Snicklefritz

I've been training for a while now (4+ years) on a periodized schedule where I go 3 weeks on with 1 week recovery. Within any given week, I have one day off (sunday) followed by an easy spin on monday (1.5 hours), 3 moderate days that gradually ramp up in intensity (T/W/Th), friday varies, and saturday is almost always very long with a lot of hill climbing. I've been very happy with my progress and ability to recover well on this kind of schedule.

Every once in a while though, I'll have something throw me for a loop where I'm surprisingly a lot more tired than I think I should be. I don't know if this means I should have started a weekly recovery earlier, or if I pushed too hard on what should have been an easy day. Has anyone found that they sometimes feel just as tired or even more tired after their recover/easy days than they did after the really intense workouts from the previous week?

As an example, last week I did 150 miles on the bike which is about average for me (I typically go 125, 150, 175, then 1 week easy). I also threw in an epic 6.5 hour hike where I did 12.5 miles and nearly 5000' of elevation gain. the hike was on thursday, followed by two moderate workouts of about 45 miles each over a rolling course. I was a bit sore on friday and saturday and tired, but it was more of an overall body fatigue. Sunday I was fine. Monday I did 1.5 hours easy with a couple of small hills only because I couldn't avoid them. Now I'm feeling slightly winded which is weird since I don't think I really pushed that hard during the workout. Any idea why I would feel more tired/winded today than I would have last week right after all the difficult stuff? Kind of reminds when when I was finishing my PhD thesis, working ridiculous hours the month before my defense. Somehow I managed to avoid getting sick, but as soon as I gave my defense and had nothing to do but relax, that's when I caught a nasty cold and was sick for a week...

Caad 8

Yeah, some days "you're just not feelin' it." I would take it easier this week. I've noticed that when my rest days aren't good, and I push it later in the week, I'll get sick. You're body is telling you something, listen to it.

Snicklefritz

^^^ I think that makes sense. So I guess I shouldn't feel bad that it's supposed to rain on tuesday and wednesday. Maybe I'll just spin on the trainer those days and see how I feel on thursday, but not push myself to do my usual 175 miles during the 3rd week.

Is there some physiological reason for feeling the fatigue more so a few days after a series of heavy workouts compared with right away?

umd

Doms

Snicklefritz

lol. I had to look that one up on urban dictionary. Now I feel better knowing this sort of thing is normal. It actually makes a lot more sense now, because after these epic workouts, I sometimes find I need 1-2 days extra recovery beyond what I normally do.

Grumpy McTrumpy

I have no problem at all with just not riding instead of my plan for the day if I don't feel well.

RiPHRaPH

You seem WWAAYYY too structured. You know your body better than anyone else. Listen to yourself.
All these plans you see are general guidelines. You must taylor it for yourself.
You are not a motor for your bike. Mental burnout is not far behind.

ZXiMan

Recovery rides should be 30-45 minutes in Zone 1. Most people ride too hard (in Zone 2 or higher) and think they are taking it easy. Try doing shorter recovery rides. An hour and a half is too long in my opinion, unless you normally put in 5-6 hours on your regular training rides.

umd

If you didn't have to look it up, you wouldn't have had to ask the question

Not sure why you chose urban dictionary though.

Snicklefritz

That website can decipher just about anything. I had no idea if it was something silly/sarcastic/humorous or whatever, but I got an answer

Snicklefritz

I think you're right. In retrospect what I probably did was more Zone 2 than zone 1. In my area, the routes with less traffic have some small hills. I could look for flatter areas to ride to make sure I stay in zone 1.

That said, I usually do 2-3 hours on most of my training rides except for saturday when I do between 4 and 6 hours. I usually take one lighter day on friday or the day before I do any mega workout. I'll try shorter recovery rides to see if that helps. Would it be better just to do them on the trainer?

Phil85207

As long as you bounce back in a few days I think you are good to go. However if you don't bounce back it could be something else. I am talking from experience as I am just now starting to ride after being off the bike for 107 days from a Thyroid imbalance. A physical with some blood work will tell the story. I had some other issues as well but that's another story. Good luck and Happy riding.

DScott

Just wondering- training for what, exactly?

Snicklefritz

Training for LOTOJA. I've done it twice before, but now they have a lottery system, so no one knows if they're in until early May. If I don't make the lottery then I'll have to find some other 200+ mile event to do. This one is cool because it's an actual sanctioned race, not just a double century.

Snicklefritz

UPDATE: I took peoples' advice and decided to scrap the regular schedule for this week and try an extra day or two of recovery. On tuesday I just did 1 hour in zone 1 and took wednesday off (weather was horrible). Today I went out for 36 miles over a rolling course and came back feeling very good. My plan for tomorrow is a moderate ride of 35-40 miles. I'll see how the recovery goes before making a decision on saturday's ride. If I still feel good, I'll do my usual long workout in the hills. If I feel a bit tired, then I'll back off slightly and repeat what I did today.

What I learned from this and from other people's suggestions is that regardless of how many times I've done these sorts of workouts, if I feel extra tired on a *particular* week, then take an extra day of zone 1 or perhaps a day off and then resume gradually and not feel like I have to stick to what worked for the last X number of years. In retrospect I probably should have taken an extra day off *last* week after an epic series of workouts, but sometimes it's hard to convince yourself to do that. Sometimes it take a comment from someone else before you can see the forest and the trees...