[TLoftus]

Putting a lot of trail miles in this winter on snowshoes, and most of the workouts seem to have been on fresh snow, so lots of trail breaking. For my regular WOs on hilly terrain or steep uphill in the Whites I covert to HR TSS and add in for elevation as per the “cheat sheet.” If I enter these deep snow WOs completed on snowshoes the same way, I’m feeling that the TSS is not reflective of effort. Any ideas on a scoring for this kind of WO? Thanks

Topic

[jakedev]

jakedev on February 4, 2023 at 2:05 pm #75359

So approaches to ice climbs are similar in nature. Usually some post holing up the gully to the climb and then it depends how much of a boot pack is in before you get there. I lap the workout when I start going off trail and will add 30 TSS per hour of post holing and dial it back if there is a good boot pack. It really inaccurate but I just try to stay consistent with it. I think that’s the best that can be done.

[roncole17]

roncole17 on February 4, 2023 at 7:03 pm #75373

I’ve always just used the hrTSS value that Training Peaks calculates from my heart rate (via a Garmin watch and HR strap) and the duration of the workout. It usually seems to be a reasonable number. As a reference point: When I cross train with cycling the TSS number TP calculates from my measured cycling power matches pretty close (usually within 10%) to the hrTSS it also calculates which makes me think it’s a reasonable approach. You do have to have your HR zones set correctly in TP.

I think Training Peaks TSS is based on pace and duration of running on a flat course? Using a TSS based on duration and pace and then adding in fudge factor for elevation gain and another for how ‘difficult’ the snow and maybe another for pack weight just seems much less accurate???

Thoughts?

Ron

[TLoftus]

TLoftus on February 5, 2023 at 12:24 pm #75382

Ron, I’ve always acquiesced to Scott’s excellent article “Understanding and Using the TrainingPeaks Metrics CTL and TSS.” (just type in “TSS”) Following that advice means without adding in/accounting for such things as clomping uphill through new snow then my HR TSS will be inaccurate. I want to be training at well over 100 CTL for my upcoming climb, but am careful about adding in w/o some sage quidance. I want that number fairly earned. The fatigue metric is also something I watch as I do carry some margin of fatigue over fitness. What I don’t want to do is underscore some of these long winter hikes and not be able to see the fatigue accurately. My recent snowshoe WOs have scored between 55 and 70 TSS per hour depending on elevation gain and weight carried. It feels low compared to hikes on bare ground with the same vertical, weights carried. Cheers from the Whits Mountains.