39/f been training most seriously and consistently over the past 9ish months using a mix of TR and then a coach. After my A race (Oregon Trail Gravel Stage Race) I found myself recovering and thinking of what is next. I decided to have a lab test my vo2max and lactate thresholds to have a baseline so that I can see how my training is helping me get faster and become a better athlete.
However, I am a little confused by what I am seeing and what I am hearing on the TR podcasts. They gave me my LTHR and VO2Max as well as my MAXHR and then calculated 4 zones.
I am looking for someone to help me understand this graph in a way that helps me apply it to my training and set my zones in a way that will allow me to be the most productive in my training. I have heard so much about LT1 and LT2 but am unsure how to pull those directly from the data and understand how to apply them to my training. I also am a little shocked at how low my maxHR is and wondering if anyone has advice looking at my data of which energy systems I should be focusing on training to bring my threshold up and to help my body clear lactate faster (my 4min recovery only cleared 0.6mmol but I was clearing 0.3mmol when in active recovery earlier on)
I am moving shortly and will be living in a place where most of my training will be on the trainer due to harsh winter conditions. In order to get myself set up on a training plan, I want to be specific about what and how I structure my training and am looking to the community for help on interpreting my data.
Hey @GarageLab I would love to share this data, however, I am not sure where to pull it from. Here is what I do know and with some guidance happy to share other info as needed. My goal is really to dial in my training zones and understand where to focus my energy in training.
My current FTP power feels exactly where I thought it was, but I was really curious about where my threshold HR was because I have such a low max HR.
For the stages here are my stats:
Day 1 - 80.4mi 4334’ 5:43:37
Power: avg 151 NP 176 max 560 HR: avg 143 max 160
Day 2 - 94.7mi 4741’ 6:22:43
Power: avg 138 NP 168 max 522 HR: avg 132 max 155
Day 3 - 25.9mi 3068’ 2:25:31
Power: avg 135 NP 173 max 480 HR: avg 130 max 162
Day 4 - 87.5mi 8547’ 7:22:35
Power: avg 133 NP 167 max 513 HR: avg 135 max 165
It’s ok, it would help get us closer to seeing if the lab data is useful. Being able to look at your data would help you in the future, through.
Is your FTP around 225-235 watts, by chance?
The power data from your stage race and the lactate data seem to make sense. The stages were variable power, and NP in the range of 165-175 watts is reasonable.
My basic interpretation is below. I just re-plotted the data to power and used a simple graphical method to estimate thresholds.
Thanks for this!!! It will be helpful for me to target training. My FTP from tests has been around 210 the past couple of times that I have done them, so I was pleasantly surprised that it aligned. I would be happy to share my training peaks data, I just don’t know exactly which parts are helpful.
This was the protocol and the data from my most recent FTP which my coach set my FTP @ 210w.
“15’ easy warmup
3x(1’ fast pedals over 100 rpm, 1’ recoveries)
4’ easy riding
++++++
5’ @ 8/10 or “very hard”
5’ easy
2x(1’ @ 9/10 or “extremely hard,” 4’ recoveries)
5’ easy
20’ TT on flat terrain. As fast as you can go without slowing down. Start this effort at 7/10 and build to 10/10 by the end of the 20 minutes
15-30’ CD”
Ok, got you. It looks similar to the Hunter Allen protocol. I would have liked to see better intensity control during the test.
But overall, I agree with your coach’s assessment for 210.
So, I think the lactate test helps confirm your performance during the race. The lactate data isn’t really sufficient to make an LT2 estimate, I think.
In my opinion, your power data is better than the lactate data. You could get away with not testing and just analyze power in the future.
Not exactly. In my opinion, it has to do with practice. Some rider’s power data outside (especially up a constant grade) looks very steady. Maintaining constant power over varying terrain is pretty difficult, but a good skill to have.
If you continue to do long rides, 3-4 hours or more, you will naturally stay under LT1. You can use those rides as an upper limit for endurance. There are other methods you can use if you pay attention to your breathing rate for shorter tests. But if you ride for a few hours, the power data will tell you what your limits are.
hey @aeroskiii good question. i was curious, thats why. i am not seeing noob gains as i have been riding consistently for the past 4-5 years but just started truly training about a 1 year ago. i have seen some small gains, but i wanted to know if i was training in the correct levels to try to optimize. i used trainer road last year but i stopped because every couple weeks it told me that my FTP was decreasing even though my training was consistent and I was seeing improvements in my body and my riding. its all just data, and i like having the validation that for instance, my max HR really is only around 172bpm, which i thought must have been wrong because i see friends i ride with have much higher numbers. and it helps me to learn and better understand how to learn to train. i like learning
Let me reverse that: what information did you want to have when you decided to get tested? Here are a few things that came to mind:
If you don’t know why exactly you tested, it’ll be hard to extract something useful from the test results.
Regarding “I also am a little shocked at how low my maxHR”, your heart rate generally is lower than average (e. g. 147–151 bpm at lactate threshold/FTP). But so what? Some people have faster heart rates, others slower heart rates. As long as your cardiovascular system does its job, you are fine.
Even if you pulled LT1 and LT2 from your data, what do you intend to do with this information? If you have a handle on your FTP (by combining testing, verification and feel-informed-by-training), power at LT2 should be very close to what you think your current FTP is.
Things like VO2max testing are useful if you get tested in the future and then compare the progression.
When choosing a training plan, the two relevant factors in this situation are event type and whether you have some weaknesses that are limiting you. The latter decides how much time to invest in your strengths and limiters. (A weakness need not be a limiter. If your sprint is weak, but the event is a TT (where you don’t need to sprint), this weakness is not a limiter.) cc
This is a really helpful response @OreoCookie ! Thank you.
I tested because I wanted to validate what I was doing off of FTP test / RPE and what I was seeing. I also had never had my vo2max tested and its nice to have a baseline.
Heard about HR. I think again, I just wanted to validate what I was feeling in my body.
The part that I was hoping to gain from LT1 is understanding what my Z2 training should look like, and whether to base it on just power or a combo of power and HR. I find it pretty hard to stay in what I have as Z2 120-160w when I am riding outside. Any small incline and I am easily pedaling 180w without it feeling challenging. In order to maintain Z2 on one of the main roads I use for training (~3% grade) I have to drop down to such an easy spin I feel like I am not moving.
I would like to see a bigger range for myself in terms of improving both my threshold and max intervals to allow myself to maintain higher outputs for longer. My endurance is locked and I can ride for long distances back to back, but when it comes to racing I find my ability to hold harder efforts feels like a limiter.
Again, I appreciate your feedback and its helpful to discuss as I am trying to figure all of this out for myself. Right now my goals are not event related but simply I want to get stronger, faster, and become a better all around cyclist. I am moving up to Alaska and I know that most of my training will be indoors, so I’m trying to think about how best to structure that since this year has been focused on more volume and adding structured intervals into training.
Regarding max heart rate, Chris Froome allegedly had a max heart rate of 174 bpm and won a lot of races at the highest levels, so I would not worry about your max heart rate.
