Training & Nutrition - Cycling Addiction makes it hard to rest

This time of year many of us are getting towards the end of our base/winter/off-season training programs. I am seeing lots of posts about feeling tired and injuries. For some of us, this is a great time to take a break before starting the next phase of training. I was hoping to take a break next week but my hamstring is making me take it early. Here are some tips:

1. If you have an injury to a muscle or tendon then stop training until it reaches full strength. I recently strained my left hamstring. (I will never skip a warm-up again) When an injury occurs the next thing you do is stop riding and let your injury heal and then resume training. Riding on a hurt Knee, ankle, quad, calf, hamstring etc.. will only cause the healing process to take longer or lead to permanent damage. Like my buddy Jim says.. Live to ride another day. It is super hard to stop we are accustomed to the endorphins and are scared of losing fitness but fitness can be regained and a permanent injury will wreck your cycling forever. Wait to resume training until your injured body part has regained full strength.

2. If you are tired it could be lack of sleep. Many cyclist need more sleep then non-cyclist. We put in more trainer hours than most athletes. So sleeplessness due to illness or a spouses coughing all night can lead to a feeling of total body fatigue. Tons of sleep is our friend.


I am mostly writing this post to convince myself of the things that I wrote above. Because I am a cycling addict and have not ridden my bike in 3 days.

I couldn't agree more. I'm also addicted to exercising. Besides cycling, I run, swim, and do tri's. Fortunately I've been mostly injury free. This is in spite of running more than 2,000 years at times.

But Thanksgiving I did a 5 mile race. I expected it to be a low-key fun run. It was the opposite and with a very competitive field. I got there 45 minutes early to sign up and stood around the entire time in cold weather without stretching or a warm up. I thought the pain in my calf afterwards was a cramp. I ignored it and noticed my toe/ankle wasn't doing the normal toe down action while biking so I make an effort to force my foor into a complete pedalling motion. After a few days, everything was painful. It turne dout as achilles tendonities.

I just got back to regular riding last week after doing nothing except lifting weights and swimming.

It is really easy for me to fall into excessive exercise and go beyond that. I have an anxiety disorder. Exercise is a great way to self medicate for anxiety. If you have an exercise addiction or find yourself drawn that way, you might think about whether you have an anxiety disorder. There are things you can do other than exercise that can manage the disorder. But exercise is surely a fun way to do it.

Totally with you all there. I find that rest days are the worst for me. Keeping my regular clean diet seems to be a lot harder and I generally feel like crap. When I take rest, my mental clarity is never as good as when i'm training on the bike - it's kind of weird. That kind of pushes me to keep going, almost like a drug in itself.

All I can say is thank goodness for predictions of 8-12 inches of snow tomorrow, because my right calf needs at least a week off. It started hurting on Wednesday, and I still went out and ran Friday and today (5 k race today). Since I don't belong to a gym or own a trainer, the snow will force me off the road. Without it, I know I'd push myself and make it worse.

Put me in the category. Especially this time of year, I even lose sleep just WAITING for the weather to be nice enough to get in a good ride without too many elements and just enjoy it. I too have a bad habit of not really stretching or warming up to the fullest. This is something I totally plan on working on this year.

I'm getting back there again. My mind is able to relax while spinning. Did 65 miles in the mountains today and my brain is already screaming for more spin time. My legs (and butt), however ...

Listening to your body, knowing good pain from bad pain, and doing what you know is right vs what you want to do, is what enables athletes to continue to get better.

My injury is almost completely gone and I got a great 2 hour mountain bike ride in today. I feel so much better and am very happy that I was able let me myself heal in order to return to my training plan.

rest, recover, get stronger. preached to me all the time when i'm wanting to go out and ride, especially after the climbing sufferfest i participated in this weekend.

"There is no such thing as over training, just under nutrition and under sleeping"- The Barbarian Brothers. Couple of gym rats said this in the late 80's I think it was. Not sure if it's true, but sounds manly as hell doesn't it

I try to rest but the bikes keep calling me:(

"There is no such thing as over training, just under nutrition and under sleeping"- The Barbarian Brothers. Couple of gym rats said this in the late 80's I think it was. Not sure if it's true, but sounds manly as hell doesn't it

Overtraining is controversial even among physiologists. A lot of the symptoms of overtraining, to me, also sound like the same symptoms that lack of nutrition and lack of sleep give off. Therefore, I'd say that quote has some truth to it, atleast in my own experience.

Try this for a week - go on your regular training schedule but get half the sleep and eat junk food. Gauge results... I bet the things you encounter will match overtraining symptoms.