TSS, ATL. CTL, TSB for Heart Rate

Even though I don't have a power meter I found a lot of the training concepts explained in "Training and Racing with a Power Meter" pretty interesting. One of the things power users can do is graph a variety of statistics about the types of riding they are doing to help manage their work load. I won't be able to capture this sort of data for every pedal stroke but using my heart rate should still be able to give me some interesting information.

Here are some of the stats power users are keeping track of.

IF (Intensity Factor)

Intensity factor represents how hard you are riding. 1 equals your threshold. Here is a basic outline for IF that comes with the TrainingPeaks software:

• Less than 0.75 recovery rides
• .75-0.85 endurance-paced training rides
• .85-0.95 tempo rides, aerobic and anaerobic interval workouts (work and rest periods combined), longer (>2.5 h) road races
• .95-1.05 lactate threshold intervals (work period only), shorter (<2.5 tss =" IF^2">

TSS (Training Stress Score)

Training stress score represents how hard a workout is. Once you figure out the Intensity Factor of your ride you can figure out your Training Stress Score.

The formula for this is:

TSS = IF^2 x hrs x 100

So here's how I would calculate my TSS for a typical 2x20 workout.

The workout is a 10 minute warm up followed by 20 minutes at threshold, 5 minute recovery, 20 minutes at threshold, and 5 minutes cool down.

First, we need to figure out the Intensity Factor for the different pieces of the ride. We'll assign .75 for the recovery portions, and 1 for the interval portions.

Recovery portions = .75^2*(20/60)*100 = 18
Interval portions = 1^2*(40/60)*100 = 66

TSS for the workout = 84

ATL (Acute Training Load)

Acute Training Load represents the level of work you've done over the week. It's calculated by taking an average of your TSS over the last 7 days


CTL (Chronic Training Load)

Chronic Training Load represents your current level of fitness. It's calculated by taking an average of your TSS over the last 42 days.

TSB (Training Stress Balance)

Training Stress Balance represents how "fresh" you are and helps manage your peaking for key events. The formula for TSB is your CTL - ATL. When this number is positive it means that you should be "fresh" and ready for a key workout or ride.

I created a Google spreadsheet to help me calulate this stuff here

To use it you need to enter the number of minutes you spent in each "zone" for every workout you do. It will calculate TSS, ATL, CTL, and TSB for you.

Strength and Flexibility

I'm going to start posting some of the workouts I do. The purpose of today's workout was strength and flexibility. Since I'm not doing any weight training I figure it would be good to do a strength workout on the bike.

Bike
15 minutes warm up
5 minutes tempo
40 minutes of tempo riding. Every 5 minutes do a sprint in the 53x12 from a dead-stop for 20 seconds. Try to spin the gear as fast as possible.

Core Routine
2 sets of:
20 supine bridges
10 push-ups
1 minute plank
10 push-ups
1 minute side plank
10 push ups
1 minute side plank
crunches
reverse crunches
10 push ups
prone cobra

Flexibility
30 minutes of yoga

An Experiment of 1

My history with the bike is pretty short.

When I first moved to Portland in 2003 I bought a big aluminum comfort bike for $250. At the time my car was in various states of disrepair and the bike would be my transportation while I waited for another paycheck to get the Toyota running again. My longest ride was a 4 mile jaunt from Sellwood to downtown. I felt so fast even though I smoked 30 cigarettes a day.

In 2005 Kristin and I were in a relationship. She was finishing up college and training for the Portland marathon and her enthusiasm for running infected me. I quit smoking and started running on the Springwater Corridor to take my mind of the relentless desire to light up another cigarette. I would run in cheap shoes with my arms covered in multiple Target-brand Nicotine patches.

Kristin finished her marathon and I decided to try to do the same in 2006. It would be a celebration for a year without cigarettes. I trained for a year and in October I was shaking violently while wrapped up in a foil blanket after finishing the race a few seconds under 4 hours.

In 2007 I moved on to trail ultramarathons. 3 times that year I ran 31 mile ultras. Hours and hours spent slogging through Forrest Park alone. Kristin was deeply involved with Portland Velo by this point and we would rarely see each other. At the end of the year I hurt my knee and decided I would try this whole biking thing while I recovered. At least I would be able to spend time with Kristin.

I sold my old comfort bike and bought a fixed gear Bianchi and started bringing that out to group rides in March. I'd show up in my baggy running gear on a one speed bike surrounded by lycra-clad roadies on carbon dream machines.

Riding with Portland Velo hurt more than running ever did. The struggle of staying with the group was what I loved about cycling. In running I went out "at my own pace". On my bike I cut my legs to pieces because I didn't want to ride by myself.

In July of 2008 I bought a real road bike. I spent July and August doing some Mt. Tabor races and a few PIR's. In the fall I raced most of Cross Crusade.

In 2009 I plan to race an entire season.

I think training and racing is an "experiment of 1". What works for someone else might not work for you. I'm going to spend the year figuring out how to train for bike racing and will document some of those experiments here.