[timo.ketola]

As I live in Nordic countries and its winter now, I would prefer going for XC skiing rather than running. I have been using TraningPeaks and I recently purchased a mountaineering training plan. However I have a question about TSS values as those seem to be way off.

I was on a recovery walk for one hour with only 5 mins in Zone 1 and rest below. Next I went for XC skiing for 45 mins and 35 mins in Zone 2 and rest either on Zone 3 or Zone 1. The interesting part is that TSS evaluation in Training Peaks was roughly the same for both. The rTSS for the walk was 37 and hrTSS for the skiing was exactly the same. I felt way more tired after the ski exercise. Does this mean that I should somehow adjust the TSS after ski exercises or record that as running in order to get the rTSS for that activity as well?

Topic

[OwenFW]

OwenFW on January 10, 2022 at 1:12 am #61833

Do you feel like your running pace and HR threshold values are set properly? It sounds to me like maybe your running threshold pace values are set too low—that’s a very high rTSS for a one hour walk that can’t have covered much distance.

[timo.ketola]

timo.ketola on January 10, 2022 at 5:02 am #61841

My HR threshold was determined by lactate running test in a laboratory so that should be pretty accurate. It was some time ago though.

I am planning to do the test as defined in the training plan soon – as soon as outside temperature drops a bit.

Still I am confused how XC skiing could seem so close to walking.

[brianbauer]

brianbauer on January 10, 2022 at 12:42 pm #61874

I’m an ex nordic racer, current skimo racer and ultra trail runner.
all XC skiing is not the same:

you can shuffle along at an effort similar to walking.
you can kick-through and glide in your classic skiing technique while pushing hard with arms.
you can also skate ski.

your comparison of XC skiing to walking really depends on how you are skiing.

[timo.ketola]

timo.ketola on January 10, 2022 at 11:39 pm #61903

Of course the intensity matters here. As I am using Polar device to record HR during workouts, I also checked from Polar Flow the values. In this case XC skiing was more than double on cardio load estimate. TrainingPeaks did not seem to reflect to this at all.

And I was going with classic style on relatively flat ground trying to stay on Zone 2, but uphills and downhills drifted the HR out from this zone.

[brandon.macmullin]

brandon.macmullin on January 26, 2022 at 12:48 pm #62588

I have been using Training Peaks Premium for close to 4 years now and don’t pay any attention to the Training Stress Scores anymore.

The training stress scores appears to be time driven with a factor for activity type. This is fine for time and distance sports like road running, cycling and lane swimming but mountain sports have more variables and if you recreate in the mountains regularly your week to week plans probably depend on conditions which further complicates the process of creating an objective apples to apples stress score.

If you really want to use the stress score you could log all your activities using the HRTSS and modify it using your own factor system or commit to doing the same set of activities for a few weeks to create your own baseline stress score using the Training Peaks metrics to use going forward.

To measure training in the mountain objectivity week to week, I progress volume using time and try my best to pick objectives that have a certain elevation gain per kilometer profile. I have found recovery days are good for introducing variety because all that matters is keeping it easy and not feeling sore the next day.