Cadence, Power, Climbing and Heart Rate

I'm not certain I'll be able to state this very well.

I've been casually attending to cyclist's reports of the watts they deliver compared to the watts they predict.  Recently I read that a cyclist predicted an average 214 watts but actually delivered 189 watts.  This was on a long-distance endurance event. 

Perhaps training with a power meter really is the best training method.  It certainly allows the cyclist to dial in a goal and do what it takes to `reach' that goal.  And training with heart rate zones carries with it the imprecisions associated with high variability from one day to the next. 

On a long distance event it is important to stay `within' oneself.  That is, if I were to target a certain wattage figure I might find that it is just too strenuous, too far outside the range of long-term sustainability.  If I targeted 215 watts but became overtaxed in doing so it is a certainty that my performance would suffer. 

So maybe it is good to `train' with an objective wattage power figure but to `compete' in a range that is subjectively doable. 

Last November I entered and dnf'd at a 24 hour time trial.  Though I had four flat tires and the concomitant delays associated with that I still felt that I might not have been able to complete the entire event.  Even without the four flat tires.  Why?

After about 180 miles (and 10 or so hours) I began to feel `burnt.'  I didn't have a power meter and was unable to even `see' my heart rate figures because of the dark of night.  And, for whatever reason, my Garmin simply didn't record the heart rate figures consistently. 

But I felt it during the race in my knees.  Not a pain, so much as a growing ache.  That shouldn't happen so early in a 24 hour race.  My conclusion is that I was pushing too hard (probably both in terms of watts and heart rate).  Rewinding, in my mind, what I was doing I conclude that I pedalled at a too low cadence (probably 65 -75 rpm) pushing too many watts.  Thus the knee `ache' and the feeling of feeling `burnt' after 10 hours. 

I train typically in the hills and mountains and have developed a habit of powering up inclines.  That is, I grind up the hills.   I guess that that is one of the reasons I like climbing: I feel like I'm conquering the climbing. 

But that strategy cannot work on long distance competitive events. 

Lately, on the indoor trainer I have set two goals for myself on training that lasts 2 or more hours.  First, keep the heart rate in the 125 bpm range.  Second, keep the cadence between 85 - 90 rpm.  If I tried to apply high wattage and keep 85-90 rpm my heart rate will skyrocket.  So, I've had to back off the `power' in order to stay at 125 bpm and 85-90 rpm. 

But I don't like it.

In fact, in the last few weeks on my outdoor training rides I'd try to up the rpm and keep the bpm in range, even when climbing.  And I just don't like it.  Subjectively I feel I'm going too slow.  But, when I compare my performance to when I `ground' up the mountain grade with lower cadence at the same relative bpm ... I was no slower.  That is, less wattage, more rpms at the same bpm. 

Subjective and objective.  Lots to learn here. 

I'm going to continue this `higher rpm' experiment for a while, even though it feels uncomfortable and odd. 

The perfect outcome would be that on long-distance competitions I'd keep good speed and reduce or eliminate knee `ache.' 

Time and experience will tell.