I suffered a serious accident on July 2, 2022. This article follows on from Part 1, published on Nov. 9, 2022 and Part 2, published on Sept. 7, 2023. I ended the Part 2 article almost one year ago on the following note:
“At the age of 64 it’s reasonable to ask if I will ever recover the level I had when I was 62. I don’t know the answer to that yet, but I’m giving it my best shot.”
Time for an update! In the first part of this article I’ll describe my latest results and how they compare to my pre-accident performance; I’ll then analyse how I trained over the past 12 months and where I need to make changes for 2025.
What happened?
Results: better than 2023, still below pre-accident level
Peak power test results:
My most recent 1’ and 5’ peak power numbers are about 10% below my best ever numbers (recorded 7-8 years ago), but comparable to my immediate Post-COVID/pre-accident numbers (when I wasn’t doing enough high intensity work).
Heart rate response:
The ratio of HR to power at a given, steady power output is a useful performance indicator. On this there is clear improvement since the start of the season: my average heart rate for one hour at 150-160W (around my LT1), and for one hour at 220W (sweet-spot, upper Z3/lower Z4) is in both cases about 10 beats lower than it was in February, and back to pre-accident levels.
Lactate test results:
My most recent lactate test was very pleasing, showing a significant improvement. I only tested for LT1, the first lactate threshold (the point at which lactate levels in the blood start to rise), since my training has been focused aerobic fitness. This has paid off with an increase in LT1 of 20W and 5bpm.
Competition results:
My principle objective in 2024 was the Marmotte Alps, on June 29. This was my fifth participation since 2016, making it a good reference for my performance. My best result was in 2019, when I managed 8h08. This year I finished in 8h52. The times are never directly comparable year to year due to different weather conditions (which were much worse in 2024), so let’s take a look at my power output on the climbs:
- Compared to my first attempt post-accident, I was up 10-15W on the first three major climbs, and up 30W on Alpe d’Huez. This is a clear improvement.
- Compared to my best however, I did about 15W less on the first three climbs, and 20W less up the Maurienne valley. The Oisans valley descent and final climb were comparable; the time difference was already established on the Galibier.
My second objective was the D’Vélos Lac d’Annecy sportive (123km, 2,800m) on August 25. My pacing strategy here was very successful, leading to a podium (3rd place) in my age category.
- Much shorter than the Marmotte, I was able to ride this harder and managed the 1,200m climb to the Semnoz in 1h45 at an average of 223W, 33W higher than the climbs two months earlier at the Marmotte.
- Even more pleasingly, I finished strong, riding the last 18 minutes at 236W, only just below my current FTP.
- My normalised power for the event, at 206W, was the highest since March 2022 (pre-accident), although substantially below my best (228W at a similar event in 2018).
Conclusions: Good progress, especially in terms of aerobic fitness, but I still have a lot of work to do to get back to my pre-accident levels!
Training Load
Let’s pick the story up where I concluded the previous article, on 8 September 2023. Things started well. A 7-day tour of Corsica with Alpine Cols clients brought my chronic training load (CTL – a measure of long-term training stress) to its highest level since my accident.
Unfortunately, I caught Covid (for the first time) on the return ferry. This, combined with other factors, drastically reduced my ability to train, especially with any intensity. I nevertheless finished 2023 with my second-highest volume ever, at 13,350km and 657 hours of cycling (12.6h/week). (See Table 1 for the statistics).
Looking at training stress, however, gives a different picture. (See PMC chart). The lack of intensity through the autumn and early winter, combined with a reduction in volume forced on me over Christmas and the early part of January resulted in my CTL dropping to its lowest level in 8 years (apart from the period immediately post-accident).
A two-week camp in the Canary Islands in late January and early February provided a useful boost, but work commitments kept preventing me from training consistently until early April. Once again a camp came to my rescue with another much-needed boost, and this time I was able to maintain progress until mid-July, when another setback, this time a throat infection, caused me to cancel several days of planned training and a race.
It’s not easy to maintain a steady ramp rate in one’s training load: everything has to go right!
A month later I’ve rebuilt my CTL to where it was in late June. It remains, nevertheless, at least 10 points below the level I would regularly reach for the 3 month period July to September pre-accident, suggesting that I may not be training enough to get back to my previous performance levels. Clearly, however, I am doing enough volume, so there must be an issue with the intensity. Let’s take a look at the evidence.
Intensity Distribution
The following table gives the percentage of time I spent training in Z4 and above, based on both power and HR zones, from 2018 to 2024 (YTD).
| Year | % in Z4
and above (W) |
% in Z4
and above (HR) |
| 2017 | 20% | 12% |
| 2018 | 12% | 7% |
| 2019 | 15% | 8% |
| 2020 | 7% | 4% |
| 2021 | 5% | 2% |
| 2022 | 2% | 1% |
| 2023 | 5% | 1% |
| 2024 | 8% | 4% |
The table reveals a first step change in 2020, which cut the amount of intensity I was doing in half, and then a second step change in 2022 which almost eliminated it altogether. The first was due to the pandemic, which reduced my motivation for high intensity, and the second was due to my accident.
My goal since the accident was to focus first on rebuilding my endurance base – the multiple muscular and metabolic adaptations which underpin performance. To do this I trained extensively in low-mid Zone 2. Sometimes I did this before breakfast in a carb-depleted state, in order to increase my ability to burn fat at endurance pace.
I believe rebuilding the foundation was an essential first step and I should only add significant intensity once the base was strong enough.
I finally felt ready and started to rebalance my training in May this year, progressively reintroducing a good dose of intensity. Three months later, the results are starting to show. I will be continuing over the next few months, aiming to get back in 2025 to spending 12-15% of my training time in Z4 and above.
In my next article I will share the detailed changes I am making to my training plan for the coming season.