Souhthern hemisphere, im 56 and my A race is very close, but im wondering about the season “ending” . The c races will continue but im stuck in a quandary. I peaked earlier, did well in a race then because of a death training stopped. I went in an ftp freefall, 2wks off took 2 months to regain. So, to stay mentally fresh, but not have to rebuild, what training plan/ strategy? Also is this just an old guy problem?
I read somewhere that if you maintain intensity and reduce volume anything up to around 60%; then you retain most of your fitness.
Personally I tend to keep frequency at a min of 3 times a week and reduce duration whilst throwing in some intensity about once every 5 days. I’ll often do it without numbers as well during my transition period, go easy based on RPE most days, then go hard on some hills on my intense days, again based on RPE…
I’m 55 turning 56 this year.
I think the best way is always the way that keep you motivated. The whole “take a few weeks off” isn’t good in general if you really don’t feel like you are totally drained (in which there are other problems to adress as well).
I would try to focus on riding just for fun, see it as a mental break but keep the legs spinning.
Probably going to do the opposite and focus on longer outdoor rides and pretend vo2 doesnt exist for a month, then do a zwift race once a week till the winter season starts. Not sure i can mentally front for high intensity year round
And also wondering on thoughts regarding shifting from MV plan to LV for a few months
I’d second the advice above about doing whatever motivates you. I tend to do what you’re proposing here - just ride, mostly easy, sprinkle in something harder once a week or so. Those harder efforts might come from a Zwift race, a group ride, a solo ride where I mostly do Z2 bit just do a couple of short hills hard, maybe a local race if the weather is nice and some friends are racing.
Personally I don’t follow any TR plan at the end of a season because for me it’s a time to relax and go with the grain and not feel any pressure from scheduled workouts. So anything I do on TR is just one off workouts I pick on the day depending what I want to do. If I choose TR for my harder efforts it’s probably going to be a short shorts type workout which gets me some time in VO2 Max without undue stress or fatigue.
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My official “season” starts about in December and ends after the Firecracker 50 in July. After that, it’s high alpine season and I target some independent mega rides and bikepacking.
Personally, I struggle to keep myself motivated without the daily consistency of a training plan, so even if I don’t follow the plan perfectly (especially with unstructured outside rides mixed in), it helps remind me that the daily practice of training is what makes me stronger and faster in the long run.
For reference. 37yo dude ~2.7w/kg, currently on LV. I’m not fast at all I just like to get faster and have some awesome adventures along the way.
Cheers!
I think a period of riding purely for pleasure is good for the head, though just be prepared for associated FTP dips.
My A event (XCM) was postponed from October to Feb and then last minute got cancelled and will be again in October this year. It meant I ended up structured training specifically for it for almost exactly a year.
I’ve decided to just ride for fun and do club races now completely (Crits, short road and XC races) two to three times a week. Will throw in the odd TrainNow and then do a planbuilder for the XCM 6 months out from the new A race. Hopefully that’ll keep me sane.
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