Latest Race. Died early just like last race and then made up time. Fat cant be the whole story

Stay positive, I have a buddy in his 50’s that has come a long way in the last couple of years. And maybe consider the longer easier z2 rides to help with the aerobic engine and also assist with shredding the weight.

:slight_smile:

Not sure what you did for a base, but seems your aerobic engine isn’t where it should be.

Where did you get that info from? Not arguing. Just curious.

I’ve done base one and two 2 times and am on general build now. I’m also 9 weeks out from hernia surgery where I was cut open but other than tightness and soreness that’s really not an issue.

I thought latest research was that zone 2 rides were just junk miles and no point anymore? I like zone 2 rides…

tonight’s TT. used today’s ramp test as a early warmup.

Got there late. Did not warm up enough again. Can’t outride fat.

Here is a chart I found in another post.

So looking at my last 3 races here are the stats

Tempo 0:14:38 13.2% 207 240
Sweet Spot 0:12:12 11.0% 240 259
Threshold 0:21:10 19.1% 259 289
VO2 Max 0:25:21 22.8% 289 330 17 minutes over
Anaerobic 0:17:16 15.5% 330 15 minutes over

Tempo 0:11:59 12.2% 207 240
Sweet Spot 0:07:07 7.2% 240 259
Threshold 0:12:50 13.0% 259 289
VO2 Max 0:15:07 15.3% 289 330 7 minutes
Anaerobic 0:22:09 22.5% 330 3,000 20 minutes

3

Tempo 3:11
Sweetspot 3:56
Threshold 8:29
VO2Max 10:05 2 minutes
Anaerobic 6:35 4 minutes

So is it just like what Majoeric said. I have no base. Am I immediately going from 0 to Threshold, V02Max and Anerobic because I have done so little base work? Or is there just something wrong with my settings somewhere?

Ive recently dropped my mileage a fair bit and am actually taking 2 days a week off.

nice job on the TT, but I don’t see any 8 min intervals continuously at 106-120% FTP :wink: that chart is a guideline for intervals.

Here is one of my Time Trials, when I had a great base and strong (for me) vo2max:
2:40 - Tempo
3:32 - Sweet spot
8:47 - Threshold
8:08 - VO2Max
3:34 - Anaerobic

281W avg power and 291W normalized that day.

I don’t see anything unusual in your latest TT. My course was about 300’ of elevation gain, yours is showing 600’ and if I had done your course my vo2 and anaerobic contributions may have been a bit higher.

Thanks so much. So settings are fine. Maybe just need some base miles.

Your ftp might be set a little low. Or not. Hard to say without looking at your data.

General rule of thumb is that the more riding you’re doing, the higher proportion of it needs to be at a lower intensity to avoid burning yourself out. If you’re doing 5 hours/week and a max ride of 90-120 minutes, then Z2 is a waste of time, you should be doing lots of Sweet Spot work to get the most bang for your buck. As the volume creeps up you’ll hit a limit of how much SS you can cope with and recover from (lots of people struggle with high volume SS and that tops out at “only” 11 hours). So if you have the luxury of plenty of time to train then you may be able to build a bigger base by incorporating some long Z2 workouts instead of SS. Remember also that most people who train indoors a lot do so because they are somewhat time crunched, so the TR plans tend to cater to that audience. Lots of coaches recommend a long (4+ hour) endurance ride, not many people want to ride that long indoors though.

I don’t think base is your problem though, or nutrition, pacing or warming up for that matter. Seems to me that you’re racing to the limits of your current fitness (which in itself is great - the ability to dig deep is an important one), you’re just racing against guys who are stronger, younger and/or lighter than you, and maybe in races which don’t play to your strengths either. Not much you can do about being 50 (plenty of quick 50 year olds around though!), but keep on getting stronger and lighter, maybe pick some different races (flat ones…), and results will improve. In the meantime pushing yourself to the max and still getting beaten is great training, a good learning experience and also motivation to come back better!

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This.

Don’t get yourself into a “can’t see the wood for the trees” situation. Train hard, and have realistic expectations of each race based on the terrain.

I would say it probably is based off the link the OP posted for the last TT. IF for 35 minutes was 1.06. I’d suggest upping FTP to 280 and see how you go with that.

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Thanks for the info all. I’m at 50.5 hours so far this month. Im finally going back to work this week after being injured so my training amount will drop a bit but I will also be commuting every day by bike so I can add an hour or two a day of zone 2 ish work. I’ll also be walking about 10-15 miles a day and that should help with overall fitness. Right now im usually missing my 2 hour TR ride on Sunday but am replacing it with a 5 hour gravel ride.

I will up the ftp to 280 and see how it goes. Im thinking it won’t be a problem(hoping).

As for racing I have to remember im doing this for fun and fitness. Good to be competitive but that is not the point. Im also racing against guys with 10-20 years experience and raced on my roubaix with a normal bike and kit vs guys with time trial bikes and disc wheels in skinsuits and aero helmets although I don’t know how much that has to do with a 22km TT.

Basically I need to relax and breathe.

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Merckx class rules! T-shirts available :wink:

relax and ride on! :biking_man: :mountain_biking_man: :biking_man:

what is the 5.0 4.3 metric you’re referring to?

Its just a training metric of garmin’s. Basically telling me that Ive left it all out there and if I keep it up I will run myself into the ground. It also said I needed 66 hours of rest/ easy recovery workouts to recover.

Garmin licenses metrics from Firstbeat, here is a press release with info for the Edge 1030 bike computer: News Archives - Firstbeat

and checkout DCRainmaker review of Edge 1030 or Edge 530/830 for some additional color commentary. Also supported on 930 and Fenix watches. The exact metrics supported will vary by Garmin device.

even my 3.5 year old Edge 520 uses two of the Firstbeat metrics: vo2max and recovery advisor. Newer devices have more metrics.

Don’t forget that body fat is metabolically active within your body. Body fat like any other cell in your body needs to be supported with metabolic energy. 50 lbs of living body fat is a greater handicap than 50 lbs of sand in a back pack. The impact you get from losing body fat is greater than weight alone.