# Over "training" from commuting?



## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

For the past few weeks, I've gotten a lot of days of commuting on the bike. It's just under 11 miles, mostly flat-ish, that I ride on a single speed. There is some sprinting, especially on the way home, up hill between traffic signals, and a few miles of spinning at speed on the MUT. The commute is consistently about 40 minutes, with 35 of those spinning (5min at lights and stops). I average around 19-20mph while moving. I'm pushing a bit, but not all that hard. I almost never soft pedal unless I'm going downhill and spinning out, then I just coast.

I've been very tired lately. Is it possible that this amount of exercise would constitute "over training"? I'm getting plenty of sleep. I'm also wondering if pollen has anything to do with it. The pollen count was almost 1500 yesterday (980 of that was oak pollen). Basically, I feel like I'm bonking when I'm a half mile into my ride. Just sitting here at my desk, I'm feeling pretty tired. Especially when I think about getting on the bike. Should I spend my gas savings on Starbucks?


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## FatTireFred (Jan 31, 2005)

yes it's pos, esp if you're not giving yourself a day of rest somewhere... 

also, allergic rhinitis can result in poor sleep and consequently tiredness/fatigue


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

JohnnyTooBad said:


> For the past few weeks, I've gotten a lot of days of commuting on the bike. It's just under 11 miles, mostly flat-ish, that I ride on a single speed. There is some sprinting, especially on the way home, up hill between traffic signals, and a few miles of spinning at speed on the MUT. The commute is consistently about 40 minutes, with 35 of those spinning (5min at lights and stops). I average around 19-20mph while moving. I'm pushing a bit, but not all that hard. I almost never soft pedal unless I'm going downhill and spinning out, then I just coast.
> 
> I've been very tired lately. Is it possible that this amount of exercise would constitute "over training"? I'm getting plenty of sleep. I'm also wondering if pollen has anything to do with it. The pollen count was almost 1500 yesterday (980 of that was oak pollen). Basically, I feel like I'm bonking when I'm a half mile into my ride. Just sitting here at my desk, I'm feeling pretty tired. Especially when I think about getting on the bike. Should I spend my gas savings on Starbucks?


My commute is 15 miles each way, very flat, and I ride a fixie most of the time. If I rode big on the weekend or don't really take it easy a day or two and/or don't get a lot of sleep throughout the week, I can certainly feel quite fatigued by Friday. I'm pretty fit and strong, but miles without true and adequate rest simply take a toll, not to metion other life stress. 

Riding a little bit is simply not the same as truly resting, i.e. not riding. 

It certainly looks from your post like your pushing it. Just go easy more.


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## slowrider (Mar 12, 2004)

I commute from the first of April until the end of November. 31 miles a day. Most years I try to ease back into riding several days in a row. I rode 3 days in a row this week. My legs are beat. My fitness level is not up to riding 3 days in a row. It took me longer to ride home yesterday, then it did on my first commute on 2 April. My point is you might want to work your way up to riding everyday and doing sprints. I will not ride 3 days in a row for at least another month.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

I was thinking that I'm getting plenty of sleep. At least 7 hours per night. but then it just occurred to me that it's pretty broken sleep these days because my wife has a sinus infection and has been snoring a lot, and I'm already a light sleeper. Maybe that's it. Plus, I did ride 6 days in a row, 2 weeks ago (5 days commuting and a morning ride in the hills with a friend, and last Friday I took off and did some pretty significant hills, although I only commuted 2 other days that week.

No plans to ride this weekend, so I'll have a chance to recover a bit. hopefully the wife will stop sounding like a truck vacuum braking down a hill when she's sleeping.

I guess I'll get out of here and soft pedal my way home. Unfortunately, I say that now, but my type-A personality usually doesn't let me once I get going. It'll be crowded on the MUT. That'll lead to two things, slowing to pass people then sprinting to the next group, and acquiring targets to pass. I'm a bit OCD that way.


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## Zero Signal (Feb 8, 2008)

I usually try to ride 3 days out of the week (M/W/F) to give myself a day in between. Sometimes I have to drive for whatever reason and I'll make up for it by riding conescutive days. The second day of riding for me is signifigantly harder, to the point of it feeling like there's something wrong with the bike, but it's just me being slow and weak. 

My commute is a solid hour +/- a couple of minutes home and 50 minutes to work and that's riding pretty hard. Today I convinced my girlfriend to ride with me and we did a nice slow pace and it wasn't bad. It only added about 15 minutes to the ride but I feel good. My problem is that I like to turn my commutes into two time trials a day with little self control. I'm getting pretty quick at it, but it's probably not the healthies thing to do.

I don't think riding a lot will be BAD, but riding FAST all the time would be. I would at least skip days between fast commutes. Leave early and ride lazily. It's kind of fun in a way.

I hear you on the acquiring targets. Not something to brag about but I have the same habbit of trying to pass people all the time, just like when I drive. Even if it means running out of gear (I run SS) The only problem with going slow is getting passed by someone and trying like crazy to not care.


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## Pablo (Jul 7, 2004)

JohnnyTooBad said:


> I was thinking that I'm getting plenty of sleep. At least 7 hours per night. but then it just occurred to me that it's pretty broken sleep these days because my wife has a sinus infection and has been snoring a lot, and I'm already a light sleeper. Maybe that's it. Plus, I did ride 6 days in a row, 2 weeks ago (5 days commuting and a morning ride in the hills with a friend, and last Friday I took off and did some pretty significant hills, although I only commuted 2 other days that week.
> 
> No plans to ride this weekend, so I'll have a chance to recover a bit. hopefully the wife will stop sounding like a truck vacuum braking down a hill when she's sleeping.
> 
> I guess I'll get out of here and soft pedal my way home. Unfortunately, I say that now, but my type-A personality usually doesn't let me once I get going. It'll be crowded on the MUT. That'll lead to two things, slowing to pass people then sprinting to the next group, and acquiring targets to pass. I'm a bit OCD that way.


I'm similar, but sometimes you just have to go slow and take 'er easy. I rode 10 hours in Fruita last weekend (plus lots of beer and little sleep) and commuting this week has just killed me. No riding for me think weekend. I think you just have to listen to your body.


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## Mr. Versatile (Nov 24, 2005)

As a former racer one of the problems I have is taking it easy. I have to constantly remind myself that I'm commuting, not racing. When I need a rest day, I try to limit myself to 14-15 mph max on my commute. I try to just spin easily, shift down even to cross overpasses. Inevitably I'll find myself going 18 or so and slow down again. This past week on Wednesday (a rest day) I was riding down a scenic rural road on the way home. I was tired and had just taken a drink, and found myself riding along at 11 mph. It was really very nice. Sort of like being a kid in elementary school again, just tooling around the neighborhood.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

Yeah, that's some serious self discipline, Mr V. On my final climb on the way home, I have this bad habit of taking it as a personal challenge, and tend to ride it between 19-21 mph. That's uphill on a single speed. I have no self control.

But I did take the whole weekend off the bike. Spent a few hours cleaning up and doing maintenance on all 4 working bikes (geared roadie, SS commuter, MTB, and old MTB converted to commuter/grocery getter). Plus, I didn't ride in today because it was raining pretty good this morning and they are calling for t-storms this afternoon. So I should be fine for the rest of the week. Next week I won't be commuting much because I have to fly to Denver to teach a class for a couple of days.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

When I lived in Hawaii, I commuted Monday through Friday for a total of around 9-10 hours on the bike. I started out doing that plus longer rides on Saturday and Sunday. After a month, I started taking Saturday off and only riding on Sunday. I was just always tired. After a while I learned to spin home and was able to recover, but going to work was usually a time trial on the empty sections of the MUT at 5 am. I am ego-driven most of the time on the bike, going easy was a real challenge for me. Just let the people pass.


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## gutfiddle (Apr 27, 2006)

cowboy up.


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## tarwheel2 (Jul 7, 2005)

You can definitely overtrain bike commuting. When I first started, I tried to ride the same pace every day that I would normally ride with my friends, plus I was riding more often than usual. I quickly found that I was getting burned out. Now I treat most commutes as recovery rides. If I want to ride faster, I try to do it in the middle of the week.

Also, pollen could be making you feel worse. Pollen is usually highest in the morning, and you're getting a big dose of it twice a day. I usually feel more lethargic and sleepy when pollen counts are high, in addition to the usual sinus problems and sore throat.


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## JohnnyTooBad (Apr 5, 2004)

The 3 day break helped a lot. I felt pretty good this morning. But this afternoon's commute is going to suck. The wind is picking up pretty good right now, and will be right in my face on the way home. grumble grumble.


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## bigbill (Feb 15, 2005)

JohnnyTooBad said:


> The 3 day break helped a lot. I felt pretty good this morning. But this afternoon's commute is going to suck. The wind is picking up pretty good right now, and will be right in my face on the way home. grumble grumble.


I fought the wind on the way in this morning. Headwinds on the way to work are hard to plan for. I can plan on going easy to work on certain days, but if headwinds kick up that morning, I still have a finite amount of time to get to work so I end up riding much harder than I planned. Going home should be good with 15-20 mph tail winds.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

I actually asked my coach about the interaction between commuting/training. I have a mostly flat 11 mile (one way) commute. He said that as long as I keep the intensity low, stay hydrated, and eat an extra 200-300 calories a day that it should not interfere with my training. 

It works itself out- I enjoy actually relaxing on my bike and taking it slow, and it makes me hungrier than normal, so I end up eating an extra clif bar when I get to work.


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## Zero Signal (Feb 8, 2008)

Andrea138 said:


> I actually asked my coach about the interaction between commuting/training. I have a mostly flat 11 mile (one way) commute. He said that as long as I keep the intensity low, stay hydrated, and eat an extra 200-300 calories a day that it should not interfere with my training.
> 
> It works itself out- I enjoy actually relaxing on my bike and taking it slow, and it makes me hungrier than normal, so I end up eating an extra clif bar when I get to work.


Interesting you brought that up. I'm planning to train up to century rides and have been trying to figure out how I will work commuting into that with proper recovery. This weekend I hope to do a good 3-4 hour ride, so I hope to be ok with riding slowly to work during the week. It's just SO hard to slow down sometimes.


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## Andrea138 (Mar 10, 2008)

^be like me and use a bike that is incapable of going fast. Mine used to be a rigid Univega MTB. It weighs in the neighborhood of 40 pounds with my normal take-to-work-stuff in the pannier. It's a 7 speed, too. The left shifter broke, so I rigged it to stay on the largest chainring.


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## s2ktaxi (Jul 11, 2006)

glad I found this thread! I thought I was having problems!

I commute about 3-4 days a week, 10 miles each way with about 300 ft of climbing 0.5 mile 12% grade on the way home and 1 mile 7% grade on the way to work. I tend to time trial it both ways and avg about 17-18 mph. Record is 18.5 and normally never slower than 16.5. Then I get about 100-150 miles on the weekends with avg climbing of about 3000-4000 ft per 70 mile ride and 16.5 to 18.5 avg. I've actually been getting slower and weaker on my weekend rides over the last month or so... Any tips to overcoming the fatigue besides riding slower?


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## jaimeS (Nov 18, 2005)

s2ktaxi said:


> glad I found this thread! I thought I was having problems!
> 
> I commute about 3-4 days a week, 10 miles each way with about 300 ft of climbing 0.5 mile 12% grade on the way home and 1 mile 7% grade on the way to work. I tend to time trial it both ways and avg about 17-18 mph. Record is 18.5 and normally never slower than 16.5. Then I get about 100-150 miles on the weekends with avg climbing of about 3000-4000 ft per 70 mile ride and 16.5 to 18.5 avg. I've actually been getting slower and weaker on my weekend rides over the last month or so... Any tips to overcoming the fatigue besides riding slower?



blood doping works for me.


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## RotatingShifts (Nov 12, 2006)

s2ktaxi said:


> glad I found this thread! I thought I was having problems!
> 
> I commute about 3-4 days a week, 10 miles each way with about 300 ft of climbing 0.5 mile 12% grade on the way home and 1 mile 7% grade on the way to work. I tend to time trial it both ways and avg about 17-18 mph. Record is 18.5 and normally never slower than 16.5. Then I get about 100-150 miles on the weekends with avg climbing of about 3000-4000 ft per 70 mile ride and 16.5 to 18.5 avg. I've actually been getting slower and weaker on my weekend rides over the last month or so... Any tips to overcoming the fatigue besides riding slower?


Oh, be quiet!! ;-)


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## RotatingShifts (Nov 12, 2006)

Andrea138 said:


> ^be like me and use a bike that is incapable of going fast. Mine used to be a rigid Univega MTB. It weighs in the neighborhood of 40 pounds with my normal take-to-work-stuff in the pannier. It's a 7 speed, too. The left shifter broke, so I rigged it to stay on the largest chainring.


You average speed may be lower, but it seems to me that you'd use a lot of energy to keep that beast moving!


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