Originally Posted by
jppe
One other thought-what is the duration of your normal rides during the week? What I've experienced in the past was similar to what you're describing. If my normal "training rides" were a couple hours of a harder pace, I noticed that on longer rides (5-7 hours).... after the initial couple hours my body was telling me that I should be finished and it was time to "stop riding". I'm not sure of the reasons behind the body dynamics..... but I was able to just push through it. After a few of the longer rides my body had reacclimated to riding much longer and the changes in endurance levels was readjusted and I could go much longer periods without the drop in energy/performance. I have not given you any advice on how to overcome it but I think it will work itself out over time.
I do the same on some of my long training rides. Early in the season I will reach Z3 for 1.5 hrs within the ride and every week add 15 min – 30 min to the interval until I'm at 3 hrs of steady Z3 riding. I don’t train longer, since Z3 is usually the race pace in road races and I don’t usually do races longer than 50-60 miles. What I've found is the Z3 pace after a while just plain hurts, is uncomfortable, yet sustainable by concentrating on form and putting the discomfort on the back burner with the thought of "this will help in soul crushing later in the season".
