An Analysis of a Power File

I thought this might be an interesting exercise. If you look around the web you will see quite a few people who have analysed a power file after a race. Normally though, they are crunching the numbers after they have had a win (or gone very well at least). I thought it might be insightful to do it after a race has gone spectacularly wrong.

This file is from the recent Masters 3 (40 - 44 years) Queensland Championships Individual Time Trial, in which I finished 5th. I should probably say that I have appreciated people's kind words and congratulations for this result. I should also keep things in perspective; 5th in the state (in my age group) less than two years after getting back on my bike is not bad. If you know me well though, you know that I was keen for a better result here and when you analyse the power file (as we are going to), you will see that 5th is a bloody miracle!

I should also add that I apologize if my analysis is a bit on on the amateurish side. I have only been training with power since April of this year. I have read just about everything out there on training with power and have had a lot of help with my program from Mark Brady who is a great mate and an excellent coach (based on the Gold Coast). 

The course was 20 km out and back at Purga (near Ipswich). A hard up and down profile that would require a balanced effort to be successful. As a 27 - 28 minute effort, I had decided that a target of 380w average would be about right. I based that on the following previous efforts:

• 32 minute criterium (I was away solo for 30 minutes of it) - 369w (average) / 397w (normalised)
• 28 min time trial - 365w (average) / 368w (normalised)
• 27 min time trial - 370w (average) / 376w (normalised)
• 27 min time trial 383w (average) / 388w (normalised)
• Consistently doing 2 x 20 min efforts at 370w - 380w in training

My power from this particular race was 338w (average) / 340w (normalised). I barely managed to keep my average power in the threshold range. If you have been following my blog you will know that I have been struggling badly with colds and bugs for over a month. That has definitely impacted here. I must say though, that I actually thought I had come good for this race. Despite the impact of the sickness, there are still some other interesting points in the data. So let's have a look at it:

Okay let's explain some of these lines. Power first. The grey line is my target average power (380w). The green line is as high as I wanted to go on the hills (no more than 410w). The pink line is as low as I wanted to go on the downhills (no less than 350w). It should be fairly obvious how this panned out for me. Not bad at the start, but then it all fell apart. I should also add that we are looking at a 10 second smoothing of the watts here, which is what I actually use when I race.

The first 12 minutes or so, I actually felt like I was on target for a really good ride. I was chasing (at 1 minute) a rider who had produced some very good time trial results at masters level (Chris Millen) and I was catching him pretty well. I had gone a little above and below my target power but was feeling quite good. I went maybe a touch too hard up the first hill, but at the time I didn't think it was anything too drastic. You can see (even when I felt good) that I was having some trouble keeping the watts up on the downhills. Was that start too hard? Maybe...

After 12 minutes (the black circle) it all comes crashing down. I definitely hadn't overcooked it on that hill (in fact the section before it fell apart was the most balanced of the entire race), but you can see the power go down, down, down.

After the turn (at the turn I estimate I had only lost 10 seconds or so to the eventual winner John Murazak, who would go on to beat me by over a minute) things go from bad to worse (the brown circle). I am having extreme difficulty getting anywhere near my target power. It looks like I am fatigued and ready to stop and that is probably about how I felt.

As we get nearer to the finish (the pink circle) you can see me starting to panic. I know these last few hills are hard and I try my best to drive up them, but you can see the impact that has overall as I can barely produce any power going over the other side. It almost looks like I am doing intervals! You can also see that I try to 'bring it home' but can't even sustain that acceleration and increased power for very long (I actually blow up completely).

So what can I take out of all this information?

It's been said a thousand times before and I'll say it again. Don't start your time trials too hard. On the road this start felt good, but it was obviously just too quick, which impacted on me later.

When riding time trials with hills, we all know that we need to 'feather' our power up and down. The surging  approach that I used in panic mode late in the race is not effective at all.

It is also obvious to me that I am still not 100% recovered from my colds and bugs. The really telling thing for me is my heart rate data. I know a lot of power users ignore their heart rate all together but I still find it very useful. In time trials, I will generally start at about 165bpm, quickly build to about 170bpm - 175bpm and then in the last few minutes can really bring it home up to 185bpm - 190bpm. The yellow line on the chart is 170bpm. That is actually quite scary. I was cooked (in terms of heart rate) pretty much the whole race. I hit 190bpm (which I consider my maximum) several times throughout the race. A big sign for me that 'all is not well').

So in summary, if you want to learn something from this analysis:

• Don't start too hard.
• Take a balanced approach to time trialing on hilly courses.
• Don't race unless you are 100% well.

Very happy for people to provide a comment if they have further analysis.

Histogram as requested for extra analysis:

Race Report: Elite State Titles Road Race (and a cross road in the season)

Well today was just a straight up shit day...

I have been battling this cold on and off since the Cunningham (three weeks). It gets better, it gets worse, it gets better, it gets worse, but I don't stop coughing. And before you ask, yes I have already had nearly a week off the bike trying to get rid of it.

I coughed like an old car on the hills today. Heart rate goes up = me coughing my guts up. It's not an ideal state for racing. 

The other part of my dilemma was a rear derailleur that today decided I needed some strength training. I say 39 x 23, it says 39 x 19. I say 39 x 25, it says 39 x 21. If you know the Kalbar course, 39 x 23 and 39 x 25 are just a little bit handy (well, for a tall unit like me anyway). 

So it was all over for me on the second lap. The frustrating thing is that if you have a real close examination of my power data today, there is absolutely nothing that says I should have got dropped (well, that early anyway).

So methinks another short break off the bike to rid self of this cough is necessary. And possibly a new derailleur. 

The problem?

Masters State Titles are in two weeks. The individual time trial especially has been a target event for me all year. I have done plenty of specific preparation for it and I believe I have a very good 20 km in these legs. I was intending to make a decision on whether or not I train on until October for the Australian Masters Titles in Goulburn, based on my results in two weeks.

You see the problem? At this rate, I may not even get to the start line in two weeks, effectively meaning that my 2013 season may well be finished right...NOW. 

Maybe I 'll just get healthy and got to Goulburn anyway? Who knows. At least I'm not a fat slug on the sofa (gotta stay positive about this whole cycling business).

Here's me looking ragged:

Race Report: Charles Coin Memorial

A funny old day...

I had pretty good legs. Not great but not bad either. I had almost a week off the bike sick after the Cunningham and I think I could feel a little of that in my form. Anyway...

The day was very warm and there was minimal wind. The course was also fairly straight forward with little challenge in the way of hills or climbs. There was a little berg inside 2km from the finish but it was not really steep or long enough to do much damage. 

The pace was up and down but the third lap was very quick (blew the Strava record for a lap of the course out of the water). The bunch had dwindled to sixteen by that point. 

A break of four went down the road soon after and I had a team mate there, so it was effectively tools down for me right there. That break established a good lead and stayed away until the finish (my team mate came second). 

On the last lap a split in what was left of the bunch happenned with another four riders going off the front. I considered going with that group but made a mistake and stayed in the bunch (I didn't think they would stay away). I chased hard but we missed making contact with the second break by about thirty seconds. There were only six of us left sprinting for 9th and I ended up 11th.

I'm actually disappointed with this. I had better legs than 11th in this race and I am very hungry for better results in Elite A.

Race Report: Cunningham Classic

What a day! It had been exactly 15 years since I last lined up in the Elite A Cunningham Classic - I won't mention the result in that particular race ;) I was 25 and was a fit and lean young bloke. Here I was, 40 years old, on the come back trail and looking for some challenges. I wasn't to be disappointed.

The 171km race had a KOM at about 50km and then the rest of the course was plagued with a very strong cross-head wind that seemed to destroy most races on the day.

The KOM was tough. The climb itself started out very steady but (well in my mind anyway) exploded about half way up. I can tell you that the bunch reduced from forty-nine starters to maybe thirtyish by the top. 

There were some tough cross winds just before Pilton that really stirred things up. I actually had a little 'wise old man' moment right about there. If you know the course there is a long and tough drag right after Pilton. I knew I was in trouble at the bottom of it. I also knew that there was a long downhill straight after and a pretty big convoy of vehicles behind us. I actually dropped off the group before I redlined and rode my own pace over the top. I lost maybe 20 seconds or so but was very quickly and easily able to slot into the convoy and get back on during the downhill stretch. Problem solved!

The rest of the day saw a steady stream of attacks with the decisive break of six heading down the road with about 40km to go. Regrettably for them, two riders fell in the Allora feed zone, leaving four in the break. The chase group had been reduced to less than twenty riders by this point, due to the tough cross winds. This was pretty much how things stayed until the finish in Warwick.

So where did I finish? That's an interesting question. There were four in the break, and our chase group saw two sets of two riders sneak off the front in the closing kilometres, meaning we were sprinting for 9th. I sprinted hard and finished very near the front of the remaining bunch. I was either first or second in the group (I honestly can't remember, it was a bit blurry because we ran up the back of 7th and 8th, and I am pretty old). The rider who I just pipped on the line was on Strava saying how happy he was for coming either 9th or 10th. So I guess I was also about 9th or 10th. The club wasn't able to provide places beyond 5th. So in the interest of making a good story better, I am claiming 10th place! I think that's a safe bet. Maybe 9th? Maybe 11th? Whatever; it's really irrelevant. The point is that I spent nearly five hours on the open road with the best young road riders in the state and had the legs to play with them. To top it off people are calling this 'the toughest Cunningham Classic in years'. I'm pretty happy...

Me on the KOM:

Me right before the finish (guy in blue is the one saying he was 9th or 10th):