Massive PB after a long break!

I have had a similar experience lately, setting a record on my trip to work.

I find after a having too much time off my Vo2 max power does not dissapear and can even improve but the sustainable power certainly does.

dm69 said:

Today I did my first piece of intensity training for almost 2 months. My last race was at the end of november, since then Ive hardly touched the bike and I have been enjoying myself a little bit too much :p . This week I started training again doing just L1 & L2 and going into higher zones on the hills. This is pretty stock standard training for me before I get into more volume/ intensity.

Today I rode a 1km uphill time trial up a local hill. My previous PB was 3:17 up this hill, I did this in october when I was at peak fitness. My time today was 2:50! thats 27 seconds difference. I thought I would be lucky to break 4 minutes. My weight atm is 64kg's, in october it was 58-59! so I must have gained a LOT of power over my break. I wasn't overtrained before I had the break either.

PS: Today I rode my race wheels FSA rd488's with veloflex tubulars so that probably saved me 5-10 seconds.

BTW I am quite young, I am 16 years old been riding for a year and a half.

can anyone explain this or did I just get very lucky??? 😄

dm69 said:

can anyone explain this

Not only can it be explained, but it can often be predicted a priori - you just have to be using the right tools. 😉

acoggan said:

Not only can it be explained, but it can often be predicted a priori - you just have to be using the right tools. 😉

I believe Dr Coggan is suggesting that with a powermeter and the WKO+ Performance Manager Chart, you might be a little less surprised.

I also had a boost in power after taking a break and coming back to it (I stopped riding hard, but didn't stop altogether) but I measured by power. I also lost 3 kg of weight.

I felt and still feel much fresher after the break and am doing shorter workouts but more of them.

-bikeguy

Roadie_scum said:

I believe Dr Coggan is suggesting that with a powermeter and the WKO+ Performance Manager Chart, you might be a little less surprised.

It would predict a 2 month layoff would produce a personal best? If that's the case why do people not taper for 2 months before an event? I find that claim a little dubious to say the least. Any CTL would have evaporated in a 2 month span.

Seems to me the best answer to the OP is that you're 16. That stuff will happen.

Perhaps an indication that you were overtrained. After 15 days out with flu and two mediocre rides I did my favourite hill ride and had surprising results. Normally I climb the first hill at 275 watts and started out at 330watts. Thinking I would blow up slowed down and thought "heck this is easy" and went back up to 300+ and smacked out a new PB for both long climbs and set a new FTP and max mean power for durations 20min to 70min.

I think it shows why we need to push ourselves in training but also why we need to push ourselves to recover more to enjoy those days when you just fly on the bike!

Hamish Ferguson
Cycling Coach
ps. Of course CyclingPeaks told me all this Andy

normZurawski said:

It would predict a 2 month layoff would produce a personal best? If that's the case why do people not taper for 2 months before an event? I find that claim a little dubious to say the least.

1. Note the duration of the effort.

2. The fact that it is a personal best doesn't necessarily indicate that it is the best that he can do.

lol @ power dudes. I doubt any respectable chart could predict a PB after a 2month rest. If thats is the case you probably need to fix a bugs with the system.

I guess its just my age, I am growing and getting more powerful everyday without training.

BTW I had a really strong race on the weekend. I couldn't believe I was that strong after a 2month layoff!

dm69 said:

lol @ power dudes. I doubt any respectable chart could predict a PB after a 2month rest. If thats is the case you probably need to fix a bugs with the system.

I guess its just my age, I am growing and getting more powerful everyday without training.

BTW I had a really strong race on the weekend. I couldn't believe I was that strong after a 2month layoff!

lol at person with no experience or knowledge of what they are criticising (and lol at people who use 'lol'.)

Ok this is tiring. I am asking if there is any physiological reason for my increase in performance, I really dont want to get told to buy a powermeter and a computer program again! understand.

I will be more direct! fergie dont you coach junior's in NZ? have you seen this before in your personal experience? or did I just naturally get more powerful because of my age.

Plz no reply's about wko +performance. PLEASE!!!

11ring said:

I have had a similar experience lately, setting a record on my trip to work.

I find after a having too much time off my Vo2 max power does not dissapear and can even improve but the sustainable power certainly does.

yer i have experienced that too. no loss in vo2 but a loss in endurance. This is different tho i think. I just got better all round, it seems easier than before 🙂

dm69 said:

Ok this is tiring. I am asking if there is any physiological reason for my increase in performance, I really dont want to get told to buy a powermeter and a computer program again! understand.

I will be more direct! fergie dont you coach junior's in NZ? have you seen this before in your personal experience? or did I just naturally get more powerful because of my age.

Plz no reply's about wko +performance. PLEASE!!!

Lots of people have seen it before. You get stronger as you get older. You also perform well in short events when fresh. Your good performance is completely unsurprising given

(i) your age; and
(ii) the short length of the performance combined with your freshness

Noone told you to buy a powermeter or a computer program. They just said you might understand your response to training and the PB performance you just put in if you had them.

Of course, if you prefer to have your peaks occur at times that surprise you, good for you (but better for your competitors).

What I don't understand is, given the amount of time you've been loitering on this forum, how do you not understand that power output and algorithms based thereon are the most complete measure of physiological strain available? If price was the issue for you perhaps you would have sent me a results resume I let you know that I have a powermeter I sometimes lend out to good developing riders in Australia.

My hot tip: Fergie has seen it before. Fergie is less surprised than you.

I have seen it before too, with juniors and seniors, and myself as a junior. Do you think that all the powermeter crowd started riding yesterday? Plenty of us have been around longer than you and we could overwhelm you with anecdotal evidence if we thought it would add value to the discussion. It's just we understand that it won't.

As I've said before, the AIS, which you, apparently, want to join, doesn't get to the top with chance. It gets there with science. You can look at all the anecdotes you like, but the successful coaches and athletes think bigger and think smarter.

dm69 said:

I am asking if there is any physiological reason for my increase in performance

Yes.