mollusk

I used to race but have not ridden much for the last few years. Even after I quite racing at 60 I rode with a good friend that was a former domestic pro for years until he died from brain cancer. After that I rarely rode. God damn I am out of shape and heavy. Now 68 years old and finally getting back on the bike. Mostly short rides (ten miles or so) to get my "sitting muscles" in shape on my town bike. That takes some time.

I never raced on my Curtlo, but that is the bike I will tune up first for road riding. It is my one road bike with compact gearing and I might need that until I get stronger. It was my "climbing" bike for North Georgia (6 Gap roads but never did the actual 6 Gap ride. Did all gaps in one day with a friend, though) and western North Carolina that has some really good climbs. The Blue Ridge Parkway is great, but some of the climbs up to the Blue Ridge are way more epic. And it was my rainy day trainer bike when I was racing.

So my training status is F-me.

And racing again is out of the question.

But I do miss it and sometimes dream about it.

Hermes

Yesterday, leg strength session and added jumping - 2 sets of 10 reps each leg. I use a 12 inch step and put my right leg on the bench with my left on the floor. I jump by pushing off with the right leg to get airborne and then land with my left leg on the bench and right on the floor. Now keep repeating. I got gassed almost immediately. For those of us that have, ahem, less than perfect disc and cartilage material, it is the landing that compresses the nerves and joints so I land like a cat. Of course, if one has the hot sauce, one can jump up on a box from the floor with one leg and land on the top. The elite guys can do this. How do I feel this AM? About the same as any other morning after a strength session. Ok.

One of the potential problems of heavy / strength training is that although one gets much stronger, the muscle contracts forcefully it may not relax fast enough. Plyometrics fires the muscle explosively and relaxes it quickly to prepare for another movement. So for sprinting on the bike, plyometrics of some kind is beneficial in addition to building bone density. And explosive power is an asset in daily life. YMMV.

I find it somewhat annoying at the gym that I struggle with setting up the Olympic lifting bars and weights. The straight Olympic bar and deadlift trap bar each weighs 45 pounds. The Olympic bar is long and awkward when it is not on the stand. So first I have to adjust the rack to my height. Then I have to power clean the bar to shoulder level and put it on the rack. How hard is that? Not that hard but not trivial. Then I start the progression of adding weight to the bar and building up to my final 6 rep back squat set. And since the Olympic bar is long, one has to get in the middle of the bar and balance / control the weight when standing upright as well as during the squat and move forward and backward from the rack with the weight on ones back. So this exercise builds core muscles to the max as well as balance.

The trap bar is vertical in a rack. So I have to lift it out of the rack and carry it to the station. Then bending over, I have to lift one end of the 45 pound bar and load weights. Then I have to load weight to the bar as I begin the deadlift session. And of course rerack the bars and weights to their original position for the next user.

Contrast all that overhead to for two lifts to siting down at a leg press machine and setting a pin for the correct weight and adjusting the seat. That is a dream.

The upshot of all this is not many people and close to zero except me old guys use the Olympic station setup and we have 5 stations. And once one is in a station, one is there for some period of time lifting, resting and loading and unloading weight. The trainers at the gym typically avoid the setup and I think it is due to taking too much time. They use kettlebells and dumbbells and other machines and etc to work the same muscles and move clients from exercise to exercise quickly. No one wants to pay a trainer $X per hour while resting 2 to 3 minutes between deadlifts and backsquats.

Having done the multi joint Olympic style lifts, I find them extremely beneficial for cycling and general health and worth the overhead of setup and tear down and rest between sets.

Just some miscellaneous musing this AM.

revchuck 

Gettin' back in the groove. Just under ten hours on the bike this past week, including two days with 4x7' sweet spot intervals that would qualify as threshold intervals if I knew the FTP we're working with is accurate. I also had two days in the gym; I'm usually pretty cooked when I get done. TSS for the week is 513, which doesn't include the gym work. CTL is 39, ATL is 62. Next week is a "step-down" week, not quite a recovery week. The following week has yet to be planned out, though I'll be going back to three gym days a week. I asked my coach about going to longer intervals and she was receptive to the idea. Things are progressing.

procrit

Ended up with a nasty cold and then bronchitis which kept me off the bike for almost two weeks. I’m now in full base miles mode, and back in the gym to add some strength and muscle mass. I think at 40+ I need to at least spend some of my time in the gym year round to maintain strength and keep the joints strong, I lose the strength gains so fast now compared to even 10 years ago

TMonk

Nice to see you guys posing again revchuck and mollusk.

We have rain on the forecast for the next two mornings, so I thought I would get my opener efforts done outside today instead of on zwift. I was met with drizzle towards the coast, and now my new bike isn't clean and spiffy any more . That's ok, I still mostly enjoyed my time out there. HR/power is a bit high, which is to be expected atm haha. I've got a ways to go! Time to start training. HR variability was high and quite responsive up and down, so I'm nicely rested and ready for some TSS. CTL at ~70 right now.

Yep

I don't think I can commit to getting in the gym this offseason, but could I still help myself by doing body weight and dumbbell stuff at home?

TMonk

I think so. You might not see huge strength or performance gains, but it could indirectly help with injury prevention, form, and whole-body wellness. I realize that last one is a bit vague.

After suffering through a couple months of knee problems last off-season (as I have before), I started doing at-home body weight and dumbell strength work, focusing on glute and VMO muscles, and I feel like it's been hugely beneficial. One's "feelings" aren't exactly objective or measurable, but those feelings have translated to better headspace on and off the bike.

At some point I would consider getting back into fundamentals lifts like squats and deadlifts, but I personally don't want to deal with the hassle of the gym at this point. Maybe if I get home/garage setup for that eventually. I'm doing 20-30 lb dumbell weighted lunges and high box step-ups, and outside of that my routine is pretty light tbh. I still do it once/week and im conditioned enough such that it doesn't detract from the following day's bike performance. Pure maintenance.

TMonk

3 hrs on the trainer this morning, all z2. Spent the first bit in a lively group ride, and the rest cruising the flats of Tempus Fugit while watching track racing on youtube.

Legs pretty sore still after Saturday's indiscretions.... I wanted 4 hours of steady z2 but thought that I could exercise some self control and sit-in on the local A ride, but I never learn. I have no self control - I absolutely smashed the front of that ride lol. After Sunday off and an easy day yesterday, my legs are sitll recovering as I'm on the ride with CTL.

I'm confident that with some light (Z2-3) work on the TT bike tomorrow and a day off Thursday, I should be good to go for this weekend's El Tour de Tucson. I am planning to allow myself a couple of days to recover into my final week of base 1, which should be high volume and nearly all z2. El Tour is a flat, fast, fun 4 hour century. I will make sure the group I land in is smooth and fast with eager willingness to rotate through on front. There's really only two "attack" sections on the ride that result in separation.

Hermes

Yesterday, I did 30” on 1’ off on Fiesta time trial bike. It was a beautiful morning at Mission Bay with cool temps and absolutely no wind. The bay was like glass. In the afternoon, I did upper body strength training.

caloso

Bike training has been sporadic lately, but I am running and hiking a fair bit. So there’s that.

Earlier in the year I paused my Zwift account because I was riding outside exclusively. For some reason I thought I would have to manually reactivate it, but I just checked it and they’ve been billing me the last couple months. Oh well, I guess that’s on me for not checking sooner.

himespau 

There are 2 different ways to stop your account so that you can later restart it, and it's kind of confusing and not explained well (that might be on purpose). Pausing it stops it for a set period of time (can't remember how long it is) and then it restarts automatically. You can also cancel your account (make sure to not choose delete, the 3rd option because that removes all of your data). If you choose that option, you can manually restart it later with all of your data still saved. I think the only reason "Pause" exists is they hope that you'll forget about it and it'll auto restart and you keep paying in without realizing it - sort of the gym membership model where gyms stay in business from all of the people who sign up in January, stop going in February, but can't be bothered to cancel their memberships. I mean I like Zwift and ride on it almost exclusively after I got hit, but that always seemed a bit shady to me.

Yep

Tracks with what I've experienced. I do core work, my back and general feel on the bike are great, then I take it for granted and stop until things start hurting again. Rinse and repeat.

I've just started up again and already feeling better. As far as "proper lifting" goes, I spose as you say it's a continuum and not some certain lift or weight that magically flips a switch.

TMonk

I think there are bigger physiological benefits to be had from doing power lifts with reps of 6-10, but yeah I hear ya, I think it is a continuum between that and the lighter stuff. As far as lighter stuff goes, I do lots of glute bridges, side leg raises (both banded), and step-downs. Th step downs are great as they hit the VMO and the quad and offer a good chance to think about form.

Yep

I'm letting my CTL drop down to 70-75 over the next couple weeks, then I'll turn around and start ramping back up for my first gravel race in late April. I really don't like setting a peak so early in the year, so maybe I'll call it a B. Anyway, I'm really stoked to do it, and based on the results of guys I've raced with, I think a top 10 might be on the cards, which would be great for morale.

I'm working on consistently doing that core work (5 or 10 minutes per day) and tracking weight. I've been at 160+ this last couple of seasons, and I know I could get down to at least 154, maybe even 152, and that would be a game changer.

caloso

Yeah, I think that's exactly it. I like Zwift. During the pandemic, my teammates started a Monday night shoot-the-shizz group ride where we'd be on Discord and there'd be the rubber band thing so we could all see each other, and I really enjoyed it. And I like running it concurrently with a TR workout, as it gives me something to focus on other than the power read out. Like you said, the pause thing seems a little shady especially since I never got an email saying "hey, we're charging you again," but that's probably on me for not reading the fine print.

revchuck 

This past week has been...interesting. My grandson apparently caught a stomach bug last weekend and was home from school M-W. It looks like that bug tried to get me too, but my body successfully fought it off. There was a cost for that, though. Monday's workout was 3-4x10' sweet spot intervals, and I barely made it through three of them. Tuesday's ride was 1:30-2:00 at endurance pace, and I made it through at the bottom end of my endurance range with stupidly high RPE. I just took Wednesday off from the planned gym day to rest and did the gym workout Thursday. Friday (yesterday) was another endurance pace ride and it went much better than Tuesday's; I'd like to say my power was up again but the battery in my SRM died six minutes into the ride. I broke down and finally replaced the bottom bracket in my Allez Sprint yesterday so I'll be using that for tomorrow's 3x12' sweet spot intervals; my coach said if that's not in the cards to just do another two-hour endurance pace ride.

We've had multiple reinforcing cold fronts come through and I've been getting my money's worth from my leg warmers and thick gloves. Gotta love it when, in south Louisiana, you turn on your Garmin and the first thing that pops up is a freeze warning.

TMonk

revchuck do you train indoors at all? I love my smart trainer.

revchuck 

I've got a dumb trainer that I haven't used for years. One of the reasons I ride is to be outside, about the only thing that'll keep me inside is icy roads or days like yesterday - rainy, windy, windchill in the upper 30s. The rain is gone and I'll come back with my base layer damp with sweat, so it's not too bad. I've been riding my Look 585 with the SRM because the bottom brackets in my other two bikes were squeaky and I was procrastinating replacing them; now that the SRM needs a new battery I'm looking forward to riding the other bikes.

I'm starting almost from scratch on base building. Coach wants to build back some power first before concentrating on endurance, but at any rate, I'll be spending lots of time on the bike this winter. I just can't see doing that indoors.

BTinNYC 

I'd like to join the gang. Sharing my training work in the Fifty and Over section is the wrong place.

After a year back on the bike, I feel like I have a base. Now I'm training for my first Fondo, the GFNY, May 21, '23. Signed up for TrainingPeaks and starting a 24 week GF plan Monday.

revchuck 

I got through the 3x12' sweet spot intervals with no problem, so last Monday's fiasco must've been due to fighting off that stomach bug my grandson brought home. I think the SWAG we're using for my FTP is pretty close; if it is, those were in threshold territory rather than sweet spot.

20-minute test coming up on Tuesday. I haven't pushed hard for that long for about four years. My plan is to start at about 20 watts over the SWAG for the first ten minutes and then see if I have the juice to push harder. My coach told me it's okay if I blow up at some point; that in itself would be a valuable data point. Part of me is really curious about how I'll do, the rest of me is not looking forward to the suffering.

Hermes

Renewed my Camp Pendleton visitors pass for bike riding through the camp and rode to San Clemente and back on Thursday. Friday was upper body strength training.

Saturday was 2x20k TTT with wife at Fiesta and today was a SDV workout of 2x20’ efforts with my wife where we rolled for 3 laps and did one fast lap taking turns leading each other out.

We are having great weather in SD.

TMonk

3 more hours on the hamster wheel this morning. Chained together a couple Tour de Makuri Islands group rides, then watched more of the 2022 track worlds on Youtube for the last hour. The final points race in the omnium was just fantastic to watch, total omnium points came down to the final sprint of the final points race, and a lap was taken nearly right at the line, with dramatic placings changes. Not gonna spoil it beyond that - do yourself a favor and watch it!

Tomorrow, 3.5 hours on the road to build up a caloric deficit before I stuff myself with food and wine. Have some fine Pinots and Barolos on tap.

Some more volume over the weekend and this will cap me out between 15.5 and 16 hours for the week, ending base 1 with my highest volume week since January (most likely). All z2 intensity, minus my TT bike workout yesterday, which got a little racey at the end of my second interval. Good times.

P.S. The new Zwift maps sure aren't hard to look at!

revchuck 

Well, I made it through the 20-minute test, albeit not perfectly. The first five minutes went okay, then my breathing got hard and ragged. I psyched myself into stopping the effort at ten minutes, then realized that I wasn’t *that* tired and started back. This time my breathing was deep and even and my body just composed itself and got it done. AP for both segments was 231. 95% of 231 is 219.45. My coach’s SWAG was 220, so we don’t have to change anything in Training Peaks. I’m going to be living in sweet spot for a while, I have two days next week which are 3x15’ workouts. It feels great to be able to do this again.

BTinNYC 

My 6 month Fondo plan kicked off with a FTP test on Monday because of course it did. B-b-but I just did one 4 days prior, when I was deciding on the GFNY! 😓 I guess loving The Test is step one. 😉

Down 6 watts from the previous, which makes sense. I was feeling great and psyched on the first test and a bit weak (post weight training) on the second. Inters yesterday and today, and two 3 hr rides over the weekend.

TMonk

Fantastic revchuck, enjoy! Sounds like your body recalled what it was doing in the second half.