quantitative triathlon

QUANTITATIVE TRIATHLONMaking Recreation Productive

My Background

• BS, Computer Engineering

• MS, Computer Science

• 7 years embedded systems work

• 5 years CDMA phones

• 12 years embedded/desktop Linux

My Background

• BS, Computer Engineering

• MS, Computer Science

• 7 years embedded systems work

• 5 years CDMA phones

• 12 years embedded/desktop Linux

Not an athlete!

• Never run more than 3 miles

• Not run in 5 years

• Never learned to swim

• Owned a very dusty bicycle

Ironman

How am I going to do this?!

Two Approaches to training

Traditional Technical

Swim a lot Bike a lot Run a lot

Swim tech: Limited GPS Limited Heart Rate

Bike tech: HR Monitor GPS Power Meter

Run tech: HR Monitor GPS Foot pod (Nike+)

Six Sigma – Belts Earned, Lessons Learned

I worked for both Motorola (creator) and General Electric (largest user)

1. You must quantify and measure a parameter in order to control it

2. Six Sigma is mostly worthless

Important Parameters for Cycling Speed Most important! Improvement here is the goal Difficult to improve by itself, combination of lots

of factors, both internal and external Power to Weight ratio (Strength to Weight)

Most accurate predictor of cycling performance Measured in Watts/Kg

Lactate Threshold Power (FTP, CP30) Directly measured output of your body

Lactate Threshold Heart Rate Directly measured reaction of your body

2010 Average Weekly Watts/Kg

2010 Average CP30 (30 Min Critical Power)

CP30 is a very good approximation of Functional Threshold Power (FTP)

Heart Rate

I don’t track my Lactate Threshold HR very closely

I use HR as a guideline for when I don’t feel good – it’s a backup for my power meter.

Mean Maximal HR, 2010 Running

Miscellaneous Data Analysis

Miscellaneous Data Analysis

Summary Most Athletes don’t own power meters,

too expensive Those that do typically don’t know how to

analyze the data This gives me an advantage, even over

those who are more talented than I am By quantifying my performance, I am

better able to identify effective training practices

chris.teague@gmail.comhttp://breakneckgeek.blogspot.com/