they remain directionally correct for the individual using them.
Most importantly- Dan is right- don't let that distract you from getting the real work done. You said it yourself- as a Power user, you intuitively know what Z4 should feel like. So keep the mojo going and get on that bike!!!
Great reminder, Nemo. As long as I'm working hard and progressing the results will follow, right? It's so easy to get wrapped up in trying to achieve a specific number. Goals are just that -- goals. Can't let them own me.
Be kind to yourself, zero the torque and retest. Reset your head and your expectations and get the work in. Do the work and the speed will be there come race season.
Oh, and I posted some pics of some of the fast guys in my AG in the pain cave....I'm going podium hunting this year, power tap numbers be damned!
Kia Kaha
Philip, thanks for sharing. Good to know I'm not alone in this. I like your attitude for turning a negative into a positive.
I do have an update. Yesterday I contacted Saris about my "problem" and the rep asked me go to the test screen on the CPU for torque settings and read him the number that was displayed. When I did he said it was out of spec. I epxected him to tell me how to reset or recalibrate the CPU to fix it but no. He said it was busted and I needed to send the wheel and CPU back to Saris to be serviced and refurbished...at a cost of $300 to me!
The unit is more than a year old so it's out of warranty. Even worse, it'll take 2+ weeks to fix! Doh! I wonder if anyone else on the team has experienced this and, if so, what their experience was once they got the fixed PT back.
So I guess I can look at this as a bad news/good news scenario:
Bad news: $300 out the window and no PT for 2+ weeks
Yup- that's basically what hapened to me last year. All winter long my mojo seemed to be out of wack and I couldn't figure out what was going wrong. I upgraded my PT Hub with the ANT+ update and that totally threw it over the edge. Lucky for me- it was covered by warranty. Saris was good about getting me the wheel back ASAP. Here's links to a little more background on the saga (as well as some troubleshooting tips when the torque doesn't seem to be zeroing out correctly).
http://www.endurancenation.us/en_fo...amp;page=2
http://www.endurancenation.us/en_fo...amp;page=4
The really good news for you is that you figured this out WAY faster than I did and your getting it fixed at a time in the season where not having the PT will have just a small impact. You can still train by feel (or use your HRM ) until you get the box back from Saris.
Thanks for the links, Nemo. Some great info in those threads. Can't wait to get my wheel and CPU back and see where I really am.
One question: Was there ever a consensus on how often you need to zero the torque on the PT? Mine is an older wired Pro 2.2 model. Should I be doing it before every single ride or just every once in a while?
Chris, I always zero the torque at the beginning of my trainer rides. My rationale is that the PT is good at autozero when you stop pedalling, but on the trainer, I almost never stop pedalling on a trainer ride, so it never gets to autozero. Usually, I pedal for a few minutes to warm everything up, and then stop pedalling for about 10-15 seconds, zero, and go on with the workout.
Mike
Good tip. Thanks, Michael. I guess there's no danger in zeroing the torque "too often" for trainer rides. Better to err on the of Always Be Zeroing.
Yup. The way I see it, the LYC is programmed to always zero the torque whenever you're not pedalling, so 'overzeroing' can't really be a problem.
Of course, I have been known to jump into things without fully thinking through the implications, so I'm always interested to hear other opinions...
-Mike