Originally Posted by ColnagoC40

I rode pro in 79. 80, 81 in South Africa and raced vets in 1999 in Italy. Then stopped in 2001. Joe Friel's methodology is pretty much standard with small variations, everywhere. In Europe we trained similar. I only do strength with weights before base 1, don't believe too much in that. Time on the bike is better. Short hard intervals 2 minutes to 45 seconds seem to be the new thing, they really work for me.

Originally Posted by Racer Ex

Beware of the cookie cutter.

As we age up, there are a lot of systems that don't function at the same level as they used to. There are lifestyle and nutrition things we can do to improve this. When we don't the impact is greater than it would be when we are younger.

Originally Posted by ColnagoC40

Joe Friel's methodology is pretty much standard with small variations, everywhere. In Europe we trained similar. I only do strength with weights before base 1, don't believe too much in that. Time on the bike is better. Short hard intervals 2 minutes to 45 seconds seem to be the new thing, they really work for me.

Originally Posted by shovelhd

I'd like to know what kind of races you're doing at age 61 that are more than four hours. There's nothing like that around here. Hard rides don't count. At 57 about the longest road race I could do as a Master is 3.5 hours, 65 miles, unless I'm foolish enough to do the P/1/2 which I would never do. I typically do between 2-2.5 hours of back to back criteriums, though. At Bethel that's M45+, an hour break, then the P/1/2/3. I'm pretty much shot after that. I do a double recovery shake made with 2% milk on the ride home. It helps a LOT with reducing soreness.

The next day I'm sore but I am very fast. Fortunately, I have a coach who calms me down and won't let me do anything other than recovery or a trip to the gym. Riding hard the day after racing is what led me to quit this sport when I was an elite. I'm not going down that path again. Two or three days in and I'm tired, sore, but ready for work. With the training cycle I'm on now, I feel tired during the week, but by openers day, I feel sore but very strong, and on race day I feel like a million bucks.

I would not take two days completely off. Try a recovery day the day after your races. Target 25 TSS or less. Just roll around for an hour. I know this can be challenging if you live in hilly terrain like I do but it is possible. You can always do it on the trainer. Protein, rest, recovery ride in that order is what works for me. I also have no problem going to bed early if I feel tired. I also take breaks during the season with no racing, just riding.

One more thing. I learned the hard way this year how much life stress off the bike affects training and racing. It hits you twice as hard, physically and mentally, and can be very difficult to recover from. I was really screwed up at the beginning of this season, but I'm much better now.

Originally Posted by shovelhd

If there's anything else you'd like to know about me just ask. I'm an open book. Boring, but open.

Originally Posted by shovelhd

Colnago, have you raced Masters in the States? How does it compare to Veterans overseas? Incidentally, the USCF used to call Masters Veterans over here.