Who's over 60 y/o and using TR?

David, i assigned admin rights a couple of days ago, look in manage members menu. Also to add the workout it’s manage workouts and then find yours and tick the box to add.
Ray


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Well done. Mine have a few tweaks with adjustment on power and or recovery . I usually like a longer warm up too.
Ray.


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Thanks. That worked. I loaded the descending ladders and another challenging one with descending power intervals.

Blimey, they both look very cruel. Designed for older athletes? Maybe start at 130% FTP, then drop to 120 and 110 respectively for the Roennestad-Method a la Gerhard.

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I agree that the Ronnestad workout looks extreme. I created it based upon the recommendation of another over 60 cyclist but have not performed it. Your suggested mods would be good. The Ronnestad method of short 30/15 intervals (over 4 min. intervals) was tested several years back and showed some good improvements. Discussion here: The 30/15 Interval Enhance Performance in Elite Cyclists | Wattkg.com. Extended TR forum discussion here: Empirical Cycling Podcast “Why Not Rønnestad 30/15 Intervals” aka Brasted, which includes that TR’s Brasted workout follows the Ronnestad method.

That was then. I’ve improved my aerobic endurance quite a bit, and barely moving the needle on Monday’s 30/30s at 130% (after some threshold work).

Another approach is to reduce the number of sets/intervals. The power should be repeatable for the number of sets/intervals that you do.

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The descending ladders workout repeats the 30/20’s until exhaustion. I created and added to the Over 60 Library a shorter descending ladders with fewer 30/20’s and some Z2 added at the end. Declining Ladders, short+Z2
I tried this one out today and was able to complete it without reaching exhaustion! AGood polarized workout as pic from Intervals.icu shows. Bumped my VO2 Max PL up 1.8, then I got several adaptations for the next few weeks that will be challenging!

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I found a bug with Trainer Day that for me is a no-go. If I listen to music on my phone with bluetooth earpieces, the interval durations get completely screwed up. I mentioned it on their forum, and they seemed aware. For me this is a non-starter. I will not be continuing.

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I mentioned in a post on 1/18/23 that Joe Friel had posted part 1 in a new series of blog posts entitled, “Fast After…60? …70?” He’s now added Parts 2 through 4, with part 5 on the way (which he promises will be more upbeat!) :wink: You can read the posts on his blog: Joe Friel’s Blog - Joe Friel. Very sound and thoughtful advice. Much of it you may have heard before but coming from the dean of cycling coaches, they’re definitely worth a read, in my opinion.

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I’m in agreement with this. I will be 65 in May and have been using TR for 6-7 years. I have an IM 70.3 in the end of June and started the HIM custom plan. The plan started with Mills (60 minutes 5.3 level with 2 minute intervals) in place of an ftp test on Tuesday. I was barely able to finish this ride but managed to complete all the intervals. The ride scheduled for today (Thursday) is Dinara (1:15 5.3 level 2 minute intervals). My legs are still wasted from the Tuesday ride and Wednesday run. I will be doing an easier ride today. The ride for Saturday is a challenging 1:30 threshold ride. There is no way would try this ride without an easy ride today.

I think the recovery issue with TR is real, as a 69yo, but, mostly from listening to the podcast, I’ve just decided to stick with low volume plan all the time, and fill in almost exclusively with “zone 2” as they say. This really has worked well for me. Totally consistent on the three structured w/o’s a week, and usually riding 5-6 days a week, with regular core work. So far this year, setting new PR’s vs. 2015, when I was, ahem, younger :slight_smile:

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Over 60 Strava Club. I just wanted to give a shoutout to the TR Over 60 Strava Club. There are some over 60 beasts rolling up major miles and climbs. I had big week for me at 140 miles, and I’m in 15th place! Maybe I can use this list when my wife quips that all I do is ride my bike!

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Far and away my favorite Club on Strava, where I feel like I’m comparing myself to a genuine peer group, although, like you, I am always amazed at what others are doing! Felt like I had a big climbing week this week – but not even top 5 :slight_smile:

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Yes to be in the top 5 or 10 would/will be grand. Perhaps next week.

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Do I get extra credit because my 70 mile ride was gravel? With 6,500 feet of climbing?

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I’m 60 in September. I raced consistently through my 20s and 30s — mostly crits, track and flatter road races (I’m big and not a particularly good climber). But I tangled with car in 2006 had pretty significant head, shoulder and knee injuries. I’ve ridden regularly since I was able to get back on a bike after getting clobbered, but I cannot risk another on my head/brain injury. So my racing has been limited to time trials, and I won’t do mass start events on the road. But I’m having a lot of fun doing gravel stuff, and I always have trained like I was still racing.

This is my first season on TR, which I started using after I finally replaced my 20-year old computrainer with a Tacx Neo2T. I’ve been doing the high-volume plan since December and am about to finish the general build. So far, I find virtually all of the workouts attainable, and I’m not overtrained. I have a slew of gravel events scheduled in April and May, so will be more cognizant as those approach. One thing I’ve noted is that the TR plan builds in endurance rides between hard VO2max and threshold/SST days that are harder than I would have anticipated doing, and very few active recovery days. While my recovery has been OK, I will tamp down the efforts on these days starting in the next couple of weeks by backing off the resistance in erg mode substantially.

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Hell yes. Based not so much on my own expertise, but from my personal experience and, on the consistent messages from the podcast (which is great if you haven’t tried it yet), I would suggest taking the volume down a notch to Mid Volume, or even to Low Volume, and using the unstructured days to do solid endurance/zone 2 rides, or recovery rides as you feel it. It’s been a game changer for me. I’m totally consistent with the structured workouts, and still riding 5/6 days a week, but also getting the recovery I need at 69. If I feel good on the weekends, I’ll often then use TrainNow to add in some harder workouts, to do outside. TR has yet to really dial in Plan Builder to older riders, but, I figure they will, as they never seem to stop improving the thing.

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You definitely should. To me, gravel miles are 1.5 to 2X road miles effort, depending on how much “chunky.” With that elevation, an additional 2X bonus, I’d say!

Everyone should definitely watch the excellent Instagram video on Rick’s gravel ride. Rick Swagler on Instagram: "Hardwick Gregg’s 10th Annual Gravel Fundo had it all: a great group, paved trails, tunnels, single-track, an overgrown golf course, smooth gravel, rough gravel, nearly traffic-free pavé, trespassing, and a parking lot chat with kids on mountain bikes. Kind of like talking to your 10-year-old self…" Looks like great fun. I’m in Alabama too so maybe I could join this event next year.

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I’m 65 with a goal to ride 2023 miles this year. Already up to 794 miles using TR with Zwift for entertainment. Will be riding the Trek100, Scenic Shore 150, and the Ride Across Wisconsin this summer.

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Fantastic.