That’s some good progress. Finding a cycling club with riders to challenge you would be a great boost to your motivation and fun factor. It certainly was for me.
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I have definitely considered that. There is a pretty good club in my area and I see some of their rides on Strava, which do look like a lot of fun. Time management and familial obligations are the challenge to be overcome at this point. That’s actually the great thing about a trainer and TrainerRoad — I can jump on the trainer and knock out an hour or even hour-and-a-half workout much more easily, and with much less fallout.
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A shout out to TR.
I did the L eTape San Antonio ride.
Last year I got beat by the fast guy in my age group, by about an hour. Did not know an old person could be so fast. hahaha
This year I knocked out 1:15 off last years time and was best in my age group.
The difference was I followed a TR program this year and did not last year.
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That’s an amazing improvement. Congrats! What distance did you do? I’m curious what training plan you’ve followed. Did you do another structured plan last year or “JRA”? (Just riding around)
The distance was 102 miles per my Garmin with 5600 feet of climbing. Last year was mainly riding around. Did the old fashion stuff. Hill repeats, sprints, long fun rides.
I started TR when I got my new trainer. I hated riding indoors in the past. Started with SSBLV first week of December. By Jan 1 had decided that SSBMV was doable with some outdoor rides mixed in. I did not have a lot of time to do a plan but got in 3 weeks of sustained power build before my event.
I will use plan builder in the future and see how that goes. My weak spot is endurance so that’s my next area to work on.
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This was an interesting read on 2 runners in their 70s:
My notes:
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Jo started at 36 yrs old, Hans started at 50
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“Further, the athletes also noted that their late start may have helped them with maintaining motivation as they could not compare their running time to their younger years”
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“both athletes still performed a relatively high training volume.”
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“For Jo, this weekly training volume is comparable to what some world-class athletes run in their peak years. Interestingly, it is also almost double of the previous world-record holding marathoner in the 70+ category. The relatively high training volume may have contributed to the exceptional performance of both athletes as this leads to numerous metabolic and structural adaptations in the muscle.”
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“Of interest is that both athletes performed the vast majority of their training sessions at an easy pace as guided by the ability to talk easily. They did not use lactate measurements or even heart rate or speed to guide their training. In fact, although Jo ran with a sports watch, Hans trained without a watch to estimate his distance or speed.”
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“All intervals were performed at an estimated 90% of his maximum capacity, and he tried to keep short (e.g., <1min) rest periods between the intervals. These interval sessions on top of the high volume are likely the key part to achieving their exceptional performances.”
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“A final key learning derived from both athlete’s experiences was the importance of training consistency. Both athletes had trained consistently for many years prior to obtaining their world records.”
that last one rings particularly true (‘use it or lose it’) and they conclude with
- “consistent training stimulus might be particularly essential for aging athletes considering the potentially more rapid reductions in physiological functions such as recovery and adaptation in older compared to younger individuals.”
everything above summarizes what’s been working for myself - volume, consistency, and when returning to an interval format, once I’ve completed some controlled interval workout(s) to gauge pacing/response, go really hard.
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The CX prefix is my variation on a TR designed workout. Generally Ive reduced the intensity to what I could manage - not always possible now im afraid, and added longer rest intervals too. The others you quote are taken from example workouts based upon an authors/coach advice.
Regarding the CX workouts, if you’re following a TR plan and see a workout type that looks too challenging either in intensity of volume, see if there is an equivalent in the O60 library and to start with id pick the easiest option until you get your feedback of how it went. If too easy go up a grade next time that workout is due. CX is an abreviation for Cyclo cross which is my racing choice.
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There is new podcast recently launched by Tim Cusick @TimWKO called The Basecamp Community Broadcast
The latest episode “Fit and Fast over 50” is worth a listen. Aspects of nutrition & strength were covered as well by Namrita Brooke & Menachem Brodie.
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The AC workouts were created by Tom Field who posted this on the Team Over 60 forum page. Log In to TrainerRoad. You might respond there for more info, but they are based upon a training schedule by Scott Maclean of Kinetic Coaching. I’ve emailed with Tom about these and they are designed to be progressive and make a lot of sense to me.
AC workouts are what I built following a progression in VO2 max workouts as outlined on an old Kinetic Cycling Video… This workout is Aerobic Capacity series 1, 2 min intervals version 3 and consists of 2 min on, 2 min off at 115% of FTP 8 repeats. Version 22 2 min on/2 min off at 110% of FTP for 8 repeats.
C
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I’ve been doing this progression, and have just finished with the 2.5 min intervals. Coming up this week are the 3 min intervals. 3 min on/3 min off starting at 105% FTP then 110%, then 115%. The total interval time is kept just under 20 min, so there are 6 3 min intervals. Once I get through 3 min at 115%, then its back to 2 min at 120%, then 2.5 at 120%, etc. The video is worth a look.
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I’m sure it has. I am off the back on the usual Sat slugfest, but I find I’m incrementally able to stick for longer. (I’m the oldest one in the group). I think my FTP has gone up some too.
As an Aside, I had my VO2 max lab tested this spring, 45, at age 68, (above 95th percentile), I may splurge for a retest late fall. One thing I have noticed is that my resting pulse has gone from the low 50’s to the low 40’s.
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No, I uploaded the first few. I’ve been building them as I get to that point in the progression. So far I’m up to 3 min on/off at 105% FTP. I usually get stuck on the ones at 115% of FTP. I do these once/week and it has taken me 4-5 weeks to accomplish these. If you wish I can upload what I have, on the other hand, you can review the video and build your own.
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I’ll take a look, and upload what I have. While you search for a Windows box this will get you started if you are inclined to go through the program.
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If you look in the Over 60 team, I have uploaded the following workouts from the VO2 progression.
The first is a single all out 3 min test. This I have in erg mode, but if you’re able to put out more than 300 watts for 3 min, you may want to do it resistance mode. AC1.1, AC1.22, and AC1.23 is the progression from 5% over FTP to 15% over FTP for 2 min on/off in a single set of 8 intervals. I include a 20 min cool down at 50% FTP, in my case this allows my blood glucose to drop from the high 100’s to the low 90’s. AC1.251, AC1.252, and AC1.253 is the same progression in power for 2 1/2 min on/off for a single set of 7 intervals. AC1.31 is the same thing for 3 min on/off at 105% of FTP for a set of 6 intervals.
f150, f180 are VO2 max sets that I built mirroring Joe Friel’s recommendations. I never got very far in the progression on these.
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I could never find them on TP either. If you look through the Over 60 workouts, everything I uploaded is scattered through the list of workouts.
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The program has you do an all out 3-5 min test prior to starting the interval series. We can switch to email docwattatgeemaildotcom
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The point of the test is to see where you are before starting the program. It’s repeated a couple of times in the whole program
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I think an all out 3 to 5 min effort can be a measure of your power output at VO2 max. So this may indicate an improvement as you move through the program
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Almost 4 years later and we’re still waiting for results from this admittedly “important project” for senior cyclists, @Nate_Pearson! Any updates? Did it die when Amber left? Many of us over 50 cyclists have continued to subscribe based upon the tease that this was coming soon.
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