Training & Nutrition - Recovery/solo Riding Problems

so im feeling pretty ****ty...

Heres my schedule:

Tuesday-group ride, b/a+ pace
Wednesday-no riding, recovery
Thursday- Crit. 1 hour + 5 laps
Saturday- solo ride, hills
Sunday-no ride, recover
Monday- sometimes I hop on the trainer for 30 minutes to keep my legs loose.

Now, in the group rides, I do fine and all, but then when it comes to riding alone, I feel so weak.

I go to a neighborhood that has some hills and I do a couple laps and hit all the big hills on each lap, theres like, 5 or 6 in 1 lap. Then, whenever Im on a flat, and try to bring it up to around 20mph or so, and keep a pace, I find myself struggling to go for a good amount of time. I get out of breath and end up slowing down, that or my legs just get tired of pushing. This never used to be the case, but all of a sudden im noticing it whenever I ride alone. After each climb, I usually just spin and recover before the next one. Is this a problem? But I dont feel like its because im out of shape, because I have a pretty set schedule and rode through winter, and im never sore after the hard rides, so its not like im riding weak because im out of shape.(I dont think...)I dont really have any problems in the crit or group rides.

Anybody know what this funk might be from? I feel like crap, and being that the racing season is in full swing, its not making me feel any better about my riding.

Anybody know the cause, or have any advice for further training to get faster in groups and alone? I know youll say intervals, but I need a set routine for interval work, so lay it on me and ill try it out.

I just really want to figure out what this funk is from.

-Nick

Rule out a few things. Nutrition, sickness, and environment. Nutrition first of course, followed by easily identifiable illness like cold, fever, or maybe allergies or air quality (environment).

Eat right, take a multivitamin supplement, take your temperature and resting heartrate. If all checks out, see a doctor.

Looks like you have plenty of rest already. Did you forget Friday? Party hard on Friday? :D

friday would usually be a recovery day or spin on the trainer to keep the legs warm. I just need to get faster to upgrade my lisence quicker.

Diet: Vegan. I have been vegan for like, a year and a half, but I can honestly say I get plenty of protein and MORE THAN ENOUGH carbs. What else could I be lacking nutrition-wise that would not be a key(like protein or carbs), and could effect my performance???

I am in NJ, air is pretty normal, and theres no polin or anything going around right now, im a pretty healthy dude.

whatya say?

Vitamin B12. Essential for nerve health. Are there moons at the base of your fingernails? They look like little crescents and should be largest on your thumbs and waning to almost invisible on your pinkies.

Iron? What about iron? I'd take a multivitamin just to rule out some kind of deficiency.

Do you have a baseline resting HR? If not, you should take your RHR every am and record it in your training journal. An elevated RHR is a sign of illness. Even a full bladder can increase heartrate by a few beats per minute.

Dunno what to say.. sensitivity to household mold? Roomate has a new cat? Could be lotsa things.

Nick:

It seems that you run a rather minimal schedule to expect any kind of racing results. You need serious base mileage, and then speed work (intervals & tempo rides) to sharpen the base. Obviously when you ride alone it is substantially different than sucking wheel where the effort can be more than 30% less than a solo effort. I think you are stressing your system by racing off a minimal base.

my fingers are as described by you, iron, who knows? and my heartrate is normal.

skydive69, so what could my schedule be like, in order tobring it up to speed for racing training. Could you help me create a schedule that goes along with what I have already,just modified to put in more mileage, etc.?

thanks!

I often feel a bit sluggish when I ride alone -- I usually need a bit of competition to ride at maximum effort. A bit of competition makes a HUGE difference to my motivation.

I'm getting "old" (39 :)), and I sure don't recover like I used to. When I was in my early 20s, I could do 3 hard days a week without a problem, and be fresh as a daisy for each hard ride. These days I can only do 5 hard days a fortnight. I sometimes even need 2 easy/spin days after ny hard day. And after all these years (nearly 20) i've finally learnt that 'easy' recovery rides REALLY mean "EASY", like riding around (HR) 110bpm (~55%) for under 60mins, followed by maybe 90mins on the 2nd easy day.

#1 > you look to have less than 10 hours per week in the saddle(?)
#2 > working into the wind on a solo effort sucks when compared to group riding.
(is what you are describing a feeling of fatigue from the effort, or feeling ****ty?)
#3 > I don't know what a B/A+ pace is. No one does a B pace or a A+ pace on the same ride.
It's either, or.
#4 > I'd recover on the bike rather than 'no ride' after your harder efforts.
(never underestimate the power of a recovery ride done properly)

the A+ ride is what I usually do, it is 30 miles, 25-27mph average, sprint the last 2-3 miles. The weather has been so crappy, and I get bored on the trainer. Can the trainer make me STRONGER? or is it more suited for warmups? I want to get more time on the bike, I used to be on a steady schedule in winter, rode EVERY DAY, high intensity, like, 25-30miles a day, and felt great, at the begining of the season, I was SMOKIN' and now im slacking.