Training & Nutrition - mentions of physical health....what about mental health?

after training feverishly for 3 months, i've hit the wall. i need time off from the early early mornings and pushing the pace. i've got it all. cardiac drift, high resting rate, etc.

do i spin lightly just to be out there or rest completely?

Take the full time off.

I would suggest you get completely away from the bike- do what you did yesterday and take time for your family. Find other exercise activities if you feel the need to get out there, and do those exercise sessions lightly- like walking or hiking activities... or maybe just making sailboats with your son and floating them across the river! ;)

I think if you take at least 2 weeks off the bike (and up to a month), you'll find that when you get back to the bike, you'll be fully recovered and eager to ride. I went through that myself, and I ended up taking 2 weeks off my bike. I didn't even bike to work or anything. Everything I did, I walked, and I just took time off to slow down for a bit. After the two weeks, I took a short ride down to my friend's place down the street, and it felt so good to be back in the saddle that I couldn't believe that I needed to take the time off it in the first place! The next day, I did a metric century and felt really good and strong.

Rest completely. I'm sure your wife will appreciate having you around more often too! :D

Koffee

well it all depends... i do a combination of totally off the bike or light-spinning or "rec-only" riding. it's also a great time to get total newbie friends involved in cycling as you are on the bike and around bikes, and you are totally patient as you CANNOT stress yourself.

last Monday i got back from 11 days of hard riding - my TransAlp tour (Germany to Italy over mountain passes) plus 2 days extra on Lake Garda and i rode over 17,000m vert, singletrail and extreme downhills.

i commuted by bike last week but didn't let myself use the big ring and SPINNING only. for the Wednesday night MTB ride i lead i switched and led the beginner group so i *had* to ride slow (and i was glad to and the beginnners like that too - usualy if i lead the beginners i feel like i am wasting my time and missing training, but here it is my RECOVERY!)

if you are really burned i would take 1-2 weeks of very little riding --- although spinning and leisure riding should be ok.

p.s. i went for a 1hr road ride yesterday after 5 days of rest and it felt good! but i intentionally kept it short! this week will be easy and it will have been almost 2 weeks before i really start riding/training again.

Has cardiac drift anything to do with overtraining?