Maybe an odd question, but maybe I just worded it badly?
I've done 950 road miles since 1st Jan, with a focus on L2, L3 and L4 time and I'm feeling really good already. My recent rides have shown me to be a totally different rider from where I was last year, finishing 60-80 mile reliability rides strongly, dropping groups of faster guys in the last 10 miles, climbing well and generally keeping going hard when previously I'd be taking any recovery time I could. Today I rode a local hilly loop again for the first time in a while and despite a fairly high training load recently I PB'd it by some margin.
I'm 40 and its only my 2nd year of serious riding after a few years of doing very little, with just under 4000 miles covered last year in total. I've had a lot of time available to me in the last couple of months to train and taken advantage of it in all weathers! I recently invested in a PT wheel, have read up on how to train with power and worked hard to train more cleverly and consistently on the areas I needed to focus on - FTP and endurance. I've ridden 8 x 50+ milers, with a few of those as much as 80 miles as well as a lot of SST/L4 2x15's & 2x20's etc etc. I've also paid careful attention to training load and making sure I get good recuperation after the harder sessions.
Bottom line is that it feels like its paying off in a BIG way already, and my motivation is really high....but should it be this early in the year? Is it realistic to keep improving from here as well. I'm not a racer and my goals are sportives and multi-day events throughout this year, so if I can keep seeing the results I've seen already I'll be very satisfied. A couple of mates keep spouting 'flying in spring, dying in summer' at me and I want to make sure I dont risk doing just that - although personally I think its just there response to being constantly dropped /img/vbsmilies/smilies/ROTF.gif
Appreciate any thought - thanks
I've done 950 road miles since 1st Jan, with a focus on L2, L3 and L4 time and I'm feeling really good already. My recent rides have shown me to be a totally different rider from where I was last year, finishing 60-80 mile reliability rides strongly, dropping groups of faster guys in the last 10 miles, climbing well and generally keeping going hard when previously I'd be taking any recovery time I could. Today I rode a local hilly loop again for the first time in a while and despite a fairly high training load recently I PB'd it by some margin.
I'm 40 and its only my 2nd year of serious riding after a few years of doing very little, with just under 4000 miles covered last year in total. I've had a lot of time available to me in the last couple of months to train and taken advantage of it in all weathers! I recently invested in a PT wheel, have read up on how to train with power and worked hard to train more cleverly and consistently on the areas I needed to focus on - FTP and endurance. I've ridden 8 x 50+ milers, with a few of those as much as 80 miles as well as a lot of SST/L4 2x15's & 2x20's etc etc. I've also paid careful attention to training load and making sure I get good recuperation after the harder sessions.
Bottom line is that it feels like its paying off in a BIG way already, and my motivation is really high....but should it be this early in the year? Is it realistic to keep improving from here as well. I'm not a racer and my goals are sportives and multi-day events throughout this year, so if I can keep seeing the results I've seen already I'll be very satisfied. A couple of mates keep spouting 'flying in spring, dying in summer' at me and I want to make sure I dont risk doing just that - although personally I think its just there response to being constantly dropped /img/vbsmilies/smilies/ROTF.gif
Appreciate any thought - thanks