A Cure for the Common Cold

I've had a mildly annoying cold for a few days.  My nose is drippy, my throat like sand paper and I'm perhaps a little achy too.

 

My wife and work colleagues tell me I'm grumpy, slow-witted and generally a bit of a grump.  Of course, some would say I'm like this for much of the time, but with fewer snotty hanky discards.

 

As for training well its been business as usual although at a slightly lower pace than planned.  I know many people tend to avoid training once the nose starts to run although I find getting on the bike noticeably improves the mood.

 

Of course, this might have helped too.  Man Flu, I spotted it in Tesco this morning when looking for some night nurse.  Very apt. Tasted nice too - not that my taste buds are up to much at the moment.

Above: ManFlu Shots

 

Heart Rate vs Power

For the best part of a year I've been boring anyone keen or otherwise on the sport with my love for training with power (ie wattage).

Last October I rented a simple powertap unit from the good people and CyclePowerMeters and after a few months convinced Mrs T that I really, really needed to spend the best part of £700 on getting my very own.

Above: My PowerTap SL+

Heart Rate vs Power

So what's wrong with using the traditional HR model for training?

Well nothing really.

I used HR as the key measure of physiological response to training and exercise for many many years although its use has limitations namely that its confounded by variables that act upon it which in turn lead to inconsistencies.

Bodily hydration levels, air temperature, tiredness, caffeine, how well you slept last night and many other variables which can all combine to reduce its effectiveness as a training tool. On the other hand, power as a measure of physical exertion isn’t confounded by such variables.  300 watts is 300 watts.  Period.

This is most apparent for interval sessions where HR lags behind effort which means it's a poor measure of work done in the session. Hopefully the graph below demonstrates this. 

In this 2 x 20min interval session my HR as shown by the red line clearly rises over the course of the two 20 min intervals whereas the wattage I produced, the yellow line, remained essentially consistent throughout.

Above: 2 x 20min interval session - HR in red, power in yellow & speed in blue

For measuring performance and providing feedback on effort there's really nothing better for pro or amateur hobbyist bike riders alike.

So how do I use my PowerTap?

In essence, I use it for 3 things:

• To guide and pace effort for intervals and rides out on the road and on the rollers
• To track changes in fitness vs physiological strengths and weaknesses
• For motivation to train harder and to make indoor work a little less dull

So really that's it.

There are of course other uses of a power based training system which perhaps I'll look at over the course of this little blog.   Should anyone want to know more I'd point you in the direction of Training and Racing with a Power Meter which explains all in a far better way than I ever could.

Winter - time to lay the base

Ok, so as I type were well into October and I'm a good few weeks into the winter training period. So far so good.   We've been blessed with some cracking weather - lots of sun and little or no wind which has meant the turbo or rollers haven't found their way out of the loft which of course is highly satisfying.  Of course, their time will come, but hopefully not for a few more weeks.

Above: A view from the road

This year I'm using a higher intensity and lower volume training plan rather than the more usual long slow distance approach.  With a new family, full time job and all the usual live stressors I lack the time and the good weather to put in hour after hour needed to build up the miles during the next 3 or so months.

The aim is simple, to maintain and develop my aerobic system and lay down a firm base before the real hard work starts in the New Year. 

To this end I'll be spending the next few months doing lots of week day 1 hour endurance rides and plenty of 2 x 20mins at lets say 80% of my threshold.  Come the weekend I'll be getting a longer ride in of say of 3 – 4 hours.

As I've said above, so far so good although there's a very long way to go until July 2012.

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Weekly Totals:

Bike: 7hrs 15mins - 233.45 kms

Run 1hr 20mins - 16.7 kms