Congrats! That’s an awesome way to start the season!
My goal is just to finish in the pack. 
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Thanks!
Just keep trying. I can say with certainty that my finish was due in part to fitness but, also a bit of timing, luck and a lot of mental fighting against quitting. I don’t remember how many attacks and bridges I did bit, it was maybe 5-7 before it finally worked. And when it did work I kept taking peaks under my arm to see the pack maybe 10 seconds behind for what seemed like an eternity. Finally a couple from the same team bridged and their team was able to block and we rapidly opened a gap. Every attack I did was just on the heals of a failed attack by someone else. Tried to go when everyone looked tired…
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Nice
Just a local Crit that has an olympian and 70.3 world’s runner up on it? That Ben Kanute?
Yes. He was guest riding for our team thank the Lord…
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Thanks for the inspiration! I sometimes do wonder, even though I know TR made a big difference for me last season. I start my 2nd year training w/TR in Feb. Prior to TR, I had all I could do to not get dropped. In 2019 I was able to sit in the field and support my teammates. I am a Cat3, 50+, so race intensities are all over the map. Sometimes a 40+, sometimes a 50+, sometimes a P123. I hate to even say it outloud, but one of my goals is to podium in 2020. At my age, there’s not a lot of years left to do it. Last year did a mid Volume. I am going to start with HV this year, see if I can handle. It’s a big jump in training time, but I think it’s what I need to do to be nearer the top finishers (New England)
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Thanks! Looking back on '19 it was a good year fitness and results wise for sure. With that said, I kept getting talked into more and more events extending the “season” months after I was ready for a break. The result was borderline burnout or whatever not wanting to ride your bike for 3 months is called. Normally, I hit big miles in October, November and December. As I type this I’m just a week or two into a plan (and skiing in Telluride 
)…and just starting to want to train again. Super late but, I’ve been given an opportunity to get base via sweet spot for the first time ever. Into the unknown!
My point, if I have one, is at our age just be careful of adding more just to add more to get that adaptation to bust through a plateau. If you’ve not bee riding very long and no long history HV might push you over the edge.
In all the years of training with power (since 2007) my “numbers” are relatively unchanged. What has changed is my durability and fatigue resistance. Just keep that in mind as you progress. That is, just because you don’t see any increase in power numbers doesn’t mean you’re not getting better.
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Understood! Yes, I have been racing since early 2000’s. I always (loosely) follow Joe Friel’s periodization training plans. I say loosely, becuase typically once I got through base phase in late March, most structure would dissappear for me. I’d ride on my own, do group rides, training races, and weeked USAC races. Started training with power and TR for the 1st time in Feb 2019 and felt great all year: SSBMV1, SSBMV2, Short Power Build MV, and Criterium MV, which brought me into July. I was able to stay pretty true to the plan, missing very few workouts. Inside training helped take the darkness and weather out of the equation, and provided those longer sweetspot and threshold efforts that aren’t always easy to do outside. Love TR, and I’m getting motivated to start my 2020 plan in a couple weeks.
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First podium of many, I bet.
Ben Kanute the pro triathlete? That’s somebody worth riding for! 
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