Analyzing A Workout File

During a 2-hour ride yesterday, I had both force intervals and power intervals scheduled.  The power intervals called for 10x10s sprints up a hill, with a short recovery after.  The force intervals required hills that took 2 minutes to climb at a steep grade.  In Michigan, tough to find a 2 minute hill, thus most of mine were 1 minute climbs.  The elevation profile for the course I rode is below.  As you can see, I had plenty of hills to choose from.



Given the structure of the workouts, I should have 2+ minutes in power level 6 to 7.  Heart rate wasn’t important for the power intervals, however the force intervals called for HR zone 4+.  With the force intervals, I should have approximately 15 to 20 minutes in power level 5+.  This equates to 11% to 15% of the ride in power level 5+ (force) and approximately 2% of the time in power level 7 (power).

So how did I do?

Time in power zones:


Time in HR zones:



I spent 7% of the ride in power level 7 and approximately 15% of the time in power level 5 and 6.  Thus it’s safe to say I hit my power level goals.  The problem is that I didn’t get my HR high enough.  This could be a product of the hills being too short.  When I do this route again, I will increase the intensity prior to the climb, with a goal of brining the HR into zone 3 or 4 prior to starting the climb.

The graph below (from WKO+) shows the same picture as the tables above. The top graph is HR distribution and the bottom graph is power distribution.





Below is the Mean Max Power graph, which compares the training ride (purple line) with data from the last three months.  This graph shows that the training ride peak power was below my 3-month average.  This is what one would expect when doing interval rides, however, I’d like the lines to be a little closer.  To accomplish this I’ll need to increase the time in power level 4.  I can adjust the training ride to accommodate this since there is a large distance between some of the climbs.  Instead of using that time as recovery, spend it doing higher intensity, power level 4, interval.



In the end, I’d grade this workout as a ‘B’.