An unplanned day off

As a powertap user I use TrainingPeaks WKO+ soft ware, part of which is the Performance management chart (PMC). This chart plots your chronic training load/blue line(the effect of your past training) your acute training load/pink line(what you've just done) and by calculating your training stress balance/yellow line tells you when you're ready to race since fitness +freshness=form.



I am well known for flogging myself stupid..spiralling downwards into overtraining far too many times. Finally I'm beginning to understand that this is not the way to go, but still struggle to admit that its better to miss a training session when I'm just too tired....like today.

Today I was s'posed to get up early, go to the velodrome before work and do sprinting efforts. But..big BUT...the alarm went, I turned it off and 2 hrs later I woke up properly. DOH! Okay..so I was tired ..3 hardish days on the trot over the long weekend..too much.

Then I checked out the PMC and realised that had I really looked hard at it last night, well, not even hard..its really very obvious, I'd not even have set the alarm. As you can see the yellow stress balance line is in the basement..lucky I'm not planning to race til Easter eh?

The good bit is that the blue line(fitness) is on the rise.
So today was a day off..

Memo to self..read the chart you dunderhead.