I’m a 54 year old male, I did Fl Ironman in 2010 ( time 13hrs) then took off Nov. started P90X Dec 1 did the full 90 days with no tri training and then a hybrid that added tri sports over two months from that I had a great season doing sprints and Oly. races. I finished with Chicago in Sept. (time 2:35 ave 22mph on a very windy bike leg) This coming 2012 I would like stay at the sprint & Oly distance but focus on improving my bike leg. Early season May and June this this year I did 4-6, 3 min hill repeats on the once a week for 6 weeks and a weekly 20 min. tempo run. Starting mid June the meat of my training is a 30 mile group (4-5 guys) ride on Tuesday night where we pace line 10 miles at 25-27mph and racing a few time a month. I bought a 2011 Cervelo P3 for the coming season and plan to be fitted to this new bike in Jan. My plan is to start another P90X cycle next week and add 2-3, 30-45 min trainer work outs rides (live in Indiana) a week to that through out the off season. I plan to add 1 run and 1 swim work outs back in to the mix in Feb. and then use the hybrid to get back to full tri training in April. I felt like the P90x made me stronger, much more fexible and ready to train and race hard all spring and summer, I ran biked better then I have in 10 years off last off season training I did a few 5Ks in the 18’s just off this training. Any advice on my plan sound like I’m headed the right direction?
Bump
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less P90X, more time on the bike (90-130 minutes on the bike/weekly wont cut it)
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search for the thread called something like “how to raise FTP 10-15 watts”
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ok. Drop P90X. And ride (a lot) more. And give up this ludicrous idea that anything will make you faster if you ‘get back to full tri training in April’…
keep doing the p90x in the off season if you like it, don’t blow up the legs too bad though.
then, on top of that, bike. bike bike bike. like 200 miles a week. trainer, mountain, hybrid, road, whatever. but bike.
Ride. Every day. Trainer in the winter when Indiana’s roads suck. 200+ miles (or time equivalent on the trainer…). Buy some old cycling DVDs or such if you get bored easily on the trainer.
If you want to be faster on the bike…the best place to be is on the bike. Drop the P90X. 30 minutes of that does FAR less than 30 minutes of cycling…if your intent is to ride better. Specificity. Yes, it’s a broken record around here. But it works.
Bike to work if you can, that’s how I’m partially spending my offseason. It’s 5 hours a week for me, and when Winter comes along, that will likely change to 7 or 8 hours a week.
Aside from that, 2 or 3 easy runs a week and good old core stuff in the gym.
If you can’t bike to work… well, you’ll figure something out.
keep doing the p90x in the off season if you like it, don’t blow up the legs too bad though.
then, on top of that, bike. bike bike bike. like 200 miles a week. trainer, mountain, hybrid, road, whatever. but bike.
**“like 200 miles a week.”---- at 20 mph that is 10 hours of riding a week in the off-season. ** If the 54 y/o poster has a real job, family, home, community responsibilities then is there any time left over for swimming, running and anything else? Of should they forget about swimming and running and just bike? Recovery time for the 54 y/o with this schedule? As a mid 50’s contestant, it might be wiser to stick with the “search for raising your FTP” comments than “more-more-more”. The younger generation posting here is going to meet their match in the future, a future dealing with responses from an aging body and time restraints.
I’m the younger generation and don’t understand how anyone does it. Granted I’m pretty new to the sport, but I’m happy right now “just” getting in a single run, a single swim workout, 50 miles on the bike and P90X in one week. I work a full time job, but I have a spouse that fully supports me (also does tri’s) and we don’t have any kids.
Back on topic though… In my opinion he’s already doing the right things. Some cross-training (p90x), and some biking. I agree with others in saying that you’ll want to put in more and more miles on the bike though. Take up a spin class if you get bored on your own. It’s better than nothing.
I am glad you posted that…I am a 52yr old. That 10 hrs does not include bike maintainance. Then you have the thread about kicking with swimming, where all the posts of “its just 10 minutes more per workout, everyone has time for that”. Now to improve running, you must run 40mpw to see improvement. …And this is all in the off season. Would love to see someone post a single consistant workout you need to hit every week ect…So yu are at plus 20hrs to improve in all sports, not counting travel, showering ect…
he wants to improve on the bike over the off season.
other stuff can go on the back burner.
don’t have to do that week after week either, but hit it a few times.
trainer setup can save time.
Any person of any age that can’t find an additional 10 hours per week to do something that they enjoy (or want to improve upon) needs to further evaluate their lifestyle commitments. Yes, we all have circumstances and responsibilities that drive our “less desirable” life activities, but if you’re committing all of your waking hours to fulfilling obligations - at the expense of personal enjoyment - then chances are you’re not entertaining the idea of being an endurance athlete to begin with.
No one is saying that you need to ride full tilt for 200 miles each week. Ride easy, and ride for enjoyment. Even easy miles are better than no miles at all.
I for one would not want to fully disconnect from running since we are so prone to injury as we get older and sporadic running is one of the culprits. Was this the OP’s first full? If so then with some rest you can walk away from that kind of event much stronger and it probably wasn’t all P90 benefits. Needs to ride more and get over the hump. 30-45 minute 2-3 tpw trainer stuff needs to be more like 4-6 tpw.
You are right. If someone is doing something they enjoy, like training 10 hrs a week and have something else they may enjoy for 5hrs a week, and cannot find an additional 10 hrs a week, for a total of 25 hrs on themself, with a family…you are right, they need to reevaluate there commitments :~). …Then to be fair, my wife should spend 25hrs on just herself. And since those hrs will not match up perfectly, well if we work 40 each we have a lot to share with the family…
“The younger generation posting here”
I’m 43, not an unburdened 20-something. I’ve been at this sport since 1985. If you want to get better, you make time to ride that kind of mileage at least some of the training schedule. True enough, it can’t really be done year round, especially when children are involved but it can be done often enough, and in blocks enough to provide the kind of improvement the OP is looking for.
It sure as heck isn’t going to be found in P90x. If you’re into general fitness and having fun with triathlon as just one thing of many activities you do, then by all means keep on the P90x. But if you really want to improve the cycling…then you’ve got to ride.
I’m the younger generation and don’t understand how anyone does it. Granted I’m pretty new to the sport, but I’m happy right now “just” getting in a single run, a single swim workout, 50 miles on the bike and P90X in one week. I work a full time job, but I have a spouse that fully supports me (also does tri’s) and we don’t have any kids.
Back on topic though… In my opinion he’s already doing the right things. Some cross-training (p90x), and some biking. I agree with others in saying that you’ll want to put in more and more miles on the bike though. Take up a spin class if you get bored on your own. It’s better than nothing.
You make time. I’m the same as you, full time job and spousal support, no kids.
My general schedule:
Sunday - Long run, swim.
Monday - Bike a couple hours
Tuesday - hour run, martial arts
Wed, swim, bike
Thur - hour run, martial arts
Fri hour run
Sat - long ride (4 hours)
Peak this season I was putting in 15 -18 hrs a week.
John
I’m going to disagree with the “ride easy” part being of much benefit. As structured rest, yes. But otherwise, going easy is only going to get you ready to race easy, which doesn’t seem like the OP’s goals. Too many people think LSD means noodle around for a few hours when in reality, it should be LMD (moderate intensity) instead.
Buy a Computrainer… I just hapen to have one for sale.
"keep doing the p90x in the off season if you like it, don’t blow up the legs too bad though.
then, on top of that, bike. bike bike bike. like 200 miles a week. trainer, mountain, hybrid, road, whatever. but bike."
i have to agree with Jacmott, bike bike bike, the more and hard,
maintain your swim and run once a week, you will be a beast in April