Training Plan...

[velogirl]

I don't understand? Are you saying that someone made some negative comments about you talking about your coach? If so, I think that is b.s. I started this thread to talk about training, coaching systems etc. Please feel free to do so.

No, it's in response to this comment I made in the piece I wrote about finding a coach --

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...878#post131878

Don't necessarily listen to the recommendations you receive on a public forum, bulletin board, or email group. People are name-droppers. Half the time someone makes a recommendation, they haven't even met the person they're recommending. They just want to contribute to the conversation and probably think they'll sound cool for dropping the name they just dropped. 2nd or 3rd hand recommendations (what I call the "friend of a friend" are basically useless).

In reality, that comment had nothing to do with Cassandra or her comments earlier in the thread, but I guess she interpreted it that way. Sorry about that, Cassandra.

[Cassandra_Cain]

10% is actully a pretty big deal if you're training with power. Let's say you're doing threshold intervals (2 x 20s) at 240 watts. Training 10% below (at 216 watts) would put you far below threshold so you wouldn't be getting training benefit. Training 10% above (at 264 watts) would probably be impossible so you wouldn't accomplish your workout. This differential would be even more noticeable with shorter intervals since you're at a higher rate of power.

But since you have a PT, why don't you just use that on the trainer rather than replacing or adding another power device? That's one of the nice benefits of a PT -- you can use it on the trainer as well. Of course, you need to know how to adjust your power zones for inside training since they'll be a bit different.

10% can be a big deal with power training but realize that at no point have I said I'm riding my trainer and using the KK computer over my powertap.

What I have done is compare the published KK power curve, (http://kurtkinetic.com/pdfs/Power_Curves419.pdf, which indicates the wattage a rider makes at a given speed on the trainer, to my actual powertap readings. In doing so I've found the wattages given in the power curve are within 10% of the power #'s on the powertap.

So my point is that for someone who cannot afford a real power meter, that using a trainer plus the trainer's computer, can be a reasonably priced solution (say about ~$300-350 USD). One that I'd favor over spending $400 on an iBike unit or $600-700 on the polar PM.

[Cassandra_Cain]

No, it's in response to this comment I made in the piece I wrote about finding a coach --

http://forums.teamestrogen.com/showt...878#post131878

Don't necessarily listen to the recommendations you receive on a public forum, bulletin board, or email group. People are name-droppers. Half the time someone makes a recommendation, they haven't even met the person they're recommending. They just want to contribute to the conversation and probably think they'll sound cool for dropping the name they just dropped. 2nd or 3rd hand recommendations (what I call the "friend of a friend" are basically useless).

In reality, that comment had nothing to do with Cassandra or her comments earlier in the thread, but I guess she interpreted it that way. Sorry about that, Cassandra.

Yeap, that's the comment.

[Cassandra_Cain]

Velogirl - ok thank you. I have no hard feelings or grudges about it.

[Cassandra_Cain]

Here's a PM option I've recently become aware of:

http://www.microsporttech.com/product.php

It is set to come out next year I believe and orders are being taken in advance. Please note I have not seen any data or studies on it, but just figured I'd put it out here as an alternative to consider.

If, and it is obviously a big if, it does what it says, then it would be extremely portable, light, and useful.