Last Feb. I was starting Mid Vol. Specialty at 215 ftp. Then the weather here turned nice and I abandoned TR for the outdoors. 3 months later, I see my performance slipping and want to get back on a structured TR plan. Where do I restart? I am 62 years old, and weigh 145 lbs. Thanks…
We need a little more information to give the best recommendation: goals, events, what have you done between now and then?
Off the bat, if you’re not competing, going back to Sweet Spot Base is rarely a bad idea.
I’m riding 200+ miles per week with 2-3 training rides with local racers (typically 40+ miles @ 21 mph avg) I stopped riding/racing 16 years ago, until last June. When I started cycling again 51 weeks ago, it was just to get back in shape. I did our state road race championship three weeks ago and finished a disappointing 4th. (2nd and 3rd guy’s were from another state and we thought I had 2nd and they were competing for 1+2/“out of state”) So I guess I will continue to race, but not needing to “peak” for any races.
You’re probably losing fitness because group rides aren’t providing the structure required to maintain the high level of fitness you worked towards through your whole TR training cycle. That said, you’ve got miles in your legs, and you probably want to continue riding outside because, hey, that’s fun.
Go back and start Sweet Spot Base LV and integrate that with your outdoor rides. You can easily do 5 rides a week: “nail” your Low Volume plan, and do what you an on the group rides. If you start to get fried from the intensity, you can back off one of the interval sessions or skip an outdoor ride.
If that goes well, you can pick whatever build is appropriate, probably General Build LV. By the time you roll through that, your outdoor season might be wrapping up, so you’d be set up to start a mid-volume Base - Build - Specialty leading into next season.
FWIW, I went back and redid SSB again, and consolidated gains made in my first Base - Build. Don’t get wrapped up in “base”, because simply put, more base is rarely a bad thing. SSB will give you the dose of intensity you need to regain fitness, but allow you to adapt to interval training alongside your outdoor rides. That’s my $0.02.
Thanks Nash031. I appreciate your reply and input.