CTL Check! Dec/2024

The only comparison that matters is against yourself……

Which, upon glancing at my CTL history, I am -11 vs. last year. Fook.

:stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

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There are certainly a few that have the motivation, discipline, and means to devote to training as their own life choice. I just can’t do it.

It is what is for me. While I have the time (retired) I can’t mentally take more than 90-120 minutes on the trainer. Physically, I’m in decent shape, probably classified as above average for my age but I simply can’t recover fast enough at 57 to put in more sessions or more intensity to increase the weekly TSS. I am in reach of a 70 CTL this week which took me almost 4 weeks to get to after 3 days off for a house project that dropped 5 points of my CTL because of the way the math works. I may have been able to increase quicker than in the short term but the cost would have meant more recovery time at some point which would have defeated the purpose anyways. I hope to keep it around 70 plus or minus a couple until spring comes.

Yeah, but it looks like you have eased into it nicely with somewhat reasonable fatigue, form, and ramp rate. Are you planning to ease off the ramp rate as you get into build or keep pushing a bit?

I just wrapped up base 1 today with a 6+ hour endurance/tempo ride and my legs felt strong all day. I’m feeling surprisingly fresh and I kind of wish next week wasn’t a rest week, but I’m going to respect it. I’ve gone from ~55ctl to 90 in the last 4 weeks and have ramped the volume pretty aggressively. The only work above sweet spot so far was one set of over/unders and those left a mark, but my legs have felt bulletproof all month other than that. I did a bunch of rowing in December that probably misrepresented my starting fitness a bit, but I’m still surprised how good the first block felt. Hoping the trend continues.

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When you guys are showing and referring to ramp rate, what is that a ramp rate for? 1 week? 28 days? 365? 90 day? I’m curious what mine is but TrainingPeaks has all four of those.

Per week.

Why Ramp Rate is an Important Training Metric | TrainingPeaks.

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I stay consistent with a ramp rate of 5 typically.

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One other reference to the video mentioned in this thread

Swart mentions (at around 17:30) that the target CTL for the start of a grand tour is 130. Compare that to a race like Fleche Wallonne, where the target might be 115

“I’ve found that an increase in CTL of about 5 to 8 points per week is about right for most. Less than that and you’re probably not very focused on your training.”

Ouch. I didn’t expect to be destroyed so quickly into the article. :sob:

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