Greetings and thanks for reading as I post bits and pieces of my training for my 'comeback' as a Masters athlete. Woohhooo!! :)

Friday, Oct. 2 was scheduled to be my 'aerobic/muscular endurance' day on the bike. I had a 1 hr easy aerobic bike (Recovery zone) and 30 minute easy aerobic run the day before, so I was confident I'd have good legs going in the workout on Friday. The weather here in Tucson has cooled a little, and since I have a sweat rate that's incredibly high, it's nice to train in temperatures below 100 degrees. Wow, what a difference that can make!

My ride on this day was one of my favorites. Leaving from my home, I ride up to Dove Mountain and back. It's almost a 30 mile round trip with some nice rollers and a nice steady climb up to Dove Mountain and back. If you're into golf, you'll see a stop of the PGA Tour run through this scenic course each year... spectacular views of the mountains.

So, after a short warm up of a few minutes, I got right into the focus of the workout... my hi-end aerobic endurance intensity. Since my FTP (funtional threshold) is about 318 watts and my AT Heart rate on the bike is around 163, I basically road steady, but not that hard for the entire ride...with some variations depending on the terrain. Up the hills, I kept the watts within check, never going too deep or too far over AT. On the downhills, I got the cadence up, working hard to maintain power over 240 watts, which admittedly was difficult when speeds got over 36 mph as I was 'spinning out'. Overall, the stats for the workout, from start to finish including stops for traffic, warm up and cooldown were as follows:

- Max. Speed: 38 mph
- Avg. Speed: 22.55 mph
- Avg. Heart Rate: 154 bpm
- Max. Watts: 637
- Avg. Watts: 272

Overall, I felt very 'in control' during the workout and as if I could continue the effort for much longer. I was on my Cervelo SL-SLC road bike, so on a TT Bike in the aero position, I venture to guess I'd get another MPH or so at the same output.

Since this was a 'quality day' in my definition and I'm an older guy now, Saturday will be a recovery day including a 30 mile 'aerobic/ zone 2' workout, averaging 180-200 watts on the bike and a 30-40 minute aerobic run.

Thanks for checking in on my progress as I try to get this 'once fast' creaky body back up to speed. Hopefully you'll be able to glean a few ideas from my training and apply it to your own!

Train smart,
Coach Troy

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