FOUNDATION 4.4 TRAINING REPORT (03/25 – 03/31)
HIGHLIGHTS: This was an unusual week due to a number of events. First, on Monday, as I was starting that day’s workout, I discovered that my left clip-in pedal was broken. The resistance spring at the back of the pedal platform was completely sprung. It took several hours to switch a replacement clip-in pedal from my road bike. By that time, I lost the opportunity to complete the scheduled workout.
Second, on Tuesday and Sunday, I was unavailable for workouts due to all-day road trips, for business and pleasure, to the other side of the state. My abbreviated training plan featured three power interval workouts for the first time. These roughly hour-long workouts feature intervals in my anaerobic power and heart rate zones. They will be included weekly as we transition from foundation workouts to event preparation workouts.
My coach was particularly concerned that my “form,” which had been a negative number for the last month, needed to be addressed. There are three numbers, Fatigue (Acute Training Load or ATL), Fitness (Chronic Training Load or CTL), and Form (Training Stress Balance or TSB), that are calculated weekly from each workout’s Training Stress Score (TSS). TSS is calculated based on the duration and intensity of each workout. Fatigue is calculated with an exponentially weighted average of the TSS for the past seven days. Fitness also uses each day’s TSS to calculate an exponentially weighted average of the last 42 days of training. Finally, Form is calculated by subtracting yesterday’s Fatigue from yesterday’s Fitness.
As a result of this “light” week, my Form at the end of this week was a positive 11 (+11), a substantial improvement over the previous week’s score of negative 12 (-12). Unfortunately, my Chronic Training Load (CTL) dropped by five points from two points from 63 to 58.
This week’s training included four workouts on the trike and two strength workouts. All cycling sessions were completed indoors with my recumbent trike on a Kinetic by Kurt Road Machine smart trainer + Rouvy application.
DETAILS:
- Monday’s 45-minute strength routine was a mix of upper body and core exercises with ropes and bands.
- Wednesday’s Power Intervals (3 x 2 x 2/2 minutes) workout was 14.38 miles in 1:02:03. Average speed was 13.9 mph; maximum speed was 17.7 mph. Average power was 70 watts; maximum power was 134 watts. The 39-minute strength routine was a mix of upper body and core exercises with bands and free weights.
- Thursday’s Endurance Miles-Coffee Shop Ride workout was 12.70 miles in 1:00:01. Average speed was 12.7 mph; maximum speed was 13.1 mph. Average power was 55 watts; maximum power was 64 watts.
- Friday’s Power Intervals (2 x 2 x 2/2, 4 x 1/1 minutes) workout was 14.30 miles in 1:02:01. Average speed was 13.8 mph; maximum speed was 18.2 mph. Average power was 68 watts; maximum power was 143 watts.
- Saturday’s Power Intervals (2 x 4 x 2/1 minutes) workout was 11.66 miles in 0:50:03. Average speed was 14.0 mph; maximum speed was 17.2 mph. Average power was 70 watts; maximum power was 128 watts.
BY THE NUMBERS:
- Total Distance: 53.05 mi
- Longest Ride: 14.38 mi
- Total Time for Week: 5:18:08 (h:m:s)
- Avg Speed: 13.6 mph
- Max Speed: 18.2 mph
- Avg Power: 66 watts
- Max Power: 143 watts
- Calories: 1,423 C
- Avg Weight: 169.3
- Chronic Training Load: 58 (-5)