Rate of improvement??

[WillemJM]

What rate of improvement can one expect with a perfect training plan?

Background:

Use to be a cat 1 cyclist, later 3/4 stopped riding in 2000, meaning since year 2000 did about 200 miles a year, which is really nothing.
I'm old now 59./img/vbsmilies/smilies/mad.gif

12 years later, started doing base work and endurance 12 weeks ago, doing 10 to 12 hours per week. Now starting with tempo.

For the past 3 weeks, I have been doing a 10 mile time trial test on a full circle hilly course, every Tuesday I'm just around 19mph average now, each test seems to be between 45 seconds to 1 minute faster for the full circle lap. I seem to get my heart rate a little higher with every test as well, but it is way down compared to 12 years ago. It's not encouraging to compare my performance now, to what it use to be, but at least I see progress?

Is the progress fast enough?

I use to train with a Powertap, but the technology was new then, with lots of bugs, not planning to get back into that, as the motivation this time is more getting into shape than being competitive, at least for now.

 

[jpr95]

At 59, I'd say any progress is good, as long as you're not hurting yourself.

 

[daveryanwyoming]

Originally Posted by WillemJM ....Is the progress fast enough?....

Might as well ask 'how long is a piece of string?'

Your progress is what it is, no one can say if you might be progressing faster or if it's too slow or is setting some kind of progress records. Do the work, stick with it and progress will come at a pace dictated by your genetics, ability to recover and how much effort and quality you put into training.

Given your riding history you'll almost certainly progress much faster than someone starting out from scratch. You already know how to ride a bike, how to be efficient, how to use gears appropriately and have a lot of sport specific experience to draw from. You'll almost certainly get back to a high level much faster than a newcomer to cycling. It's pretty typical for HR both max and things like HR while time trialing to drop with aging so that doesn't mean too much but with time your power and speed will likely get to a high percentage of what you were previously capable of and I'll bet you were doing better than 19 mph for a sustained TT effort when you raced.

Give it time and enjoy the process, especially if it's primarily for fitness. Don't worry about how fast it's happening, but be confident that it'll come much quicker for someone with your experience than for someone starting out from scratch.

Good luck,
-Dave

 

[vspa]

What rate of improvement can one expect with a perfect training plan? Background: Use to be a cat 1 cyclist, later 3/4 stopped riding in 2000, meaning since  year 2000 did about 200 miles a year, which is really nothing. I'm old now 59. 12 years later, started doing base work and endurance 12 weeks ago, doing 10 to 12 hours per week. Now starting with tempo. For the past 3 weeks, I have been doing a 10 mile time trial test on a full circle hilly course, every Tuesday I'm just around 19mph average now, each test seems to be between 45 seconds to 1 minute faster for the full circle lap. I seem to get my heart rate a little higher with every test as well, but it is way down compared to 12 years ago. It's not encouraging to compare my performance now, to what it use to be, but at least I see progress? Is the progress fast enough? I use to train with a Powertap, but the technology was new then, with lots of bugs, not planning to get back into that, as the motivation this time is more getting into shape than being competitive, at least for now.

well 59 years of age is the new 40's, people still compete on masters events even for higher ages, i switched my polar device to display HR as a percentage of the max instead of bpm, problem solved because while you get older the device makes the calculations and you don't get demotivated by lower bpm readings !

 

[WillemJM]

Originally Posted by vspa .


well 59 years of age is the new 40's, people still compete on masters events even for higher ages,
i switched my polar device to display HR as a percentage of the max instead of bpm, problem solved because while you get older the device makes the calculations and you don't get demotivated by lower bpm readings !

LOL

That seems like a good solution. Thinking about re-calibrating my computer, so it reads 25mph average when I'm doing 20. That will make me feel just like the old days.

 

[vspa]

LOL That seems like a good solution. Thinking about re-calibrating my computer, so it reads 25mph average when I'm doing 20. That will make me feel just like the old days.

no, please read again my post, you can set your HR readings as a percentage of your maximum HR, e.g. 70% reading instead of 132 bpm (for a 42 year old male), i only see the actual bpm when i check out the saved files in the summary,

 

[WillemJM]

Originally Posted by vspa .


no, please read again my post,
you can set your HR readings as a percentage of your maximum HR, e.g. 70% reading instead of 132 bpm (for a 42 year old male), i only see the actual bpm when i check out the saved files in the summary,

Thx, I got it the first time and was just joking about the computer.