Hey guys!
Been listening to the podcast for about a year now and I’m finally taking the steps necessary to start training seriously. Have a few questions about how to start, maybe you can help.
A little about myself, I’m 43 in October, 6’ tall and currently 198, trying to get down to 185. I ride both mountain (XC) and road, and have done less than 10 races in the last 4 years, but next year I want to step it up a few notches. Right now I ride about a 100 miles a week, combining road and mountain.
I have never done a structured training plan, mostly because I haven’t had a power meter, and putting one on seemed extreme at the time. I didn’t even have a computer, just used my phone and a Garmin watch for heart rate and GPS.
Fast forward to now and I have an Edge 530 and am waiting for my dual Favaro Assioma’s to come in so I can install on the road bike. Once they do, I’ll be ready to pull the trigger on the plan and start training with power, get into Training Peaks, and FTFPing.
My question centers around timing. Listening to the podcasts has taught me that I need to pick my A race and work backwards from there on time. Problem is, I don’t know what that is going to be next year. However, I do know I want to compete in a 3 hour XC series and that starts at the end of January, then there is a race every month after that for 8 races.
I’m thinking I need to continue to lose weight and get as much base in as possible for the rest of the year, then I’ll be ready to switch to race in the beginning of January to be ready for the first race. I live in North Georgia so the winters are mild and can ride outside most of the year. My hope is while everyone is taking the winter off, I’ll be prepping to podium. 
The other questions I have are, what would training look like the 6 to 8 weeks between those races? And how would I change it up to race in things like the Pisgah Stage Race, or similar, that would come between those races?
Thanks for any help you can provide. I’m looking forward to pulling the trigger and getting started.
Mike