How
many weeks of hard training are you able to handle before a rest week? How much
rest did you need before you achieved peak wattage for the year? The end of the
season is when each of us should be taking time to reflect on and analyze our
previous year of data. If you used a power meter and recorded your data for
every ride/race you did, you should be able to go back and see some
patterns in your training and racing that will help you make some better
decisions for your next season. I do this kind of post-season analysis with each
of my clients, and it’s a critical part of the coaching process, because we all
want even more success in the coming year.
The
first thing to look at when examining your season is the Training Stress Score
vs. Intensity Factor chart. This chart presents a rough idea of how much
training stress you can handle vs. the need for a recovery week. Whether or not
you had a coach or followed a loose training plan, this chart will reveal your
rough periodization of training for the year, and that’s a great place to
discover a few interesting patterns. Take a look at the chart below for an
example.
My
racer represented in this chart had a solid and steady build-up of TSS through
the season, culminating in June. From June to the end of the season, his
ability to create TSS was reduced because of his need to recover from weekend
races, some summer travel, and then a slight injury.
There
are a couple of interesting things we can learn from this chart:
1. This
racer can handle between 3-4 weeks of hard training before needing a true rest
week. If we look at the green bars in the chart, we’ll notice that after every
3-4 weeks there is a smaller bar indicating a reduced amount of TSS for that
week, which means that he had a planned easier week or he was forced to take an
easier week because of the previous 3-4 hard weeks. This observation should be
noted as a key characteristic of this rider that can be planned around and
watched in the upcoming 2013 season.
2.
Later in the season, after he created a solid foundation of fitness, this racer
was able to handle some very big TSS weeks, but those big TSS weeks cost a lot.
In order to handle them as his coach, I had to taper and rest him beforehand
and then rest him afterward. Those big weeks were key goals for him, so it
wasn’t a mistake to do the easier weeks, but it’s important to note the cost of
big goals and take them into account for the following season.
The
next chart that I use for end-of-season analysis is the now ubiquitous (for
power meter users) Performance Manager Chart (PMC). This chart goes a level
deeper than the one above, since it takes into account the accumulated training
load and fatigue throughout the season, while displaying the rider’s best
efforts. This display of best efforts is where you’ll want to begin correlating
your chronic training load and your training stress balance (how fatigued or
fresh you are). By reviewing your season, connecting the dots on your peak
performances, and correlating this with your training stress balance (TSB), you
can learn your optimal range for how fresh you need to be in order to create a peak
performance. This is incredibly valuable knowledge for the coming season, as it
allows you to plan your taper exactly for any race you might want to create a
peak performance for, which means you will have the best chance for success on
the day that you want it.
The
Performance Manager Chart helps you not only with your taper, but also with
determining your optimal training load. By reviewing your season, you can see
the height of your training load with the chronic training load line and
correlate this to your peak of fitness, along with your review of your notes
and power files from that time, which will remind you how well you rode.
My
racer’s PMC above illustrates perfectly the relationship between freshness,
fitness, and form. Every time this athlete had a peak twenty minutes for the
year, his training stress balance (TSB) was either close to balance or a
positive number, with most of his bests occurring when his TSB was +5 to +12,
and we can use that knowledge for the coming year in order to plan for the
perfect taper. The maximal training load he could sustain for 2-3 weeks this
season was around 80 TSS/day for the chronic training load (CTL) chart, which
means that he basically averaged (at his maximum) fifty minutes of equivalent
threshold training stress each day for six weeks in a row. This is a good
amount for an amateur masters racer with 12-15 hours a week to train, and while
he was able to build up to that training load, he was not able to go above it,
nor was he able to sustain it for more than a couple of weeks. That knowledge
gives me valuable information about how to plan out his training for the coming
season in order to give him the correct build of fitness at the proper time.
By utilizing
these two charts, I can now plan my athlete’s weekly training load with more
precision, knowing that when he exceeds 800 TSS per week for more than three
weeks, I should pay close attention to his fourth week and prepare for a rest
week if warranted. I can also understand the bigger picture better, as well,
since now I know that when his chronic training load begins to reach 80
TSS/day, that means I should watch how negative his TSB is and for how long,
since that’s the upper limit of his ability to sustain that training load, and
while it might not be at the end of a three- to four-week build cycle, I can ensure that
he has proper rest, along with the right amount of taper in order to either
peak for an event or prepare for another build cycle.
A
proper post-season analysis of your power data can reveal some relationships you
might not have otherwise seen, and it’s critical that you understand the
correlations between peak wattages and fatigue so you can be sure to create
your peak watts on the day you want them. These two charts may seem
intimidating at first glance, but they’re really pretty simple to master once
you understand the basic concepts. For a deeper discussion of these topics, I
highly recommend that you read the chapter titled “User Power to Manage Performance”
in Training and Racing with a Power Meter,
the book I wrote with Dr. Andrew Coggan.
We want
to help you create the best season ever!
Hunter Allen is a USA Cycling Level 1 coach and former professional cyclist. He is the coauthor of Training and Racing with a Power Meter, co-developer of TrainingPeaks’ WKO software, and CEO and founder of Peaks Coaching Group. He and his coaches create custom training plans for all levels of athletes. Hunter can be contacted directly through www.PeaksCoachingGroup.com.
Hunter Allen is a USA Cycling Level 1 coach and former professional cyclist. He is the coauthor of Training and Racing with a Power Meter, co-developer of TrainingPeaks’ WKO software, and CEO and founder of Peaks Coaching Group. He and his coaches create custom training plans for all levels of athletes. Hunter can be contacted directly through www.PeaksCoachingGroup.com.