There is a limit to returns, and maybe you are gettng close to that point… cant expect to continue to get faster every year. after a while holding on to what we have is a huge success.
Not everyone is the same, age, physiology and numerous other factors contribute. otherwise we would all be on the tour
I was watching to podcast #292 today and around 1:39ish they touch on fueling, early morning training ‘high’, glycogen depleted training and some related things. I can understand why they lean in hard on ‘fueling the workout’ and how viewing the bike as a weight loss tool could negatively impact performance.
I will reframe my view this way, I can accept a ‘non-optimal’ fueling strategy to in order to balance cycling, work and personal obligations and schedule constraints. I get up at 4:50am and try to be riding by 5:05am so I can finish by a certain time. I am not going to get up in the middle of the night, have breakfast, try to go back to sleep, wake up again to ride, etc. to have an ‘optimal’ fueling strategy.
As Amber discusses / recommends in the podcast, depending on the duration and / or intensity of the ride I will have some light food while I’m warming up and / or have a sports drink. For shorter SS/threshold I tend to do more light food and add sports drink if the duration is long. For VO2 or anaerobic I will just do easily digestible sports drink. I don’t like to force feed and the light food is somewhat dependent on how hungry I feel or anticipate feeling.
what I learned a general training/progress rule is that if you train 4~6 hours per week, it maintains your fitness, and if you train 6~10 hours, you will see small progress, and > 10 hours, you may see bigger progress.