2013-2014 Performance Review

A quick look-back at my power data and peak performance over the 2013-2014 season:

The following is my power curve since early September. As we all know I cannot sprint; my peak is just over 1,000 watts. Power drops off sharply but flattens considerably after 2 minutes. The data demonstrates that over longer duration efforts (3+ minutes), I have good strength and endurance.

There are several changes I could make to my training program for next season to improve my power. One would be more sprint and short effort training. But in addition, more volume and variation in my training would also be beneficial.

The table below shows my improvement over the season benchmarked against a large population of cyclists across US race categories.

 I’m a Cat-2 for 5 minute and 20 minute efforts, but only Cat-5 for 5-second peak power. Terrible! I’m a Cat-3 for 1-minute efforts, which I can live with but certainly something to work on next year.

The difference between the orange and red cells is my improvement over the season. Orange was my initial testing back in Sept/Oct 2013. Red is my peak values over the season.

Finally is my PMC. The green line shows short-term fatigue. I was training much harder in October, November, and December of 2013 than in 2014. (I also took a two-week vacation to Bali with Camila in early January). I had consistent weeks through 2014, but I was only averaging 7-8 hours per week, hence the relatively low fatigue levels.

Now I am completely rested. The past few weeks I have done next to nothing, which is great. I’ll be right back into starting in early July training for K2.