11/17/24

Is starting to train in November too early? (No)

Perhaps the biggest obstacle to finding fitness in years past, when I had imagined that I'd "make a comeback" was the following magical thinking: that somehow I could turn a middle aged body into a racing machine in 6 weeks, like I was able to in the 1980s and 1990s in certain seasons.  

It was remarkable how I could do a bunch of long, cold rides in late February and through March, lose 15 - 20 pounds, and be race fit by April when I was a younger person.  

I just doesn't work that way anymore, especially the getting lean part, which I find incredibly difficult these days.  Furthermore, I've really dived into some of the studies and methodology surrounding the efficacy of zone 2 training, which I've always found the most enjoyable type of training as it is.  Riding fairly easy for hours at a time, working on form, is my favorite type of riding.  One of my best seasons was in 1995 when I was living in Lincoln, Nebraska and doing this type of long, slow distance training. 

I'd latched onto the legendary mountain bike racer and Zen master John Weisenreider's "nose breathing" philosophy when I read an article about it in Velonews. He emphasized getting incredibly lean with hours and hours of riding where he never went so hard he had to breathe through his mouth.  For months I rode like this: going out on snowy, icy roads on my mountain bike for 3-4 hours in the depths of winter.  I bookended that season with one podium after another in spring races and several top 30 finishes at the Gateway Cup races in ragingly competitive 3s fields in the late summer.  It was the best executed and most successful bike racing season I've probably ever had. 

Right now, my emphasis is again on Z2 training, with just one "hard" day a week.  This day is almost always going to be my trail running day on Saturday of Sunday, when I hit a very hilly course and spend a lot of time in Z4 on the hills.  I also have 2 scheduled strength training days, interspersed with aerobic, zone 2 days when I either trail run, ride the trainer, or do a couple of hours road ride.  It's almost all about body conditioning and aerobic base. 

Below is my training schedule (currently using Google calendar tasks, which is cheaper than Training Peaks.