ZWOfactory: the Web-Based Zwift Workout Creator

The main issue with Zwift’s workout editor is that you need to run Zwift in order to create a workout. I’ve already written an article on how to manually create or edit ZWO files, but fortunately the community has a much simpler answer – ZWOfactory!

The author (Matt McNeil) has this to say about his tool:

ZWOfactory.com is an editor for Zwift workouts. Zwift has an official built-in editor but it is quirky and has some bugs. It also requires installing and running the full Zwift application, loading a course, and pairing your equipment.

zwofactory.com aims to be an easy to use and lightweight (yet feature-complete) replacement for the built-in editor with none of the quirks or requirements. Another aim is to do all this without any server-side logic, user logins, advertisements, or other such nonsense. Just a zwift workout editor!

I’ve always find the Zwift editor clunky and slow when it came to creating something like multiple 30sec/15sec on off intervals so was keen to see how zwofactory would compare.

On entering the website you are presented with a blank canvas. Clicking info gives you a bit more detail on what each button does so I won’t repeat it here, but let’s just say Matt has addressed most of the deficiencies in the standard Zwift editor with buttons to repeat whole sections as well as the ability to have cadence targets as well as power targets.

If you are familiar with the Zwift editor then you have the standard warmup/cooldown, zone and interval buttons. Clicking a button drops the chosen section into the main editor. I was really pleased to see that I could set up one interval the way I liked including work/rest effort then simply change the Repeat field to have it duplicated, and use the copy button to replicate the whole section as the pics below show. This was super quick and easy.

Matt has explained the save function pretty well on the webpage as follows: “You have the option of saving workouts to “My Workouts”. These workouts are saved in your browser, and are persisted as long as you don’t clear your browser settings or reinstall, etc.

You can find your saved workouts with the “My Workouts” link, where you can manage the list of saved workouts as well as downloading them to your local computer (which I’d recommend doing before powering off your device.)

To clone one of your saved workouts, just click its edit button, change the name of the workout in the editor, and save.

There is also a host of pre-populated workouts under the Workout Templates link which you could use to simply follow or customise to suit your needs. These weren’t working as I finalised this review, but were working fine a few days ago.

You can change some settings, if you want to get a load more workouts onto the single screen.

In summary, it’s fast and easy to use and will be my go-to tool moving forward. I’ll combine this tool with saving workouts into Dropbox, meaning I can easily create workouts from my browser, and have my workouts available on whatever device I am using at the time!

Week 4 – Ringing in the New Year with TSS?

Editor’s note: Ian Murray is using Zwift to train for the International Triathlon Union Long Course World Championships held in Odense/Fyn, Denmark July 2018. His weekly Zwift Insider series discusses the previous week’s training and the plan for the upcoming week.

I’ve often been told and told others that it is impossible to cram for a marathon or long course triathlon.  That is true, but you can front load some of the volume.  That is the focus of this week.  Volume.  Yes, lots of miles.  Well, running and biking.  The stinking weather is playing havoc with my swim workouts, but that’s another story.

Oh, and a new toy also got thrown into the mix this week.

Capping off the New Year

For the last week of the year, I decided to throw down some volume.  I had Monday off and a light work week, so there was plenty of time to get in workouts.  I started off the week with some Christmas cheer.  I wanted to hit the distance for the bike portion of ITU Worlds and see how I felt afterward.  I did make a mistake in my course selection, though.  I chose the big loop.  Thus, I started off by going up the mountain.  Dumb call.  At least I didn’t have to go up the radio tower.  Anyway, on the second lap, I rerouted and ended up doing a number of laps on the jungle circuit, which is by no means flat.  Thus, it took me a wee bit longer than anticipated to do the ride.  Being that the ITU course will be fairly flat, I probably didn’t need the 4600 feet of climbing, but what the heck.  After that, I strolled my way through a rough 30-minute run.  (Note to self, eat something before I start a workout like this next time.)

The rest of the week went pretty well.  I had some pretty good swimming when the weather let me swim, including a 2 x 1500m workout on Friday at a pace that is very sustainable for the full 3K.  Holding what I did during that workout, I will be out of the water in 53 or faster.  Considering it will be wetsuit legal, I’m hoping for faster.  Other than that, there were no standout workouts until New Year’s Eve, which is when I planned on tackling the distance again.

Fortunately, I had some company this time as two other Endurance Lab coaches, Jason and Theia, were on testing out a long workout for the Lab.  I focused on steady state for the first two hours and then joined them for the last portion of my workout.  Not going over the mountain (we rolled on the Volcano Flat course) left me with a paltry 1700 feet of climbing over 76 miles, but I got it done in 3:33, a full 42 minutes faster.  Then, I got on the treadmill and knocked out an easy 8 miles (13K) in just over an hour.  The fun part of that run was that I actually ran it smart.  Rather than trying to get out of the gate like my hair was on fire, I took it nice and easy, running mid-to-high 8 minute miles.  By the seventh mile, I was down to almost a 6:30/mile pace.  I felt pretty good and considered continuing on for at least two more miles but decided to stick with the plan.  The long, hard week was finally over, but I felt good finishing it strong.  The only thing left on the agenda was steak dinner with a couple of ice cold beers.  Oh yeah!

Planned TSS – 1019, Completed – 1042

Starting with recovery – Planned TSS 576

Here’s the deal with a hard week that would be considered a big TSS jump: you need lots of rest during the week to ensure proper recovery and mitigate the risk of getting sick.  From Monday through Wednesday, I had that down.  I got at least seven or eight hours of good solid sleep.  I felt good.  Then, the madness started.  You see, noise laws in Santo Domingo are suspended during the holiday period.  Yes, you read that correctly.  So, my neighbors in the apartment buildings near my house took it upon themselves to take advantage of that ordinance suspension.  From Thursday night on the parties started at 10 PM and ran until 4 AM.  Awesome!  Who needs sleep?  Nobody is working, right?  Needless to say, I was super stoked.

On Monday morning, I woke up tired after only about three hours of sleep, only slightly less than the previous nights.  Needless to say, my body was not recovered from the previous day’s workout.  That’s ok, I had a light day planned.  Nothing complicated.  Two strength workouts.  Well, that didn’t happen.  I did go through a box of tissues, though.  The trend has continued through today, but I expect to get a little more sleep tonight.  I hope that last night was the last party until the weekend, but my friend NyQuil will help me deal with that situation if it arises.

Oh well, these things happen.  This week is a planned recovery week, so I’m ok with not hitting all of my targets.  Besides, I am sitting pretty with a high fitness level compared to what the ATP has me at, so no worries there.  After this week, we get into a month-long run block.  So, you’ll see me out running the Zwift trails quite a bit through the beginning of February, limiting myself to two or three rides per week.  After that, I’ll do a swim-focused block where I will attempt to reacquire my gills.  By April, it will be time to start putting it all together.

If you’re tracking the numbers from week to week, you’ll see that my original planned week often changes.  That happens due to life and work getting in the way.  I try to keep it close, but I am well aware of the fact that I am not a professional athlete.  I have to balance my other two worlds, as well, and ensure that everything gets the attention it needs.  It doesn’t always work out smoothly, but I do what I can.  Anyway, I’ll be in the Zwift module a few times in the upcoming weeks.  Look for the SkillZ and DrillZ Ride on Wednesdays at 6:30 PM EDT and my Thursday morning group workout at 5:15 AM EDT.

As always, feel free to comment below, especially if you have insider knowledge of Fyn, Denmark.  That’s it from me for this week.  Time to get back to bed and catch up on sleep.  Until next time, Ride On!

Performing a Season Review (Watts up with Power)

The “Watts up with Power?” ride is likely the slowest group ride you’ll find on Zwift, because it focuses on learning the basics of power based training while riding together on Zwift. Each ride is streamed to Zwift LIVE by ODZ on Facebook, and focuses on teaching specific principles of power-based training. For viewers that are unable to attend live, the teaching is made available for all to review afterwards.

Here is the summary for January 3rd from presenter Taylor Thomas.

A proper season review is the best way to identify your strengths and weaknesses and develop a comprehensive plan for the upcoming season. With the availability of powerful data, and dynamic tools to analyze that data, reviewing your season is easier than ever. However, it’s also critical to the review process to know what metrics to focus on, allowing you to make informed decisions regarding your training. Having the right tools and knowhow makes for a successful season review and sets you up for success when it comes time to start training again.

Top Three Broad Overview Strategies

Begin your overview by analyzing charts that allow you to get a bird’s eye view of your season. When you utilize this strategy you can pick up on long term trends and changes that took place over multiple training periods. When you start big it also lets you identify key areas and races that you can then hone in on at the workout level. Here are 3 high-level charts in WKO4 to help you determine what went well this season and where you have room to improve.

1. Performance Management Chart

The Performance Management Chart (PMC) is one of the best places to begin. If you haven’t already done so, start by segmenting the PMC into custom date ranges that correlate to key periods during your season. These could be key events, the build-up to races, recovery periods, critical training blocks, etc. Once you’ve created your custom date ranges you can begin to dig a little deeper. This is a good place to look at core metrics like CTL, ATL, and TSB.  Were you able to hit your desired CTL? Was your TSB (form) appropriate for priority races? How quickly were you able to recover? Knowing the answers to these and other questions can help you develop a better plan for next year.

If you’re using the PMC in WKO4 you can also view 60, 20, and 10-minute peak powers. The hope is that these peak power numbers were reached during races or maybe even key workouts. Taking it a step further to identify exactly when during a race or workout these peaks were reached, and on what type of terrain, can provide insights that are applicable to a solid race day strategy.

2. Power Duration Curve

Many of the metrics that we rely on to analyze race performance and build progressive training periods are based on the Power Duration Curve. Understanding, reviewing, and using the PD Model is vital to be able to effectively use the metrics that we have at our disposal. Much like the PMC it’s helpful to review different time periods when using the curve. In the build-up to a criterium or cyclocross race you may have been focused on sprint power, but how did that impact the rest of the curve? Conversely if you’re preparing for a time trial your steady state power may have increased, while your PMax and FRC (Functional Reserve Capacity) may have suffered.

It’s acceptable for the curve to change as you prepare for different events, but understanding what happens when you focus on a specific area can help to develop a more comprehensive approach to your training. In the chart below we see an athlete’s build up to a 6-hour mountain bike race. The focus was on Stamina and increased FTP so the left side of the curve was diminished.

3. Time to Exhaustion

A relatively new, but extremely insightful metric in WKO4 is Time to Exhaustion (TTE). TTE is the maximum duration for which power equal to mFTP (modeled functional threshold power) can be sustained. This metric provides a snapshot of an athlete’s resistance to fatigue for threshold level efforts. By analyzing mFTP and TTE over time, and comparing them against one another, you’re able to see how different types of training and races impact both metrics. TTE puts mFTP into perspective as it relates to other key metrics. If you’re an endurance athlete then your goal may be to not only increase your FTP, but how long you can sustain that power. Race day pacing can also benefit as you begin to develop strategies for priority races. Whether it’s a pivotal climb on a racecourse or the ability to cover a breakaway, knowing your TTE allows you to be prepared for threshold and supra-threshold level efforts.

The chart below shows a varied race season with criteriums, road races, XC mountain bike races, and 100-mile mountain bike events mixed in. mFTP and TTE are in constant flux as the athlete prepares for and recovers from these different events. Using this in conjunction with the PD Curve and PMC help to paint a well-rounded picture, and allow us to make decisions about how to approach next season.

Top Three Workout Level Strategies

Now that you’ve identified key date ranges, races, and workouts it’s time to analyze the data on a more granular level. Getting the broad overview is great for picking up on macro trends, but the workout analyses is where you can really dig in and discover transformative insights. Here are 3 workout-level charts to help you identify your strengths and weakness during key races and training sessions.

1. Visual Matches

A go-to chart for dissecting race day performance should be the Visual Matches chart. Every athlete has a set number of “matches” in their matchbook, and no one has the same number of matches. A match can be defined as 20% over FTP for 1 minute. It may also be a longer duration at a lower percentage over threshold. The goal is to find out how many matches you have. Usually the time when you burn the most matches is during a race. Whether it’s a climb, a surge, a breakaway, or any other hard effort, you’re going all out more often than during training.

The Visual Matches chart shows your matches as red spikes in the power graph. By examining when and how you burnt your matches you can have a better idea of how many you have in your matchbook. They’re in short supply so using them wisely is key for race day performance and strategy. This chart illustrates an XC MTB race. You can see several matches were burnt at the beginning of the race to get the holeshot. Based on previous evaluation we knew that this athlete had the matches to burn early on to secure a first place position.

2. CX & MTB Review Pack

This chart pack was originally developed to analyze races that involve numerous pace changes and surges often found in cyclocross and MTB events. However, there’s value in this chart for racers of all disciplines. A few data points to focus on are total duration vs. pedal duration, Power TSS vs. HR TSS, and pedal power vs. average power. Total duration and pedal duration give a percentage of the time that the athlete was coasting. If the percentage is too high, or there was coasting during opportunities to pedal, then the outcome of the race could have been different. Heart rate TSS compared to TSS derived from power can shed some light on how your body responds to high output efforts and different race scenarios.  Lastly pedaling power, the average power when force was being applied to the pedals, compared to average and NP powers give a more detailed look at the actual effort that the athlete gave when they were pedaling.

The example below shows a three-lap criterium with a substantial descent at the end of each lap. The coasting and pedal metrics help to tell a fuller story than if the file was reviewed without them.

3. Interval Review Pack

To look specifically at what systems were at work and the time spent above threshold during a race or a workout use the interval review pack. This simple and straightforward chart helps to quickly and easily highlight power zones and trends during the ride. This chart is particularly helpful when developing a training strategy for the coming season or leading up to a specific race. What types of workouts and what areas need to be the focus? Should you focus on improving your FTP or are VO2 Max, FRC and PMax intervals more important in preparation? Single out a few races that called on different strengths and revealed weaknesses and see how they break down. Reviewing what percentage of the effort was in different zones allows you to drill down and see where you may have been strongest and weakest during that particular period in your training. You may even cross-reference the race with the same time period on the PD Curve to examine how things were looking on a larger scale.

This interval review is an example of a first place effort in a professional XC mountain bike race. At a glance it’s easy to see that nearly 50% of the time was spent at VO2 Max and above. Knowing what it takes to win makes it easier to formulate training strategies for races to come.

A season review, although critical, can be a lot to dissect. Knowing where to begin and what data to review can make the process much more productive. Whether you’re reviewing your season as a self-coached athlete or with your coach, there’s a lot of value in a critical review of your past performances. Dynamic and insightful tools like WKO4 make finding the data that’s of use even easier. Starting at a larger level to identify macro trends in your training and then narrowing down to the workout level make for a productive approach to analysis. Once you’ve identified your individual strengths and weaknesses, you can apply those insights to your training to make for an even more successful season next year.