10 TIPS TO MAKE EVERY BIKE SESSION COUNT
The following tips and sessions (p73) are designed to give you the tools and knowledge you need to optimise your two-wheel tri performance...
01 ANALYSE YOUR POWER
A power meter’s near redundant without a proven piece of software like Training Peaks. For little more than a tenner each month, you’re given access to a range of online analysis tools that’ll help you to manage fatigue and peak at the right time. The software’s Training Stress Score (TSS) is a particularly useful metric to gauge how hard or not you should train after your ride.
02 FIND YOUR FTP
Key to training by power is understanding your functional threshold power (FTP). This is the max power output you can hold for an hour. How do you calculate your FTP? You can ride all out for an hour and gauge your average watts. Or you can do what the pro triathletes do and ride at your maximum for 20mins before reducing this figure by 5%. Once you’ve found your FTP, you can establish your training zones (see p72) as you would when training by heart rate.
03 TEST INSIDE AND OUT
Many of us have become accustomed to using a power meter on the road and inside on our smart trainers. “But beware as there’s often a discrepancy between the triathlete’s turbo trainer and their actual bike power meter,” warns Craig Lane of Performance Coaching. “Record both to figure out the difference, and adjust your indoor and outdoor training zones to suit. In fact, it’s a good idea to undertake an FTP test indoors and out, in your race position, and then compare the data.”
04 CALCULATE YOUR CADENCE
Bristol-based Andy Wadsworth is a former Xterra world champion. “I recommend using your power meter to work out what cadence suits you best,” says Wadsworth. “Ride 10min blocks at the same power but using different cadence to see what works for you and how it affects your run off the bike. Keep the run off the bike identical, time it and note how you feel. Replicate the same conditions for the bike and run each time you do it.”
05 RACE WITH IT
Some triathletes train by power but prefer to race by feel. This, according to two-time third-place finisher at Kona, David McNamee, is a mistake. “Racing with a power meter is a great way to make sure you execute a great race,” explains the Scotsman. “At the start of the bike with all the adrenaline, it’s easy to push too hard and pay for it badly later on. It’s okay to push a bit harder than your target pace at the start, but you want to quickly settle into your target race power to ensure you can keep pushing hard.”
06 NORMALISE ACCURACY
You’ll hear a lot about Normalised Power. This is an adjusted power figure that more accurately reflects the metabolic cost of a ride by discounting periods of cruising. It’s particularly beneficial during highly variable sessions like hilly rides.
07 PEAK ON THE PEAKS
A regular FTP test on Zwift is a solid way to measure progress. But you can’t beat riding outdoors for more realistic results. “Measure your power on a hill near home that lasts 4-6mins long,” says Wadsworth. “Start with a good 10min progressive warm-up with some 10-20sec efforts and then attack the hill. Note the average power you can hold on the climb and use this same climb to test yourself again in the future to gauge your (hopeful) improvement. Undertake a 10min cool-down to finish.”
08 DOUBLE UP
“A power meter combined with a heart rate monitor helps to identify whether you’re overtraining or starting to get ill,” says McNamee. “A higher or lower heart rate than normal for the same wattage is a good indication that something may be wrong. Triathletes are usually very driven people so we can easily not listen enough to our body’s subjective feelings. Having an objective measure using heart rate and power can help us make smarter choices.”
09 DON’T NEGLECT INTENSITY
“Remember, a power meter is a tool, so ensure you look after, recharge and recalibrate it when needed,” recommends the Triathlon Coaching Company’s Chris Wallace. “And learn to use a metric called Intensity Factor [if using Training Peaks]. This is the fraction of an athlete’s threshold they maintain for a session or part of a session. We generally see an IF ranging from 0.60-0.80. These figures are individual but, in general, the fitter you are, the higher you can go. A simple way to check this is to ride at a chosen IF for your long rides and see how you run off these sessions to see if it’s manageable and adjust from there.”
10 GAUGE YOUR PACE
Your power meter’s two modus operandi are delivering you wattage and energy, the latter of which gives you the ability to calculate the number of calories you’re burning. How is this useful? Your workload for the bike leg of an Olympic-distance triathlon might be 1,500 kilojoules (kj) in 1:30hrs. At some point, you must then do 1,500kj rides in training. You could complete an easier endurance ride and take 2:30hrs or go hard and aim to match the 1:30hr race ride. It’ll give you a gauge of pacing, which is so important in triathlon.