A Winning Formula

More on Team Pursuiting...

The 2007 Bicisport Train in Action @ 55kph
In order: Andrew, Alex, Phil, Alan

Our masters team pursuit squad (an event we raced successfully on Sunday), did one or two specific training sessions per week in the weeks leading up to race day. All other training was responsibility of individual.

In the first couple of weeks it was about familiarity with each other's wheel (and each other for the newer club member) and riding in formation/pursuit bike set up. Then the pace of our efforts was lifted and rider order changed about to find out individual rider's form and to iron out technique and pacing.

Three weeks out from the event the sessions were:

Sunday morning: After a warm up, 2 x standing starts, maximum of 1.5km (often less than 1km) - just enough to have everyone do one (maybe two) short turn(s) on the front and get the start pacing right. Then the boys could do what they liked (starts/sprints etc). I'd already done my endurance training beforehand so that would be it for me.

Monday night at race venue: After a warm up, 2 x Flys at or near race pace: 1 x 2.5-3km just under race pace as an opener; 1 x 2km at race pace. This served to reinforce technique at full pace and provide confidence to team members since a 2km fly is significantly easier than a full pursuit effort. Indeed, I specifically avoided doing a full pursuit effort.

Along with the data from my power meter (especially pacing information by rider*), this gave me solid information to:
(a) select riders to make the first choice team,
(b) decide on the rider order and

(c) decide what race pace I thought we were were capable of.

* Pacing info/data from the power meter was especially helpful since:

(i) I didn't always have someone with a stopwatch to record splits and

(ii) more than half the training sessions were conducted on a 333 metre velodrome and not the 250 metre track we would race on

(iii) I could match what actually happened with the PM data (e.g. did a rider slow down because they were slow or because the rider before them was going too fast). Retrospective analysis of PM data helped keep objectivity in the decisions.


Final week efforts were done in race order and full race kit used for flys at race venue in final two weeks to make sure everything was tested OK.

Team BalanceWe had a mix of track pursuit/enduro and track TT riders with different levels of experience of the event (from 10 years of team pursuiting to second attempt), so blending the unique characteristics of each to maximise team potential is an interesting exercise. I certainly learned never to start with a TTr, they go out way too hard (can't help themselves).

We were fortunate to have five guys going well enough to ride so we had a reserve rider on the day in case we needed him. Most of the guys were training right through this event as our goals are more the Masters track championships in March. I certainly hadn't done anything special to taper for it, indeed I was doing VO2 Max work and raced a hardish crit in the days leading up. In fact, my Sunday training sessions above were preceded by a 80-100 min of high end tempo (L3) in a 3 hour ride and the Monday flys were my "rest day". Despite this, my TSB remained in a relatively neutral zone.

Result: A State Championship win.

Winners are Grinners!
L->R: Alex, Andrew, Alan, Phil

Photos courtesy Ernie Smith Photos

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Gold! Gold! Gold!

With apologies to Norman May.

State Masters Team Pursuit Championships

He he - we had a win today, taking out the NSW 3,000 metre MMAS 1-4 Team Pursuit Championships. Event was held at Sydney's Dunc Gray Velodrome.

Photos not available just yet but I'll post some as soon as they become available.

Our time in the final was a 3:30.46, just 1.8 seconds over the State record set last year by the same team we beat in the final today. We qualified with a 3:36 (about 2 seconds slower than I'd have liked but it was enough to make the gold medal ride).

In the final we were down on every lap (including #11), Andrew had picked it up on lap 11 and I hit the front with 1.25 laps to go. After being certain my 3rd rider was back on I just gave it my all and we over powered the other team to take it out by 0.4 seconds (approx 5-6 metres). Being ahead on lap 12 is what counts!

The boys were fantastic. Phil, Alan & Andrew all did great rides. My form was good, I was especially pleased to finish so strongly and it was great to be team captain as well.

A huge thanks to both Dave (for being our reserve rider, supplier of spares, general gopher and all round good guy!) and Pete (for the gee up, sideline calling and general technical assistance).

Now how many teams get to have two world track champions:
(a) not selected in the starting line up and
(b) have them attend to our every need?!!
What a way to go. Thanks boys, really appreciated. ;-)

Great team work = great results.
That was the first Championship win for each of us in the riding squad. I've been trying for seven years and I think Phil has been trying for a decade to crack this nut. We both have a series of bronze and silvers but hadn't quite got to #1. The event is not contested at National level so State championships is as far as we can go.

The stats for the final were:

Time: 3:30.46 (1.8 seconds outside the State record set last year)
Speed final avg 51.31 kph (by the clock)

Power Avg: 397 Watts
Power Max: 844 Watts (nice starting Phil)

We rode the last 2 laps at 54.6kph (with Andrew & Alex powering home)
FYI my max speed was 59.0kph (yikes!)

Gear: 50 x 14 (nominal 96.4", actual 93.5")
Cadence at average cruise speed: 118 rpm
Cadence at maximum speed: 132 rpm
CTL: 94
TSB: -6.3

Here's the wko screen shot of the final showing the power and speed every second (well every 1.26 seconds). Click/right click to view larger image:

I set the smoothing at three seconds to reduce the noise of the yellow power line. The horizontal lines mark average power (yellow) and speed (blue). You can clearly see the power spike at the start and then the period where I was either in the paceline or on the front (where the power is much higher).

Just for comparison, apart from the first few laps where the acceleration happens and you settle in, when in the paceline I was averaging around 300-320 Watts and when on the front I was averaging 480-490 Watts.

As you can see we started pretty fast but we had to, the other team were going hard. I had faith that as long as we rode close enough, they would crack eventually. But it didn't happen until the last lap. That sure was close!

I couldn't believe it when I came round for my first turn on the front, saw 58kph on the screen and Pete was calling me to lift it!! No way I thought, they will crack. From there we kept powering on but remained behind every lap.

Note the final surge for the line and the win. Woohoo!

And just as a sideline, apart from myself, Phil rides an SRM, Alan uses a Powertap track wheel (but rode a disk today) and Andrew is waiting for his Powertap wheel to arrive. That only leaves Dave without a power meter (but wanting one) as Pete has a Powertap as well.

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Australia Day

Australia Day (26 January) means many things to this nation. Technically it's a celebration of the anniversay of the 1788 British arrival of the First Fleet in Sydney Cove and the establishment of a new colony, New South Wales. Of course many indigenous Australians don't necessarily see that as something to celebrate and in reality Australia Day has become more of a day to mark things that we enjoy most about being Aussies. Being smack in the middle of Summer, typically there are lots of outdoor festive activities. Of course it's a public holiday and us Aussies like our days off. A little more on the topic can be found in this Wikipedia entry.

One of the many thousands of activities on this day includes the annual Joseph Sunde Memorial criterium races at Sydney's Heffron Park. The race doubles as a fund raiser for the Children's Cancer Foundation. There are open graded events including a Masters 1-3 race.

I usually race it, although as a race it can be a bit of a non-event. The organising club, Eastern Suburbs CC, has a tendency to stack the field with their best riders and play the usual games that result in a break away with the remaining 10 or so Easts riders sitting on and marking any attempts to bridge across. Any time the gap is shut down, the rested Easts boys would counter and so on until they get someone away. It's pretty dull racing really and indeed I think the numbers of entrants will fall if this trend continues. Already I noticed other local clubs poorly represented (this is not home turf for my club).

And that's exactly what happened.

Not that it mattered much, I was really just interested in a good training hit out and it served its purpose. Here's a pic of the race file for reference.

Joseph Sunde Memorial Criterium

In this case I wanted to sit in the bunch a bit more than I tend to and it shows with the regular coasting (see how often the yellow power line drops to zero). I was zero power for approx 17% of the race (even though this is a flat crit) and less than 100 Watts for 24% of the time. But when you pedal you have to pedal hard.

The race stats show that with a Variability Index (the ratio of Normalised Power to Average Power) of 1.18. That's pretty typical for a flat scratch race criterium.

Just to spice up an otherwise dull race, I went to the front with 1.5km to go and wound it up hard in a final attempt to bridge the gap, peeling off with 500m to go after getting them to within 50 metres of the leading two riders, however the rest of them couldn't continue the surge and they ended up sprining for third, while I coasted in, happy to have a solid hit out.

Happy Australia Day!

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Getting there....

Raising the Bar

A couple of weeks ago I reported on my difficulties (see this post) in transitioning to (Coggan) Level 5 workouts. Variously known as VO2 Max workouts or Aerobic Power Intervals, these are designed to improve your power at VO2 Max, something that's pretty important as my key goal events draw nearer.

Hopeful that my troubled transition was just an aberration, I went into week two hoping that I'd have a bit more success. Unfortunately week two didn't end up any better with circumstances meaning these were simply unable to be completed. I won't bore you with the details but I was getting a little anxious. Still I was not overly concerned, I had some track racing and team pursuit training as well, so I was already getting some intensity...

A New Level

Level 5 is described as working at an intensity between 106% - 120% of your Functional Threshold Power (FTP) for interval durations of around 3 - 8 minutes, for a total time at that level of up to about 30 minutes in any one session. For me that means around 330-370 Watts.

In this case the target coach set was a range of 335-355 Watts, with six four minute efforts with four minutes rest in between each (a 1:1 work:recovery ratio).

Here's a pic of the wko showing what happened. I cut out the warm up/down sections. Click/right-click to view larger image.


OK, so in order to see if I could do these without the problems previously encountered, coach suggested I start a little conservatively, slightly under the range but to get it into the target power by 1 minute mark and then keep ramping it up through to end of the interval.

So that's what I did. These are done on my track bike in pursuit position, in this case at my local outdoor velodrome. It was really blustery and pacing was quite difficult. But I got through the first three efforts OK, using the pacing strategy as best I could in the conditions.

For ease of reference, I marked my conservative starting level and the upper end of the range with the horizontal lines in the wko chart.

I then needed a drink, so I got off quickly and had a drink and then back on the bike to get into effort #4. Well as you can see from the chart, that didn't go so well. I simply couldn't sustain the power level and cut it short. That was too hard. Hmmm, surely I had more than three efforts in me? OK - so perhaps in stopping I lost my rythym.

So I tried again (effort #5) and this time it was worse and there was no way I was going to keep it up so I pulled the pin again.

It was then I realised what was going on.
My speed had lifted quite a bit but the reported power had not.
My PT's torque zero needed re-setting.

Torque talk

I stopped, unstrapped from the pedals and reset the torque zero (which I had done at the start of my set). Then I went out and tried again (effort #6) - well wouldn't you know - I was able to complete the interval this time. While the RPE* meter in the brain was telling me one thing, the power meter another, I wasn't making a sound judgement as the blustery wind was simply confusing the whole picture.

So, whenever you restart on the fixed gear bike, it pays to ensure torque zero is reset each time.

I thought about trying one more but enough is enough, a successful night's effort and learning.

All in all, I am really happy to be getting these efforts happening and being able to do them on the pursuit bike is a real bonus. Generating power is one thing but doing it in an agressive TT/pursuit position can take some time to adapt.

* RPE - Rate of Perceived Exertion

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Christening

OK, I wouldn't exactly say I'm a highly religious man but when it comes to bikes, well I have new one and it needed to be "christened " so to speak, so what better way than to get it out on the track and race it. I'm trying to organise some decent photos which I'll post but in the meantime here's what the frame looks like:

Viva el Presidente!

Last night was the President's Cup Track open at Dunc Gray Velodrome. I'm not sure which President and of what but no matter, presumably President of CNSW (my State cycling authority/administration). It was a new carnival on the track programme - it appears that the powers that be are starting to look at the major summer carnivals and create a series from the big events each year - spacing them out a bit better.

The Sydney 1000, Bankstown Open, President's Cup, Clarence St Cup - all big(ish) prize money events on the summer track calendar. I sat out the Sydney 1000, raced the Bankstown, and last night the President's Cup. Clarence St Cup is in a couple of weeks.

OK - back to racing - so we all get inside the velodrome very late as the Youth Olympics had been in the velodrome all day and we had to wait for them to clear out. Then the organisers generously gave us 15 minutes to warm up. Ha! Nevermind - it was the same for everyone.

The top seeded rider was Shane Kelly, who was off scratch in the wheelrace.

So the opening race is a standard scratch race and a qualifier for the Wheelrace final (click the link for an explanation of what a wheelrace is). I found myself with pretty favourable grading and promptly won the race, thereby qualifying for the final and picking up some prize money for 1st place.

So the new bike is one for one in open track racing!

In the other grades all my regular training buddies all qualified as well. Next up was - ah - another scratch race (imaginative lot these programmers) and this time I got pipped on the line for 2nd place. Not too bad as during the race I was forced to bridge a 40 metre gap that some dill in front created by not going with the attack and then I had to lead out the sprint. I'll never complain when a multiple world masters champion is the guy that gets you...

Then the Wheelrace final. Since all my club training buddies qualified for the final we basically had a plan to get one of our guys to the finish. It went perfectly, with yours truly being the final lead out rider for the big unit Andrew Burne, who powered away to take the win by eight lengths. We were way too fast for the back markers, even a rider of Shane Kelly's awesome capabilities struggled to reach our committed mid-marker train. So the big money came back to the boys - nice work!

Then one more race to finish off the night - a - you guessed it - another scratch race. Gee, there are so many different types of track races, you wonder if maybe they could have thought of at least one slightly different event but no matter. With legs still reeling from the wheelrace, I rolled around and as the race panned out, I swung off after a short turn and promptly slotted myself in front of two team mates, hit the front again with four laps to go and just started winding it up before the last big surge to give my buddies the perfect lead out for a 1-2 finish. Nice work again boys!!

So a pretty successful night for the new machine.

Team Pursuit

Next weekend I have the State Masters Team Pursuit Championships. I'm team captain (in my new club colours) and we have a good unit going. We've been training together for a few weeks, mainly to sort out the technique stuff and for me to make decisions about who will ride where (and who makes the team). It's one of my favourite events and indeed was the first ever race on the track I attempted many moons ago.

Will report in on how that goes....

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Perrshoot !

Trial & Error

On Tuesday I had an ordinary day, not being able to complete my set intervals. Then yesterday morning I was not feeling too good, postponed my ride to the afternoon, only to get slight stomache cramps, so I figured my body was telling me something and I ended up with a no ride day (shock, horror !!).

So that left me with this evening's scheduled trial pursuit run and general track racing. Idea is to set a benchmark and see how I'm going.

This week, one of the local clubs started up a regular Thursday night track racing series at Tempe velodrome (which is only a 10-12 minute drive from my place), so they kindly let me start warming up early so I could do my pursuit effort with a clear track before racing commenced.

Windy

Tempe is an outdoor 333.33 metre concrete velodrome. A bit bumpy but in reasonably nick - some surface refurbishments were undertaken last Sep/Oct which smoothed out some of the bigger bumps. Conditions, while warm, were not ideal as it was quite windy - not something I'm used to as most of my pursuits have been conducted inside covered velodromes. The headwind was particularly bad in turn 2 and down the back straight and into turn 3. You didn't notice any assistance until well out of turn 4 and about half way down finishing straight.

Anyway, here's the wko of my effort (click/right click to view larger image):

Trial Pursuit 11 Jan 2007

Times as per stopwatch were:
1 km: 1:20.04
2 km: 2:36.50 (1:16.46)
3 km: 3:54.38 (1:17.48)

Gear:________ 52x15 (93.6" nominal)
Avg Power: __ 365 Watts
Avg Speed: __ 46.9 kph
Avg Cadence:_ 108 rpm
CTL:_________ 93
TSB:_________ +6
(Given unscheduled breaks this week, I was not originally expecting to be TSB positive)

So judging by all that, I'd say my pacing was pretty good considering the conditions. I didn't watch the power meter that much, just the occasional glance, preferring to go by feel. Certainly the jagged speed line shows the impact of the wind - typically it's a much smoother, more "sinusoidal" type of line.

One good sign is it's a faster time than I rode at the State/National championships last year.

I then backed up OK for the rest of the night's racing, riding A grade and picking up a 2nd in opening scratch race and 3rd in the elimination and basically attacking the other races hard(ish). Max speed of 63.8kph was fairly respectable too.

SBS Television were out there filming, so I might even make it onto TV this week! Cycling Central on SBS 5.30pm Sunday afternoon.

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One of those days...

Best laid plans.....

Yesterday I was to start some new interval work - a change in training focus as workouts become more specific to my race goals.

Aerobic Power Intervals, intervals working at a power level equivalent to Andy Coggan's L5 or near enough to pVO2 Max (power at VO2 Max). Intention was up to 6 x 4 minutes efforts in a zone around 110%-115% of FTP. On the pursuit bike.

So I have the day off work, the velodrome is open and I have my new bike ready to rock 'n' roll.

I had a good warm up, rolling steady for a while and then 15-20 minutes riding behind Commonwealth Games kilo champion Ben Kersten with Aussie bike legend and NSWIS coach Gary Sutton on the derny. Perfect.

OK - so it was time to get cracking. Shame my legs didn't want to play ball.

Effort #1 was tough (they're not meant to be easy but it was a bit too hard if I was expecting to do up to 6 of these) and well, I was simply unable to complete remaining intervals at the set power. I tried an extended break in the forlorn hope of maybe coming good (but having done similar before I knew it was a slim chance). Forlorn it was.

So if the legs won't do it, no point trying for a lower power level as that's not going to achieve the desired adaptations, so I pack up and go home.

Phil Thuaux was also there about to start a similar type of work out with Gary Sutton on the apron, stopwatch in hand, yelling out the pacing intructions. His medal at the UCI Track World Cup Sydney round in the Individual Pursuit was a great break through (I was right there cheering him on). Not sure if he's off to LA for the next round in a couple of weeks.

They all like my new bike. A carbon fibre Teschner Track Pro.

It was my first formal set of these type of intervals, coming off a fairly solid block of training, a new track bike and pursuit position .... Perhaps it was just a little ambitious.

All up I'm not that worried but it's frustrating when you have the time and facility available and the legs weren't up to using them. As long as I can see an improvement next time....

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Two by Twenty

Surfing the Pain Curve

On many cycle training forums and in several training articles or books you might see reference to a type of training workout acknowledged as being most useful in helping to increase one's Functional Threshold Power (FTP) - the maximal power output sustainable for about an hour (usually attainable when not overly fatigued). Sometimes these are called Time Trial workouts.

FTP is a pretty important fitness marker, especially since it is readily testable by anyone using a power meter, but mainly because it is the single most important physiological determinant of performance in aerobic events from 3km individual pursuits to grand tours.1

Everyone has an FTP of course, we just may not know what it is (FTP is determined via testing or actual race performance), or it may not be as high as we'd like (is it ever?).

Of course there are other important attributes necessary for cycling performance and they cannot be ignored - undertaking training specific to your event is critical. That said, improving your FTP will go a long, long way towards improving performance. Hence why cyclists like me want to improve their FTP.

So we do what (legally) works best - Level 4 workouts (Level 4 as defined by Andy Coggan's training levels). These Level 4 (L4) workouts commonly involve efforts of between 10 and 30 minutes duration at an average power ranging between 91% and 105% of your current FTP. Often, more than one interval is performed with a short period, say 5 to 10 minutes, of easy riding in between. Apart from the duration of each interval (and the number of intervals), the next factor to consider is the intensity at which to ride them.

Other training schemas refer to them as Time Trial Intervals, or 60 minute Critical Power efforts (CP60). All are similar in concept and serve to induce the same physiological adaptation - namely improved FTP.
2 x 20sA commonly used L4 workout is the "2 x 20", meaning two intervals of 20 minutes each. There is a big difference between riding these efforts at 91% of FTP to riding them at 105% of FTP. Typically there is a trade off between intensity and duration, depending on where you are in your training cycle, the composition of your total training, current levels of fatigue etc. Riding in the 91%-95% range means you could do more of these efforts (or more frequently) than if you perform them at 100%-105% of your FTP.

At the moment, part of my training involves doing these 2x20s at and just above FTP (100%-103% of FTP). Hence, in the context of the routine of other fatigue inducing training, these are quite tough to do.

So tough in fact that last week I was unable to complete the 2nd interval. This week however, I managed, just, to get through. Here's a pic of the workout from Cycling Peaks (click/right click to view larger image).

A "2 x 20" L4 workout.

For me this was a breakthrough as (aside from racing) I hadn't ridden L4 efforts at this power level before (I'm currently at PB power levels). I had done L4 work before, sometimes with a twist involving L5/L6 efforts but not at this average power.

Effort #2 was particularly hard - if you look at the power line (the yellow line) you can see how just a few minutes into the effort I was struggling to maintain power within the set range (marked with the horizontal dashed lines). But somehow I managed to convince myself to keep trying and for some reason I can't quite explain, a few minutes later I seemed to improve and once I got past halfway, I knew I could make it the whole way. I just managed to complete the set within the desired power band.

It certainly showed me it is possible to surf the pain curve, sometimes you just need to use a bit of positive affirmation when the legs are really suffering.....1. Training & Racing with a Power Meter, Allen & Coggan, pp 43-44.

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Making a Point

Happy New Year everyone!

My goals this coming year are primarily focussed on performances in pursuit and points racing. So I thought I'd post a picture of the file from my last State Masters Points race to remind me of what I am trying to better (no pic of Nats - I crashed unfortunately).


All things going well, I won't miss the podium on a count back like I did in this race. But even if that doesn't happen*, at least with the power meter I'll have a pretty fair idea if I've improved or not.

For me this is a 20km event with a sprint every 2.5 km (8 sprints). In this case no break was successful, and the file shows that with the surges on points laps occuring at regular intervals.

Training is going well, coach has me thumping out some solid stuff right now - I know today I'm feeling the training fatigue a little. Rest day tomorrow.

* Apart from my own form, to some extent it does depend on who shows up on the day as I have several world class competitors in my State/category so if they all present on the line, then it will take some cunning riding to beat them. I can be pretty cunning though....

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TSS vs. kJ

Recently I've noticed a few discussions in the on-line forums about using the CPU read-out on power meters showing work performed (usually expressed as kilojoules) as a proxy for cumulative TSS. Many have noticed a roughly linear relationship appears to exist between the two measures.

This comes from a desire by some to know their cumulative TSS while riding.

But is the kJ read-out a valid proxy for TSS?

For those that use the newer ergomo power meter, they already have this feature built into their CPUs, so they have no need for using kJ as a proxy for TSS. However, for the rest of us, unless you do the same type of ride every time you head out the door or get on the trainer, it is unlikely that this linear relationship will hold true.

The Practical Example

While the mathematics shows this relationship to be a spurious one, there's nothing like real data to emphasise a point.

The above chart is a plot of kJ vs. TSS for 161 rides so far this season.

While the relationship is roughly linear, there are major differences in work performed for rides of a similar TSS, even rides with TSS around 100-130, the energy spread is greater than 1,000kJ or up to three times the difference for the same TSS!

So I won't be using the kJ display on my power meter as a proxy for TSS.

Besides, I'm better at estimating what TSS to expect per hour for certain types of rides. While you can do this by estimating the Intensity Factor (IF) of a given ride (or sections of ride), I simply know from experience what to expect since I have probably already done similar rides as a part of my regular training and racing.

The Maths

Here's a quote from Andy Coggan on the matter to explain the maths:

"The relationship between TSS and total work not only varies with the individual, but also with the nature of the workout. That is evident by looking at the respective formulae:

Total work = duration x average power

TSS = duration x (normalized power/functional threshold power)^2

Thus, during long workouts the ratio of TSS to total work will tend to be lower, since normalized power and average power will tend to be closer together. Conversely, during shorter, higher intensity workouts (especially, e.g., with trackie style "go hard, puke, go home" level 6 intervals) the ratio of TSS to total work will tend to be higher, since normalized power will be much higher than average power. Of course, if practically all of your workouts are "middle of the road", then these differences won't be apparent and you may find a fairly high correlation between total work and TSS. As should be evident from the formulae given above, however, the two are not equivalent, i.e., such a correlation is simply spurious."

So until TSS, IF etc are incorporated into the CPUs of more brands of power meter, I guess most of us will just need to get to know our own data better....

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Christmas Pudding (Racing vs Training)

Last Race of the Year and another result!

Yesterday was the Bike Bug 500 - another handicap criterium at Sydney's Heffron Park circuit. With $500 for 1st place, there was a pretty good turn up with all the usual suspects. This one was a little different to the others I've ridden in that it was an open A, B, C grade group handicap run over 15 laps (30.6km) - but in the reverse direction. Now I've raced at this circuit for a decade but never the other way round! It was a pretty interesting experience. I don't plan on riding the velodrome the other way round though!

We were lucky as a big thunderstorm blew through not long before the start dumping a lot of water on the circuit but a wet track and a few puddles wasn't going to stop the race going ahead.

Priorities

This wasn't an important race for me, just a bit of fun and a good workout. Since I had done 30 minutes of time trial effort at 99% of FTP the day before and earlier in the week some heavy tempo work, I wasn't expecting the freshest legs on the planet. Certainly the routine on day before a race is typically not TT efforts!

That's because I am now in race prep stage for March and race results now are inconsequential and subordinate to training. Coach is helping me to avoid the mistakes I made last season, where I was constantly staying fresh for racing and intense efforts and that left me with little in the tank by the time the Championships rolled around. Don't get me wrong, I had a great season but there sure was room for improvement. The Performance Manager Charts really made that stick out for me. Here's what I mean (click/right click to see larger image):

Last Season's PMC

Basically I ended up never really having a proper CTL build phase to start with. There was a short one around this time last year but I tried to ramp up too quickly and got sick. After that, regular racing and a change of focus to efforts of increasing intensity meant CTL was flatlining or heading south.

Back to the Bug

OK, so how did the race go? Well I got onto the podium, so that's not bad! Here's the WKO annotated to show the various phases of the race. I applied 30 second rolling averages to smooth out the data as the power line was highly variable - the smoothing makes the phases of race a little easier to pick out. Again click/right click to see a larger, clearer image.

The Bike Bug 500 "Pudding Race"

The chart pretty much tells the story. I started with the B-grade bunch and they really weren't going fast enough to hold out a determined A-grade. And as usual only 6-8 guys were doing the work while the other 20 or so would sit on. Not the way to win a handicap but I expect no less from these guys.

So about 6 laps in I was sick of just hanging around and decided to see how my legs really were and put in an attack. That lasted a couple of laps but at least it got B-grade to pick up the pace a bit and made A-grade work a bit longer before the catch. Seeing that effort was futile, I went back to hide in the bunch for a while and recover in time for the A-grade train, making sure I had good position when it came steaming through. Shortly after we picked up and passed the C-grade bunch.

Scratch the Handicap
Then it was a matter of managing position and marking the attacks which were inevitable as the race was now reverting to a scratch format given all bunches had been caught. The pace was certainly higher now and I had to dig in a little here and there but I was sufficiently in control to maintain it with the leading riders.

As it turns out I was the last remaining B-grader in the lead group and that earned me a place on the podium, a large Christmas Pudding, a bottle of wine, 2 Veloflex Black tyres (one of my favourite road race tyres) and $50. So an early Chrissy present! Always good to get the new club kit up there for the photos (which I don't have yet BTW).

These coming weeks I have some
really solid training in front of me.
Coach reckons I'm a chance of abusing him at some stage for what he's dishing out but I got through week 1 of this phase with only minor expletives emerging as I struggled towards the end of my sets.

All's looking good for 2007!

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Short & Sweet

Carnival Time

First up - Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all.

I've just started a three week break from work and boy do I need it. I was getting a bit tired in the brain department, so a few weeks of riding, relaxing, watching some cricket and doing a few things for myself will be just fab! Just need to try not to completely stuff myself stupid on Christmas Day.
OK - it's 2 weeks since I wrote anything for the blog, so here's a couple of entries coming up. I was hoping to have a few more photos to attach but they're a bit thin on the ground.
Last weekend I raced on Saturday night at the Bankstown Track Open at Dunc Gray Velodrome, a national category 1 track carnival, meaning all the big hitters would be out to play and guys like me in the lower grades become "stocking stuffers" giving some time for the main riders to recover between efforts. World class riders like Ryan Bayley, Anna & Kerrie Meares for example. It was also combined with a number of NSW State Championships and the Keirin in particular was hotly contested.

Perkins, Leonard & Bayley lining up for the Keirin.

Ryan Bayley basically took the front position in the heats and semi finals, making sure he got through to the final. Perhaps the efforts of those long sprints on the front told in the end as he was unable to take it all the way for he win in the final. Here's the final finishing places.

Not a bad field for your local State Championships! Look out for that Danny Ellis, he's coming up real fast.

One rider making his come back following back surgery is Commonwealth Games Kilo Champion Ben Kersten. Benny saved himself for the track carnival and ended up doing what he seems so good at, winning the wheelrace final in emphatic style. A few of my regular racing buddies took the minor placings but Benny was pretty awesome.

I had a so-so carnival but got something out of it in the last race of the night where I just missed winning the final motorpace race. Here's the wko for the motorpace race (click/right click the pic to see a bigger image):

Motorpace race WKO

The first thing to notice is the gradual rise in speed as the race is controlled by the motor pacer riding the derny (motor bike). No-one is allowed to pass the derny until it withdraws from the track, usually with about 625 metres to go. Then the pace dropped a little as the front rider slowed it down a bit, which saw one rider attack immediately, using the banking to good effect. Being the bunny left near the front with 2 laps to go, I just pinned the ears back and set off after them - see the rapid lift in power and resulting acceleration. It was then just a matter of whether I would overhaul them as no-one was coming round me. I got their hip in the final turn but couldn't quite finish it off - only a wheel rim in it but that's track racing. Nevermind - a few bucks for 2nd place is always welcome.

Ride safe!

Photos courtesy of David Lane at Action Snaps

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Give the Dog a Bone

That's the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it!

OK - so I had a win! Always good to get a win under your belt and this time it was at the Brindabella Challenge Criterium, held on a hot, windy and exceptionally dry Canberra day.

The Brindabella Challenge is relatively new phenomenon, combining events across all cycling disciplines in the nation's capital city over a 10-day period. With backing from the local government and tourism body, it brings many cyclists into town for the great riding on offer. It also happens to be where my Mum lives, so all up it makes for a good weekend away - I get to visit my Mum and my brother's family (my nephew was also celebrating his 21st birthday so we had a dinner out), eat Mum's cooking and am able to train, relax and have a race too. Multiple birds struck down with one stone, how good is that?

Racing was at the brand spanking new Stromolo “Forest” crit circuit known as
“The Bone”.

See the picture above of the 1.25km circuit layout and you'll see why it's called “The Bone”. It is also dry as a bone (”drizabone” in Aussie slang) ever since the horrendous firestorms fanned by high winds hit the nation’s capital on Saturday 18 January 2003. The fires swept through Canberra's suburbs causing massive destruction. Large scale evacuations took place and a massive relief effort was put in place.

Four lives were lost in this catastrophic inferno and more than 500 homes were destroyed. My Mum lives nearby and fortunately her home was spared although many in the surrounding streets were not. Thousands of hectares of forest and park lands were also burnt out (including the Pinus Radiata forest that once covered Mt Stromolo) as well as destroying the famous optical telescope observatories on top on the hill. There is a memorial to those that died just a few hundred metres from the new race track.

So, back to the racing! It was pretty hot, at least 36+C (97+F) and quite probably more down on the tarmac. A strong westerly was blowing the dust amongst the riders. The track is really nice to ride on being lovely smooth new hotmix - mmmmmm - nice. Not all that technical though - I usually prefer technical. We rode in an anti-clockwise direction.

I didn't really know what to expect from the Open B grade bunch - the boys rolled gently off the line, no-one attacking from the gun, so after the first few corners I was on the front, put a bit of pressure on and got a small gap. No-one on my tail, so I got cranking and got away. A young bloke rode across to me and he lasted a lap before dropping back. The gap to the bunch was getting bigger so I kept driving. The bunch obviously thought I was mad and would never last in the conditions.

At about 12-13 min in I was starting to feel it a bit and noticed one other guy got away from the bunch and seemed to be making ground - he eventually got to me, which was great as then we worked together all the way to the finish, eventually putting about 40-50 seconds into the main field. It was sooo hot and the wind was wicked, which, while it meant hard work for us in front, it also meant the bunch were marking each other and not focussed on working together to close the gap. Happens so often.

Race organisers, sensibly, provided helpers to hand out extra bidons for the riders, which I gladly took advantage of, drinking some but also "doing a Floyd" and pouring it over my head/neck to aid cooling. It really works!

Since the two of us had some time up our sleeve, we could ease back a little on the last lap or so. I led up the rise into the final bend (at the top of "the bone") and rode it like a track sprint - hugging the best line and forcing my opponent to start the sprint wide, from behind and on the windiest side. He finally jumped, got in front by length of bike but I gradually wound him back and got my wheel in front with 10-15m to go.

Here's a shot of my race power file. I put in horizontal lines marking the average speed and power for reference.

My race power file.

So a nice win! I also set new peak, 5 & 10 second power PBs in the sprint - gotta be happy with that!.

Motivation is a wonderful thing in bike racing
(not to mention PB fitness levels & TSB at +12).

Scored some prize money, the 2006 Brindabella Challenge winner's jersey as well as some bonus bucks for being the 1st placed 40+ year old in an open field.

Race day stats:
CTL: 88
TSB: +12

Brindabella Crit:
Duration: _____39:33
TSS: __________66.4 (intensity factor 1.005)
Norm Power: ___306
VI: ____________1.06
Distance: ______25.691 km
___________Min____Max____Avg
Power: ______0___1583_____289 watts
Cadence: ___43____133______97 rpm
Speed: ______0____55.8_____39.0 kph

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MAP Testing - where failure is a success...

So, am I getting better coach?

Well coach knows the answer already but how do you really tell? Well with a power meter, it isn't difficult to work out. Aside from actual race performances, the best guides are performance tests. These come in various shapes and sizes and generally follow a consistent protocol so that results can be compared over time. I have already described one such test I've done a number of times - the 16km (10 mile) Time Trial, which gives a really good marker of changes in aerobic fitness. See post here for an example.
Maximal Aerobic Power (MAP) is another such performance marker and can be determined with consistency through performing an incremental test to exhaustion. There are a number of protocols for these tests but they all have a common theme, i.e. you ride in such a manner where resistance (power) is continually increased until you can no longer continue. It's a bit brutal (and should only be attempted by healthy subjects) but all up it's pretty quick (less than 15 minutes).

The MAP testing protocol we use at RST is the same as used by British Cycling - and involves riding on a stationary ergometer or indoor trainer, beginning with a resistance at the lower end of endurance training levels and then increasing the resistance by 15, 20 or 25 watts per minute until you can no longer continue to sustain the power.

Different categories of athletes should use a different starting power and different incremental rate of increase in power. Where possible, the rate should be gradual, rather than in large steps of 20 or 25W/min.

Elite athletes (e.g. Cat 1 to Professional level) should use 20W/min
Non-elite men use 25W/min, and
Women use 15W/min.

The outcome we are looking for is the mean maximal power output for 1 minute, which (assuming the resistance is continually increasing) should be the average power for the final minute of the test prior to failure.
How do you do a MAP Test?

Firstly it is very important that you are healthy and reasonably fit to perform such a test. These are maximal efforts and so you should always consult your physician/doctor if in any doubt about your suitability for such testing, and most definitely if you haven't exercised for over two years, are or have been a smoker, are significantly overweight and/or are over 35 years old. Never perform a MAP test if you are ill or have been ill in recent weeks.

It helps to have an ergo trainer and a powermeter. At worst a flat road ending with a hill climb can also mimic the circumstances needed.

I perform tests by fitting the bike to a Computrainer. This is ideal as the Computrainer allows for programmable resistance increments, so it takes care of the increase in resistance for you and all you need do is focus on pedaling. But an indoor trainer where you control your own power output by watching the power meter display is certainly good enough.

It might also help to have a buddy to help keep you on track, call out the next power level and to encourage you when it gets hard. And of course, make sure you are recording the test with your power meter.

The test is relentless and you go until failure (i.e. no longer able to increase the power). You really need to try as hard as you possibly can. There ain't much more to it. I then use the data recorded by the power meter and Cycling Peaks' WKO+ software to analyse the results.

So what does a test result look like?

Well here's a picture of the result of a MAP test I've done (click on pic to see a bigger version):

Alex's MAP Test

There are five lines on the chart. The two horizontal dashed lines show:
- Average Cadence for the test (green dashes) and
- My Functional Threshold Power (yellow dashes).
These are simply there to provide a visual reference point for the real test data.
The three jagged lines are:
- Power (yellow)
- Heart Rate (red)
- Cadence (green)

So we can see the power gradually increasing until failure. Note the mean maximal 1-minute power of 399 Watts. Darn. I was hoping I'd crack 400 this time. Never mind, there is still room for improvement there.
Heart rate is also shown for reference. A couple of spikes in the line which are likely just erroneous data. I don't use heart rate much as a guide but you should expect to see HR approaching maximum during or just after ending a test like this.

So what does it all mean?

Firstly, using this protocol, we are able to set and adjust training levels from recovery right through to anaerobic capacity efforts.

The training levels are as follows:
These can be used to help guide training efforts.

Secondly, we can measure whether training is actually improving performance.

My Map Results over last few months

Shown above are the results of my MAP tests over a period of a few months. As we can see, a 38 Watt improvement in my MAP - a little over 10% increase (and a 13% increase in terms of power to weight ratio).

So if you have a power meter and a trainer (especially one with a programmable resistance) then you have the perfect set up to test your own progress.

So what are you waiting for?

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Testing 1, 2, 3...

About four weeks ago I wrote about one of the performance tests coach has me down for every so often - a 16 km (10 mile) time trial (or near enough to 16km). In my case I use the local training circuit - Sydney's Centennial Park and do a 4-lap TT. Well I just did another one of these on Tueday this week.

Ease Up!
In the lead up over last few weeks, my training was eased back a little, partly to give my body a chance to catch up with the CTL I had accumulated and in response to a few early signs of fatigue (like being unable to complete a set interval) but also a chance to have a race or two with a little freshness. Now I was by no means overtrained, not even close, and race power outputs have certainly been healthy enough. It also represents a segue into the next phase of training, where intensity of workouts really starts to pick up for the build towards the track championships next March.

So what's the Performance Manager telling us? Well this is an extension to the chart I last posted here on 23 October.

My lastest PMC

So since last time, we see CTL continue to build through to mid-November, reaching a peak of 98 TSS/day on 12 Nov (which is an all time peak CTL for me - last season my CTL peaked at 81 TSS/day). After that you can see the impact of my training easing back, with CTL dropping, going TSB positive and enjoying some good form at the track carnival up at Gosford.

And the test TT? Well here's the chart of the ride. Stats are shown on the left, with wattages by lap also indicated.

16km TT test

Pacing TTs well is a challenge for me. Let's face it - I don't do lots of TTs so my pacing is a less than fine tuned skill but I'm sure I'll get better with more practice. I'm a track/crit rider, used to the dynamics of that environment.

Last time I tested (1 Nov) I talked about how I picked it up a little mid-way, then paid the price in the final lap. Well this time I started slightly more conservatively (~5W less) than last time but found that the last lap and a half I was able to crank it up considerably. So in the end I averaged only 1 Watt higher than last test.

While it's not much of a PB (it's still a PB!), I am pretty happy with that as I had all the "mental sensations" of actually losing some aerobic fitness this last couple of weeks, so personally I wouldn't have been surprised to have struggled more than I did.

I suspect coach knows more than I do though....

Soft c**ks
Last weekend I was supposed to have a race but I turned up and found they'd decided to cancel since all these softies in Sydney go underground at the slightest hint of wet weather. So bugger it, I got on my bike and did some hard laps anyway. After eight circuits at Heffron I got a bit bored, eashed back for a short time then two other guys came through doing turns so I jumped in with them and we cranked it up for a few more good laps. So a neat little 50 minute effort. Then the rain came.

My MAP test is tomorrow and this weekend I race the Brindabella Challenge crit. Will report in next week.

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The Young Ones

Gearing up for the final push.....

Track racing is popular with the kids

Paul Craft's unique and well lubricated commentary kept us amused all afternoon and well into Saturday evening during the Central Coast Track Open at the outdoor 460 metre Adcock Park track located at West Gosford. Hosting 55 track cycling events covering a Junior and Senior racing carnival is no mean feat for any sporting club club, so thanks to all the organisers and helpers for making the day's racing fun. The carnival started in windy conditions which eased as the evening settled.

The junior events attract good fields

The junior carnival is pretty popular and for a local town track carnival, this is pretty typical of what you'll see in towns across the country. Grass roots racing certainly keeps the sport healthy. For myself, it was my first open racing in the new club colours. Given the top B-grade handicap mark (110 metres), I had six races for the evening:

1. 5km Scratch race (3rd)
2. Keirin Heat (2nd)
3. 1.8km Wheelrace heat (missed qualifying for final);
4. A/B/C grade Handicap Miss'n'Out (3rd);
5. Keirin Final (4th)
6. 12km A/B Combined Scratch Race (no placing, retired gracefully with 1/2 lap to go along with former junior world and Australian elite champion Shaun Hopkins)

The new suit

Scratch races and Keirins are pretty well known but two races that may not be as well understood are the Wheelrace and Handicap Miss'n'Out. Click the link to get a little more info if interested. The Miss'n'Out is explained at the bottom of this post.

Some race day stats:

CTL:___________ 89.1
TSB:_________ + 25
TSS:__________ 137.6
Max Speed:_____ 60 km/h
Max Power:___ 1391 watts
Gear:_______ 48x14 (92.6")
Clearly I was plenty rested for the event with a large positive TSB. Coach had backed off training a little after a few signs were emerging that I needed a bit of a breather.

I was pleased at being competitive in the Keirin as it's a sprint event and not my target type of race (my focus is on enduro racing). My best result was the 3rd place in the Miss'n'Out, eventually outlasting all 40 riders bar Peter Fitzpatrick (2006 Australian Elite Madison Championship bronze medallist) and top U-23 enduro rider Phil Stokes. Indeed these guys are in final prep for the State elite track championship in a couple of weeks and their form ain't exactly shabby.

The final scratch race was pretty hard with the top enduro boys cranking it up several times in an effort to drop the sprinters. Here's a screen shot of the closing scratch race power file for interest. Click on the image to see a larger, clearer version (right click to view in a new window) .
The two dotted horizontal lines mark the average speed (blue) and power (yellow). Stats are shown on the left. Ignore the cadence numbers, they are wrong (I don't use the cadence sensor on the track bike and should turn off the hub cadence function).

Note the repeated increases in speed and the power required to respond to the accelerations. This is pretty typical of enduro riders trying to rid the bunch of the sprinters by picking up the pace and then the spirnters and/or less fit attempting to slow it down again. It can be pretty ruthless. You know the tactic is working when world champion riders get spat out eventually.

Anyway - a pretty good night's racing and my form was, according to a fellow competitor (a World's Masters track champion himself) who wasn't racing as his two boys were busy cleaning up in the junior carnival, "better than I've ever seen". Nice compliment.

"Form = Fitness plus Freshness" ~ A. Coggan.
"Form = Compliments from Competitors" ~ A. Simmons.

Next stop: a local crit then a trip to Canberra to visit Mum and race the Brindabella Challenge Crit.

Miss'N'Out (courtesy of FNWTR):

The bike equivalent of musical chairs, sometimes called the Elimination or "Devil's Race", every lap the last rider across the finish line is pulled out of the race until only two riders remain. These two are given the bell for the final sprint lap. Keep your eyes on the back of the field, that's where all the excitement lies in this event.

In a handicap format, riders are split into grades starting at different points on the track, meaning the top riders lose one per lap from their bunch until they catch the bunch(es) in front.

Photos courtesy of David Lane at Action Snaps

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Planning a Comeback with the Performance Manager

Tanya making her return to racing on 18 November

US Independence Day 2006 was the same day my good friend and former coach, Tanya, went under the surgeon's knife at Sydney's Prince of Wales Hospital. Diagnosed with bowel cancer a couple of weeks earlier, it was quite a rude shock to realise there was a substantial tumour needing removal. Especially as Tanya was in final build phases in preparation for a trip to the UK to compete at the World Masters Track Cycling Championships. Indeed it was her inconsistent responses to training that led Tanya to investigate possible health problems. Just as well.

The surgery was successful and Tanya was fortunate that there were no complications. Chemotherapy was an option but deemed unlikely to provide an improved long term prognosis, so Tanya decided against it, preferring to get back to her normal life as soon as practicable. Her recovery was pretty quick but "activity" in the sense that competitive riders know it, was still some way off.

First off it was to get home from the hospital, then gradually to move about, short walks, longer walks and so on, until the first chance to put the bike on the trainer and gently turn the cranks.

Exactly eight weeks after going into surgery, Tanya had her first ride outdoors.

Tanya runs a full time cycle coaching business (Onyabike Cycle Coaching) and has for many years understood the importance of power measurement as the objective means of determining fitness and tracking improvement. Tanya has her own Computrainer but did not have on-bike power measurement. That was all about to change and Tanya finally took the plunge and ordered Powertap wheels for her road and track bikes.

Then she asked me to guide her training back into the sport. Quite an irony really, pupil becoming the coach's coach! I knew this would be a challenge but how on earth do you plan, track and monitor training loads for someone who's been through all that? Not a light responsibility by any stretch. Especially a coach so eager to learn!

Enter the Performance Manager and the Charts it provides (PMC). Combined with the lessons from applying the PMC to myself and being most fortunate to be a member of the eweTSS (PMC) beta test group (the PMC brains trust), I knew that this was the perfect tool to help manage Tanya back to fitness.

We both decided that a medium term goal was the best thing and so Tanya chose to aim for getting in good enough shape to ride the shorter option at the Alpine Classic Audax event on 27 January 2007. After that, well, let's get there first and we'll see....(but a comeback to racing was always the intention).

So, we started gently, with the first couple of weeks about reacquainting herself with riding and getting back that "it's normal to be on the bike" feeling. It was also a time of learning how to use the Powertap and Cycling Peaks (and solving a troublesome download problem - which turned out to be a loose connection in one of her laptop's USB ports).
It was far too early to be asking her to undergo the stress of MAP (maximal aerobic power) or FTP (functional threshold power) testing, so I estimated her MAP & FTP and set training levels based on a previous ramp test, of which we had plenty to choose from - so I picked one from when she was just starting out and the least fit. Being precise wouldn't matter too much in the first few weeks, and we would schedule formal power tests eventually.

Tanya being Tanya though, had to do a bit extra on a couple of days (simply so keen to get back into it) and we saw relatively high TSS on those days. The impacts were felt in the days after and so eventually we agreed the merits of a conservative build.

A month after starting back on the bike, Tanya went on a family break with her husband Eddie and took the mountain bike for something different. So I gave her some guidelines on what type of rides to do and how we were going to estimate TSS on those days she wasn't using the power meter.

Here is a picture of her PMC to date (click on it to see a larger view - or right click to open in a new window):

Tanya's PMC since 27 August 2006

Since returning from her holiday, it's been a matter of gradually building the duration and/or intensity of her rides and fitting these around her busy schedule of delivering cycle coaching and courses. We were also able to conduct formal testing with the power meter and reset her training levels accordingly. In her case we did both a MAP test and two short TTs to help set benchmarks and FTP via the Monod Critical Power model. I give her estimates of TSS I expected to see from each ride/workout and as the "ride library" grows, we are both able to better manage the overall stress and day to day effort.
So we see from the PMC that Tanya has managed a steady ramp up from a zero base over 12 weeks to a CTL in the low 60's (a ramp rate of just over 5 points / week). For some that would be a tough rate but given we were starting from zero and her fitness (FTP) would likely improve through this phase, we found that ramp rate has been sustainable so far.

Tanya also takes her Performance Manager Chart to regular checks with her doctors and specialists, so she can prove she's not "overdoing it"!

Happy to report that just 12 weeks after getting on the bike for the first time since her surgery, Tanya competed in the same club crit as I reported on here - and did rather well hanging in there for many laps. Here are her stats:

Club crit:
Duration:___ 37:40
TSS:________ 84.3 (intensity factor 1.159)
VI:__________ 1.08
CTL_________ 61.4
TSB:_______ -12.3

I think from those numbers (especially the Intensity Factor) we may need to retest as it would seem Tanya's fitness has taken another leap forward.
Tanya can see her fitness has improved significantly since starting back and is beginning to entertain thoughts of competing at the State and National Masters Track Championships in March 2007, something we didn't really rule in or out three months ago. So, after discussing that, we will begin to introduce more track specific training into her weekly routine, since that is what she loves doing the most.

In summary, the Performance Manager is giving both Tanya (the athlete) and myself (the coach) a quantifiable means by which to plan, track and manage training loads appropriate for her comeback to competitive cycling.

It gives both of us confidence we are building her return to fitness in a sustainable manner.

I will report again on progress in a few months.

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