# Went from feeling really strong, front of group rides, power climber, now suffering



## rcekstrom (Oct 4, 2008)

History: Only been riding road for 2.5 yrs.

First 2 yrs were not anything special, I would get out once a week for a maximum of 20mi.

This year I started at 20mi 2x/wk > 30mi 3x/wk with 30mi the longest ride ever. Now its 35mi/2xwk with a 45mi ride each Saturday.

Problem is that recently I have been feeling drained since adding the long Saturday ride, maybe coincidence? I was front of the pack in the group rides, now I'm middle to rear. I used to feel really strong and could sprint up climbs past most of the riders, now I'm spinning in high gear. Am I moving too fast? Sometimes I will ride on my trainer with high cadence in the garage on the off days too, just to spin.

I feel like I am eating ok with the occasional slip of pizza or chinese and soda. 80% of the time I'm water, PB&J, berries, nuts, salads, eggs. oat cereal, tuna etc. Chocolate milk after all rides.

I should also add that I am 6'0 208lbs trying to loose like 20lbs more after only 8lbs so far.

Any help appreciated. Thanks much.


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## Daren (Jul 25, 2008)

Are you ingesting any nutrients on the rides?


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## rcekstrom (Oct 4, 2008)

*Yes*

I mix 50/50 Gatorade and water in 2 bottles. I also eat the powerbar gummies with the caffeine. Sometimes a actual power bar with 30g or protein.

Before the rides I typically have 2 eggs and some PB toast, whether its in the morning or evening.


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## Daren (Jul 25, 2008)

Not eating was obvious;y my first guess. 

My second is conditioning. Adding the extra 10 miles, and the saddle time associated with them, is pushing you past what you are used to. Over the winter, I trained no more than 2 hours per ride. When my Saturday rides started picking up, I was pedaling with dead legs after about 2:15 minutes and could predict it happening on every ride for a while. My guess is that you are training in new territory that your body isn't used to training in.


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

It could easily be the increased work-load. Perhaps you are not getting enough recovery time between rides? If you stick with it, and get enough rest/sleep and eat well, your body should adapt and make you stronger. If not you may be starting to over-train in which case you will need to back off for a period. Typically one needs a low activity week in every month of training anyway.

Also, you are using a relative yard stick to measure your performance. It might be that the group rides have become faster. Perhaps the lead riders in the group have improved their fitness coming into the peak riding season. I measure my fitness using a 20 minute up-hill individual time trial. I can see how I am doing while factoring out as many external factors as possible.


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## Reynolds531 (Nov 8, 2002)

rcekstrom said:


> Problem is that recently I have been feeling drained since adding the long Saturday ride, maybe coincidence? I was front of the pack in the group rides, now I'm middle to rear. I used to feel really strong and could sprint up climbs past most of the riders, now I'm spinning in high gear. Am I moving too fast? Sometimes I will ride on my trainer with high cadence in the garage on the off days too, just to spin.


It's likely that you are over-trained. You probably haven't built up enough base miles.

My advice is for the next 2 weeks limit yourself to 3 very easy 20 mile rides per week. Then try your group ride and see how you fare. If riding less makes you stronger you have overtrained and need to back off and slowly build up easy base miles and cut way back on hammerfests.


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## rcekstrom (Oct 4, 2008)

So how can you tell if its overtraining or conditioning? Rest or push through?


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

rcekstrom said:


> So how can you tell if its overtraining or conditioning? Rest or push through?


You might want to get a copy of Joe Friel's book. I'm not convinced that you are over-training with 8-9 hours a week of riding. You might want to mix it up more rather than all group rides of the same distance and at the same tempo.


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## rcekstrom (Oct 4, 2008)

*It's a little varried*

Tues is fast 17mph avg 25-30mi climbs+flats
Wed is usually 35mi 15-16 varried terrain week to week
Thurs is very iffy sometimes i don't go. 20 mi 14-15avg usually go to just get fresh air. varried terrain

Sat is 45mi 15-16 avg. varried terrain, big climbs some weeks. 

All rides are with different groups/ppl.


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## MarshallH1987 (Jun 17, 2009)

sounds like you need to take a week off. by off i mean kick back and relax, not lower volume. After a few days off getting back on for a short ride like 20-30 mins long with ZERO effort is acceptable.
make sure your getting enough protein in your diet. figure out how many grams of protein you are getting a day and translate that into how many grams per kilogram of body weight. non active people should be getting around .8g/kg, bodybuilders 2+?g/kg and you as an endurance athlete fall somewhere in between, but the more you'll need.


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## rcekstrom (Oct 4, 2008)

So I'm 90Kg @ 1.5ish grams of protein per = 135g/Day Wow! might need to look into protein shakes.


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## DesnaePhoto (Jun 11, 2009)

What are you doing during the day? We don't know what your legs are going through when off the bike. 

When i'm teaching, my legs don't get any real recovery as I'm walking around all day. During the summer, like now, I can try and sit for a longer period of time during the day and let the legs rest/recover.


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## medimond (Apr 26, 2009)

What type of fitness are you trying to achieve? Long distance, crit racer, etc ... 

IMO, variety in training is the spice of life.


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## rcekstrom (Oct 4, 2008)

I sit all day behind a desk.  

I am trying to achieve top shape for my age, and stage of life. Im 29yrs old and have a wife and kid so I'm not able to get out ALL the time, but want to be in best shape i can. As mentioned before weight loss is also a factor.

So against all advice I went out for a ride last night, I was feeling pretty good and stupid too appatently. The tuesday ride with my LBS is probably the hardest ride out of my usuals, I get dropped almost all the time and usually with a couple of other guys then we continue the route at a new slower pace. Yesterday was no different, dropped after 20 miles. I think this was the last straw, my shoulders and back were very sore, my knees were tight and cold, and I could not dig for any energy. I barely made it back home as pathetic as it sounds. I have never felt this way and thus I'm now convinced I have been overtraining and my body is telling me to rest. It is not nutrition as I ate very well yesterday, plenty of protein, no sugars.

On a side note I also played basketball the night before for 2 hours.


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## carlosflanders (Nov 23, 2008)

Could be that you're adapting to the heat. When the temps ramp up rapidly the body takes a couple of weeks to adapt. Really can become an issue for rides longer than 90 mins.

I was wiped out for a couple of weeks until this weekend. Now I'm much better.


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## Argentius (Aug 26, 2004)

*Protein?*



rcekstrom said:


> So I'm 90Kg @ 1.5ish grams of protein per = 135g/Day Wow! might need to look into protein shakes.


I am no nutritionist, but I doubt that you need to eat anywhere near that much protein.

1gm / kilo of LEAN mass is a pretty good goal, from what I've read (random search).

You are looking to be able to ride faster, and LOSE weight, not gain muscles, right?


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## ukbloke (Sep 1, 2007)

If I played basketball for 2 hours, I'd definitely feel weariness in my legs the next day. Also, if I went running for a few miles, my cycling would suck for days afterwards. I guess I'm not going to be a tri-athlete.


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## medimond (Apr 26, 2009)

Most of my experience comes from running so take the following with a grain of salt. 

When trying to get in shape you'll need to work on different aspects. One cannot effectively work on speed while they are working on endurance. If you try to work on both at the same time then there is compromise. 

A typical running week for me would have been Tuesday (sprints), Wednesday (light run), Thursday (threshold), Saturday (Long and slow), Sunday (recovery run). 

Your present schedule actually has too much down time (IMO). Your schedule also places two significant workouts back to back, you dig yourself in a hole within a hole. The light spin on Thursday would be great for your recovery and base miles. 

What are you eating immediately after your rides, that is so important to recovery. 

Gaterade doesn't do anything for me other than make my stomach upset, again IMO there are better options.

Lastly, the mental game is significant to performance. Are you getting enough rest.


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## rcekstrom (Oct 4, 2008)

medimond said:


> Most of my experience comes from running so take the following with a grain of salt.
> 
> When trying to get in shape you'll need to work on different aspects. One cannot effectively work on speed while they are working on endurance. If you try to work on both at the same time then there is compromise.
> 
> ...


So you think I need to just adapt the riding schedule and jump back into the saddle and ride more?

Anyone have any other input?

Thanks for all the comments so far, keep them comming.


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