HR VS Power and “Did I go too hard?”

[trhoppe]

Two questions for you

 

1) I'm doing the XC Cat1 Base plan over the winter based on your advice earlier. Working great, but question on HR vs Power training. I have a power meter on the road bike, and noticed that my power zones don't exactly correlate to my HR zones. A good example was yesterday when I was doing 4 x 6 minute intervals in Zone 4. I start out the interval in HR Zone 2 and ramp up eventually to 4.0, but it was dipping into the 3s. In order to ramp up to HR Zone 4, I had to be in Power Zone 5. If I stayed in Power Zone 4 the whole time I would have not made it out of HR Zone 3. Which should I follow since I have both? Power or HR? Seems that there are times when I am doing the proper zones Power wise, but my Heart Rate isn't there. Especially true when I'm supposed to be in Zone 3. I can be in Power Zone 3, but my Heart Rate is in the high 1s or 2s. 

 

2) I came off a “rest week” last week (Week 4) and did a bunch of cross training and running, including running a 10K on Monday. I did the proper drills Tuesday, but had to skip Wednesday for family commitments and did those 4 x 6 intervals yesterday. I felt totally cooked. I managed 3 intervals but couldn't get myself to do the 4th. Granted, I did spend some time in Power Zone 5 trying to get my heart rate up, as I mentioned above. Did I just go too hard in Power Zone 5? You think I just had a bad day? Should I just continue the plan like normal and consider yesterday an anomoly?

Here is a strava link to my ride: http://app.strava.com/activities/34312987

 

Thanks for your help!

[Lynda]

1) Correct observation. HR and power do not track in a linear manner. Always follow power over HR. Power is a measure of intensity and HR is a response to it.

2) Stick to the plan in a rest week to perform in the work weeks. Stick to the power guidelines to nail a session. You went over in the rest week and the workout. I recommend dropping the next 3 days of riding and catching up on your missed recovery.

Lynda

[trhoppe]

Thanks for your response!

 

I'll follow the power zones more carefully over HR zones for my road training. 

 

You're right in the sense that I overdid it on the rest week. I didn't feel like I did at the time, but in retrospect….

 

I ended up doing some fun recovery rides instead of “training” for the next few days and felt awesome on my workout yesteday, so I seem recovered. Yay. 

[Author]

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