I had an interesting realization yesterday while doing a hard session on Zwift that after twenty-some years of endurance racing and having “max heart rate” be some sort of nebulous concept, that it may be actually dropping enough to influence how intensely I can exercise. While all of my HR training zones have slowly inched downwards by perhaps a couple beats, and the threshold watts are roughly the same as they have been for years, it’s the intense training that has suffered the most. Where 162 BPM used to be mildly unpleasant going over a hill in my thirties, it’s now a recipe to feel REALLY BAD after a couple of minutes.
That puts my physiology squarely in the median for what’s supposed to happen as we age past 50, and what I’m as guilty of failing to acknowledge as the majority of masters racers. Often the sustainable power never really leaves us in our fifties, but our power at VO2Max drops quickly, and even more so if we don’t continue to train it.
So obviously we train it, maybe more than we used to. But maybe the bigger issue is that we acknowledge the progress of time just a little at least and do our best to continue to try for our best while being realistic.
Kudos and Results!
Matt Christiansen- 28th 45+ 123 , Trek Cup, Waterloo, WI
Matt Christiansen- 33rd 123 Elite, Trek Cup, Waterloo, WI
Matt Christiansen- 17th Cat 3, Trek Cup, Waterloo, WI
Owen Irving- 1st XC , Joaquin Miller , Oakland
Owen Irving- 3rd 15-16 Sea Otter Circuit Race, Monterey, CA
Owen Irving-10th Sea Otter XC Cat 1, Monterey, CA