Smashsquatch,
Regarding timing, I think you could try your suggestion of a couple hour fatmax ride and then do a strength session. That said, I have found that doing strength directly after a ride can be problematic, depending on how complicated the lifts are. If you are doing strength that requires a high neurological demand, and you are fatigued, the training probably won’t be constructive. If the training is relatively simple, training after a fatmax ride might work well. That said, I don’t recommend things like leg sled or ham curls on a machine. In fact, I really don’t recommend machine training for anyone. We get enough interaction with levers and pulleys in cycling, so in strength I prefer free weights, unstable surfaces, kettlebells, and other tools that require the athlete do move their body in open space. So if you try this, practice lifts that are well within your abilities, and focus on perfect form and a pretty hard session, but avoid nuclear hard.
While doing the strength in a state of glycogen depletion is conceptually a good idea, I have found that in practice, it is horrible. It is really hard to get good work done in a strength session when you are truly empty, it is impossible to move the weight with good form or any crisp or athletic quality at all. But even worse, it absolutely destroys your muscles, it’s like the damage goes up by a factor of 10 and you can make yourself sore for days. When you finally come out of it, it’s not like you become superman, instead you just are not sore. That has been my experience.
Regarding my own training, right now I don’t worry about what my VlaMax is, I just train to enjoyment and for challenge. My training goals are: connection with my body and with nature. I am racing this season in some gravel events, but I am not invested in the outcome in any competitive sense. 35 years of racing will do that do you. You might enjoy my podcast with Paul Chek for more discussion on this topic.
In 2018 when I trained for the hour record, I wasn’t lifting much in the summer before the trip to Aguascalientes, which was in late September. IRRC I had a basic program of squats and DL going then, but I was keeping the reps high and the recovery short between sets. I am fortunate to be pretty adaptable one way or another in terms of moving my VlaMax up or down, a few short snappy workouts and it comes back pretty quickly. But for now I don’t have a goal like the hour. I turn 49 this year, maybe after I am 50 I will give it another crack for the next age group but I don’t know for sure. It will depend on how I feel about it in another 2 years.
