Should I try to maximize my CTL?

thomaha said:

My goal: Go as fast as possible on a 180km TT.

I think the best training for this would be long rides, SST and threshold workouts. The more the better. So I guess that aiming for a record high CTL is a good thing?

Sometimes I see people say that they get caught up in trying to maximize their CTL and they say it's a mistake. I assume this would be the case for road racing, while it's another story for long distance TTs?

To achieve your goals I'd focus on maximizing FTP while gettting enough CTL along the way. It's FTP that's going to allow you to go fast and CTL that will allow you to go the distance at speed and train hard enough and frequently enough before your event.

I agree you should hold an SST, Threshold focus for a TT that long, but the question is whether the mix should emphasize CTL(more SST for longer durations) or emphasize FTP (more threshold work for as long as you can maintain Threshold efforts and still recover to do it on subsequent days). I'd opt for an FTP first focus and sure build CTL as high as you reasonably can with your available training and recovery time but I'd still view that as secondary.

-Dave

daveryanwyoming said:

To achieve your goals I'd focus on maximizing FTP while gettting enough CTL along the way. It's FTP that's going to allow you to go fast and CTL that will allow you to go the distance at speed and train hard enough and frequently enough before your event.

I agree you should hold an SST, Threshold focus for a TT that long, but the question is whether the mix should emphasize CTL(more SST for longer durations) or emphasize FTP (more threshold work for as long as you can maintain Threshold efforts and still recover to do it on subsequent days). I'd opt for an FTP first focus and sure build CTL as high as you reasonably can with your available training and recovery time but I'd still view that as secondary.

-Dave

Thanks Dave! The difficult part is knowing what "enough CTL" is...

thomaha said:

Thanks Dave! The difficult part is knowing what "enough CTL" is...

Tru 'nuff. That's where training science meets training art. There's no simple answer and it depends a lot on where you are now WRT training load and CTL and how much you can reasonably build CTL within the limits of your overall life, other commitments and ability to recover.

Personally I think I'm recovery limited and even during those times that life gave me lots of training time I still limited my overall hours on the bike so that I could recover quickly enough for quality training on subsequent days.

Do you use the Performance Manager in WKO+? If you're tuned into those concepts it's fairly easy to build up a forward looking spreadsheet and do some what if planning that lets you see things like CTL ramp rates and TSB with for different blends of L4, SST and L3 work. I use that approach for the last couple of weeks before A races to plan tapers and it really helps to see how different durations and intensities will effect CTL, ATL and TSB. You can also look back at CTL ramp rates throughout your year to help figure out what constitutes a good build rate and what CTL ramp rates left you overly tired or maybe led to illness. I like to stay below an 8 TSS/day/week CTL ramp rate but everyone is different in terms of how quickly they can build without getting into trouble.

Anyway, I'd still stay with at least a couple of L4 workouts a week to target FTP and some longer SST/L3 workouts to target CTL for your long TT. Exactly how much? That's where the art of coaching comes in so it comes down to you or a qualified coach who knows you very well.

Good luck,
Dave