I’ve been seriously training for 2 years now, and am at 4.6w/kg for FTP (329w). I typically consider a hard week to be 800+ TSS, and try to average 700 or so. Recovery weeks are in the 400 TSS range.
I’ve looked at his stats before and they just don’t make sense to me - as I posted above I think it might make more sense for fully outdoor cyclists.
High Volume Full Distance Triathlon plan has 400TSS on the bike per week avg in the last 8 weeks, less during build. And we’ve got Kona qualifying happening on the LV plan.
Not to mention sTSS and rTSS which are flaky at best.
What are the numbers for swimming and running for same periods?
I don’t know, but TR calculates TSS in a different way to Friel for run and swim - although I can’t recall how Friel does it I think he uses pace, TR uses their own RPE scale.
Is the TP quote above for combined TSS, or bike only?
(I actually have his training Bible so I could go look it up 
)
I don’t know, and was why I was asking, in case you were comparing apples and oranges
1 Like
My 6 week avg is 372, avg 53 daily over the past 6 weeks (this is low volume + ~2 outdoor rides per week, that I try to take it easy on so I’m not too unrecovered to do well on my TR workouts). I am in low volume just started TR this spring on week 10 with my first A event of the season coming up this weekend. Compared to the others commenting, not well trained yet have done 2 ramp tests, last put my FTP at 3.30W/kg. Was hoping to hit 3.5 this season and 4 by next spring. After my A event this weekend, going to do a ramp test next week to see where I am at as I should be in a bit of a ‘peak’ for this A event.
I’m a proper weekend warrior guy for the moment (and prob rest of life).
I get 350-500TSS but prob average low 400s. I do 4 trainer rides (one key workout) during weekdays and then a proper outside ride with efforts for 4-5 hrs (~200-300TSS) each Saturday (Sunday and Monday off). I’m about ±5w/kg now (intervals.icu has me 5.1 but I think I’m more like 4.8). CTL hovers in 60s but I recently hit 73 on vacation when I could ride long 4 days in a row! Cant sustain it tho regularly due to time constraints.
9-5 desk job, wife and baby.
Here’s my recent chart coming from 2 weeks off the bike in Feb
1 Like
What did you get?
Giant TCR w: Ultegra 12 spd….it is awesome!
2 Likes
have trained since 2009 and average 1050-1250 per week during training weeks, about 700 during rest week.
2 Likes
Usually 500 on average but have a 3 week build cycle that gets me up to 800.
I go more by hours though. Not all my bikes have power meters and the ones that do seem to always need a CR0232 (battery) ALL THE TIME (stages) so i would say that 10-25% of my rides are without power.
I go more by basic time (10 hours average) and have 2 HIT rides/races a week.
In general I like TSS (but not obsessed, and see its flaws), don’t get CTL, and just go by basic hours and miles.
For background i’m a masters racer thats been racing road, mtb, cx and gravel my whole adult life and feel i’m pretty well trained but maybe if i tracked TSS i’d be better…who knows.
Im doing anything between 500-700 TSS weekly training 5 times per week with it being lower end when im on the trainer more such as during winter. My peak CTL is about 80 and that makes me very competitive in my AG in euro Gran Fondos (podium) and quite competitive overall despite being 50 with family, job etc…I’m impressed by those who can regular hit 1000
Great stuff KW.
5w/kg on 60 - 70 CTL is remarkably efficient training.
I’d need an approximate sustained CTL of 140 to hit 5w/kg, if I even could.
It just goes to show, peoples response to training is vastly different. I wonder, if you were able to do the volume, you might have 6w/kg potential.
1 Like
“[quote=“JoeX, post:26, topic:73295”]
Is the TP quote above for combined TSS, or bike only?
[/quote]
I don’t know, and was why I was asking, in case you were comparing apples and oranges“
Got out the triathletes bible and Friel reckons you need 22.5K-30K TSS to just finish a race longer than 8hrs and 40K-60K for a high performance race. Annually.
A few pages later that converts to weekly combined TSS of 360-480, and 640-960. Annual weekly average.
Then in chapter 8 he describes TSS distribution (broadly) being 10/50/40% for swim, bike run. I think most people would agree, if not adhere to that.
So half of the 360 (annual weekly average, not in season peak but the full 52 weeks) is enough to just finish an Ironman…180 TSS…doesn’t seem like much. 320-480 for high performance.
However in 2020 I averaged 230 TSS on the bike, in 2021 it was 240 and I think it’s fair to say I’m MOP for bike…putting me exactly halfway between the bottom of just finish and bottom of high performance 
So I take it back! Friel seem to be spot on for me, despite doing all my bike training indoors.
1 Like
CTL during base training period, should it rise?
What’s the expected training volume (TSS) during base period? should it be just like some plans: a few hours of Z2 per week + one a bit more intense ride ?
or should it be relative to your current CTL ?
My current CTL is 94, last small peak was at 20 Oct ~120. (I didn’t ride last month so much, mainly MTB on weekends and a bit of road during weekdays, load was 400-650 per week).
How CTL should behave during a base phase? rise ? or it doesn’t matter, or maybe I should relax one more week at let it drop more ?
however ~650 TSS/week = around 13-14h @Z2 (~70%FTP) 
that’s a lot in a winter (less light)
If you CTL is usually at somewhere between 94 - 120, I see no reason why your base period should be outside of that range.
As not all TSS is equal and you are probably likely to be doing more volume at lower intensities than at some other stages in the year, then towards the upper end of that range makes sense to me.
For base phase, my own idea (that some will disagree with) is that consistency and volume are both important. If it is possible to ride every day of the week and to make one (or two) of those rides long ones (4h+) and one with a bit of sprint / VO2 work in it, I think one will come out of the base period very well prepared for a build block. Stick with the principle that today’s ride must only be so hard that you can properly complete tomorrow’s to manage fatigue.
2 Likes