Power bump!!
Posting it here as it is most relevant to those whose age starts with a 5 or higher.
Since mostly racing the bike the last 2 seasons my mantra has been "get lighter and keep the power you have". The premise behind this is that because I'm "older" I can't really expect to lift my ftp much if at all, so I must get lighter. I am happy to report I'm wrong.
April 4, Wednesday night group ride:
Duration: 1:26:02 (1:37:16)
Work: 1269 kJ
TSS: 105.4 (intensity factor 0.873)
Norm Power: 297
VI: 1.21
Pw:HR: 4.41%
Pa:HR: -11.04%
Distance: 26.483 mi
Elevation Gain: 1007 ft
Elevation Loss: 1027 ft
Grade: -0.0 % (-20 ft)
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 760 246 watts
Heart Rate: 30 157 139 bpm
Cadence: 21 113 80 rpm
Speed: 0 40.5 18.5 mph
Pace 1:29 0:00 3:15 min/mi
Altitude: 899 1362 1121 ft
May 17, Wednesday night group ride:
Duration: 1:25:54 (1:46:10)
Work: 1447 kJ
TSS: 125.3 (intensity factor 0.969)
Norm Power: 329
VI: 1.17
Pw:HR: 3%
Pa:HR: n/a
Distance: 0 ft
Elevation Gain: 1063 ft
Elevation Loss: 1030 ft
Min Max Avg
Power: 0 951 281 watts
Heart Rate: 85 161 140 bpm
Cadence: 20 108 79 rpm
(The IF is adjusted with the new FT)
These nights were comparable: same course, same players, same over all intensity. I always check the hour of power from these rides when I know they've been good and intense (some nights they're less competitive). Peak 60 minutes for April 4 was 312 and for May 17 was 341. Further, last Sunday's numbers jumped as did a long ride the previous week. So I'm bumping my ftp to 340 watts. The elusive 350 ftp is in my sights again.
I attribute the gains to 10 days of no intensity just frequency in Majorca, short anaerobic heavy lifting intervals in the OS, long tempo rides and beet juice. Not necessarily in that order. 
Keep the faith, greybeards!
0
Comments
I was never a bike racer, so I have no younger self to compare to ... but after 10 years of a lot of long-distance biking, commuting, and mountain biking, I started training for tris @ age 50. @ 57 I started doing intervals on my trainer, and added power to the mix. From that point, I started seeing improvements right up to age 61, including an IM PR @ age 60 (first IM @ 51). Work works @ any age, is my belief. But I think I've started the long slow decline ... and I've got no weight to lose to help out.
@ Chris ... them numbers just ... just blow my mind. I came in here with a FTP of 163. I'm pushing 187 now and will retest this week after 7.5 weeks of VO2 I want to hit 200 plus. Ah .. its a goal. I like knowing my numbers cause I can race better. It is all fun.
I did my first sprint of the season this weekend and came in MOP in the military category with the troops 15 - 35 years younger than me. Raced my small numbers Z5 the whole way . It was fun.
@ Al, what do you think of weight training ? Put some size/weight muscle on besides it's good for us " Grey Beards "
i've been lifting weights 2x/week since I was a teen ... Never have been able to gain a lot of size. Works great for running.
Just chucking this out, and you know your physiology, but I did some power lifting on the trainer this winter. My Sumo Cavendish workout.
That is, truly anaerobic stuff wherein after a long and luxurious warm up I put it in the heaviest gear and pushed as many watts as I could for MAYBE 30 seconds. Sprinter stuff, that was truly not aerobic. And then the recovery would be no less than about 3, 4, 5, minutes- just like maxing out on the bench, one or two reps really heavy- back in the day in the gym. Walk around, talk trash, look in the mirror but act like you're not.....and then hit it again.
It seems to have focused everything on the muscle and not on heart and lung- like power lifters. Lets face it, those big fat guys are strong as hell. So I figured, add raw power and the aerobic will take care of itself with the usual training rides and long intervals, etc. What got me going in this direction was reading about how muscle mass can be added and retained well into the later years, but it has to be heavy lifting. I mistook that for high end aerobic work which is what we all do whether it's VO2 Max or zone 2. It's still aerobic.
David,
Thanks, but I am a big guy so its all relative. I think also that what is a big ft in the tri world is very average in the cycling world. I chase after guys who weight 80 pounds less than me (and 15 years younger, ugh) with the same ftp, and they are mop in their category. If there is one thing I'd coach it's that there's a lot more power to be had on the bike for most triathletes if they would focus on it and stop "running" themselves into the ground for a few months.
Glad I checked in here...I like the "heavy lifting" Sumo Cavendish work...that is what I feel I'm missing...