I had not planned on getting into training and racing with power until this winter and next season. However I have got a nice deal on an SRM recently. I have not used and will not use it until this weekend… I am racing Kona in three weeks and think it would be a nice tool for pacing as I have never ridden the course. I dont really plan on doing any testing for numbers between now and then, as I really dont want tweak my program at this point… but would like an idea of what I should use for power number… I totally understand that without numbers and testing that I cannot have an accurate base line…but for rough estimates I weigh 145, rode 5:12 at Lake Placid and ran within 2.5 minutes of my goal run time so feel it was a realistic bike pace. I have no problem not using my new toy if it seems to be more of an aggrivation /stressor than benefit. thanks all.
do you like math and tech crap?
put it on, youll figure it out and make it useful
do you hate math and tech crap?
maybe don’t mess with it yet, it might throw you off yoru game if something goes wrong
You plan on doing no testing but want an idea of what you should use for power number? Sorry but that makes no sense at all. You probably rode Lake Placid at about 200 watts (i’d wager it was 180-220 almost certainly…but that is a SWAG). PM lakerfan as he has a database and could give you a rough idea…
I would do 1 of 2 things…
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Race with the PM without displaying watts…and look at it afterwards.
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Ask Lakerfan what he thinks. Do 3-4 simple FTP tests in the next 3 weeks and then use it as a rough gauge to not cook yourself too much on the bike…
Dave
He definitely put out more than 200 watts at LP. I weigh 138, biked a 5:28 and was nearly at 200w. I’d wager he was closer to 220+
- Race with the PM without displaying watts…and look at it afterwards.
I agree with this idea. Kona’s obviously a big deal, and if you haven’t been tracking watts before, you’re bound to psyche yourself out by paying attention to a number rather than a feel. You might end up ruining your race. Do what you’ve been doing for the race, and at the end of it, you’ll have some useful data with which you can establish a baseline.
Good luck in Kona!
x 3…use the pm and just check out the data afterwards. You will get alot of info out of it and establish a nice baseline and see what was REALLY going on at certain points of the day…when you felt trashed, great, wind, etc…
The other option as stated would be to do a few tests…they are not hard and do not take long to establish some numbers…you can even make a workout out of it…do a warm up then do 2 x 20 min basically all out (all out but keeping power throughout…if you start to fade then that’s end of it) Your avg watts for the 2 x 20 will be close to FTP but I would use 95% of this number as your FTP…then about 70-75% of FTP is what is most commonly used for IM racing and running well off the bike. Good luck either way and enjoy! It takes a bit to really grasp the numbers but once it clicks you will wonder why you ever trained w/o power!
He definitely put out more than 200 watts at LP. I weigh 138, biked a 5:28 and was nearly at 200w. I’d wager he was closer to 220+
Are you talking NP or AP? If AP you must have the worst position ever. I weighed in at 176 before LP and here is my file:
Duration: 5:24:46
Work: 3940 kJ
TSS: 272.4 (intensity factor 0.709)
Norm Power: 223
VI: 1.1
Distance: 112.956 mi
Elevation Gain: 6155 ft
Elevation Loss: 6161 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-6 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 540 202 watts
Cadence: 30 225 90 rpm
Speed: 0 47 20.9 mph
Pace 1:17 0:00 2:52 min/mi
Hub Torque: 0 25 7 lb-in
Altitude: 439 2045 1096 ft
Crank Torque: 0 991 193 lb-in
As for the OP’s question, put the thing on your bike but generally ignore the numbers til after Kona. It will be good data to have later on and you clearly have a good idea how to pace a bike split without power numbers at this point. If you really want to dive into the power thing before Kona, you still have at least a long ride this weekend right? Get some data from that and post back here. That will give you at least a starting point. If you really wanna a decent number there is no reason you can’t test 3 weeks out. Go ride whiteface this weekend, we can get a pretty good idea after that. Trying to reverse engineer your FTP for IM pacing purposes from your LP ride is a really bad idea.