Goal Setting, Beginner Tips, Weight Loss and More – Ask a Cycling Coach 239

Not cycling, but some goal motivation from the legend that is … - YouTube

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Ah @Nate_Pearson you made my day, just at the end of a Baxter whilst listening to the podcast and your comment about over 50s being pleased with a maintenance of FTP. I’m 54 this year and my FTP has remained within 10W for the last 5 years or so. Hearing you say that a “non lowering” of FTP is an achievement really cheered me up :+1:

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It totally is! Our data shows steady drop for people’s FTP on average compared to younger people.

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as Chad often says “its about consistency”. I’ve learned I simply have to stay on it. No quit. Ever. I’ll turn 78 this summer and can confirm that things certainly do fade as time goes on but I can influence how fast that happens. I use the following thoughts to keep things in perspective…

I cannot halt the natural physical deterioration that attends aging and I won’t try. That is not a valid reason for not purposefully diminishing the pace and scope of that deterioration, which I will do. (a.k.a. degrading the rate of degradation!)

I cannot be what I used to be and I won’t try. That is not a valid reason for not being everything I can be, which I will be.

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That is excellent, love it.

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Can @Nate_Pearson please share the routine/products he uses to avoid sinus infections?

@chad were you referring to the Piru 20 and 40k TTs? If so here is the course profile: Piru 20k TT | Strava Ride Segment in Fillmore, California

It’s two out and backs. I would do the 20k for FTP tests when I first started riding.

It’s a very low key vibe, but I always enjoyed them and I found the course to be pretty fun.

Wilson’s solution (get it from your doctor) and a sinus rinse bottle. 40ml in the bottle with distilled saline water.

But really, just ask your doctor about dosing and if this is the correct method for you.

The NM 40k time trial is in Moriarity, outside Albuquerque. It was great fun when I lived in NM, they would host the state TT championships there in the spring (when it could be windy) and then a special Record Challenge event in the fall (less windy). I was there the day in 1990 when John Frey set the men’s 40k record, and I think Lance Armstrong set a junior men’s 20k record the same day.

Anyway, it’s a really fast course. So fast that one time I under paced because I was going so fast I assumed I had a big tailwind, and I wanted to save something for after the turnaround. Then I turned around and it was just as fast in the other direction!

Looks like they held the Record Challenge in September 2019: New Mexico Sports Online - Your Online Sports Registration Website

I wish this episode had been a year ago, I might not have burned myself out so bad. “I’ve got time for mid volume, let’s do it” … bad plan.

About reducing rather than eliminating. Not everyone can do this. If I have a box of cookies in the house they will be gone within a few hours. I get sugar in me and it’s automatically a binge. Cutting them out entirely is far, far easier.

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40K TT: John Stenner Memorial Colorado State TT Champs. 6-13-2020
coloradocycling.org
Strava Segment: 2016 Colorado State TT Championship | Strava Ride Segment in Keenesburg, Colorado

I use the spin bike in my gym to do trainer road and they have no fans :frowning:

in '93, the CO State TT Champs were in Alamosa. Course was dead flat, straight and at altitude…out 20K and back.

I would kill to do that course again with my current set-up and training. Back then on a road bike, I just missed going under an hour.

Side note - John Stenner was a really good guy. He gave me the winter cycling shoes I still wear to this day, back in 1992. Old pair of Duegi lace-ups w/ Gore-Tex. Every year I think about getting newer shoes, but don’t…

I’ve been a huge fan of the pod for a couple years now, but I think @ambermalika brings a fresh perspective and captures the human element of cycling/training that sometimes can get overlooked!

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That’s the series, @stevemz. Thanks for the info!

I agree. I like hearing her pro experiences and training perspective.

The way I see it is the more of my watts (per kilo) I can hold on to the less watts I’ll need from my e-bike at 71 to enjoy long climbs and epic rides — I am currently 51 :blush:

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@Nate_Pearson mentions lots of traveling ahead (8wk in first half year 2020). I face similar situation with several 6-10days long trips. While I brought a bike along many times, between transit days, timezone difference, assembling a bike & packing it, extra work hours, i just cannot train same amount of hours/wk. So what’s recommended approach then?

  • Do same plan but spread over more weeks?
  • Drop the recovery ride(s)?
  • Do shorter workouts?
  • Cram couple of extra rides/workouts just before a trip and just after?
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Hopefully we can help you out soon :wink:.

In the mean time, repeat the workout you missed if travel was for a week and cut the last hard week of that block.

If you miss two weeks step back a whole week. And cut the last two hard weeks. If you miss three, retest.

If travel was during a rest week, just continue as normal.

Note: We reserve the right to refine/update this approach as we learn more.

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At roughly 1:03:00 in the podcast, @chad says @Nate_Pearson’s goal to reach Cat3 sounded ambitious then but looks like a softball now that we know he was able to go all the way to Cat2.

A little nuance is in order here, I think. If you substantially overachieve on a goal, and this happens with any sort of regularity or predictability, then yes… you’re underestimating your ability to produce results and throwing yourself softballs, and you should challenge yourself more.

But if this kind of overdelivering on a goal is very unusual, then make sure NOT to think of it as “turned out to be a softball” but rather “wow, I really kicked that one into next week!” Celebrate it as a very special accomplishment, and use it for future motivation, but know that being able to stomp a goal into the ground once may not be a repeatable occurrence and you shouldn’t necessarily assume that your future goal-setting should now be much more aggressive.

Not saying he was wrong, just that how we respond to such an event requires that we consider the context of how common this event really is. :+1:t2:

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