Originally Posted by
kingfishr
I'm 58 and have been riding for 30+ years, and I haven't really seen much slowdown yet.
My max pulse is down from 210 to 185 so I can't sustain a sprint as long, but my endurance is good and I regularly ride 1-2 hours at 20+mph, and the occasional century and double-century. I still set new PRs over times I set 5 years ago.
BUT I need more recovery time; I can train 3-4 days a week tops, and if I do a race or a hard ride I need 1-2 days of recovery.
I use a power meter and Trainerroad to structure my training which includes intervals and periodization with easy weeks after a couple of hard weeks.
I think with proper training (and recovery) you should be getting faster not slower, since you were probably not as well trained 5 years ago.
Why don't you share a typical week of your training/riding and see what kind of feedback that gets you.
Btw I also agree on with RandyO on the nutrition side. I generally avoid fast carbs and processed foods (after reading Grain Brain) and eat far more vegetables, berries, and nuts than I did 5 years ago which resulted in my dropping 5 pounds pretty quickly and am back at my college weight of 155lbs (5'10").
Congratulations! You are obviously Superman! If I remember right, "Periodization" is the process of building a lop-sided training program that's only purpose is to get your body to peak during the best time of the racing calendar. And that's great on your weight - weighing the same as during college is unusual.
Originally Posted by
Rick@OCRR
I'm 66 and have been cycling for 48 years now, pretty consistently, and keep my weight in the 160 lb. area (varies by a few pounds) and, unfortunately, the only thing I've found that works to retain as much speed as possible are intervals.
Yes, I know, intervals are painful . . . make that very painful. They are also tedious, difficult to remain motivated through and big picture: Not Fun. And if you think intervals on flat ground are painful, try some hill intervals for a change! Sheesh.
All that said, they do work. I won't go into the "why" here (you can look that up easily enough). I will say that if you're motivated, dedicated and just plain suborn enough to carry through with intervals you will be pleased with the result.
Rick / OCRR
I tried polarized training last year - one day of intervals and LOTS of zone 1. 4 x 8 minutes with enough rest (1-4 minutes) to get my HR down to 100. I'd get my AHR for the last 7 minutes at 150 (my LTHR in 2012 was 145). I did them every week for 2 months. Results? I found very little change overall, but I did improve my ability to crank up the speed for a short burst, but no significant improvement on typical rides. Made me very sad!
TO EVERYONE -
Let this thread die. I'm embarrassed by it. I've since found my original logs, and I was even more insane than I remembered -
- 1st week = 3 rides, 27 miles, 2nd = 5, 103 (long 38), 3rd = 4,127 (45), 4th = 6, 162 (57), 5th = 6, 241 (!!!) w/ long of 57, 6th = 6,162 (65), and my 7th week I only did 3 rides but they were 50 & 56 miles and then 83 (had to stop due to cramps on a very hot century, "Climb to the Clouds")
- I also rode a weekly fitness ride with experienced cyclists - I pushed myself to be AFAP
- I was also working out at the gym
So that seems pretty intense to me. Plus my cycling has come back stronger in the last 2 weeks since I made the original post. Hopefully I will start a new post next month asking what I can do to keep my average speed on hills under 20 MPH.
But thank you all for your words.