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Slowly adding strength

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Slowly adding strength

Old 09-13-22, 03:58 PM
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Wash, rinse, repeat. Starting the next 4 week block.
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Old 09-13-22, 08:52 PM
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My cycling season is over. My wife and I just got back from our annual 10-day backpack in the Cascades. My back muscles took a beating and are quite sore. There are some back muscles that cycling and even the gym just don't work hard enough.

So time to start over! My practice as been to restart my training year about now, My idea is to get into good enough shape to go on a group cycling tour with younger folks than I by the middle of next June and ramp it up from there for my goal rides in July. I use a slow steady ramp up. My CTL is quite high right now from the backpack trip, so I'll let it drop a ways. I'll change over to doing easy to moderate rides supplemented with 2 days/week of weight work at the gym. I'll concentrate on building strength at the gym and endurance at a moderate effort. I'll go hard maybe one day a week on a 3-4 hour group ride. I usually start doing a few formal intervals in January or February, getting conditioned enough to do some good low cadence hill work in April.

My hill climbing practice is to accelerate before a hill, bringing my effort level up to what I figure I can sustain for the length of the hill, then just shifting down every time my cadence drops below 90 until I get down to the gear I'll probably use for most of the climb. It takes a while for HR to come up while holding power steady, so I like to be fully warmed up before the hard climbing starts. Our lungs can easily move as much oxygen as we can use into our bloodstream. Hard breathing and panting is to get rid of the CO2. Acidosis is the limiting factor.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15308499/

So yes, I add strength slowly. I don't think there's another way, really.
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Old 09-13-22, 10:02 PM
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Originally Posted by terrymorse
I got talked into signing up for the Huntsman Senior Games in October. The hill climb. 75 days to go.

Oh boy.
Update: 19 days to go. There’s no way I’ll get close to the winning hill climb times, but I’ve improved quite a bit since July.

Today, I did a tempo/threshold climb up Mt. Hamilton. I was only 3% off my best pace, which I set way back in 2007. That should be enough fitness to keep me from humiliating myself.
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Old 09-14-22, 04:47 AM
  #29  
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Originally Posted by rm -rf
Most riders don't know their power data and FTP. Your 180 FTP sounds good to me. It seems that "everyone" online is 250+, does that match with real life?

I ride with some 60-75 age riders, the 4000 to 6000 mile per year serious riders. I think there's two groups: 150-190 FTP, and 250+ FTP. A lot of the difference is "genetics" and perhaps "competitive spirit".
I think it makes more sense to rank FTP by W/kg as weight is such an important factor. I find a lot of average "club" riders are in the 3-3.5 W/kg range, but there are relatively few people genuinely above 4 W/kg. I've never quite been able to crack that 4 W/kg barrier personally, I seem to top out consistently at around 3.7 W/kg. But that's enough to meet my modest performance goals.
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Old 09-14-22, 08:00 AM
  #30  
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Originally Posted by PeteHski
I think it makes more sense to rank FTP by W/kg as weight is such an important factor.
How do you measure your FTP?

I read that one way is to do a 20-minute time trial and take 95% of that power number as your FTP.

I haven't done that. I just do rides, and every once in a while my Garmin tells me that it's detected a new FTP, and I click "Accept".

The "new FTP detected" ride is usually when I go up Mt. Hamilton (18.29 miles, 3745 feet). I got one of those yesterday.
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Old 09-14-22, 10:10 AM
  #31  
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Originally Posted by terrymorse
How do you measure your FTP?

I read that one way is to do a 20-minute time trial and take 95% of that power number as your FTP.

I haven't done that. I just do rides, and every once in a while my Garmin tells me that it's detected a new FTP, and I click "Accept".

The "new FTP detected" ride is usually when I go up Mt. Hamilton (18.29 miles, 3745 feet). I got one of those yesterday.
I occasionally do the Wahoo SYSTM Full Monty benchmark test, which gives a very good indication of your FTP and several other power metrics. It's a hell of a test though, so I don't put myself through it very often! I have a good feeling for when I'm slightly up or down based on how hard I find my interval training. But I don't really focus specifically on my FTP these days since most of my target events are in the 5-10 hour endurance range with either repeated punchy climbs or drawn out mountain epics.
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Old 09-26-22, 04:48 AM
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Halfway through the block and I know I'm doing it right; my legs tell me so on the stairs at night. 😉

@terrymorse, good luck next week at the Huntsman Games!

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Old 09-26-22, 06:30 AM
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Originally Posted by BTinNYC
Halfway through the block and I know I'm doing it right; my legs tell me so on the stairs at night. 😉

@terrymorse, good luck next week at the Huntsman Games!
Hey, thanks! I'm about to leave in a few minutes, staying in Mammoth for a few days, then it's on to the Huntsman Games.

I'm not even close to the fitness needed to win (national and world class cyclists are expected to race), but all I can do is give it my best shot.

Not finishing with the slowest time would be a triumph, getting within 20% of the winning pace would be amazing!
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Old 11-17-22, 12:53 PM
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FTP test this AM and it's up to 212 from 191 in the late summer. Zwift FTP Test (shorter).
It's all in for the next 6 months, I signed up for the GFNY on May 21.
Not going gentle into that good night.
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Old 11-17-22, 02:23 PM
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Originally Posted by BTinNYC
FTP test this AM and it's up to 212 from 191 in the late summer. Zwift FTP Test (shorter).
It's all in for the next 6 months, I signed up for the GFNY on May 21.
Not going gentle into that good night.
Great! You're committed and probably should be, too. Which blocks from where, beginning to now? And now what?
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Old 11-17-22, 02:35 PM
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Originally Posted by BTinNYC
FTP test this AM and it's up to 212 from 191 in the late summer. Zwift FTP Test (shorter).
It's all in for the next 6 months, I signed up for the GFNY on May 21.
Not going gentle into that good night.
11% improvement in 3 months is outstanding. Good work!
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Old 11-17-22, 03:02 PM
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Thanks, I'm starting from zero so still on the elbow of the improvement curve. So far this year each 4 week block (3 of them) has given me about a 5% increase. For those blocks I took the FTP on a schedule, usually with sore legs. This time I waited until I was feeling good.

Starting the next 4 week block on Monday, it's a standard CTS training block from Strava and I'm looking at coaching. The GFNY is a stretch goal, and I think the pro guidance will help.

Thoughts on coaches/coaching?

Last edited by BTinNYC; 11-17-22 at 03:06 PM.
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Old 11-21-22, 10:18 AM
  #38  
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Coaches/coaching…I started more serious cycling in 2007 and I have had a 3rd party coach that can see me in person as well as provide a training plan for the last 15 years. I have had different coaches and tried different styles that supported road and track.

I find having a coach and a group to work out with a lot of fun. And having training partners of similar ability and goals to train with more effective than large unstructured hammer and nail group rides.

To get better at cycling and to the next level, I had to learn to HTFU and then stay in that mode during training and racing. I need an in person coach to inspire / lead me to a place I cannot take myself.
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Old 11-30-22, 06:09 AM
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Originally Posted by Carbonfiberboy
Which blocks from where, beginning to now? And now what?
In week 2 of a 6 month Fondo plan from TrainingPeaks. About 10 hrs/week cycling and 1.5 hrs/week weight training.
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