[bbarlin10]

I have been maintaining a Fitness on Training Peaks of around 50. After about 5 months of training I decided to test where I was and did an over reach by doing the Grand Canyon R2R2R. I hiked it, too much abuse on my old body to run it, plus running is not what I’m training for. It took 27 hours of total movement time, plus we slept for about 4 hours in the middle of the night. I used a TSS of 50 per hour plus I added 10 to that day for every 1000 feet elevation gain. I had about 20 lbs in my pack.

So that caused a huge spike in my Fitness score in Training Peaks, about a 25 point gain in Fitness. I have been continuing to train and I am holding this elevated TSS (high 70s).

The question is, is this a false fitness caused by the over reach entry and a flaw in Training Peaks is misinterpreting and I need to somehow get TP back to the 50s for Fitness (no idea how to do that). Or did I really increase my fitness by that much and I should celebrate? Very confused. I have attached the Performance Management chart from Training Peaks for a reference. Thank in advance for your input.

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[OwenFW]

OwenFW on December 4, 2020 at 5:06 pm #47857

If you can maintain that level around 70, your question becomes less relevant every day. The impact of past workouts fades quickly because of the exponential weighting, and after 45 days they are irrelevant to your CTL. Just keep up the good work and don’t worry about it.

[OwenFW]

OwenFW on December 4, 2020 at 5:08 pm #47858

Basically, it wasn’t that big day that made you a high-70s athlete, it’s been all the days since then.

[bbarlin10]

bbarlin10 on December 4, 2020 at 9:03 pm #47865

Thanks that makes sense. I just don’t feel that fit. I know TP is just an approximate measure of fitness but according to this https://uphillathlete.com/fit-to-climb-everest/ “In terms of CTL: Denali 75 | Everest 100 | Everest without supplemental oxygen 125”. When I last climbed Denali I felt way more fit. However I was exercising, not training, so maybe that was the false feeling. I guess I need to get to altitude again and see.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous on December 9, 2020 at 7:53 am #48049

…it wasn’t that big day that made you a high-70s athlete, it’s been all the days since then.

What Owen said!

Also, CTL is not fitness, despite what TP likes to market. It only measures a rolling average of your work capacity. A CTL of X has no relationship to a performance of Y. It entirely depends on the athlete, the type of training, level of recovery, etc.