It’s definitely fall now. There’s lots of rain in the forecast, cooler temperatures, and getting dark early in the evening.
But I’ve been trying to think differently about this particular fall season. For me, it’ll be summer, not winter, when I get to January.
Wait. What’s that? How’s that work, you say.
In January I’m on a four month research leave and the first two months will be spent in New Zealand. In January, it’s summer there.
Yes, I’ll be writing papers and giving talks but I’ll also be riding my bike lots. Sarah and I will be traveling around for a few weeks with bikes before settling into Dunedin where I’ll be visiting at the University of Otago.
We’ve rented a place close to St Clair Beach. I’ll be commuting by bike to work.
So this means in terms of cycling, I’m going to have a very short off season. I’m going to need to stay in bike shape for January. Or, in my case this year, I’m going to have to get in bike shape.
So what’s the plan exactly?
🚴♀️ Zwift social rides, bike commutes, ZRL bike races, and a Zwift training plan.
💪 Personal training twice a week
🐕 Dog walks
⏰️ Physio once a week
I definitely spend enough time exercising but as I’m now 60, I’m thinking about what it takes to stay fit.
Mostly the stuff on the list above are things I enjoy doing. But I’m going to have to do some hard things, things that aren’t so much fun. Sprint training isn’t fun. High Intensity Interval Training isn’t fun either. If I want to stay bike speedy I have to do those things.
Part of why people start to slow down at 60, is that they stop doing the kind of training that makes you speedy. There’s nothing magic about it. It’s a simple “use it or lose it” situation. If you don’t train for speed, you don’t get speed.
I started thinking about this at 56! And I’m still thinking about it. Wish me luck.
On turning 56 and thinking about age and speed
The Cave
Summer in January. That’s exciting! I understand wanting to be in good shape for riding. But why is it important to be speedy? I’ve pretty much stopped speed drills for running. I used to care about going faster but now I just care about continuing to get out the door. So I’m curious why speed drills are a necessary part of your training.
I wonder about this too!
First, it’s just an irrational preference, like an aesthetic preference. It feels so good going fast on the bike. It’s part of what I love about riding. Some of the pleasure is the zoom zoom zoom feeling.
Second, for health benefits. Slow and steady is okay but we also need some exercise intensity in the mix. I can’t run (run was always intense for me!) any more and so the bike is the obvious place to get that. Intense exercise is an aspect of exercise with health benefits in old age and it’s the one that often drops away.
Third, I like riding with speedy people and I want to keep up! I’m a larger rider too and I like getting up and over hills quickly. Power matters. It’s like a thing I’m good at and given that there’s lots on the bike I’m not good at, I want to keep my top ends speeds and explosive power for as long as I can.
As a woman approaching 73, I can say I agree with the need to keep it up as long as I can. I am doing less running – mine is also always fairly intense, but I have knee arthritis that I’d like to keep at bay as long as I can. So that leaves the bike. I don’t mind the short, high intensity intervals; I have a hard time with the longer medium-high intensity stuff. But I do it, and it pays off. I plan to do multi-day rides going forward. My goal for the (California) winter is to get up to doing back-to-back 60 mile (100k) days in preparation for some travel. And thanks to having maintained all that stuff through my 60s, I expect to be able to do it without too much trouble.