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Day 5: Testing & Logging Data
Today we talk about Data and Metrics and … yes … TESTING.
No need to panic, we are just pedaling bikes here, all you have to do is figure out how to track a performance metric (like power or time up a hill) and then go out and work hard. I bet you have done this with race lap times, a local hill climb (Strava?), or perhaps even with power meters.
What I want you to start learning is that testing is just like a good hard workout, we get very similar information from the workout as well. The major difference is we are eliminating some sources of error like fatigue, location, and bike setup to see how your training has affected the result. Sometimes it will improve, sometimes it won’t! That is bike racing!
NERVOUS? Then tests are great training for you!
If your race days are negatively affected by nerves then there is something in your training we want to work on to improve your performance ‘state’ … so that you can focus simply on pedaling on race day.
Tests are a great way of getting feedback on how our fitness is BEFORE RACE DAY, which helps take the ‘hoping’ and guessing about race performance out of the equation. If you know you have trained hard and specific for your event then nerves can be shifted to EXCITEMENT and optimized for performance.
Data & Metrics
Being able to track your heart rate, power, cadence, distance, and/or elevation gain are all super. You do not need all of these, but the more you have, the more we can track and see where we can tweak things. Many new bike computers allow you to Set up automatic uploads to training peaks when you are done your training each day. (e.g. Garmin to Training Peaks.)
Comments (Tell me about Who, what, where, when how, how many, how much and why?)
Comments get their own section because they are more important than the data. I need you to tell me how you feel, what you did, WHERE you did it, how many reps/watts/sets you did. Maybe a bit about what you ate, if you were happy, who you did the ride with and how you set up your bike. To help you get those comments in you can use the TrainingPeaks mobile app (a great thing to have if you forget your workout while out training too). Read more about Commenting and logging here
How to test?
It depends on the athlete and goals, but basically, we do one or all of the following, often adding in some tests specific to a certain athlete, such as the time to do a favorite MTB trail or local climb that isn’t as set a distance/time/conditions as below.
- Critical Power Tests (best average power for a given duration). Often I use 3 and 20 minutes. Sometimes we do longer time-trials around 35 minutes.
- MAF – 30-minute submaximal effort, a small loop is best with no stops/minimal traffic. This is an ‘aerobic’ effort where we see what your power:hear rate ratio is … what power do you push at ‘x’ HR.
Learn what FTP is and How to use it (and why it doesn’t matter that much)
Still Confused?
Why not book a phone consult and we can talk about your numbers and how to understand them (here)
So, feeling ready to test? What questions or concerns do you still have? Feel free to email me!
Happy training today! Peter peterglassford@gmail.com
