What's wrong with this picture?- watts and HR
Hi all,
Looking for some wisdom from the folks here.
This is what the data tool says about my HR zones and watts zones.
z1 <132 HR <111 watts</p>
z2 133-140 HR 111-120 watts
z3 141-148 HR 128-136 watts
z4 149-154 HR 152-160 watts
z5 >155 HR >176 watts
So here's my question. In real life, I see no such correspondence between HR and watts. For example, I rode IM Canada last year at 120-123 HR (no power on my bike - only a Computrainer in my basement) but my guess is that this was around 110-120 watts (and a 6:02 bike split). A 120 HR is way deep in zone 1 by this chart. Right now, HR is similar. My zone 3 watts of 130-135 I produce with a HR of about 128-132. This feels like a zone 3 effort (not a zone 1 effort which is what this table above tells me.).
But the clincher is this. I have been injured and only been back on the bike in serious way for about 4 weeks now. I cannot get to z4 watts and hold them for the duration of the intervals we are being asked for. For example, if we have a 12 minute z4 interval, I will start at 140 and go 2 minutes at 140, 2 minutes at 145, 2 minutes at 150, 2 minutes at 155, and then back down to 150, 145, etc. And my HR does not get up past about 140. But my legs are hurting! I feel fine with all other zones - zone 3 and the zone 3 HR is what I am used to pre-injury, zone 1 and zone 1 HR are also at pre-injury levels.
So my questions are: First: What do I do about my hurting legs? Do I continue doing what I'm doing? Or do I set the watts to that 155-160 level and just do what I can in terms of time? And second: why is my HR disconnected from the watts in each zone? Before I was injured, my zone 4 HR and watts were connected (but all the others were not - the HR was always lower than the data tool said), but now none of them are. Is that just loss of fitness?
Thanks for your help on this.
---Ann.
Comments
If you want correllated numbers you have to choose one methodology as your primary test; Use the zones generated from that method/test and then make your own personal correllation with the other measure/tool.. Don't take the data tool zones as you have copied and try to make them correllated they are not...they are generated from independent results. Make sense?...
ie. if you test by HR and then train by the HR zones...then measure the power you generate in the zones during your training....
or vice versa...test by power; tarin by power zones...then correllate your HR to those zones.
Ann - concerning the disjunction between HR and power in Z4, see my post another thread, Simply put, your heart is currently in better shape than your muscles.
For years, I was in your shoes - having a computrainer for inside use, and no power meter for outdoors. A powertap solved that problem so I no longer have to worry about HR, which is of little use in bike training I've found, as what we are training is indeed our muscles more than our heart at the effort levels required in HIM and IM.
As to the specifics of what to do right now in your training, I'd leave that to the coaches, you might check with them in the micro thread, or during on e of the online chat times.
Given I am 9 weeks (or whatever) out from IM Canada, I am not going to retest since I am pretty sure this will lower my zone 4 watts (John's right!) as well as all the others. That seems not like a good idea given that riding an IM is really about having a pretty buff zone 1/ zone 2. I seem to be functioning well in zones 1 - 3, so don't want to lower those. I think the time for amping my zone 4/zone 5 is in the fall in the OS.
So my takeaways are as follows. Get a power tap for my bike outside (good advice, Al!) so the guess work of HR/watts correspondence goes away. Not worry about my top end right now since IM is about riding in low zone 2 for 6 hours, but trying to get as many watts into that zone 2 as I can. And just using my own experience to connect HR and watts together - regardless of what that table says (as Joe points out).
Thanks again guys!
---Ann.
Oh -- and those hurting legs? I find switching up cadence can do amazing things. Usually, I like the spin at a higher cadence, but don't be afraid to mix up intervals and even get into a big gear and stand a little bit.
---Ann.
And, if I recall correctly (at least for me, here in the US), insurance covers MORE of restless leg syndrome treatments than low iron/ferritin treatments. Crazy thing, they're both the same treatment!
I'm Canadian and I'm sure the treatment is the same as ever - a $5 bottle of ferrous gluconate!
---Ann.