The yellow line represents my training stress balance (TSB) and the purple represents my acute training load (ATL). The TSB represents the current stress on my body and the ATL represents the training stress over the past 14 days. Thus the reason for the big curves is because I was in my off-season, thus there was minimal stress on my body (high TSB, low ATL). The blue line is the chronic training load (CTL), which measures the long-term (greater than 14 days) effect of training stress. Thus this line is downward sloping, which is consistent with this time being my off-season. The low CTL is one of the key determinants in my decision to make December 5 my start date. I felt it was low enough and that my mental state was ready for another season.
Once my training started, you can see the sharp decline in TSB and the sharp increase in ATL. The lines remain stable, which is consistent with easy to moderate base training. Then I took a few days off and my TSB/CTL showed a reduction in stress. Right after that, I moved into BASE 3 period, which included an increase in intensity. It is easy to see this with the sharp movements in both TSB and CTL. My TSB dropped to a negative 25.7 which tells me I need some recovery. If I had any doubt, I could just touch my legs and cringe. They were VERY sore. I was more than happy to take yesterday as well as today off (other than upper body strength training). I do want to push my body, but I'd like to see my TSB closer to 0. As I said earlier, this chart provides excellent feedback on the stress of training. It can be intimidating to learn, but definitely worth the time.
So what was your peak CTL last year? Or did you post that in an earlier post?
ReplyDeleteKeep it up! See you at Yankee!
Last year I peaked at 42.1 CTL and 126.8 ATL. I'm not 100% sure how to interpret that so I'm doing a lot of comparing between this year and last year. I know last year was a light training year and I can already see the differences in the two PMC. I wish there was some benchmark to measure against.
ReplyDeleteI'm also not sure how swimming and running play into the PMC. If I remove them, it adjusts slightly one time and a lot the next. Training Peaks just came out with a way to calculate TSS for swimming and running so that should help with consistent results.
It's so easy to track data with bike or mountain bike. Road bike has power meter and mountain bike GPS. Running is a little better, but swimming there is minimal data. Just distance and time.
I am pretty sure that they have HR monitors that work in the water. Just looking at the chart, it looks like you have a lot of rest in your plan. My TSB was -20 for BRX and I had no issues.
ReplyDeleteThey do have HR monitors that attach to the ear, but I hear mixed reviews about them. Kinda expensive and bulky as well. A chest strap won't work due to water flow. Some people have success wearing a compression shirt (rash guard) but I haven't tried that.
ReplyDeleteI came into BR with a TSB of -7.1 and also had no issues. I push that lower for Yankee. Right now my plan definitely has too many 'off' days. Every week I put together a great plan, then work get's in the way. This semester teaching schedule has me running around a lot. It's frustrating, but almost over.