Peak questions

[bgoetz]

It is getting about that time that I need to start thinking about when, if, and how I am going to peak. I just want to be sure I have a full understanding of the concept and am approaching it the best way possible. Without a power meter I have been doing my best to track my training using a spread sheet that takes into account training volume and intensity to come up with a rudimentary way for me to track my training. My training has been fairly balanced L1 through L4, with less time spent L5+ (I do L5+ intervals maybe once or twice a week). I am up to 11 hours a week mostly indoor training. The weather is starting to break so my plan was to spend much more time outdoors, so my training volume will increase. Aside from riding outside, I plan to do more L5+ intervals indoors. The maximum amount of time I will have to consistently devote towards training will be 18hrs per week.

My understanding of peaking is that say the spreadsheet I have created to try to give me a generic CTL says 100 (it does not really say 100 I am just picking an easy number) and I want to have "slow long peak", I can slowly taper my training each week to have a longer peak. So week 1 I use 90 towards training, I have an extra 10 towards my performance, week 2 I use 80 and I would maybe have an extra 15, week 3 I use 70 towards training, but may be back to 10. The fact that I am tapering my training will reduce my CTL, so at some point I will be back to 0 because my CLT and use will again match (it will just be lower). At this point I need to start to increase training to head for another peak.

OR I could get a "hard and short peak" I could go from 100 to 50 and have an extra 50, but my time at that peak will be short lived before I need to start rebuilding.

I am going on a cruise at the end of June and have a decent size race the week after we get back, I do not intend to let my training go to **** during the cruise, but will be limited to the spin bikes on the boat. So to me this seems like a natural place to have a "hard and short peak". My issue is that the end of June is a long way off and I am not sure that I can continue to build on my training until then, so I was thinking of trying to have a "slow long peak" at the start of race season. My thought is that if I don't go to deep (i.e. I slowly go from 100 to 70), it will be easy to build back up and take my training beyond where I did my early season peak at and then have a "hard and short peak" at the end of June. From there I could maybe fit one more end of season peak in.

1. Am I thinking of the whole "peak concept" correctly?
2. Is it unrealistic to shoot for 3 peaks per season?
3. Without a powermeter what is the best way to determine when my peak is over?
4. When it comes to increasing back up I am assuming it is best to start where you leave off at the end of the peak and work back up from there?
5. Should I be counting my racing as training towards all of this?

Thanks in advance to reading my rudimentary description of what I THINK peaking is!

 

[daveryanwyoming]

You've got the rough idea of peaking, but IME it doesn't play out quite the way you describe.

If you simply cut your workload way back as you describe you won't so much get a short really tall peak as simply get wayyyy too rested and probably not perform well on race day. If you want a short dramatic peak I'd back training load back quite a bit but introduce a lot of high intensity short interval and sprint work. IOW, back off the overall workload but keep things firing with short punchy work.

If you want a longer peak it's more a matter of continuing to train and backing off the workload a bit but pretty much still doing the same sort of workouts you'd do during a CTL building cycle. So back off the duration and maybe take 3x20 sessions down to 2x20 sessions or perhaps target closer to 90% than 95-100% on your L4 days and apply similar strategies to your L5 and Tempo days. So you back off the overall workload a little but continue to do building style work instead of more focused high end work as you might while peaking for an important short intense race.

Remember CTL grows and decays on exponential curves so it takes a while to get the last few percent on a steady workoad and it also drops pretty rapidly at first but the fall rate slows as you have less of it. Good descriptions and examples of peaking cycles here: http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/cycling/what-is-the-performance-management-chart.aspx

and here:
http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/cycling/the-science-of-the-performance-manager.aspx


Personally I only try to full out peak maybe once per season but more often than not go through what I like to think of as 'mini-tapers' for most events especially if they're longer events or weekend stage races. Basically I do my normal training but backed off about 15% from normal in the week leading up to the event with days rearranged so that I get a rest two days before the start and an openers day immediately before the first day of racing.

-Dave

 

[bgoetz]

Thanks Dave

So would you agree that with one of the larger races that I will do taking place the week after I get back from a Cruise, makes this time the natural place to try to peak, and how would you go about still getting the training in on the Cruise ship? They do have spin bikes, although I think you may have to do a class. I could always sign up and do my own thing, completing some short hard intervals on the spin bike, my only concern is that it may be to early because my race is not until the weekend after we get back, so I will have a full week back on the bike. If there is a way to avoid a peak without dissrupting my training and allowing me to enjoy the curise for what it is (a vacation), I would be game for that too.

With regards to my current training I think I will continue building for a few more weeks, until I feel like my training is reaching the maximum load of training I want to commit to per week. From there I will taper my training down a bit, maybe reaping some benifits of a positive TSB along the way. After a few weeks of tapering I will begin to rebuild with a fresh new focus from having tapered my training and given myself a break.

My main concerns are that there is still a long season ahead and I am already commited to over 50% of what I realistically have time to commit towards my training, so I feel like at some point I am going to need to back it off a touch before the late spring/summer where my racing/riding schedule will increase to the point where I am on the bike a lot. My other concern is that the transition from indoors to outdoors is going to change my training load, as I will be doing lots of group rides where my pace may be dictated by others.

 

[daveryanwyoming]

I suspect you're going to taper whether you try to train a lot or not on the cruise. IOW, I don't think you're going to want to taper following a relatively light week(?) you'll probably do better just resuming a more normal training load, perhaps not building additional CTL with high TSS workouts but a more normal week at fairly normal loads with maybe a couple of easier days before the key event. Basically the cruise is poorly timed if that's really your 'A' race for the season. Stuff like that happens but it's not ideal.

Yeah load management and looking forward to figure out realistic limits is tough but a worthwhile process. You can't build indefinitely and we all run into time and or recovery limits so just can't train more and or harder. So it makes sense to spend some of base you accumulated during your winter build on spring races, take a short breather after a few weeks of targeted racing and then rebuild for a second series later in the year.

Is there some other event that's a better choice for your second peaking cycle than the one immediately after the cruise?

A couple of other peaking points I've made on other threads but a worth repeating:


- Short intense events like crits and track races benefit from additional freshness as those short L6/L7 efforts are typically best when fairly well rested. Long endurance events, weekend stage races and the like generally benefit from additional fitness as they rely heavily on metabolic fitness and sustainable power. Tapering to bring on a peak is an exercise of buying some freshness at the expense of additional fitness training. IOW, the shorter and more intense the target event the more important it is to taper and be fresh, the longer and more endurance oriented the target event the more sense it makes to taper less and not move too far from fitness building. In PMC terms I wouldn't advocate a full taper and peaking cycle if your CTL is below say 70-80 or so. That's just a swag but the lower your CTL the less sense it makes to give away even more of it.

-Dave

 

[bgoetz]

Originally Posted by daveryanwyoming .
Is there some other event that's a better choice for your second peaking cycle than the one immediately after the cruise?

Yeah, truthfully I don't know my entire race schedule, there are still quite a few races that are not posted yet. So would you suggest trying to do what I can on the cruise and then getting right back at it the next week, with a slight taper towards the day of the event and then back to full training the week after the race?

 

[daveryanwyoming]

Yeah, something like that. Don't get me wrong, you may very well have a fantastic race after the cruise especially if you dig a bigger training hole before the cruise, the cruise isn't too long and the race comes shortly after returning. In that case you'd be using the cruise itself as the taper but from your description you were going to start the taper after returning which sounds like you'll start to rest from a fairly rested state which IMO isn't ideal.

But yes, if the cruise is a week or longer and you'll have a week or longer between returning and the race I'd shoot for something like working out on the ship but understanding your CTL will probably drop a bit without any outdoor rides in mid season. Then do a more normal but not huge week when you get home with a lighter few days leading to the race. After the race start rebuilding some of the CTL you've spent away in the last few weeks and do that for at least a few weeks or longer before the next important races.

That's what I'd try, YMMV
-Dave