Road Bike Racing - Getting back after illness...(lost fitness??)

Bikeforums.net is a forum about nothing but bikes. Our community can help you find information about hard-to-find and localized information like bicycle tours, specialties like where in your area to have your recumbent bike serviced, or what are the best bicycle tires and seats for the activities you use your bike for.



PDA
IKYR
05-19-06, 06:13 AM
So last week I was feeling pretty run down with a sore throat, runny nose etc. I ended up taking thursday and friday completely off before a 55 mile road race on Sat. During the race I felt pretty good and did well but immediately started feeling much worse later Sat. and Sun. I ended up taking Sun. through Tues. off the bike, with an hour E1-E2 (friel zones) on Wed. and 2:15 E1-E2 with some harder efforts on Thursday.

I felt pretty weak during the harder efforts yesterday, I have no races scheduled for this weekend but an important stage race next weekend. Any suggestions on the best way to recover and get back on track for next weekend. Do I taper for the next week, or do some hard efforts early in the week and taper from there? Any input is appreciated.

Wayne

Snicklefritz
05-20-06, 11:16 PM
I had a similar experience very recently. Check the post "Puzzling fatigue levels".

if you felt weak during the hard efforts, it's a sign that your body needs more rest.
(1) Try to sleep a lot
(2) Drink lots of liquid so you don't get dehydrated
(3) Don't push yourself in hard efforts if you sense that your body is tired

If this is a cold virus, it will probably last 7-10 days. At least that's what my experience was. I just did some level 1 workouts. I tried some harder efforts and if it sucked then I stopped and went back to level 1 or just went home. Threw in some days completely off the bike. Slept a lot more then a few days later tried another hard effort and noticed that my HR and power levels looked normal. At that point, I gradually ramped back up again and now I feel great.

If you have a power meter it is easily to get an idea of how your body is responding. If not, you can see if your RPE (rate of perceived exertion) correlates with HR in the usual manner. If it's way off then something's up.
Mtn Mike
05-22-06, 08:39 AM
Every spring I seem to get a minor upper respiratory tract infection, with symptoms like yours. This year I also managed to get a secondary bronchitis, which also sucked. To add to what Snickle said, there is no substitute for rest, fluid, and "healthy living". If you decide to ride, take it easy and don’t' expect too much of yourself for at least a few weeks. I find that once my body starts to feel better, I can start pushing myself pretty hard on the bike and my fitness returns quickly.