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Overcooked by Data?
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IMTX is my 3rd Ironman but new to power and using Training Peaks for tracking Fitness, Fatigue and Form. According to the prediction I have to do about double of what I prefer on my race week in order to keep my numbers in Joe Friel's recommended plus 5 to plus 10 range for Form (TSB) on race day.

Going into this I thought the advantage to tracking all this data was to be able to create the perfect taper and be ready to roll on race day. But I'm already cooked and if I don't truly taper I'm in trouble - at least mentally, but my gut tells me physically as well.

My typical taper for the last 5-6 days entails 3-4 hours of total work over those days with two days completely off (Wed and Fri for the Saturday race). But the data points to much more. My Form as of today is -12.7TSB but with 6 hours of training it goes all the way to 35.8 which according to Friel is not even close for a good performance. For reference I peak in the 17-18 hour range and my last 4 weeks have been 17, 18, 15, 13 leading into race week.

I'm going with my gut and tapering the way I usually do - but did I wast my time with all this data?


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Re: Overcooked by Data? [wjoiner] [ In reply to ]
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Important things I've found about TrainingPeaks:

1) While what coaches, site designers, data wonks, and others say is optimal is based in averages. Training Peaks is the equivalent of trying to use population health stats to drive your individual healthcare. Specifically, the average person 30-35 will likely perform best in this particular range. This range may or may not be you.

2) You don't say how long you've been on it - the more data, the more patterns relative to yourself you can identify.

3) Don't get nuts about the lines. They are guidelines, not absolutes. See #1, and I would say be mindful of how psychology is at least half the game, so if you are hung up on your yellow line during the race, that is unhelpful brain clutter.

4) That said, in time you will likely learn about your own body after a good amount of training cycles. That is why these tools are helpful. So no, I don't think it's a waste of time unless you can't not obsess.
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Re: Overcooked by Data? [wjoiner] [ In reply to ]
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Looks like your TSB has already come back to 0, I'm guessing that you've begun to back it off a little. (Split cycling/running is good to look at)

Longer distance events are supposed to have longer tapers, with higher TSB values, so a big TSB isn't the end of the world.

There's little you can do to build fitness now, key is just to maximize what you've done. So back it off but keep some easy short workouts.

Personally I try to use the PMC retrospectively, i.e. When I get ill or have a good performance I'll see if there's anything in the PMC that warned me & use that to drive the next block.

Don't narf the race for a graph.
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