Joe Friel’s Blog

This is the same chart as was used in Part 1 (click to expand). If you haven’t read that I’d suggest you do as it will help you to understand this chart which is pretty busy and confusing. In Part 1 I … [Read more...] about Lessons from the 2010 Season, Part 2

The accompanying chart illustrates the actual periodization of a road cyclist for the season just ending. The chart was created using WKO+ software and data from the rider’s power meter. If you are a … [Read more...] about Lessons from the 2010 Season, Part 1

Yesterday I did my last race of the 2010 season. And just like everyone else I had a bit of a nervous stomach as I woke up. My races always remind me of the advice I give to those I coach. The … [Read more...] about Starting Line Anxiety

In Part 3 and Part 4 of this series I made an argument for training aerobic capacity as you get older in order to maintain not only VO2 max but also lactate/anaerobic threshold and economy, the “Big … [Read more...] about Aging and Performance, Part 5

You can expect to slow down as you get older but perhaps at a faster rate if you only train long and slow. That’s the bottom line from Part 3 of this series on aging and performance. If you never … [Read more...] about Aging and Performance, Part 4

It's been a week since I last posted here. I returned late yesterday from several days in Bangkok where I spoke at the Asia Fitness Conference. It's always interesting to talk with athletes … [Read more...] about Aging and Performance, Part 3

In my last post on aging I pointed out that the rate of decline in endurance performance appears to accelerate after age 60. What is the cause of this decline and how can you train to moderate … [Read more...] about Aging and Performance, Part 2

Next week I’m doing a series of talks on training for endurance sport in Bangkok. One of the topics I’ll cover is the aging athlete. The following is an excerpt from that talk. We’re obviously all … [Read more...] about Aging and Performance

I’ve found that it’s not usually difficult at all to get serious athletes to train hard. In fact, most could probably train a bit easier and be more race-fit and faster as a result. At the extreme … [Read more...] about How to Recover

In my first post on estimating your FTP (Functional Threshold Power) I mentioned that altitude was a factor since FTP is a metric based on aerobic function. The bottom line of that portion of my blog … [Read more...] about Altitude and Aerobic Performance

A triathlete asked me some time ago what he should do on downhill portions of a bike course. Should he pedal hard, pedal easy or coast? That was a great question and one that also applies to cyclists … [Read more...] about Coast or Pedal on a Downhill?

This fall - October 22-29, 2010 - I'm presenting a triathlon camp in Scottsdale, Arizona where I spend my winters. This is not your standard swim-bike-run camp. It focuses on exactly what I do … [Read more...] about Off-Season Camp

A lot of readers took exception to my suggestion in a recent post that you could get a very rough gauge of your functional threshold power (FTP) based on several variables, the major one being your … [Read more...] about More on Estimating FTP

If you train with a power meter (highly recommended) then you probably know that setting up power training zones is best based on your Functional Threshold Power (FTP). That’s the average maximal … [Read more...] about Estimating Your FTP

I was asked in a tweet last week if a rider should sit or stand when climbing a hill on a bike. I wish I could give a one-word answer, but that isn’t possible. As I’ve said so many times here in … [Read more...] about Hills: Sit or Stand?

Here you see two charts showing the power distribution by zone for the last 28 days for a half-Ironman triathlete and a road cyclist focused on a criterium and flat road race, both of whom are peaking … [Read more...] about Tri vs Roadie Peaking Power Distribution

Athletes often train too frequently, too long and too intensely. That inevitably leads to overtraining, burnout, illness and injury. Over the last 30 years I’ve helped many athletes get out of the rut … [Read more...] about The Key to Athletic Success

By this time in the season most athletes have completed their first A-priority race of the year. And more than likely there is another A race coming up soon. How should you tweak your training to … [Read more...] about Your Next A-Priority Race

Emil Zatopek, the great Czechoslovakian distance runner of the 1950s, once said that “training is principally an act of faith.” He was right. There are no guarantees that you will have a good race … [Read more...] about Redemption Races

Today was the first time I’ve ever felt sorry for Lance Armstrong. Don’t take that the wrong way; it’s just that he never needed anyone’s sympathy, least of all mine. He’s always been quite capable of … [Read more...] about End of an Era

A couple of days ago I received an email question from an athlete. He explained that his heart rate and power zones don’t agree and that there seems to be a two-zone separation with the power zones … [Read more...] about Should Heart Rate and Power Zones Agree?

Traveling two days before race day generally works well and is recommended for most races. But the sooner you can arrive the better when race heat or humidity is greater than where you train or the … [Read more...] about Traveling to Races

In my post yesterday I suggested that Jani Brajkovic of the Radio Shack cycling squad had improved his fitness as a result of his weeklong effort in winning the Criterium du Dauphine stage … [Read more...] about More on Brajkovic’s “Crash” Block

This is a quote from Team Radio Shack cyclist Jani Brajkovic that he posted to his Twitter account on June 19, one week after winning the Critérium du Dauphiné. I believe what he was saying was that … [Read more...] about “I feel like having tail wind all the time.”