Training & Nutrition - Tired, and a 400k coming

Now I need a little help. I did a hard, solo 300k last Thursday. 9700' of climbing and a 16.2 average on the bike. Well, hard for me anyway. I also hurt the knee on which I had arthroscopic meniscus surgery a year ago. It's sore and feels a little loose, but it's not swollen, doesn't make noise, and has the full range of motion.

After the 300 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday I didn't do any training. Sunday I went on a hard 100k group ride. I couldn't raise a climbing HR over 87% of MHR. My normal LT is 92%. I did get it a little over 90% sprinting. Even so, I rode strongly, spent most of the ride on the front, and wore most everybody else out. Then Monday I went on a 9 mile hike, zone 1. Tuesday (yesterday) I felt sore and tired so didn't do anything. Tonight I tried my usual recovery roller ride (it's raining) of 1/2 hr. zone 1, then 40 minutes of one-legged pedaling, then another 1/2 hour of zone 1. The first zone 1 period felt good, but when I started the one-legged stuff my quads hurt like the devil, and in my zone 2 rest periods between OLP intervals I was doing 24 on my 500 watt rollers (way too fast for that HR), so I only did a couple of sets, quit, and had another protein drink.

So now what? If I just rest, I'm going to lose fitness, aren't I? If I can play this right, those two rides close together should give me a heck of a boost. I've got a 75 mile fast group ride this Sunday, then an 85 mile one on May 6 and then a 400k on May 12. So whatever I do, it has to be structured around those rides. Hour zone 1 roller rides every day between now and Sunday? My strength is TT ability, my weakness is hills. The group rides will be hilly and the 400k will be fairly flat. On the 400 I intend to hang with the leader group as long as I can. Any advice on what I should be doing?

My other problem is my knee. I've been taking ibuprofen in the morning since the 300, even if it isn't sore. It didn't notice the zone 1 on the rollers and felt like the hike did it good, but the one-legged pedaling made it quite sore. It got sore on the Sunday group ride, but I took ibuprofen and it didn't get any worse. The soreness is on the inside, right beside and a bit below the kneecap. That's where my meniscus hurt before the surgery. Any advice on the knee?

Yes ... rest!! You are NOT going to lose fitness. It takes quite a while for an experienced long distance cyclist to lose fitness ... weeks.

Since you feel like you hurt your knee on the 300K, and since you are still experiencing pain ........ if I were you I would either NOT have done the 100K, or if I did ride it, I would have ridden it casually. I'm not at all surprised you felt sore and tired on Tuesday ... and today!! And if I were you, I'd take several days off now, like the rest of the week. If you really feel you must do the ride on Sunday, go ahead, but at the first twinge in the knee, back off the pace. Then take most of the next week off and go ahead with the 85 mile ride. See how you feel during that ride.

If you must ride between Sunday's ride and the May 6th ride, keep it relaxed.

Knee pain is nothing to mess around with, and if cycling won't make it any better. You might also want to have a look at this article: http://www.cptips.com/knee.htm

BTW - most of us long distance cyclists ride long on the weekends, and then actually take it pretty easy during the week. When I was in Winnipeg, I lived 13.5 kms round trip from where I worked. I rode long on the weekends, and the often just did my commute during the week. Rest is very important! :)

Thanks, Machka. I don't know if I can deal with the guilt of not riding. I tend to overdo everything. It's just what I do. When I don't feel good I tell everyone I'm going to take it easy, but pretty soon I get disgusted with the pace and I'm on the front or bridging up again. I have a bad reputation. But I really believe I am going to take it easy! And there are WMD! There are! There are! :D :D :D

I looked at the knee article. My mechanics are very good. This is some sort of minor injury, I think, not just overuse. Probably all that out of the saddle work in the Tahuya Hills and on Anderson Hill. I must have jumped a little wrong once.

I used to experience that guilt thing too ... but I got over it. Basically ... I burned out. So, during the last couple years, I take breaks whenever I can! Rest is a beautiful thing. :)

I have discovered that if I take a couple days off, I can come back feeling stronger than before. Rest allows our muscles to rebuild because exercise literally tears them, and if you continually exercise with no rest, your muscles continue to tear (small microtears). And when our muscles rebuild, they come back stronger than what they were before - that's how muscles grow. I learned that from my bodybuilding days. This was why I was put on a 3 days on, 1 day off schedule when I was bodybuilding.

Maybe if you think of days off, or days doing recovery rides, as building muscle ... and the days where you should be taking a day of or doing a recovery ride but instead you're out cycling your legs off as tearing your muscles, it might motivate you to take a break. :D

are you doing any "periodization" (really a lousy word, but a great concept)? My program has a 3 week hard, 1 week easier, then escalating each period. It's really working, and the injuries and soreness stay at minor level while the body is adjusting to increasing levels of stress.

Eat even more carbs.

are you doing any "periodization" (really a lousy word, but a great concept)? My program has a 3 week hard, 1 week easier, then escalating each period. It's really working, and the injuries and soreness stay at minor level while the body is adjusting to increasing levels of stress.
Yes, I do that. It's hard to keep all that working just right and still have a life, however. But I do it, except that the fast Sunday ride is a sacred ritual that I've performed for 10 years. So I just periodize my weekday riding and weights.

These few rando rides are separate from my regular program. I've been trying to taper a bit for them and then recover afterwards. Randonneuring has added an additional element that's new to me. Jumping into these huge rides in March and April is not what my program is designed for. I usually peak in late June or July. It was a late decision to do them. I might redesign my program for next year, though I'm not sure what I'd do differently. This knee thing is mostly bad luck, I hope. It's bothered me a little bit ever since the operation, but any pain always went right away before. I had no trouble with it at all on the 200k.