How to use a power meter to your advantage in a triathlon

By Hunter Allen

 

 

After training and pushing yourself to the limit, you will be prepared to take all of that hard-won fitness and do your best on race day. The most important thing on the bike will be pacing yourself correctly.

 

Most triathletes do not understand how easy it is to ride too fast on the bike leg; it’s the number one cause of DNF’s in triathlons. The difference between a well-paced bike leg and a poorly paced one can be as little as 15 watts (normalized) for an average in the event. 

It’s not just about average watts; it’s about how you produce those watts, how many “surges” you make during the triathlon, and whether you go harder in the beginning or save some for the finish. All of these factors can dramatically impact your run time and can be easily monitored with a pedal power meter like Assioma.
How you will produce watts is the first consideration to think about when developing a tri-racing strategy.

 

 

Not all watts are created equal

You can create 1,000 watts by pedaling in the 53:12 gear at a very high force but slow cadence, or you can product 1,000 watts by pedaling in the 39:21 gear at a low force but very fast cadence. The watts are the same in the end, but you called on very different muscle-fiber types to produce them. More fast-twitch (Type II) muscle fibers are recruited when you are pedaling in a high-force, low-cadence situation, whereas more slow-twitch (Type I) fibers are recruited in a low-force, high-cadence situation.

 

I use a tool in TrainingPeaks WKO+ software called Quadrant Analysis to help you understand exactly how you create the watts.  Quadrant Analysis takes your power data and plots it in four different quadrants so you can see exactly how you did create your watts.  

 

Quadrant 1 is high force and fast cadence like sprinting, Quadrant II is high force and slow cadence, like climbing a steep hill or pushing a big gear, Quadrant III is your endurance pace with low force and slow cadence and finally, Quadrant IV is low force and fast cadence which is more like a criterium. 
Quadrant III is predominantly the Quadrant you want to be in during a long-distance triathlon.

 

 

Why does it matter in triathlon?

It matters because of the energy expenditure in both situations. When fast-twitch muscle fibers are recruited, more muscle glycogen is used in the contractions than when slow-twitch fibers are recruited.

One of the key things for a triathlete to do is to pedal as smoothly and steadily as possible. By keeping your Power output as smooth as you can, then you save valuable energy for the run.  By smoothing your effort on hills, and avoiding bursts of wattage, you can keep your pedaling variability low and therefore reduce the amount of muscle glycogen used on the bike leg.

 

 

Here, we see an excellent example of a well-paced Ironman distance race. This athlete created his watts perfectly to have a PR on the run. Notice that quadrant III and quadrant IV contain 33% and 56% of his wattage respectively. This means that he kept the force low and just varied his cadence from slower (less than 85rpm) or faster (more than 85rpm). This is a key component of the most successful triathletes.

Just as, when you are driving a car, your fuel consumption will be much higher if you are constantly “flooring” it and accelerating hard at every chance you get than if you just drive smoothly and consistently, your muscle glycogen expenditure will be greatest on the bike when you are fluctuating your power between low and high forces.
I am not necessarily advocating always using a high cadence in triathlon; I am, however, advising greater mindfulness about how you create your watts in a race.

 

Stay light on the pedals, use your gearing to keep your cadence consistent, and if you are a “gear masher,” spend plenty of time in training trying to achieve a more consistent, smoother pedalling stroke. Your pacing strategy should include being able to choose the correct gearing in such a way as to minimize excessive glycogen use.

 

 

Keep the right pace

The next most important use for your power meter is to know the pace that you should adhere to in order to give it your best on the bike, but still have a PR on the run. That first begins with knowing your functional threshold power or FTP.  

 

Your FTP is the best average power that you can produce for one hour.  
How do you find it? Two ways: 

• Go out and do your best 1-hour effort at the edge. As HARD as you can go
• If you don’t have a suitable location for an hour's effort, then 20 minutes will do.  Do your best 20 minutes of effort and then subtract about 5% off that number.  That will be very close to the same power you would do in an hour or your FTP. 

 

Once you know your FTP, then you can begin to make a pacing strategy based on the length of your race. In Dr. Coggan and my book, “Training and Racing with a Power Meter”, our chapter on Triathlon goes more in-depth with pacing and also case studies by successful triathletes.

 

 

Will a power meter improve your cycling?

A power meter is more than just a training tool, it’s a tool to help you achieve the best performance you can on your day. All watts are not created equal in cycling and how you create the watts is a very important part of your bike leg.

 

Just pushing the biggest gear you can is a mistake and you will likely pay for that mistake on the run. As we all know, the sport of triathlon is largely a sport of pacing, and pacing yourself in the bike leg is probably the most important place to be mindful, as going too fast can ruin your run time, or going too slow will give you a subpar overall performance.

 

 

Assioma tells you absolutely how hard you are going in a race, whereas pacing by heart rate can be very deceptive since heart rate is affected by heat, hydration, sleep the night before and a number of other things. 
Use your Assioma power meter in both training and racing to help you be more successful in whatever distance triathlon you are competing in.

 

 

 

 

Hunter Allen has FTP online training programs available at FTP Archives - Shop Peaks Coaching Group.
He is the co-author of “Training and Racing with a Power Meter”, “Cutting Edge Cycling” and “Triathlon Training with Power”.
They are available at www.shoppeaks.com.
You can contact Hunter directly at www.PeaksCoachingGroup.com for personal coaching and camps