Everyone's 'fessing up! My turn...
Last year was my second year back on the bike and it all went pretty well. Was in good shape for my French end-to-end over the summer and was probably as fit or fitter than I've ever been. To my surprise (but no doubt a result of the consistent training load I'd been maintaining), I found I was beginning to be able to handle quite a lot of volume compared to previously, without getting sick in the way that used to happen. My last FTP test suggested that in the next year or two I might feasibly touch 4w/kg if all the planets aligned...
With all this is mind, in late October I began my prep for 2020 with a mid-volume Base plan, doing a few weeks of Trad Base + outdoor rides, then moving onto SSB1. All going fine.
But Crimbo/NY is a time to reassess stuff, and I've decided that all this bike training had started to feel a little bit obsessive, a bit too much like a job for me rather than being about having fun and being happy.
So a replan for me aiming to achieve a bit more "balance" in what I'm doing: reduce the bike training to a Low Vol TR plan, leaving time to schedule in 1 (or maybe 2) weights sessions per week, and 1 run per week. My partner's a runner, so it means I get to run with her again, whereas previously all the extra cycling had squozen out this running. Did my first park run, which I'd been planning to do for a while but it kept getting put on the backburner, so pleased with that, with more park runs and other low key events planned.
A couple of weeks in and I feel quite perky about this rebalancing. I need to stay bike fit as I'm off to the Alps in the summer, but my bike fitness goal will be aimed more at trying to maintain than progress. Reducing the volume frees up time to do the other stuff, and healthwise and over 50 I'm sure I'll benefit more from the mix of activities.
So that's my rough plan for the year ahead.