I’m back

[Jman]

I don’t’ know if you recall but I was attempting to complete a century (in my quest to lose weight) and had achieved a 50 mile ride. I then had a stroke (4/19/06) and couldn’t workout with any intensity for almost 2 months. It seems that I can, once again, push pretty hard. I had originally planned to complete the century by June or July but, now I am going to complete the century late this year or early next year. The neurologist said I should keep working out (but not train like I want a spot on the Olympics) so I am following the Friel “Past 50” first century workout. (Essentially, 5 rides per week: one 60-90 minute hill ride, one 60-90 Z2,3 ride, 2 60 minute Z 1 rides and one long ride (the long ride follows an increasing pattern with a “lite” week every 4th week.



My question is: When I download my power stats the power distribution looks like this:



Hill Ride (Max Watts 693)

L1 41.4%

L2 10.1%

L3 10.0%

L4 8.6%

L5 6.9%

L6 23.0%



Z2,3 (Max Watts 840)

L1 40.2%

L2 10.7%

L3 11.4%

L4 12.5%

L5 8.8%

L6 16.5%



Today’s Long Ride (2:00, 27.8 miles)

L1 39.7%

L2 13.2%

L3 14.2%

L4 12.4%

L5 8.3%

L6 12.2%



My FTP was 210 before and I haven’t had the chance to check it yet.



Is it normal to have such a “heavy” distribution in the L4 and above? One thing that skews these stats is I am very heavy (250) and have to push on the hills.

 

[RapDaddyo]

I don’t’ know if you recall but I was attempting to complete a century (in my quest to lose weight) and had achieved a 50 mile ride. I then had a stroke (4/19/06) and couldn’t workout with any intensity for almost 2 months. It seems that I can, once again, push pretty hard. I had originally planned to complete the century by June or July but, now I am going to complete the century late this year or early next year. The neurologist said I should keep working out (but not train like I want a spot on the Olympics) so I am following the Friel “Past 50” first century workout. (Essentially, 5 rides per week: one 60-90 minute hill ride, one 60-90 Z2,3 ride, 2 60 minute Z 1 rides and one long ride (the long ride follows an increasing pattern with a “lite” week every 4th week.

Great to hear from you again. You're brave to continue training. I hope your MD is right.

Is it normal to have such a “heavy” distribution in the L4 and above? One thing that skews these stats is I am very heavy (250) and have to push on the hills.

This distribution is not truly a distribution by training level. This distribution simply takes every discreet observation of power and puts it in one of the buckets. But, efforts at L4 and above have two components -- duration and power. If you were to apply both criteria, you would probably find that you have no actual L4-L7 efforts. More important is the average power of your sustained efforts of several minutes and longer.

 

[Jman]

[/size]Great to hear from you again. You're brave to continue training. I hope your MD is right.[/font]
Thanks RD. I don't know about "brave" but I would rather be gone than go back to be inactive.


This distribution is not truly a distribution by training level. This distribution simply takes every discreet observation of power and puts it in one of the buckets. But, efforts at L4 and above have two components -- duration and power. If you were to apply both criteria, you would probably find that you have no actual L4-L7 efforts. More important is the average power of your sustained efforts of several minutes and longer.

I have to think about this for a while -- are you sayig that due to the sporadic duration of the L4 - L6 time (not consequtive) they don't count as true L4 -L6 work?

 

[RapDaddyo]

I have to think about this for a while -- are you sayig that due to the sporadic duration of the L4 - L6 time (not consequtive) they don't count as true L4 -L6 work?

That's exactly what I'm saying. Let me give you a crystal clear example. Let's say that your FT is 210W. Your ride consists of 15secs at 210W (100%FT) followed by 15secs at 105W (50%FT), and repeat for 1 hour. When you download the ride file, it will show a distribution by training level of 50% L4 and 50% L1. But, in reality the ride was physiologically equivalent to an hour at 75%FT (L2). If you wanted the ride to be 30 minutes of L4 and 30 minutes of L2, you would need to ride for a minimum of 10 minutes with a normalized power at L4. So, you could do three 10min segments or two 15min segments or one 30min segment (or any combination of 10+min segments). The same thing applies to L5, L6 and L7. There are minimum durations. This is because the physiological adaptation is stimulated by a combination of both stress (power) and duration.

 

[Jman]

That's exactly what I'm saying. Let me give you a crystal clear example. Let's say that your FT is 210W. Your ride consists of 15secs at 210W (100%FT) followed by 15secs at 105W (50%FT), and repeat for 1 hour. When you download the ride file, it will show a distribution by training level of 50% L4 and 50% L1. But, in reality the ride was physiologically equivalent to an hour at 75%FT (L2). If you wanted the ride to be 30 minutes of L4 and 30 minutes of L2, you would need to ride for a minimum of 10 minutes with a normalized power at L4. So, you could do three 10min segments or two 15min segments or one 30min segment (or any combination of 10+min segments). The same thing applies to L5, L6 and L7. There are minimum durations. This is because the physiological adaptation is stimulated by a combination of both stress (power) and duration.

Thanks RD I didn't realize that there are 2 required components of L4+ training.

 

[RapDaddyo]

Thanks RD I didn't realize that there are 2 required components of L4+ training.

BTW, given your objectives, I don't see any real advantage for you to do any sustained efforts above L4. You can climb almost any hill at 210W if you're geared correctly. What does your MD say about intensity? Does he (she) recommend that you stay below any given %MHR?

 

[Jman]

BTW, given your objectives, I don't see any real advantage for you to do any sustained efforts above L4. You can climb almost any hill at 210W if you're geared correctly. What does your MD say about intensity? Does he (she) recommend that you stay below any given %MHR?

I couldn't get them to give me a percentage of MHR -- all they would say was "don't push it so hard"?????

 

[RapDaddyo]

I couldn't get them to give me a percentage of MHR -- all they would say was "don't push it so hard"?????

Well, then, even more reason to keep it down to FT. Anyway, for a century you don't really need to improve your VO2MAX or AWC power. Just increase your endurance at FT and, if your FT increases, all the better.