- TSS can only really be compared to other TSS if it’s achieved in a similar way. So comparing the TSS of two different 30/30 workouts is useful to see how each of them might leave you in terms of fatigue, and comparing the TSS of two different weeks of the same build block (with broadly the same structure each week) is good for knowing how the two weeks compare to each other in terms of fatigue. But the more variation there is in how you achieve the TSS, the more variation there is in how it will affect you. I can do 800+ TSS per week of cafe rides and exploring the countryside pretty much indefinitely, but 500 TSS of indoor structure is a lot for me.
- TSS comparisons also go out the window completely if you switch from a power meter to heart rate for measuring outside (your post makes it seem like you have a power meter outside but you don’t say for certain). HRtss is a totally different thing really and often bears no correlation to real TSS. And that’s without even getting into the 'was your z1/2 ride REALLY in z1/2? conversation which I’m sure someone else will bring up here shortly.
- I’m on wahoo for most of my stuff and only got a garmin watch recently so haven’t worked out the exact mechanism for this (whether it was an ‘auto pause’, a ‘resume later’, or the workout just running continuously), but a while ago I noticed all my garmin stats had been skewed WAY off and started investigating to figure out why. Turns out I had used my watch to record an 8 minute ride to the barbers, during which I must have been running late because my HR was like 150 when I got there. Then I sat in the chair for an hour (where my HR was presumably just above resting) and then rode 8 min home. Garmin gave me TSS credit for a continuous hour at 150bpm for that time when I was in the barbershop and thought my recording was ‘paused’. So if your 2hr ride with your friend included a cafe stop or a fair bit of chatting it’s possible that some part of the garmin algorithm counted that as part of your time in zone (even if it didn’t show up as actual TSS).
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