XertCapture I’ve been sticking to the lower threshold work, on my trainer, with xert mobile (on a Galaxy Tab A tablet) capturing the data from my pioneer. The only days I ride outside are Sundays…and the past two were “training races”. I uploaded that data off the pioneer to cyclo-sphere before loading it into xert. I was wondering, as I saw on an older thread, if there may be an issue with that process. MPA analysis of the races seems to match what I was experiencing.
Jody. I’d say that your MPA chart from your last activity was “textbook perfect” but I haven’t written it yet. 
But I could easily use a picture of your activity data. Hitting your MPA at both high and lower levels on your chart without recovery in-between really makes the numbers dial-in. So yes, it’s good. Great to see numbers go up like that! Looks like the LTP work is coming together for you.
@Jody and @Armando. I have a quick question if you have the time.
I see a lot of “yellow” and “red” in the FORM line. This means a lot of training when tired or very tired. Clearly Jody is tough! But is this OK / optimal? Obviously Jody has very fitness and good results and so I am probably confused about the downside of training when tired/very tired…
The training you see when I am in the red are “recovery” rides…I keep my heart rate pretty low (for me, 92bpm avg) while paying attention to how much power i am able to produce. Usually no more than 20-40minutes. This is also how I assess my readiness to train…first 10-20 minutes of every ride (pretty much)…so if my power is decent at 92bpm, I will train when I am in the yellow. If the power is low, I just do a recovery ride. I was taught this many years ago. There are different ways to think about it. For me it’s kind of like HRV.
Thats really cool Jody. Thanks. As a beginner I appreciate any such pointers. Decent power is some percentage of FTP? (Apologies if this is not the right forum for such discussions)
Jody. Recovery rides are a fantastic way to continue to add strain and recover. The XPMC doesn’t really tell the whole story because it’s just using XSS. It’s like all PMCs in this respect. But the reality is that your Low Intensity TL/RL accumulate very differently that your High Intensity TL/RL. This is why it’s better to do recovery rides than not do them. Great stuff!
George. I don’t know what it is. I know someone with a bigger TP is going to have more power at low HR. From my experience, it increases until I am fully recovered, then it plateaus and will drop off and I will de-train. It is also increasing with those increases in TP, so what I thought was ok a few weeks ago is now a sign I might be better off doing a recovery ride on yellow days. Hope it helps.
Thanks Jody!
I’m usually the opposite. If I’m fresh my heart rate is high for a given power and if I have done a couple of big weeks of training and I need a rest my heart rate is lower than normal for a given heart rate.
I make my decisions on my readiness to train simply on how I fatigued I feel, my sleep and my mood. i.e. if I’m grumpy/easily agitated or awake at night that is a good sign that I need to ease back on my training. What complicates things is that when I take the load away to “come up for air” that is when I will feel the most tired.
I’m very much appreciating this discussion. As a self-coached athlete (wannabe) deciding when/how much to train is a question I ask myself frequently (obsessively) …