TJ's Power File
For those of you curious what a winning Ironman bike looks like
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/PZ2DRKJ4SQFXK7QZ5UUV46O6RE
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For those of you curious what a winning Ironman bike looks like
https://www.trainingpeaks.com/sw/PZ2DRKJ4SQFXK7QZ5UUV46O6RE
Comments
VI - 1.03
IF - .807
It looks to me like he listened closely to the Four Keys talk and applied it to his ride (except of course for the pro level IF).
I just finished up reading his RR, he made the move to get to the front of the race (into the lead) in the first 30 mins of the bike...probably tried to get away.
He PR'd the marathon (2:50 I believe) and shut it down with a few miles to go....
Pro's play in a different sandbox, if would interesting to see a file from pro that was answer moves all day. TJ lead from mile 5 of the bike through the finish shoot and could afford to ride steady.
TJ has 163 as his weight on his bio -> therefore 73.9 kg.
NP was 290 and IF was .801 -> therefore we can estimate his FTP is 362.
362 / 73.9 = 4.89 W/KG.
So not only is he close to 5 w/kg, he is on what appears to be a super aero setup, and is racing an IM at .8 (of course since he is only on the bike for 4.5 hours he can hold a higher IF than most).
That nut cup aerobar thing is pretty crazy looking.
I am curious if you could correlate TJ riding a 96 zipp to an increase of their bid price on Ebay.
Also, he's definitely around 160 lbs.
Thanks, Chris
Clearly I had to take the jump and ask him what he's specifically been doing differently to raise his 5hr power without revealing too much of Cliff's magic. He wouldn't tell me the workouts, of course, but he essentially said it involved "long intervals at IM pace," ie, main sets, during his long ride. Now what's interesting about that statement is the use of the term "IM pace" since IM pace/power to us mere mortals is never used in the same sentence as the word "interval." ;-) So I had to ask him if his definition of IM pace equated to his IF at IMLP (~.80) and his answer was "yes, + or - a few watts, of course."
Nothing too earth shattering here, of course. It would be nice to see a more detailed comparison between this year and last year but that ain't going to happen. He did send me a bunch of weekly and monthly summary power data but just wouldn't share the workout details.
If you don't know TJ he's our kind of guy. 100% due diligence. From my perspective, him winning IMLP is like justice being served. That's not to say that guys like Ben Hoffman don't work hard and aren't deserving but I think you get my point. TJ truly works for everything he gets. He's an open book as much as he can be -- obviously he needs to protect his coach.
Thanks, Chris
I wish that audio on the youtube video of you and him talking wasn't so horrible.
You can look at his 1st half data vs. 2nd half data.
from mile 0-60
NP 297
Average Watts 288
VI 1.03
TSS 168
From mile 60-112
Average watts 273
VI 1.03
TSS 129
Yeah, I don't really like that video so much. It was done during a period where I wasn't doing my daily push ups.
I think the IM specific intervals are more doable for me and represent an area where I can see some improvement without too much of a physical cost in this final build. In doing the intervals I am amazed at how much "paying attention" makes up an addition .02-.03 IF "points"...
I rode LP at .718, and have ridden Kona in 5:14 on a .72 - it was in '08, a moderately windy day. I did 2 x 45' today with 15' easy spinning at around .75 IF, and plan to grow that out over the next few weeks instead of just piling on lots of bike volume, etc. Any other input you have would be welcome...or a new thread is fine too...
Coach P, I'm a little hesitant to try and tell you how to train yourself, but was wondering why you weren't doing zone 3 intervals (which I thought were considered to be a great sweet spot in terms of raising fitness without too much physical cost)?
Cheers
Peter
@Peter, I am always open to advice. After Friday's modified 3 hours, I crushed my run yesterday (Sat). Today's 3 hour ride was not as much fun...but managed 2 hours at .74....