RR #1 Power Numbers
I did my first race rehearsal for IM Austria this past Saturday. I was riding along thought I was doing fine b/c my average watts stayed in my z2 range (144-155) and my heartrate was in the z1-z2 range but I did notice my normalized power was high. When I downloaded the ride into WKO I saw that my TSS was 388 & VI was 1.16 which I know are both too high for an IM. My full numbers are below:
Entire workout (145 watts):
Duration: 5:56:02 (6:14:10)
Work: 3104 kJ
TSS: 388.1 (intensity factor 0.814)
Norm Power: 169
VI: 1.16
Distance: 96.681 mi
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 526 145 watts
Heart Rate: 88 162 134 bpm
Cadence: 30 170 85 rpm
Speed: 0 33.8 16.2 mph
Is it safe to say that it is more (or just as) important to focus on normalized power than average watts on the IM bike? The numbers show that I am not a steady consistent rider, correct? I think it means that I had a lot of surges? It just gets confusing b/c when I hit an interval (about on the hour) my HR and avg watts were in my zone. Also, if I get into this situation again where my normalized power is high, how do I lower it? Slow down? Ride more steady which it seems like I have to practice......a lot! Any advice would be greatly appreciated! My run was okay, held my pace for the 60' and my avg HR was 146 (my Z1 HR zone is <150) so I think that should have been lower. </div>
Thanks!
Kim
Kim
0
Comments
Kim - there are several different issues floating around here. The first and most important thing to hear is that this is your 1st RR, and you've got 3 weeks and another RR to get things ironed out.
1. The most glaring inconsistency in your numbers: an Intensity Factor of 0.814. This just ain't right. Since you were able to run afterwards, and you biked 97 miles in nearly 6 hours, I'd guesstimate your IF was really more like 0.68. These means either your power meter is out of whack (calibration issue), or you need to do an outside FTP test this week or next. Assuming your PM is accurate, and you NP for this ride actually was 169, your FTP would be about 248. Anyway, that's the first thing to iron out - is your PM working properly and/or what is your true FTP? What kind of a PM do you have?
2. Things over which you have no control which might make the VI too high: hilly course, many stops and starts at lights, for traffic, etc. Even assuming both of those, it should be possible to lower the VI more towrds the target of 1.05 or below, but getting down there in an RR can be tough. To avoid depressing myself with a high VI in an RR, I will generally break the file up into intervals, either after the fact in the software (WKO+?) or while I'm riding (on my Joule head unit). I create intervals which do NOT include the downhill segments, or the portions which have frequent starts/slowdowns. Then, I can look at my VI during those segments to get a better read of just how steady I'm going. A good thing to do is create some intervals for the UPHILL segments, which is where many folks ride too hard. While your VI may be good on an uphill segment, you dont want the IF to be much over 75%, with a target for 68-70% for the flats.
3. If you have real time NP on your head unit, go with that. The higher your VI, the less helpful the avg power will be.
4. Finally, the number one metric on a RR is how you perform on the run. Pace per mile is the thing to measure, and keeping it at EP (LRP) + 30 seconds for the first half, and @ EP for each of the last 3 miles is the target. If you can do that, you didn't bike too hard.
Excellent advice from Al. Notes:
No worries, this is why we have you do 2x RR's, so you can screw up the first one and fix it in time for the second
I have a joule for a PM and when I asked at the bike shop who sold and installed it they said that when I rode it outside it would calibrate itself. I would manual zero it when I had it on the trainer. Should I manual zero it before an outside ride as well? Keep in mind, I absolutely love training with numbers but I do not have natural talent in installing or troubleshooting devices. I read the manuals and try to follow the directions and hope that I did everything right. My last FTP test was on May 1st and it is accurate (FTP = 207), there is no possible way I could have an FTP of 246. When I saw my numbers when I first downloaded the workout the first thing I did was make sure my zones were set correctly which I think they are. I have the power agent software on my computer (in addition to WKO) so I downloaded it there as well but I can't get my zones set correctly on there.
The course I did was pretty flat to rolling, no huge hills but I did have quite a few starts and stops due to lights and traffic. I was following an MS ride route that was marked so I spent a few seconds at some turns trying to follow the writing on the roads. Also I had an issue with my foot that I had to stop to stretch, relieve it (whole other issue) but I paused my ride which I didn't think would affect my numbers. I did the same thing when I went into a gas station for drinks. Those two things accounted for my total time being 6:14 but riding time was 5:56.
I looked back at other long weekend rides and I kind of see the same trend. 4/21 = NP - 183, AW - 158, TSS 294; 4/22 = NP - 163, AW - 153, TSS - 147; 4/28 = NP - 172, AW - 146, TSS - 231. Even when I looked at rides that I did on the trainer there is the same type of differences. How would I know if something is wrong with my PM? I got it late last summer so it isn't even a year old. If I see the same trend I tend to think it is more my riding but I would rather blame it on the PM
Do you happen to know if the NP that shows on the joule is real time or an average? I have it on my dashboard to show it and then when I highlight it shows IF and TSS. I will also look in the manual for that info. I will pay more attention to the NP during my training rides and look at my data more, really haven't been doing that. I also have a duathlon this weekend so I can see what my numbers show being on a course that I will not have to stop but it is a little hilly. I will also look in the wiki for those articles to get the information and then apply it during my training. If you have any direction on what it is under in the wiki let me know, I have looked through it quite a bit but haven't seen too much about it. Or any other tips or things you tend to concentrate on when you are riding to ensure a NP in the appropriate zone.
And yes Rich, top be exact I have 44 days to find Jesus and learn how to ride steady! Thanks again for your help!
Kim
The Joule and your PowerTap power meter are two different things. The PowerTap in your hub has been automatically calibrated, just as your bike shop guy said.
But the Joule, which is receiving the data from the hub, assumes a default of 250 for your FTP unless you adjust it. Since you have done an FTP trest, and 207 is that number, you have to set the Joule to reflect that. Then it will accurately calculate and display your IF and TSS correctly. Here's how to do that (page 64-5 of the Joule User Manual):
1. Press the Mode (left) button 3 times; this will bring up Main menu
2. Toggle (center switch) down to Setup User, press toggle to enter Setup.
3. You can toggle down to each item and put in the correct values (name, DOB, weight, etc) the same way.
4. Toggle down to FTP; ress toggle button, first "0" will be flashing; toggle over to the number(s) you want to change.
5. Move the toggle switch up or down to change the number. E.g., to change "5" to "0", toggle down 5 times.
6. When done with an item, press the toggle switch
7. When done with all, press the Mode button.
Now, you also need to change the PowerAgent software and/or the WKO+ software to reflect your FTP.
For PowerAgent, double click on your name (if you have set yourself up as User), and click on Power Zones. Change the number in the FTP box; you don't need to fiddle with any of the others. Of, the first time you connecrt your Joule after changing it, Power Agent will tell you the numbers are different, and ask which you should use - you want to use your device number assuming you changed it.
For WKO+, you set your FTP in a box in the upper right of your "Athlete Home" window. Here's a link to the detailed instructions.
Oncde you've changed your FTP on your Joule, the NP, IF and TSS numbers during your ride and postr ride analysis will make much more sense. NP is not an instant number, not like current watts, or current HR or cadence or speed. It is a summary number reflecting the entire ride (or interval) to that point. Ditto for IF and TSS.
Trust us, learning to ride steady is way easier than learning how to setup and use the technology surronding your power meter. Just look at your current watts, and try to keep that number as close to the number you want, no matter the gradient or wind or how tired you feel. Just take a brief peek every 30 seconds or so, like looking at a speeedometer while driving. For your RR#2 at an FTP of 207, that would be 140-145.
Wiki resource: Riding steady
You have to ask yourself a couple of questions here: are you doing starts and stops and surges on the trainer? If so, maybe that number is legit. If not, well, then maybe you have a power meter or recording issue.
If you want to test this, you can do it with a ~45 ride minute on the trainer. Do the following.... warm the trainer (and yourself) up by riding 15 min like you normally do. (Many trainers have a change of resistance in the first 15 min of use, and of course you need a warmup too.)
Then ride as close to dead-steady as you can for about half an hour or so, recording your data. Use your speedometer to monitor your "steadiness" and just pick some decent but not super hard level (e.g., however fast you go when it says 160 W). Because you are testing your power data and don't yet trust it and are on a trainer, you can in this instance rely on your speedometer, not your PM....there are no hills or wind on your trainer! :-)
Then download your data. You can plot speed and power vs time and they should both be very steady. You can look at the VI for that 20-30 minutes and it ought to be darn close to 1.00. If the power moves up and down all over the place (and I don't mean the second-to-second noise...which always has some scatter...I mean the trend) and you didn't do that, then you have an issue. More likely (if there is a problem), the problem is dropouts, where there will be gaps in the data where the power is recorded as zero. In other words, you would have been riding along at 170 watts, but there are a lot of spots recorded as zero....that would end up giving you a high VI and would make your target powers all be lower than you can achieve...consistent with what you're saying Such dropouts CAN occur if your batteries in your PT are low. I once had a problem where I was just losing around 10% of my data like that.
All that said, it's more likely that you have a "how to ride steady" issue, but this is a relatively painless way to be sure it's not your PM or Joule.