chrisvu05

so I've been doing 2 hour rides 5-6 days a week and my legs are starting to just feel dead. I feel like i've just done a sprint for the duration of my ride...any suggestions? I don't feel like i'm overtraining...if anything i'm not working hard enough because my average heart rate for these rides has decreased while my time on the same 30 mile route has decreased 10 minutes in the last month. Any help is much appreciated....Would like to hear from TerryMorse as most of my rides are including roughly 2000 ft of climbing in the 30 mile loop that i do and Terry seems to be the climbing expert.

JayC

What kind of pace are you keeping? Sounds like you could be overdoing it a bit. Course, 30 miles in 2 hours doesnt sound like an all out effort by any means.

Zinn-X

take a few days off, and push harder when you come back. when you're overtraining, you oftentimes won't know it. just give your body a little time to recover.

chrisvu05

Not a fast pace by any means...i am a clyde by weight...i'm down from 261 to 238 right now but i'm athletic and ride alot...I put in 3000 miles last year and am close to 1000 for this year. I'm keeping roughly a 14.5 mph pace which is pretty good considering i'm not the best climber but I'm getting better. I'm also quite the masher so that could be getting to me too....my average cadence on a flat ride is in the low 80s but for these climbing rides i'm in the low 60s due to lots of long periods of slow cadence climbing and standing

chrisvu05

I have a hard time taking days off where i'm not doing something active (running/basketball/lifting)...i subscribe to what Landis said last year in Bicycling...."there is no such thing as overtrained...you are just undertrained to train that hard" or something along those lines.

DXchulo

That's a classic sign of overtraining. All the signs are there. It's up to you to rest.

mezza

Sounds like you're not getting enough recovery time...

So, what they said.

DScott

I've heard that this kind of riding can lead to being very good at 15mph rides and not much else. It's a little bit like stagnating. I think that it's not necessarily overtraining, just training to be really, really mediocre.

The usual recommendations are to take a bit more time off and push hard on interval days.

Do a search on this site, of course, but also check out www.cptips.com. Lots of good info all in one place.

cyclezen

like most everyone says, you may be overdoing the 'same' kind of ride.
If the legs feel 'wooden', its a sure sign of not enough recovery, based on what you're used to.
you don;t have to be off the bike, but throw in some really easy rides spinning, and when you are feelin good, maybe do some 'speed' work which might include some intervals.
Maybe define your ridin goals a little better and then look at what you're doing to get there.
Crankin out 30 milers every ride might just be what you want to do and really enjoy, but the body works best with good variety, at the right times. 'Recovery' rides are really important to improving overall and overcoming plateaus.
30 miles with a couple K of climbing might be a real 'recovery' for one rider, and a real workout for another. And it changes as you build yourself. Right now your body is telling you that day-in, day-out what you;re doing has become depleting, time for some changes.
EDIT: I'm like a broken record on this. There's really nothing like a good fast group ride to challenge, break up the 'sameness' and help you find a new rider within. Try to find a really good fast group ride if there's one in your area.
Even if you get dropped for many weeks, persevere and keep at it. There'll be one magic ride when it all starts fallin in place and you're 'right in there'. It's really one of the best feelings in 'sport' cycling, and worth all the times you detonate off the back before that. If you're a thinking rider, you'll figure out how to hang in there at some point.

chrisvu05

thanks guys.... i guess i need to change my riding goal from "i don't want to be a clyde anymore" I guess a little shake up in my routine is necessary.....good thing classes end next week because riding time and thus riding variability will increase!

VT to CA

Are you using Recoverite or any other recovery supplement? Hit up your local GNC or supplement shop... if you're training 5-6 days a week, you need something like that. Also, you should be eating bananas like a starving monkey.

cyclezealot

Seems likely your heart rate has not dropped due to the fact your stronger. ? COuld be diet. Do you rest between rides. Stretch or work off the stress. ( should you be riding that hard, eg. , pro's get a massage following each ride. ). I wonder how long is it you have been training.
I always felt it takes months to build up cyclists legs.

Lucky07

+4 on mixing it up. Do intervals one day, a long slow ride another day, cross training, etc. You might also want to give yourself another day of rest in there.

NoRacer

chrisvu05, you don't have to stay off the bike to recover. You just need some discipline not to hammer your rides. Take it easy for a few days, continue watching your diet and ride long and steady. If it feels too easy, then for you at this time, it's probably the right intensity. Continue riding easy; test your legs in about three days to see where you are. You don't have to worry about giving up your goal of not wanting to be a clyde while you are recovering.

babydee

RECOVERY TIME!

Seriously. Take a couple of days off to begin with, then compartmentalize your workouts so you have hard days and "easy spin" days.

Training is three things:

1) Work

2) Nutrition

3) Rest

You can't skip one of them...ever...if you want to get stronger and faster.

terrymorse 

My rule of thumb:
After the Mulholland Challenge last Saturday, my legs were still weak on Tuesday. So I took the last couple of days off. Now I feel rested and eager to ride again.

superslomo

Everything that I've seen and read stresses the importance of both active recovery (follow a hard day with a very easy one), and taking regular days of complete rest.

It's amazing how fresh and strong you feel after a day or two completely off.