I thought this was a “what are you doing differently” thread, not a “what are your goals” thread?
The main thing I am doing differently is not having a specific organised event to train for.
I picked a peak around the start of the summer and have a big ride planned but the date isn’t set in stone and I want to enjoy my fitness outdoors in a more general way.
Also trying a few new things. Thinking of doing a duathlon in the New Year and some other TTs just for fun.
Almost exactly the experience I’ve had… Basically didn’t use TR properly or with enough consistency, quit during the build phase, got dropped early in races (wasn’t eating nearly enough plus my training was poor). I took a year off the bike because I was busy and a bit burned out, primarily due to lack of progress. Commuted on the bike this summer, and found the podcast late in the summer. It is the perfect complement to the TR plans! I’m finishing up SSB MV and I’m already at 4W/kg, looking forward to racing next year
Process:
- Consistently do my core and strength workouts
- Eat more vegetables and high nutrient density foods
- Focus on recovery as much as training
- Do more races
Outcome:
- Podium and/or win a race
- Get below 11.9% body fat on the Dexa (14.9 now)
- Get above 5w/kg
- Have fun
To talk about what I plan on doing differently in 2019, I guess I have to talk about what I didn’t like about 2018.
- I started the year off with plantar fasciitis, took several months off running, and quit the running group I was in. Coming back from that, I tried to run on my own, and it went poorly. I had hoped that by focusing the summer on building base miles I could see some progress and get away with using gym treadmills, but a) my motivation without a group was very low, b) gyms are incredibly warm to be running in, and c) I needed more than just base miles to make some progress.
- Kind of similar to the first one, I struggled to fit base training into my year. Bouncing between summer triathlon plans and winter half marathon/marathon training translated into me trying to carry too much peak fitness too long, and not easing up to focus on aerobic fitness long enough.
- I did two 70.3 races this year, 4 weeks apart, which is pretty similar to what I did in 2017; in 2016 I did two 70.3 races 6 months apart. Every one involved somewhere between a few hours and a day of travel, an overnight stay or two, and huge logistical issues with a young child.
- I maintained strength training to some degree through out the year, for the first year, instead of letting it disappear during triathlon season.
So this year, what I’m doing differently: running with a group again, but a different group. I’m pretty upfront that avoiding another winter running injury is pretty high up on my goals, but the group itself has a lot more triathletes and cyclists so I’m not alone in being a “dabbler.”
I’m halfway through Traditional Base Mid Volume right now, and I’ll probably do Sweet Spot Base I Low Volume before transitioning into Olympic triathlon plans (which will include another 6 week base block).
I’m not doing any 70.3 races this year. I am doing some longer rides (a century, probably a couple metric centuries), but particularly my running will be focused on shorter, faster things.
The one thing I am happiest about fitness-wise with 2018 is my strength training, so that will continue. 
I plan to get more from doing less. Less junk. Keep a balance between structure and social. Know what I hope to achieve each ride. Is it a social spin or an hour with efforts.
I will stick to a predfined plan. I target a few events on which I want to peak.
From november until end of februari I will commit to Sweet Spot and endurance (modified ssbhv), because it is my weak spot. At the end of februari a have a training camp in Spain. From then on I will do 8-10 weeks of polarized training, focussing on VO2max. I am still thinking of doing that in 2 blocks of “block periodization”. 12 may is my first gran fondo, aiming at short Hills (2 to 6 minutes). After that I will do again long Sweet Spot intervals for 3 weeks. I will than be ready for the 3 ballons.
Up till now I really focussed on my weight and dropped 6kg in two months. i guestimate I am sub 7% fat.
I only race CX so spent all of last year doing two repeats of low volume SSB / Short power build / CX Specialty. This gave me a massive improvement, but to be honest I need a break from VO2 max, so this year I’m going to use the first 5 months to do SSB / Sustained power build / 40k TT. The middle / end of the year will be back to the VO2 max stuff though.
I’m also going to up the volume a bit. Until summer I want to be riding at least 4 structured workouts a week along with an easy set on the rollers.
- Get down to 77kg, which will take me to around 4.22 W/KG hopefully (Currently around 82kg after Christmas lol)
- Take the recovery weeks more seriously. I fell into the habit this year of doing some hard workouts during them, which i’m sure won’t have helped me fully recover!
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Qualifying for Kona,
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Get some sponsors for my racing career
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Win some zwift races
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Do a 7 days spiritual retreat in the mountains (yoga/fasting)
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Spend (our southern hemisphere) winter in Europe and train there,
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Drop facebook, whatsapp, IG
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Give more charity
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Find a GF
I need to rest when my body tells me to. Last year (age 60) I strained a hamstring doing running sprints in March and messed up my entire season. I never got back into the swing of things and hurt my left hip in June, likely due to the hamstring messing up my stride. I did a HIM in July and ended up walking most of the run with severe hip pain. I didn’t run again until October. I was able to keep riding and upped my ftp. This season, I’m not doing any run sprints and I’m adding 2-3 weeks to training plans for additional recovery. My other issue is bad knees (3 surgeries) that need a break from hard training once in a while or I end up missing 1-2 weeks at a time.
Things I’m (probably) going to do differently
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Race less, train more
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Try to peak for my main race of the year rather than be very fit at the beginning of the season and slowly drop off.
I’m going to BE CONSISTENT. (Something I struggle with in all aspects of my life).
Some inspirational thoughts on here already
For me
- Drink less beer
- Stick with flat pedals
- Get back to >4.2Wkg (3.96 at the mo)
- Learn how to bunny hop …properly
- Follow base-build-specialty (LV) for the first time
oh…and drink less beer…honest !
I will update my goal thread in the next few days since I just finished another training block. To highlight some of the differences for this year i plan on:
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finishing up with my specialty plan earlier in the year because
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i plan on doing more races this year, xterra qualifying is now mostly based on season point total. So this year will be a trial run to qualify for a Maui slot for 2020. I think the magic number to qualify seems to be five top 3 finishes and beating other regional guys in AG head to head (need to have most points in region in AG for slot).
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do more endurance rides on weekend, and hammer less. Use the structure of the weekday intervals for most of plan intensity. Work on flow more when on mtb. Do short segments at fast pace instead of whole rides.
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Use proper tires/wheels for specific courses. The tanks I have on my bike now are great for my local trails which are quite chunky, but probably don’t roll good enough to be used on most courses. I do plan on buying a pair of carbon race wheels.
Same plan for me.
I started using the Humon Hex today, and I’ll use it for my aerobic rides (for intervals, I know when I’m rested enough for those and when I’m not, and those sessions are all about the wattage – hard is, you know, hard).
Having the color-coded data field on my Garmin will keep me honest about keeping those endurance days “in the green.”
One workout is not nearly enough to draw any conclusions, but one thing today seemed interesting – I’ve done most of my aerobic sessions in the last month as 90-100min@77-80% of FTP – right at the top range of @mcneese.chad 's polarized spreadsheet, and today’s 90min@80% was right at the top of the Humon “green zone,” steady state low intensity aerobic. Fun when all the points line up like that!
In 2018 I think I spent too much time with the whole POL approach and didn’t do enough race intensity training (especially with my running) in the lead up to my key events; so I’ll be changing that in 2019.
Hey Bryce just one question, with which TrainingPlan you hope to achieve that goal? I have the same goal and the same numbers when it comes to w/kg (I weight 65 kg) this is a big difference. But I have now Idea which plan to choose?
Your FTP will rise if you consistently work through the progressions. The different plans influence what your power curve ends up looking like. Pick the type of event you want to do and work through the plans, your FTP is gonna do what your FTP is gonna do.