Feedback is a very important part of training and life. We set out to reach goals and it is feedback that tells us if we are on/off course. There are different forms of feedback:
RPE - Rate of Perceived Exertion - how does a work out or effort FEEL. There is other similar feedback types...Rate of Perceived Fatigue.....you get the idea. How does it feel?
HR - Easily measured with cheap devices......tells us our HR response to various efforts.
Power - You need about a $1500 device. Measure the absolute work rate and cumulation. You can measure Training Stress, Intensity, Power Threshold.....lots of cool stuff. You need an education or a coach to know what the heck this means.
Speed on known stretch of road or climb - Cool new App called Strava can help you on this but it is pretty easy.....like how fast am climbing Paris MT today vs last year.
Results on ride or in race against known riders - This is sort of like: How did I do on SCTAC A group this year compared to 2 years ago? How am riding compare to.............??
All these are viable and can/should be used simultaneously to measure gain or lack of gain. One can then assess if there is movement toward the goals or NOT?
This week, Teenie and I rode out through Gates Pass......a ride we do often. I made the climb through the Pass in Zone 4...near threshold but certainly not at race pace or TT pace. I looked back about 2 years to climb a did at a described pace as 'race' and the HR response indicates it was all out.
So here ya go:
2/4/11 1/16/13
Duration: 12:14 11:45
Watts: 287 283
HR avg BPM 166 146
HR max BPM 171 158
Speed mph 12.4 12.7
Cadence 83 77
How would you analyze this comparison. Gain/no gain??? More important.....what has changed and why?? This, of course, is only one piece of data but maybe an important one?
Train hard.
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