Andy Potts Discusses Power & Benefits of Indoor Riding
I thought this was one of the most valuable pro triathlete interviews I've seen in a long time because it validates so much of what we have learned and practice here @ EN.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=91Uz29Bdyl4#!
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My note in terms of extending the WU is that I notice if I do this, my total ride time is increased with little to no extra mental fatigue in terms of being on the trainer. B/C I will comlete the MS no matter what 99% of the time.
Like the part when he said, "its every day" meaning, he's in that pain cave every day pushing pretty big numbers.
He may have me beat on FTP but I got him beat on % improvement season after season. i'm way over 1% better this year over last year. So take that Andy Potts.
Will be curious to see what others who use power think of this.
As for the long WU sets, great for the pros but just don't think it would work for us AGers. Way too much "get faster" time lost if we were to really extend the WU. What is a normal for an EN bike week, 8 hours? Too much warmup time takes away from the meat of the workouts. Pros can do this as they have much more time to train. Plus they need to keep the intensity a little lower due to their bigger training loads.
Andrew Robert Potts (born December 28, 1976 in Hershey, Pennsylvania) is a triathlete from the United States.[1] He competed in triathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics and is the 2007 Ironman 70.3 World Champion.[2][3] Prior to triathlon, Potts was a swimmer where he won the bronze medal in the men's 400m individual medley at the 1995 Summer Universiade[4] and earned a spot on the USA Swimming national team where he would place fourth at the 1996 Olympic Trials in the 400 IM.[5]
CareerPotts Graduated from the University of Michigan in 2000 with a B.A. in English and a secondary teaching certificate. At Michigan, he swam for the University of Michigan swim team from 1995–1999, serving as team captain for the 1998–99 season. Potts was a six-time NCAA All-American swimmer while at Michigan and a two-time Big 10 individual champion. He was also a member of the Michigan track team in 1999–2000.[6]
Potts began competing as a professional triathlete in 2003 and was named USA Triathlon Rookie of the Year. He was also the only athlete to break into the Top 100 World Rankings as a rookie.[7] Potts competed at the second Olympic triathlon at the 2004 Summer Olympics after only participating in the sport of triathlon for 22 months.[8] He placed twenty-second with a total time of 1:55:36.47.[2] In 2005 and 2006, Potts competed in a variety ITU Triathlon World Cup races, accumulating a number of top three podium finishes and finished out the 2006 year ranked third in the world.[9][10]
In 2007, Potts won the triathlon event at the 2007 Pan American Games.[11] Later that year, Potts would win the 2007 Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Clearwater, Florida, with a time of 3:42:33.[12] On June 27, 2010, Potts captured his first career Ironman Triathlon win in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, with a winning time of 8:24:40.[13] His best finish at the Ironman World Championship is a 7th place finish at the 2009 Championships.[14]
Throughout his triathlon career, Potts has posted numerous first place results in a variety of high profile races.[15]
Also, while I assume everything he said is true, i always wonder what else he (or any pro/coach) didn't mention. For example Lance Armstrong post a ton of his workouts to Strava and twitter, but he doesn't post some. It's pretty well know he does a weekly group run with some other pros in Austin but you never see what splits he is running in those... you get to see his steady long run in Kona at a pace that is not all that impressive for a top tier pro. Everyone knew what he could do on the swim and bike, but he shocked a lot of people with his run in Panama...
A couple of my take aways:
(1) consistency trumps a lot!
(2) his comment regarding pacing mirrors a comment made in the new Coggan cycling book coming out that states AGs really have the ability to ride the perfect race using a power meter. Pros tend to know how to use the power meter, but will often over ride an optimal race in favor of race tactics. I think Potts stated that he relied on his power meter if he was leading the race, and not so much if he was playing catch up.
(3) I don't think pros have incredibly high FTs. I think they have the ability to ride at higher IFs than us mere mortals because they train so much but also because they are on the course for hours less than most of us. Most AGs need to ride an IM at .70 because they are on the bike for 6+ hours. Pros can ride at .8 or higher because they are done in 4+ hours
(4) Those massive warm up and cool down periods are just not appropriate for someone who has 10 hours a week to train.
Anyway, great video.
tom