Don't get caught up in all the numbers.

above is a shot of a piece of my training ride today.
I think this is a great example of the single most common aspect that rodies and tri geeks alike try to avoid. Fatigue. As you can see from the first major climb in today’s effort, highlighted. 8 minutes or so around 335 avg. wattage. It felt… like you would imagine for December ride 2 days after a hard weight room workout and 3+ hour yesterday, but I still had some juice left for 2 big Chipo like sprints, well... maybe when he was 15 years old. Moving on, a nice steady effort after that with some rolling hills. The last bit of visible data is the same climb. 8 minutes up the steep part of the climb. This time I pushed a bit harder, struggled more and averaged only 309 watts. Why? fatigue. This is a small time example but worth noting. Weather you use a power meter or not. Race with one or not, to be effective come race day you need to know your body and know what it “feels” like. Whether your training for a 45 minute cyclocross race or an Ironman having a totally dialed in feel for your own body and all the different efforts that that you put it through is vital! So use that power meter the right way. Get involved in your training but don’t get too attached to all the data. Don’t just download all the ridicules numbers, norm power, TSS, IF, this, that, the other and ask questions on your favorite forum. these number do provide relevant data but don't get caught up! I see to many people living and by them. Find the one or 2 key things you are working on, note them make adjustments if need be and get ready for tomorrow.

Happy Holidays!!