Aggregation of Marginal Gains

In the last few years, I have focused on a few limiters and worked hard for large improvements.   It has helped me get better but I am feeling like the strategy is less effective for where I am now.  Team Sky has put a new name on an old idea and adapted it to cycle racing.  Aggregation of Marginal Gains is 'Harvard Speak' for doing a whole lot of things a little better.

The Japanese refer to this concept as Kaizen and they almost took over the world of manufacturing before their competition caught on to the concept.  In American business, we called it CI (continuous Improvement).

Big gains in a few areas may work well for beginners but many of us have been doing this a long time and some of us are hitting a plateau of improvement.

Teenie has taught us how to use the BALANCE WHEEL for our cycle racing.   In that exercise, we list 8-10 spokes of the wheel that constitute our efforts.   You know.......training, nutrition, recovery, skills, etc.   My plan is to make 63 (my race age this year) small improvements of 1% or more in elements of my balance wheel spokes.

Nutrition is one I am working right now and I will BLOG on it tomorrow.

63 small improvements may add up? I am counting on it!

What does it take to be GREAT?

I came across this cleaning out my email.  So the story goes:  

Three of these guys went on to greatness.  I know you know the name of two of them....how about the 3rd guy?   The forth guy beat the other 3 up every climb.  He won every training ride but when the chips were down....well let's see if anybody knows his name? What does it take to be GREAT?

Oh, and how do like the hair?

updated by Bird (01/02/2012)

Bicycling magazine - Jan/Feb 2012

I tried to get the links on line but there are 2 items of real interest:

Page 56 - REINVENT YOURSELF - Highlights and quotes from our own Catherine James.  How cool is that?   (try clicking here)

Page 92 - POWER: WORKING AT YOUR SPEED - All about power meter options......darn good information if you are moving that way.

You might want to pick up a copy if you do not subscribe?

Good stuff, Catherine.

Podium Shoes

Bake has nothing on me.   Teenie suggests when one sets a goal to 'act as if and prepare for.'

So, I got some PODIUM SHOES!  See what I am goal setting for?

Clip in.....

Getting ready for winter training....

1 hour trainer workout... High HR/Power...... (click here for copy)

Great article on MAP testing by Ric Sterns... Click Here  you will have to DOWNLOAD it after you get to Google Docs...

DOGS

The DS got a lesson today.   I am not sure what DOGS stands for but for me, today, it was Dangerous Old Guy.   It was my second ride with the DOGS and I was hoping for a good one.   In the first ride, I had spotted some terrific masters who ride 5-6 days a week.........some guys with time and ability.

It was a Starbucks ride slated for 55 miles and Reg, the leader, had told me it would be fast.  He was no liar.   A guy, who looked to be mid to late 30's, jumped on the front and pulled for the whole 55 miles.  I would later learn he was Darien Newman (I think I have this right?), the Mt Graham Overall State Hill Climb Champion.  Funny they call it a 'hill', when it is 6000 feet of climbing!

About 8-10 miles in, one of those serious masters guys, Greg Howard, reintroduced himself to me.   About 2 minutes later, I put him on the pavement.   Of course, I was down also.........not really even sure what happened?  I stood out of a turn.  My left foot came unclipped and struck the pavement.   At 18-20 miles per hour, this was devastating.   Greg rode back bruised and cut.

I continued, thinking he was still in the ride.   "Maybe, I can save a little face if I can ride well?"  That was about the most positive self talk I could come up with at the time.  New guy takes our regular ride stalwart.  It's gotta suck to be leper!


Here is how it unfolded:

*  First selection climb - I was off the front 3-4 guys but they let us regroup.
*  After the turn around - We headed up Twin Peaks (3.5 miles/2%) - I barely hungg on the second little 3 man grupetto and couldn't pull, AT ALL.
*  We were in a paceline on Moore for about 4 miles - Darien paced so fast I was redlining in the draft.
*  Last little climb on La Canada - I did 480 watts for more than 1 minute.  Hello Hurt Locker, but there's more.
*  The run in on Ina - We caught the 3rd or 4th light as my prayers are answered.  I was seconds from snapping if it stayed green.
*  I stumbled in with Darien, Reg and a guy from SW Hand TEAM.  A couple of other guys had pulled off in the last few blocks.
*  I did not pull one second of the 55 miles.

The rest of the group ...............??

It would be nice if my road rash had limited me but that would be a thin excuse.  I got my Starbucks,  hoping someone would talk to me.   They did, as the rest of the folks straggled in......... I tried to mostly listen and ask questions even though I was still very anxious.  Reg took me to CVS and turned me onto J&J Tough Pads for my road rash.  This is a great invention...I hope somebody got a raise!

Sent Greg an email tonight to make sure he was OK.  He was very gracious.


Miss you guys a lot.........I am headed back to Greenville tomorrow but first, I am going to have some dessert, HUMBLE PIE (a large piece).  Then I gotta look at the calendar to see when I can make my next DOGS ride.

Decoupling Graph

per DS's lesson below...my steady state wind trainer workout...this is using speed/cadence/HR as my parameters.... WKO+ (warm up .. get HR up then hold pace.. the spike is standing up ... or I will go crazy)

AET Followup

After a big winter storm kept me off the bike for 2 days, I was ready to go today.   Under still ominous skies,  I decided to use my rested legs to do a 2:30 AET Test.   This Test was described in yesterday's post.   Below is my HR distribution:


I was able to stay in Z2 for 2:21 of the 2:30.  My HR avg (130 bpm) and Power avg (210 normalized watts) were both in the middle of Z2 for me.

Key point, addressed in the previous post, was the decoupling:  0%..... zero %.   Good news.

These test results provide me with confidence during this period of 'final preparation', that is preparation for training.

When I resume training in January, I will be able to focus on Strength (force) and Muscular Endurance.   My limiters are 1 minute CP (Critical Power) and my FPT (Functional Power Threshold).   My FPT is now 300 which seems pretty good, but I am big guy.   Joe estimated in some recent discussions, that I need a 20-30 watt increase to meet my goals.   I will address the CP1 much later but January and February will the time to address my FPT.

See ya out there soon.

BASE TRAINING

Most of us will be entering the BASE TRAINING phase after New Year's.   The purpose of this post is to address AET (Aerobic Endurance Training) and how to measure your progress.

AET is important in the BASE phase for any endurance athlete and is the source of cardio fitness.   These workouts build our capability to transfer oxygen to our muscles and carbon dioxide out of them.   This fundamental capability must me developed before training other systems is beneficial.

For years, athletes both running and riding, thought this was accomplished by LSD (Long Slow Days) or group rides.   I think you can get there that way.  However, steady state intervals are the shortest route to the goal.   These are simple.  You ride at Z2 HR for about 1-1:15 hours and progress to 2.5 hour intervals, for most of us.  You must pick a fairly flat route with few/no stops (or a trainer if you are crazy).   WARNING: THIS SHOULD BE DONE SOLO TO BE EFFECTIVE.   These workouts can create great progress in just 3 weeks.  I have reasoned that this is because so much time is logged in Z2 as compared to group rides.   These rides (again, AET rides) are a really efficient use of training time.   While they take focus, the pace is fairly comfortable.   Little fatigue occurs and one can recover, usually in 24 hours.  You see, riding the UWBL going like hell, does not HURT you but if you are in Z4 or Z5, you ain't in Z2.  If you are in the bag for two days, you can't do another quality AET ride or might even get the flu or something worse?  Of course, some of us may be so strong, that the UWBL does not effect us this way!

Later, we will move the training to Z3 but that is another phase.

Weinacker, Perry and anybody else doing long distance racing, will find this type training even more valuable.   They will likely want to extend these intervals to as long as 4-5 hours.  They might do very little training above Z2 if they were only doing Ironman distance.  Perry, is a great source of info on this subject.  There is Wikipedia and then there is WikiPerry..........and I am not kidding.......the dude is amazing.

So, one might ask, "How long do I do this type training?"  Answer:  It depends.  If you are 'off the couch' or in your first year or so, it might be 8-10 weeks.   If you are an advanced athlete and have been active in the off season, you might need little of this other than maintenance.

What is cool is that Coach Joe and WKO+ have devised measurement methods to test your aerobic fitness.  Here are a couple of terms you need to understand:

Cardio Drift - When an endurance athlete maintains a steady state effort, his/her heart rate will rise over the course of the effort.

Decoupling - The measurement of cardio drift, described in percent.  In cycling, it can be measured as Power:HR and in running it would Pace:HR.

WKO+ automatically calculates decoupling but we can do it manually and without a power meter or WKO+.  A HR monitor and speedometer is required.

Joe believes that when you can perform these AET workouts with less than 5% decoupling, you are aerobically fit.   This means more time to work on Muscular Endurance, a limiter for almost every athlete.   The athlete/coach monitors decoupling as the season progresses and if performance degrades,  the athlete can return to 2-3 weeks of these intervals (likely one per week) to reestablish fitness.

A great thing for those of us without power meters, would be to set up these tests on the computrainers at the EDGE.  I will stay on the road as I just can't ride a trainer that long....even with friends suffering along side me!   I could set up the test protocol.  

In my next training post, I will address computing decoupling with an HR monitor and speedometer.


 

You have the "Power"

Happy Holidays to all my fellow teammates. I know everyone has thoughts of sugar plums and Santa and his reindeer dancing in their heads. Through the blurry vision and current sugar high we should all be kicking around some ideas of training and goals for the 2012 season.

Jon and I had a great conversation yesterday about some of the tools that are available to insure proper training and assist in achieving the level of performance you may be striving for this season.

There has been a lot of talk about "power". In the past everyone would use Heart Rate Monitors to evaluate where their fitness was on the chart. The issue with heart rate training is that when you are fatigued it can give you some numbers that are not accurate, causing your peaks and valleys to become larger than they should. The great thing about measuring your Power output is the numbers DON'T lie. By utilizing Power you can actually chart out your "A" races and really gage your success with fewer road blocks. As some of you pointed out in recent posts people don't stay on plan. A lot of athletes train by how they feel. Early season everyone is rested and feeling great. The workload over time is what causes early season burn out. It's fine to do a group ride in the winter for fun, just not all the time.

With power you can physically see that you are in zone 1 or 2 during those times of the year that you should be. So many people wonder why they can't get faster. The main reason is called "gray zone" training. In simple terms what that means is you are going to hard to be resting and not hard enough to be training. This is where the specific training should be your #1 goal. Power can be your guide and help you understand when you are riding too hard or not hard enough.

There are a few Power tools available on the market. I encourage each of you to check out the ones that are available. The main brands are:

Powertap- This system goes in the wheel so you can swap it from bike to bike. Add a bit of depth to your training and also get a wheelset that you can race as well. Part of the benefit of training with power is being able to analyze your race data. By going with a carbon clincher wheelset and powertap combination you can have a wheelset that you can train and race with. Choose from the new G3 hub or the classic Powertap Pro design. Add a Garmin or Powertap head unit for a complete solution.




SRM- The PowerMeter consists of the crank, chainrings and measuring unit. The measuring unit is located between the crank arm and the chainrings and is made of a high-strength, specially tempered aluminum alloy: a computer-designed torque transducer industrially manufactured to highly accurate standards of quality. The power measurement is reactionless so no energy is lost. The Powermeter is temperature compensated, 100% linear and waterproof.






Quarq- Measures Power at the Crankset

The Quarq CinQo is a bicycle powermeter that is integrated into the crankset of the bicycle. Specifically, the CinQo is a instrumented crank "spider" that mounts on specific production cranksets.

Hopefully, you all know that we have a team discount with Boyd Cycling. If you are interested in Powertap we can offer the powertap hubs and build into any of the wheelsets we offer at a 20% discount. If you are interested in the SRM I know Randy at Carolina Tri would be able to assist you. It's not too late to get your list to Santa. He is working overtime this year!

If I can help you can reach me anytime at 864-715-9877 or by email nicole@boydcycling.com.

Cheers,
Nicole

New Shoes

When you’re part of a team, it’s important that you conform to the uniform rules set forth by the team management. Not only is it a rule, but it looks good too. It looks totally pro to have everyone wearing the same uniform. And, everyone wants to look pro, even if the only thing you do at the pro level is wash your bike or mix your Cytomax.

Like many other popular teams, Team Headstrong has some specific uniform requirements for riders. We all have to wear team jerseys and shorts, socks and various accessories when you’re in the saddle, but the official uniform rules stop there. Even though we don’t have requirements for off-the-bike apparel, many riders still like to accessorize with items that match the cycling uniform. Glasses, helmets, shoes, etc. can all be sourced in matching team colors if you look around hard enough. Along these lines, I took a nice step this weekend towards completing my 2012 podium outfit.

Check out these babies! I scored some awesome black and green (sorry, citron) running shoes that are going to match great with my new team clothing. Yeah, I know you’re jealous. I thought I would jump in with both feet on the team color plan. For those that are interested, these are addidas Marathon 10 trail shoes and I snagged the laces separately just to put them over the top. I’m stoked that these are going to look great on the podium. Even if I don’t make the podium, they will look great taking your picture on the podium.

While I’m on the subject of accessories, I thought I would share a sneak peak at the new Team Headstrong helmet. Check it out! Who’s in? Well, wait a minute. We better hold off until I find some adult sizes for these jewels. I’ll get back to you on it.

Who’s accessorizing with team colors this year? Are you planning your own podium outfit?

Jeff Foxworthy

If you ride up a big mountain for 12 miles, climb 3500 feet through snow and ice, descend at speeds up to 70 kph, and your hands get so cold you can't feel your handlebars, YOU MIGHT BE A CYCLIST!

Clip In....

The science of training has come a long way since I first read Eddie B’s Bicycle Road Racing.  Power meters and training by power has replaced the focus on heart rate and rate of perceived effort (RPE).

I still train by HR…old school or too cheap, but I use the same concepts and more importantly the same  software for analyzing my training (WKO, Training Peaks, Golden Cheetah (freeware), Polar Protrainer, etc). 

Some key points

Everyone is different…. when it comes to heart rate.  Power does not care.. it is absolute (pwr/kg).   An example of this is… Beth and I both rode Alpe d’ Huez in 59mins… generating 3.9watts/kg (220 vs 320watts) but average HRs of 167 and 154.  She weighs about 125, me.. 180.

In my view the advantage of Training Peaks is that it evaluates your rides with a training stress score (TSS) and an intensity factor (IF) and has Performance Management Chart that shows you trend lines.   TSS is a combination of duration and intensity…  IF is how hard the session was..   (for a quick tutorial see.. http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/cycling/normalized-power,-intensity-factor,-training-stress-score.aspx ).

As we are all starting or about to start our early season training and the UWBL has started up, I think a few comments are in order.  Below is a chart of mine from last year’s UWBL.   This was a “sit in” ride for me and I did not “contest” the final run in, but did rev it up for the other sprints sitting in.   With an IF=.69 this classifies as the top end of a recovery ride; according  to the document above… (I disagree with this.. for me recovery rides are < .65).  It is more of an endurance ride with a few efforts thrown in, and with a TSS of 230 it would classify as a moderately hard ride

.

But this is for me.   Probably easier for OTF (Brian), but harder for, say, Teenie.  UWBL does get too long and too hard for what I want to be doing as the winter progresses, but I find it a challenging ride and helps me hone my pack skills (awareness, avoidance, accelerations) for the upcoming season.   

So it is important to determine whether this is a ride for you or not. As Steve said in his comment… to many egos drive the pace … which maybe a “deal breaker” for your plan.  And the goals of UWBL are more conducive to men’s Cat3 and above (distance/pace/time of the season).  For those thinking of Masters Nationals it is awful early to be ramping up too fast.  [I will let DS weigh in on this]

Which brings up, do you know where you stand physiologically.  FTP? LTHR? CP60? maxHR? Watts/kg?  The science behind this is what coaches use to assess you and layout a training a plan.  The more you know the more it will mean and pay dividends in attaining your goals. So here is a good tool from Dr. Lim .. it is amazingly accurate.....

PowerProfiling …   ( powerprofiling.xls ) on file in google docs.. download this…. enter your weight in red box at the top and see either where you rank or what your output needs to be, to be competitive.

So… Saturday…. UWBL or do we do a Team Ride?  And let us all hear about your training... concepts, questions, myths... 

The Silly Season

There has been a lot of great talk lately about training.   The value of rides like the UWBL are being discussed.

I and 3 of the athletes I am coaching, will resume training in January.   One athlete has already started but I am very slow to want to get out of the blocks.  September is long way off.   Eight months is a long season.

Teenie and I have been using the time for unstructured riding, racing El Tour and doing some serious group rides.   We did the Shootout last Saturday and I have attached the file below.    You will note that it looks nothing like what Joe Friel suggests is a good winter base type ride.

We can enjoy this now but come January we will be out of this game.   Right now, we are goofing around and having fun.   When the training starts, we will be focused and having fun.

It is great that we are discussing training like we have never done before.   Training and riding are two different things.  If you want to race, riding will only take you so far.   I feel all this talk is caused by us maturing as a team.

Count me out on the type ride you see below when January comes!

Basic Safety

As most of you know, one of our new teammates Camille Hood was taken down during the UWBL ride on Saturday. We were 3 hours into a 4 hour effort with about 200 other “A” groupers when a rider suddenly went left across her path, taking out her front wheel. I’m very pleased to report that we avoided total disaster and Camille suffered no broken bones in her crash. Hopefully, she will heal quickly and be back in action soon.

The crash this weekend was a poignant reminder to me and many others that cycling is a dangerous sport. Luckily we do not think about the danger most of the time. If we did, it would be crippling. The constant fear would make it almost impossible to get out there on the road to pedal all those miles every week. Instead we compartmentalize the dangerous thoughts and tuck them neatly away behind our comfort zone boundary. Instead of riding with the continuous thought of impending doom we are free to experience the joys of cycling with our friends. The crash did bring to mind some important issues, and I wanted to remind everyone of some basic actions we can all take personally to help us remain safe in the saddle.

1. Be Alert: This is even more important when you’re riding with a large group of people you don’t know. Sometimes accidents are unavoidable (like Camille’s incident Saturday), but staying aware of what’s around you at all times always pays dividends.
   
   
2. Point Out Obstacles & Communicate: This is one of the most basic forms of group riding etiquette. It’s common courtesy to point out obstacles to the riders behind you. I’ll go farther and say that this is not just a courtesy but an obligation you have to those around you. You must point out obstacles and dangers in the road as soon as you see them. The person in front of you should be doing this for you and you should be doing this for those behind. Pass it on through the pack no matter where you are in that pack. This goes for signaling turns as well. Give people enough notice by signaling your turns safely in advance.
   
   
3. Practice Fundamental Bicycle Handling Skills: I am a firm believer in developing excellent bike handling skills as a foundation for safe cycling. You have to learn the basics and practice the fundamentals BEFORE you are called on to use the skills in a competitive situation. If you learn to avoid situations or adjust to things in the pack before they become large safety issues, we will all be safer. (I will be doing my part to help every teammate learn more fundamental riding skills through some basic skills clinics I will be leading very soon. I promise that everyone will learn a lot no matter what your competency level is already.)
   
   
4. Learn Basic First Aid: There will be times when accidents happen. At those critical moments, it’s important that we all make the right decisions quickly to avoid making things any worse. Every one of us should learn basic first aid so that we will know what to do in the event of a crash. Thankfully, most crashes are minor and don’t require any critical care. However, like Camille’s crash this weekend, sometimes things get more serious. If you learn the basics, you can be an asset in the situation and possibly prevent further injury. Basic First Aid is taught locally or you can just read up online. Even if you’re not officially “certified” you want to make the right decisions quickly.
   
   
5. Carry ID (& Insurance Information): You should never ride your bike without some form of ID. I use a Road ID bracelet and I carry a copy of my driver’s license and insurance card in my saddle bag. You might be with others when you crash, but chances are that none of us know your insurance information. The hospital can find out a lot about us by using our driver’s license.
   
   
6. Cell Phone: I have to admit that I don’t always ride with my cell phone, but it’s a good idea to have at least one with every group. In the event of a critical incident, you will want to get help quickly. Having a phone with you can greatly reduce emergency response time.

Some of you might be thinking that I’m exaggerating to make my point, but I can honestly say that every single bullet point above has come in handy for me or someone else I’ve been riding with in the last 12 months. These basic precautions are excellent safety tools for all of us. At the very least, you will be a little safer and smarter in the saddle. At most, these could save someone’s life.

2012... Clip in...

It's that time of year, as DS posted earlier.   Time to think about your goals, your strengths, your weaknesses, and layout a plan for 2012.

You might want to read Joe Friel's blog (click side bar or here) about early season training.  With some of us looking at Masters Nationals it will be a long season and you might consider a strategy that does not burn you out before the 2nd half of the year... below is what he would expect an athletes power (or HR) distribution to look like at this time of year..  


also in case you are interested you might find his training plan worksheet (click here) a useful tool (.xlsx) in laying out a training schedule .  You can refer to his training bible or look it up on the web for explaining the columns..