40 Goals

One of the benefits of obsessively collecting data whilst riding is the ability to analyse amd compare past and present performance and make informed decisions about my training strategy. Below is a comparison of my mean maximal power output for last season vs my current performance this season. I'm down across the board, something I am more than aware of when I ride. This chart will help me quantify that. So, every month I'll share this chart and lets see what improvements take place (or don't) and figure out why and adapt training going forward. BTW, it is true to say that I haven't collected a lot of data so far this season and yes, by performing more rides I'll collect more favourable data etc -- The bottom line, however, is that my performance is down by well over 20% across the board. At least I know what I'm capable of and can set a realistic target -- to get the dotted line above last season in every respect. November 2007 - The only way is up! Its pro...

250 watts at 155 BPM I followed the same protocol as yesterday, warmed up with 20 minutes at fat bump and then did 20 minutes at 250 watts (yesterday I did 30 minutes of 200 watts). I saw lots of cardiac drift but the average was 155. I suspect that 250 is a real limit since as I was finishing the 20 minutes my heart rate was climbing faster and heading off to 160. I know I said I'd do 220 but heck that was too easy. Tomorrow I'll take a crack at 15 minutes at 300 watts, hopefully I'll make it under my miserably low max heartrate of 181. Then I can look forward to doing this all again in Jan then Feb then March then ... you get the picture ...

200 Watts at 138 BPM Over this week I'm going to do 30 minute tests at different wattages to measure heart rate to power output. Today I sustained 200 watts for 30 minutes at an average heart rate of 138. My cadence varied from 88 to 95 as I lost concentration. Interestingly the higher cadence also brought the higher heart rate. When I focussed on pedalling efficiency or 'circles' my heart rate went down. Tomorrow I'll increase by 10% to 220 to and see what my heart rate does. I'm still putting in the miles at my 'fat bump' of 136 too, so this is just a side-show. These tests are just to baseline my heartrate to power output so I can track progress over the course of my programme. It was triggered by this which intrigued me, especially the idea that from 200w at peak heart rate over the course of 6 months you could progreess to being able to knock out 300w plus and stay aerobic (!) - if I could do that, well ... Anyone got a cheap set of SRM cranks ? ;-)